What is on your bench?

[VacNut]

1 hour ago, FarmBoy said:

We can start a new thread…

Volunteering? Love to see what’s behind the green curtain!

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Picked up a Peter Pan at a flea market today and wanted some advice. Didn't want to create a new thread for this but it definitely qualifies as a repair.

 

 

I am a big fan of these and this one seems to be a very early one with a slightly better nib than the later ones (I notice the later ones have much cruder imprints on the nibs). And it has a very thick gold fill band of decent quality. I'm guessing this was a higher end model. Unfortunately, it's missing the ringtop and end plug/finial/whatever.

 

Anyone have any clue where I can find a replacement screw or something to plug in to the top? The opening is a little under 5mm or 3/16" across; don't have calipers so it's a ballpark figure using a ruler. It doesn't have to be a perfect replacement, just something that is good enough that will not look too out of place, and will seal the nib.

[VacNut]

Are there threads inside the cap or is the inside of the cap smooth? The pen has had a tough life given the teeth marks on the end

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

18 minutes ago, VacNut said:

Are there threads inside the cap or is the inside of the cap smooth? The pen has had a tough life given the teeth marks on the end

 

Threads inside of the cap. Yeah, the bite marks aren't great but the coloration of the rubber is very good and the cap band is in great shape too, as is the nib. I don't mind the bite marks so much, figure it adds flavor to the pen.

 

I figure worst comes to worst I can stick the tip of the remnants of one of my leftover sacs that I cut too short over the very top of it and that will make it at least usable. But very much not a permanent solution.

[FarmBoy]

Salvage sone ring top hardware from any random pen with damage. 

[VacNut]

A different vacuum filler this week. I started collecting Sager Vacuum Pens because they have an innovative filling system and look like the Vacumatic Crystal Pens.

 

Sager Pens are black and clear celluloid. The section and the barrel are fused together rather than threaded. There are typically black gradations on the barrel. The back of the barrel is a simple pump rod filler with a cork or similar washer. The pump rod is hollow to allow the feed and tube to travel up the rod. (They are almost the same length.) When the piston is pulled up, a vacuum causes the ink to travel up the tube, down the inside of the hollow rod, and into the barrel. The last downward push of the pen sets the filler in place without pushing out the ink.

 

The filler system is very simple technology. The hollow rods are sometimes broken if the piston is pushed or pulled too hard if the piston is sealed in place by dried ink. I am

not sure how the hollow rod creates an air tight seal at the top of the barrel - as there are no visible gaskets or seals. There are no diaphragms or sacks to corrode. Genius!!

 

I placed the pen next to an unrestored, un-ambered pen. The celluloid is yellow, but there is speculation that the clear celluloid was really never crystal white. The clear section and barrel have been dyed/tainted black, as the clear yellow section near the nib is the same color as the barrel.

There is also a photo of the Sager Pen next to a Vac Crystal. There are examples of Parker pens with Sager Fillers, which is another interesting story.

 

There are more tapered and later editions of this pen to match the slimmer profiles of the late 30’s and 40’s. 

You can search FPN to see the history of the pen. There is a great story about a collector meeting the daughter of the inventor.

[tmenyc]

Agree with Farmboy...measuring that thread will be a challenge, so trying ringtop threads you have may well get you to the right thread. One that's close will be a good basis for finding a screw that works. 

Tim

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

I think the issue might be finding a good replacement either way, this pen is tiny. I have a few Peter Pan pens (as well as another tiny pen labeled with a different brand that I am pretty sure Salz Bros made anyway) and this one is the smallest one I've got. Very very small cap. 

 

Will keep an eye out though, I've got way more pens missing caps than I have extra caps so sourcing a replacement will probably take a bit.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Got another dumb question. I got a hold of an urushi coated pen from the 1940's. Nice, but very scuffed and dirty. What's the best way to gently polish it up? My usual is Simichrome and I find it's gentle enough for most plastics but I am assuming it might be too much for urushi. Also have Micro-Gloss (the 1 micron formula), and Sunshine cloths.

[es9]

On 7/23/2023 at 6:16 PM, LoveBigPensAndCannotLie said:

It doesn't have to be a perfect replacement, just something that is good enough that will not look too out of place, and will seal the nib.

If this is accurate, why not just epoxy the top of any flat-top ring-top pen on there? Or make your own. I think David Nishimura sells some generic ring tops. You could take a scrapped duofold clip screw, turn it down to size, install a ring top (or not), and just glue it on. 

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Don't have the tools for it unfortunately. Anyways, just fixed up this 1940's (?) Platinum pen. The urushi is worn but still looks pretty nice. My favorite part is the red lacquered feed.

 

 

 

The nib is a little rough but has some solid semi-flex to it. I will probably repost to to the Japanese pens subforum to see if I can get some more details.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Well, this is a new problem. I got a Parker 51 aerometric with a crack at the very end of the body. When I unscrewed it, the plug on the end of the sac protector was missing. I thought I dropped it somewhere or previous owner lost it. Finally figured I'd take a look inside to see how deep the crack ran and saw the plug stuck all the way at the tip of the barrel.

 

Took some nerve-racking fiddling (didn't want to make the crack worse) with some of my picks and a bamboo skewer and I finally got it out. I guess it somehow migrated off the sac protector and got stuck there? And probably caused the crack somehow. With it unstuck, the crack is now barely visible. I thought I was going crazy because I couldn't see it anymore but it's visible under a loupe. Before it was "open", probably under pressure from the plug.

 

I wonder how it got there. I have few aerometrics with the full sac protector (rather than the partial one in the specials) and it's always been pretty snug. I honestly thought that they were glued into the "cage."

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

I've come to realize that buying and restoring vintage pens is just a slow and painful method of gambling. I should get into poker instead, at least there's more of a social aspect to that.

 

I bought this recently with the intent on fixing it up. A fullsize ringtop Balance in the black and pearl is pretty much one of my grail pens so I was really excited.

 

 

Fantastic color from the pictures on the listing. Got it and it has gouges all over the bottom of it, who knows from where. More importantly, the nib had a huge crack in it that was not visible in any of the pictures.

 

 

I figured, okay, that's not the best but a nib with a crack at the base is still usable. The bigger issue is that I could not get the nib to lie flat on the feed no matter what I did or how much I heatset it. Decided to knock it out and what do I see?

 

 

The nib is completely (bleep). It won't lie flat because the crack at the "base" isn't really coming from the base, it's coming from the side. That's why the nib wouldn't lie flat. Any pressure on it causes the nib to shift up along the crack. Absolutely unusable and one for the gold scrap bin. On top of that, the feed is missing roughly half of its back bit, broken off.

 

Clearly this was a victim of a half-assed "restoration" at some point. It also had a sticky desiccated sack that was so large it was nearly impossible to get it off the pen walls. Sigh... I guess this will be on my "bench" until I find a replacement nib and feed.

 

 

[lionelc]

if the pen and nib combination is worth it to you - nib repair is possible

[es9]

That’s pretty extensive damage. Easiest course of action is probably to find a new nib. It shouldn’t be too hard for that pen. You might start by checking with Five Star Pens. 
 

Restoring one pen often requires parts from another. In other words, it usually takes at least two pens to get one pen writing again. It’s not a matter of luck; that’s just the nature of the endeavor. 

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

14 hours ago, es9 said:

That’s pretty extensive damage. Easiest course of action is probably to find a new nib. It shouldn’t be too hard for that pen. You might start by checking with Five Star Pens. 
 

Restoring one pen often requires parts from another. In other words, it usually takes at least two pens to get one pen writing again. It’s not a matter of luck; that’s just the nature of the endeavor. 

 

This is true but my parts bin grows ever larger with parts that don't fit together. I had a moment of serendipity a few months ago when I finally found a nib that mostly matched another pen without a nib, that felt nice. Not the correct replacement mind you, but one that fit well enough and writes well.

 

Otherwise it's been rough going. I have an early Mabie Todd with a fabulous #6 (Mabie Todd's #6 size anyways, it's a honking big nib) size stub (may have been a broad nib in the good old days but functionally it's nearly italic in shape) that I've been looking for a cap for over a year. I think I need to get another box, my old parts box has run out of space.

[es9]

I think that’s part and parcel of what it means to restore. I have well over a dozen pens that are missing key parts, and many more that have good enough, but not “correct” per se, parts. In time, I either find the right part, cannibalize the pen along the way to save another, or just keep waiting. It took me well over a year to find the correct *blind cap* for one particularly ornery Sheaffer vacuum filler. It’s immensely frustrating, but it’s the cost of doing business. 

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

7 minutes ago, es9 said:

I think that’s part and parcel of what it means to restore. I have well over a dozen pens that are missing key parts, and many more that have good enough, but not “correct” per se, parts. In time, I either find the right part, cannibalize the pen along the way to save another, or just keep waiting. It took me well over a year to find the correct *blind cap* for one particularly ornery Sheaffer vacuum filler. It’s immensely frustrating, but it’s the cost of doing business. 

 

Oh yeah, I understand but it gets frustrating sometimes. Especially with rare-ish pens, it's so hard to find replacement parts. I think Sheaffer is also a little frustrating. I remember reading a comment on here somewhere where someone expressed a sentiment that they would be surprised if any two early Sheaffer pens came out of their factory exactly the same and I would not disagree with that from my experience. They were not very consistent. 

[es9]

Yup. 
 

On 7/2/2023 at 10:03 PM, FarmBoy said:

You imply in your question that you believe Sheaffer made two pens that were the same. 

 

 

[VacNut]

4 hours ago, LoveBigPensAndCannotLie said:

 

Oh yeah, I understand but it gets frustrating sometimes. Especially with rare-ish pens, it's so hard to find replacement parts. I think Sheaffer is also a little frustrating. I remember reading a comment on here somewhere where someone expressed a sentiment that they would be surprised if any two early Sheaffer pens came out of their factory exactly the same and I would not disagree with that from my experience. They were not very consistent. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if 100 year old celluloid has shrunken over time. This forum and pen shows are other methods to find parts.

(Swan and Mabie pens are fairly common).

The reasons for “rareish” pens are precisely the reasons why it is more difficult to find replacement parts. If parts were readily available, they wouldn’t be rare.