What's Up At Christof's

[christof]

Great pen, Christof! I have a few pens from Mauricio, and he is such a great person to deal with. Are you going to show us some other red/orange pens?

 

David

 

Unfortunately I do only have one other pen in RHR. It's a 52V ringtop:

 

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6233/6240411762_3725a17381_z.jpg

 

...but I would love to have a "Big Red" in RHR! Still workin on that...

[dcpritch]

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6233/6240411762_3725a17381_z.jpg

 

...but I would love to have a "Big Red" in RHR! Still workin on that...

 

It looks like you are doing OK at the moment with vintage Watermans, and that you have something to assuage your longing for a Big Red. Holy cow those are great looking pens!

 

Here I was, going along just fine, not wanting any pens at all, then you go and show us these. Sheesh!

[mirosc]

Here I was, going along just fine, not wanting any pens at all, then you go and show us these. Sheesh!

 

You are aware that they only look so great because Christof is able to put them under a nice light and enhance their good sides. In real life they are far uglier than shown here.

(At least that's what I repeatedly need to tell myself...)

[dcpritch]

Christof, your "Ripple Rubber Waterman's" look better than the ones they advertised for sale so many years ago. Here is an advert I bought at an antique store, framed as I found it:

 

[dcpritch]

... In real life they are far uglier than shown here.

(At least that's what I repeatedly need to tell myself...)

 

I'm doing the same thing, but its not really working.

[christof]

Christof, your "Ripple Rubber Waterman's" look better than the ones they advertised for sale so many years ago. Here is an advert I bought at an antique store, framed as I found it:

 

Yes I know, photoshop was missing in these early days...

 

BTW: This is a very nice advert David.

[ethernautrix]

Here I was, going along just fine, not wanting any pens at all, then you go and show us these. Sheesh!

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

:-D

[christof]

As already said before in this thread: I do not really collect boxes. And I also do not collect pencils... Nonetheless, I thought it would be nice to have this new old stock AUCH Pelikan 200 pencil with correct box and intstructions when it came along...

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8344/8240018935_99d0d49bc1_c.jpg

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8064/8241086040_de3deeb471_c.jpg

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8206/8240018517_a4b773480c_c.jpg

 

...take this as an intermezzo, until I can show you another (breath taking!!) fountain pen. Let's see what's next. Ha!

 

Edit: Just to make your mouth watery, here comes a thumbnail. I'm still working on pen an pics...

Edited December 3, 2012 by christof

[Soot]

Edit: Just to make your mouth watery, here comes a thumbnail. I'm still working on pen an pics...

Christof, is that a new acquire?

Edited December 3, 2012 by Soot

[mirosc]

Edit: Just to make your mouth watery, here comes a thumbnail. I'm still working on pen an pics...

 

Ah, I'm wondering... There was one put up for sale quite a long time, but then it disappeared. Maybe you are the lucky one, but maybe you have found another model... I guess I'll just have to wait until you post your pics :-)

But it sure looks very promising!

[ethernautrix]

OH NOOOOO! If you post photos of the Lizard Pelikan, I will be LOST! I am certain that will push me over the edge... to where my credit card is, for now, out of reach. Stop it, Christof, STOP IT!

 

Ha ha ha.

 

I'm kidding. I can't wait to see your photos. And if that means I have to buy one of these Lizard Pelikans, well, I suppose I'll be all right with that.

 

:-)

[mirosc]

OH NOOOOO! If you post photos of the Lizard Pelikan, I will be LOST! I am certain that will push me over the edge... to where my credit card is, for now, out of reach. Stop it, Christof, STOP IT!

 

Ha ha ha.

 

I'm kidding. I can't wait to see your photos. And if that means I have to buy one of these Lizard Pelikans, well, I suppose I'll be all right with that.

 

:-)

 

That seems to be a vintage lizard - you will most likely get two Nakayas for the price of one of those...

Edited December 3, 2012 by mirosc

[ethernautrix]

That seems to be a vintage lizard - you will most likely get two Nakayas for the price of one of those...

 

Is there a light, then, at the end of this harrowing tunnel? Two Nakayas? Tell me more!

[mirosc]

That seems to be a vintage lizard - you will most likely get two Nakayas for the price of one of those...

 

Is there a light, then, at the end of this harrowing tunnel? Two Nakayas? Tell me more!

 

Let's say it is a vintage 101N Lizard; in bad condition it scores about $600-800, the last one with excellent cosmetics, but mechanics in dire need of service went for $1500, Rick Propas offers them for about $1800.

So - do the math, maybe you'll get three Nakayas out of one, maybe none (depending what you are after).

 

Maybe you'll get one Nakaya plus one modern M100N Lizard - I guess that's the best options for your pen lust.

[ethernautrix]

I kindv like the new Lizard. It's plastic, though, right? (Laughing.) Meaning, it's not lizard. I like the cap. I like the silver Toledo, too. I can ride out the pen lust. I've liked the silver Toledo for a coupla years now....

 

My next Nakaya will likely be a custom design OR matte black over that pretty blue, but I'm just going to enjoy what I have for now. Surely there are other things in this big ol' world that deserves attention. :-)

 

But, yeah, Christof's photography makes pens even more irresistible, if "irresistible" has degrees. Which I'm pretty sure it does. :-)

[tenney]

Christof, I downloaded for reference your fantastic drawings and photos of how to replace a cork on a Montblanc piston. Unfortunately, I've searched and searched but can't find the topic in which they were posted, so I'll post my question here:

 

Your drawing with instructions make it seem ALMOST doable for a newbie.

 

How do you find out how thick the cork piece should be (the thickness of the old one?)? AND the diameter of the cut-out circle or how tight would it be going into the barrel? Once the cork is back on the piston should it be able to spin loosely or be on very snug?

 

Do you use a special parafin or whatever I might find in a craft shop?

 

And... The cork is held in by a piece that screws onto the end of the piston (looks like it'll take something like a spanner wrench to turn it). Does it unscrew clockwise? (I'm also touchy about over tightening or trying to unscrew it too hard)

 

Thank you!

[christof]

Glenn

 

It would help to know on what pen your are working, currently.

 

How do you find out how thick the cork piece should be (the thickness of the old one?)? AND the diameter of the cut-out circle or how tight would it be going into the barrel? Once the cork is back on the piston should it be able to spin loosely or be on very snug?

 

The thickness has to be a little bit more than the gap which the old seal has left on the piston. The correct diameter can only be aproxiamted to the barrels diameter. Means: grind and try until it fits. The cork should fit snug, without to much pressure but with some fricton. This is a matter of experience.

 

Do you use a special parafin or whatever I might find in a craft shop?

 

You also can use candle wax, but no bees wax!

 

And... The cork is held in by a piece that screws onto the end of the piston (looks like it'll take something like a spanner wrench to turn it). Does it unscrew clockwise? (I'm also touchy about over tightening or trying to unscrew it too hard)

 

This is a matter of the pens brand. Pelikan 100N unscrews clockwise, Soennecken and MB unscrews ccw. Be careful, these small hard rubber parts are brittle.

 

Thank you!

Edited December 4, 2012 by christof

[tenney]

Thank you. It's an MB 234 1/2. I had one that was just fine until it fell out of my pocket. It's being repaired with great hope that the crack fix will work ok. IN the meantime I decided to spring for another just in case. This is looks very similar with only the piston assembly celluloid piece that screws in being slightly discolored (not too black anymore) and it has a DRP number on it whereas my favorite pen that broke has no numbering on it and is black there.

 

Since the piston assembly easily unscrews from the barrel, and it telescopes just fine, I figured "how hard could it be to put on a new cork" -- especially with you very detailed drawing.

 

Thanks to your notes above, it still sounds doable. The challenge will be to unscrew the piece holding in the cork without damaging it. I still may ask a friend who's repairing the other one if he's comfortable with re-corking it since I'm sure he has much better tools available which might make all the difference in unscrewing that one piece.

[christof]

After a difficult and risky repair job, here I am again. Everthing turned out well. Poooh...

 

Sorry for the long waiting time. Here comes the pics of my newest pen. And nope, it's not the new Pelikan M101 lizard (you have been right, mirosc) but it's also not a vintage Pelikan 101N....it's a Pelikan 101 in lizard pattern from 1935-38! And... it's the version with the short cap top. But have a look your self:

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8062/8252115802_3f4270af4b_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8070/8252116280_83292d51c6_c.jpg

 

Of course you are asking now, where does this pen come from..? I will tell you: Recently, I met an old friend at the flea market. We know each other from several flea market visits in the past. We didn't met for at least two years, but he told me that he's got a pen which could be interesting for me, a Pelikan 400N in Green/Green color combination. Actually, I was interested because I already have the 400 and the 400NN in Green/Green but not the 400N. These are quite hard to find, and if you find one, it‘s to expensive in the most cases. We arranged to meet in the next week at his house. So we met again and I bought the 400N because the price was fair. Then we talked about pens, collecting and restoring in general. He showed me his collection which is a quite impressive lot of pens, unrestored but interesting. Lot's of pre war Soennecken and Montblanc, Kaweco, Osmia and other interesting stuff. I told him that I was trying to focus on Pelikan, especially Pelikan 100. He left the room and came back after some minutes with another box of vintage Pelikan stuff. Lot's of broken pens and pen parts. I took a quick look and discovered the lizard pattern. The pen was brocken in two parts and the celluloid barrel was cracked at both ends. The section was stuck in the cap and after some searching, we found the missing mechanics in the box. I took a closer look and noticed that only the barrel was damaged. All the other parts, the binde, the cap and the mechanic seemed to be in quite good condition. We agreed that this pen would be worth a considerably sum if in good condition. And we agreed that it would be worth to restore this pen professionally. Then, I became brave...and made him an offer. Fortunately, I had several of my better pens with me that I could offer him an interesting change trade. Amazingly, he accepted my offer! So I went home with some money less and some pens less in the pocket but with a nice Pelikan 400N in Green/Green and some promising Pelikan pen parts in lizard pattern…

At home, I began to disassemble the pen. I was a little bit exited because somtimes it’s quite difficult to seperate the binde from the barrel. (This wouldn’t have been the first binde that I have destroyed by disassembling…) So you can imagine that I was sweating. Just a little bit…

Finally, the binde came off (in one piece!) and I just had to find a correct replacment barrel in my parts box. The rest of the job has been an easy task, cleaning, replacing cork seal and reassembling. Voilà: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8068/8252140188_7a297669ed_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8341/8252140418_513b1c2556_c.jpg

 

…note the great condition of the hard rubber parts!

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8064/8251071077_39b95e8454_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8061/8251070883_b8f439ca26_c.jpg

 

And now, let’s see what’s next but note that this will be difficult to beat...

[peterpen53]

 

Job very well done, Christof! It certainly was worth the sweat. If I were in the market for such a pen I would prefer this one to the new "Lizard". It looks absolutely stunning!

 

 

Cheers,

Peter