Parker 75 - I *think* I Need To Remove The Nib From The Feed

[alexwi]

Hi,

 

I just got a Parker 75 with a Medium nib, possibly 1970's, as the nib's marked with a letter and the tassies are dished, but it's incredibly dry (see sample).

 

I already left the nib and the section soaking all night (not much came out), and then a few hours this morning, in warm water with a drop of dishwashing soap. There was some serious muck under the nib (at the tip of the feed), which I used an exacto knife to remove - you can see some of it in the photos, and there's also some in the slots where the nib slides into the feed. After the two soaks, it's somewhat better, but writing with this pen is still anything but pleasant. I suspect there's more dried ink between the nib and the feed, but I can't get to it unless I take the assembly apart.

 

I've disassembled this kind of nib before. It took a bit of coaxing, but it was doable. This one, however, isn't budging one bit and, of course, I don't want to break anything, so I'm curbing my super-powers for now.

 

I still have to try 10% ammonia, but that'll have to wait until I'm back home tonight, as I don't want to do that for more than an hour at a time (unless some learned expert considers that it's OK to leave it for longer periods - and how long, btw).

 

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how to remove the nib from the feed?

 

Thanks!

 

Alex

[rdh]

I wouldn't use a knife :-) Soak a longer time and use an ultrasonic cleaner. Be patient.

 

Dave

[tmenyc]

Agreed. Soak it for the weekend in 15% ammonia in the water and/or borrow a USC and give it a cycle before you soak it. The blade will do more damage than good.

[OCArt]

As above, a good soak and clean should help a lot but my P75 is a dry writer and it was NOS. I have started using the very wet Levenger Amethyst ink in mine and it seems a good pairing and a great color.

[alexwi]

Hi,

 

Thank you all for the recommendations.

 

Just to clarify, I removed some of the dried ink the the x-acto (if it's that and not some glue, or worse, the tip of the feed molten underneath the nib), but that was that, and this thing's not budging at all, so it has to be stuck for some reason.

 

I don't have an ultra-sonic cleaner. Could this pen be the perfect excuse to get one? Nah, I really don't want one more thing taking up room that I'll use once a year. If anything, I might stop by a jewelry store and pay them to drop the assembly in one for a few minutes.

 

I'll drop it in ammonia now and we'll see how it goes. I was thinking 10%, but will go for 15%.

 

Thanks again!

 

alex

Edited June 2, 2018 by alexwi

[FarmBoy]

I would not soak a gold object in ammonia solution of any kind for more than a few minutes.

You need to use an ultrasonic cleaner and some Rapidioeze cleaner. Most likely an India Ink was used.

 

Farmboy

[alexwi]

Farmboy, why not?

 

alex

[ralfstc]

Also, your tines look like they are misaligned and your nib slit doesn't appear to be open, based on these photos. That won't help!

 

Ralf

[alexwi]

Hah Ralf! As I was posting the pictures, I was thinking "oh, and let's hope no one judges me here because the tines are misaligned." LOL!

 

After one night in the Ammonia solution, the gunk inside the slots has softened to the point that I was able to "move" it around with a dentist's tool (yes, very very very softly).

 

The nib still doesn't move, and the tip of the feed still looks like photo #8 above (looks like some caked black substance, and I suspect, as FarmBoy said, that it's India ink). Looks like I'll be ordering a bottle of Rapidoeze (still on denial about the ultrasonic cleaner, I guess).

 

Thank you all again!

 

alex

Edited June 2, 2018 by alexwi

[cattar]

You don't have to have an ultrasonic, the rapido-eze will work. Pour rapido-eze in a cup, soak the nib/feed for a day, pull out the nib/feed, rinse, look at it, return it to the cup to soak. (The rapido-eze is reusable.) This may take 7-10 days or longer.

Stop scraping with sharp pointy things like exacto knives and dental tools. That can create damage that will cause problems later.

Generally, listen to FarmBoy.

[FarmBoy]

Farmboy, why not?

 

alex

The ammonia will attack the non-gold metals in the gold alloy.

[alexwi]

OK. The pen's out of the Ammonia. I will order the rapidoeze today and, guess what, I just ordered a small, vintage, ultrasonic cleaner from ebay that was acceptably small for my needs and, based on the fact that it consumes 40W, probably not a toy. You people are terrible.

 

The plan's to follow Matt Armstrong's tip of putting the nib in a shot glass with cleaning solution, and then the shot glass into the machine -

 

Of course, once I get the rapidoeze and the cleaner, I'll have a ton of questions. You've been warned :-)

 

Alex

[alexwi]

Hi y'all,

 

Them toys are here. Rapidoeze AND ultrasonic cleaner.

 

I was going to ask questions here, but now that it's getting more generic, opted for starting a new topic, which would be more helpful for generations to come.

 

I need some guidance, please.

 

The topic I started is here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/336998-ok-got-the-rapidoeze-and-the-ultrasonic-cleaner-now-what/

 

Thanks!!!!

 

alex

[alexwi]

OK, Finally! I managed to get some ME time today and I'm here to report a happy ending.

 

The nib/feed and section were soaking in Rapidoeze for 21 days.

 

I put the graduated cylinder inside the ultrasonic cleaner and ran it for about six minutes. Then rinsed it and ran it again for another three or four with just water. Finally, I let everything dry in my very hot office for about an hour.

 

My intention was to not mess with the nib at first, but just ink the pen and try it out, but curiosity got the best of me and I nudged the nib ever so lightly to see if it would give and IT GAVE! So I removed the nib. I figured that I might as well check the feed's condition while it's clean and dry.

 

The feed itself was pristine, but there was some gunk on the sides, mostly inside the slots where the nib holds on to the feed. I cleaned those with the dull side of an x-acto, removing as much of the gunk as possible. I don't need that part of the feed to be pristine, as long as it's clean.

 

I'm attaching pictures of everything, including the ultrasonic cleaner I was able to get for $17. I got it not because it was cheap, but because it's small and is as powerful as the large ones - 40W. It's perfect for my needs. Really sad that Medelco switched from making ultrasonic cleaners and other gadgets to coffee machines.

 

The nib turned out to be quite a wet one, so all is great.

 

Again, thank you all for your help with this!!!

 

Alex