Aurora 88 repairs

[antonio ilmonaco]

Hi,

 

Today i decided to repair my vintage Aurora 88 with a dead filler mechanism.

After unscrewing the section and removing the piston i realized no amount of tightening would restore the seal.

The sealing unit is made of a stack of plastic, rubber, and felt discs.

 

I decided to use some cork, i drill a hole using high speed and slow feed

 

The hole is nice then i cut a slice and polish both sides with 240 then 400 grit paper

 

I install the cork on a custom mandrel and turn it down to the proper diameter using abrasive paper, starting with 120 cloth and refining up to 400 grit paper

 

I obtain a nice gasket which i install on the shaft :

 

Then i use silicone grease to seal the cork, i apply some grease on the piston screw mechanism too

 

i also lubricate the mechanism under the knob for smooth operation. To remove the knob it's necessary to remove the small plug at the end of the barrel then unscrew the screw that's hidden under the plug.

 

The screw is spring-loaded and is not intended to be fully tightened. You need to adjust the screw so that the knob is not too loose nor too tight

 

After reassembly the cork is clearly visible through the ink window

 

And that's one pen ready for filling!

 

All the best,

Antonio

 

 

Edited January 6, 2009 by antonio ilmonaco

[langere]

Ingenious! I like it...

 

Great photos - thanks!

 

Erick

Edited January 6, 2009 by langere

[AJP]

Wow.. Antonio! Thanks for that description and the pictures. Very enlightening!

[Peter from Sherwood Park]

Thank you for this post. Although I may not attempt this repair, I feel that I understand more about how an 88 operates.

[Diamondback]

What a great tutorial on how to enact this repair. Thanks Antonio.

 

Mark

[piembi]

Great!

 

It really helps to get a repair explained in detail .....

[diplomat]

That's what I call "Champagne piston filler".

 

Awesome, thank you for the detailed pictures.

The hole we see in the third picture is wide enough to have the cork disk installed on the piston or did you have enlarged it later somehow?

 

Let us know how is the pen after filling!

 

Thank you for your time.

 

Andre

[Jopen]

Thanks for taking the time and effort to picture and clarify so well the steps you took to repair your 88.

[fuchsiaprincess]

Dear Antonio,

 

Thank you very much for the clear and concise instructions, plus the photos. However, if I need to repair my Aurora 88, I think I'd send it to you

 

Regards,

Soki

[Mr Ink]

Wow, a job very well done; congratulations. Thanks for posting the steps you had to take to repair your pen. Not that I'm ever going to attempt to do anything like that, but it's nice to see how it's done properly.

[antonio ilmonaco]

Hi everyone,

 

Thank you for the replies, the drilling operation is made with a 4mm diameter drill. It is a little tight on the piston but it prevents any play in the cork and possible leak between the cork and the piston.

These repairs are not very difficult, providing you do not drink the champagne immediately before attempting repairs i used a lathe for shaping the cork but it is easily done using a drill. Most of these pen are getting old will require such repairs if they have not been already carried out. Don't hesitate to perform yours and enjoy a butter-smooth filling mechanism!

 

All the best,

Antonio

[RevAaron]

Great job! I've not really seen a similar pictorial on replacing a cork before- I did some serious fumbling to do the same thing. I have a drill press thing for my Dremel, and I turn the corks on it- you can change the angle, so it ends up being like a mounted drill. Anyway- thanks!

 

But this does make me wonder again: why did they use the stacked discs instead of cork? The chance of finding 88 with a good seal seems almost as bad as your chances as finding a Kaweco or MB with a good seal from the same era.

[antonio ilmonaco]

Hi,

 

why did they use the stacked discs instead of cork?

 

i believe series manufacturing of rubber discs is easier and cheaper. With an automatic punching machine you can produce a fair amount of discs in no time.

Cutting cork seals requires more steps in the process, installing on a mandrel, polishing (which requires abrasives that wear quickly) and it takes a longer time to manufacture each gasket. Hence cork is more expensive than rubber.

On the contrary, for us amateur restorers cork is readily available and we are willing to spend some time repairing our pens, whereas the correct rubber needs to be specially sourced and punches are a custom order!

I suppose some professional restorers perform the repairs cutting their own rubber discs.

 

All the best,

Antonio

[rroossinck]

Nice work Antonio, and thanks for documenting it so well!

 

A couple of quick questions, though.

 

1. How'd you remove the piston?

2. How'd you remove the blind cap?

 

I have a Kosca piston filler that appears to be constructed in a similar way, and I'd like to see if I can't attempt something similar. Sadly, though, I can't get the piston out, nor can I release the blind cap on the back. Help!

[antonio ilmonaco]

Hi,

 

1. How'd you remove the piston?

that's easy, remove se section, unscrew the blind cap to fully extend the piston, when the knob turns loose just shake the pen and the piston will fall out

 

2. How'd you remove the blind cap?

at the rear of the pen under a small black washer there is a small brass screw. Remove the washer anyway you want (US cleaner most of the time gets it loose without damaging it) and unscrew the small screw.

 

All the best,

Antonio

[Douglas]

I see Francis has developed a O ring sandwiched by Dehlrin that replaces cork.

[antonio ilmonaco]

Hi,

 

yes i read about this mod, did the same a few years back, using a custom machined inox flange to support the o-ring. This is nice but requires close-tolerance machining and specific parts. On the contrary, cork is very easy to source, install, and is also durable. I guess that's sufficient for a simple guy like me!

 

All the best,

Antonio

[RevAaron]

That really is the advantage of cork. Anyone who can reasc a pen could learn how to fit a new cork.

 

That said, I am buying a few of Francis's 88 cartridges because it'll still take a lot less time than sanding down that cork! I'll save the cork-fitting time for my Kawecos with the super easy to remove piston assembly.

[fountainbel]

hi Douglas,

Small clarification :The Delrin piston cartridge is not consisting of 2 sandwiched washers

Instead its made of one solid Delrin part having a perfect dimensioned groove for the Oring in the middle.

Due the the smaller contact surface in the barrel, the large cord diameter of the "Buna N" O ring & the optimum pretension , the friction in the barrel is lower compared to a cork seal.

I expect also the life expectation will be considerably longer.

 

Francis

 

 

I see Francis has developed a O ring sandwiched by Dehlrin that replaces cork.

Edited January 25, 2009 by fountainbel

[igor witold]

A small question of  novice. Is there a way to restore the black colour on the vintage Aurora 88,? The piston knob and shell (? i am not sure it is called like that ) loses the  colour over the time.