Omas Lucens 1936

[Valentino]

Hi guys,

 

Hope this year started better than any of the previous.

 

I keep working that knob. I'm trying heat, water, again and again. It still did not give in. Is there a solvent or some sort of a substance that could help in any measure?

[como]

@ValentinoHave you had any luck? I hesitate to write the following, because at the end of the day, I don’t know who is reading this on the other end of this thread and what experience this person has for pen repairs and how well the ideas and suggestions will be taken. So I can only hope that you make up your own mind, take whatever risks suitable to you, at least do no harm, and LOTS of luck.

 

We cannot speculate why this plunger knob is so difficult to unscrew, if you have been patience trying all unintrusive methods. Please try at your own risk: add a drop of WD40 at the joint of knob and plunger rod. Hope it will somewhat loosen the stubborn connection. First try a tiny amount in a flat area. If reaction, stop immediately. Wipe, clean, polish.

 

if you have zero way to disassemble the plunger knob, can you get two appropriate sized o-rings to act as seal, after clearing away the cork seal? The rubber might be flexible enough to jump over the seal head hurtle. I don’t know. You can try. If success, you can sand the edges down to the right size and reassemble the pen. Not elegant solution but a possible solution never the less. 
 

Overall I would say that if you don’t want to risk it, just send it to a pen restorer. Good luck!

[Valentino]

21 hours ago, como said:

 

Overall I would say that if you don’t want to risk it, just send it to a pen restorer. Good luck!

Thank you for the advice. I will keep trying to do it my self, as I enjoy the learning experience. The o-ting work-around is a clever idea and I might use it. I will be back with any result I get.

[eckiethump]

With the right tools these are quite satisfying to service, your tool to remove the barrel end holding collar was very innovative and worked well. Once apart the installation (I use a couple) of correct size Viton "O" rings, re-assemble, pen works on the principle of a bicycle pump, similar to the Dunn pen of 1922/4, a couple of strokes and is full.

Your cap clip is very brassed, to remove for electroplating (I only tank plate) inside the cap is a holding "nut" that requires a spanning type pronged screwdriver to engage and remove for removal of the clip.

et

[Valentino]

On 2/9/2021 at 12:31 PM, eckiethump said:

Viton "O" rings

I could not believe it is unscrewing. What a good feeling.

So..

I forgot to stop the hairdryer, and the plastic got a bit too hot. With help of extra grip from the rubber band, I hearsd a screeching sound and the knob started twisting. Barely any effort. Easy as that. Bad news when I took the bands off, I noticed I kind of bent the whole thing in an 'S' shape. I rewarmed it up, and it came back to normal shape. It still is slightly bent at the thin end, but if that is a problem I am confident I can straiten it even more. 

 

I will now search for some o-rings. I think I need 7mm inside and a thickness of 1mm

If there is a better seal besides the o-ring I would give that a thought as well.

 

On 2/9/2021 at 12:31 PM, eckiethump said:

Your cap clip is very brassed

I would like to change the whole cap. The meander motif is also badly worn of. I will still try and fix the clip. 

 

Very happy I got this far, and motivated to see this pen filled with ink.

 

[eckiethump]

The clips are not very easy to come by, many caps have broken ones, I assume people not knowing how to get the clip off the pen.

TBH, only if using a cork seal do you need to take the piston end off, "O" rings stretch over the end easily. Not easy to manufacture cork seals with that thin a wall.

Vintagepens.com sell various sizes of "O" rings, can't remember for certain size you will require.

et

[como]

@ValentinoDavid Nishimura (vintagepens.com. I am sure there are also other places to buy) sells o-rings for piston seal use in a pack of 5 different sizes, so you will be sure to find one that fits. You will still need to do the fitting and sanding down. My heart still goes to cork seal. When done correctly, they work wonderfully well and do justice to beautiful vintage pens. They are a more elegant and dignified solution. But I also understand the practicality and use of o-rings. I keep some o-rings in times of desperation and impatience and also more for mental security in pen repairs, but I hardly use them. Of course over time the cork can shrink and not work well any more. Then again the rubber seals have their own problems - they can get stuck on the wall of celluloid barrel... So you just have to pick you are willing and able to do. Good luck!

[Valentino]

I can hardly believe it!

 

The pen is fully inked and perfectly functional. Not fully fixed yet, but working

The rubber o-rings I bought were the wrong size, and too thick as well. I tried sanding them, but I could not get them sanded evenly. So I made a cork-seal. Took 2-3 hours but it seems to have come out good.

 

Had trouble getting ink into the thing, but after reading the whole patent for the _Dunn Self-Filling System_  https://patents.google.com/patent/US1359880 it finally struck me that I need to do lots of pumping to keep getting air go out and take my time to let the ink come in.

 

After maybe 10 dips I could feel the pen get  heavier. Since this is a really light pen, the ink makes it somewhat heavy. Also when placed against a strong light the main body is actually see-through. When filled, it is completely opaque.

 

I want to enjoy this first full inking, before I take it apart, again to clean the treads, add new grease.

The treads on the screws on the main body as well as the back knob are filled with what I presume is old grease. Is there an easy way to remove that?

 

I will be back with a photo of the cork seal and the make-shift tools I used to make it.

 

 

 

 

[Seney724]

Congratulations @Valentino!

I very much admire your persistence and favourable outcomes!

And, I am so happy you are now truly enjoying your pen............