New to vintage pens, where to begin with getting two vintage resin piston fillers ready to use?

[eggyplantz]

Hi all. I'm new here and looking for a little guidance on best practices to get two new (to me) vintage piston filler fountain pens up to snuff and ready to use. 

 

I've attached a couple of photos of the two lovely pens. I purchased them from a seller in the Netherlands and I understand that they are unused or barely used from an old stationery business, and their excellent condition would seem to confirm this. The resin is in great shape and both have tight fitting caps and piston knobs. The integral piston mechanisms both work fairly smoothly and the nibs are beautifully springy, not scratchy, and don't appear to be bent at all.

 

I'm curious how I should proceed to get them ready to write? I'm not clear on the age but based on the styling I would assume mid-century, so I would guess the gaskets and sealants ideally need to be replaced or at least examined. I've never worked on a pen of this age so I'm wondering what your suggestions would be for disassembly in order not to break anything. Some facts about the pens below:

 

Blue "City-Gold": This one's piston can be seen through the ink window portion of the barrel. In the photo attached, I positioned the piston almost to its lowest point. It looks to be a solid rubber plug attached to the piston rod. The end cap is the twisting lever and doesn't come off.

 

Checkered "Royce": This one has a removable piston cap that reveals the twist knob. I can't quite see the piston but the lines between the checkered sections are mostly transparent, so I can see it moving in there and the knob twists freely.

 

Any advice would be much welcomed, or if there are past posts that address this please do direct me there. I did a cursory search but nothing came up that seemed suited to my pens. 

 

I have experience with using and light tuning of modern fountain pens but this is my first foray into vintage pens.

 

Thank you!

[Nethermark]

Hi, and welcome here!

 

You mention, the City-Gold has a synthetic piston seal. It's very well possible, the Royce has the same type piston seal. In that case, chances are, you don't need to replace anything. Check whether the piston seal holds. First screw the piston completely back and put the pen in some water, as you extend the piston, you should be able to see air coming out of the pen. Then screw back and see whether the pen takes up  water, and how much. If that doesn't work, the pens need repair.