A few questions from a new guy

[Dave Colangelo]

So I have been doing the DE razor restoration thing for about 2 years now and on a local pick I found some FP's and picked them up. In the past week I have obtained about 7 pens that are all in the process of being restored. I did all my reading, practiced disassembly on the cheapest pen, got the hand of the hair dryer and spark plug pliers method and now have all the pens apart waiting for sacs. Order was placed this morning from FountainPenSacs.com and should be here in a few days. I got some of the sac cement from them as well to secure them. Now for my questions.

1) I have read that some people dont like sac cement, what if anything else do you use.
2) When I removed the top portion of the pen (nib and collar around the nib) some seemed to be cemented and some seemed to just be shoved in there. When i get the new sacks should I re-cement the top part in, what do people use for this? Part of me just wants to use force to hold it in incase something happens and I need to get the pen apart again.
3) The pens are as follows, does anyone know how the top portions were secured to the barrel.
- Schaffer Jade Senior (excited to get this one writing)
- Parker Challenger Deluxe
- And a few other lever and push buttons I cant remember right now.

Regards
Dave

 

[nemo]

1) Use shellac (that's what you'll be getting from FPS)
2) Don't use any adhesive on the section to barrel joint. Make sure none gets in there from sac replacement job
3) Friction fit on the two mentioned. You'll now have to learn how to spell Sheaffer.

Have fun, good luck and Dave, post some pics!

 

[Dave Colangelo]

Sounds good, I am away for the weekend and dont expect the stuff untill early next week so Ill post some pics of the restorations while they are under way. Unfortunately I forgot to snap some before pics but #0000 steel wool has already cleaned up the nibs and metal bits really well. Some Meguiars PlastiX Polish has done wonders to the barrels and ohter plastic parts. The Esterbrook I am currently carrying around has been great so far. I temporarily fashioned a new bar for the lever system out of some thin copper strip. A new one is on order from FPS. I also ended up with a Sheaffer bold Italic nib and have been practicing my gothic lettering as well.

Regards
Dave

 

[nemo]

Uh oh. Keep the steel wool away from the pens, Dave. Like in the next room. That'll ruin the finish on trim faster than just about anything, the gold wash is pretty darn thin, and it won't do any good for the gold nibs either. Save it for chrome on the car. There's a fine line between restoration and preservation.

I made a plastic pressure bar for an Esterbrook once, copper sounds good too!

 

[strop]

I've had a couple that had a very loose fitting section/barrel joint, to the point they almost came apart at will. I applied a thin coat of shellac and let it DRY THOUROUGHLY. This acts to enlarge the nipple diameter on the section just enough to allow for a nice friction fit, without acting like glue.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

The Wool has been working great to clean up the metal pieces and I have read elsewhere to use it. If I should not be using it what should I use to clean the nibs. Keep in mind I'm using #0000 wool and it basicaly turns to powder as I use it. So far it has done a great job of getting old ink off the nibs and making them quite shiny once again. It has not removed (at least noticeably) any old or any finish anywhere. I used it to clean up an esterbrook I have been using for about a week now with no issues.

Regards
Dave

 

[nemo]

Esterbrook has stainless hardware, not so bad. The gold clips and capbands on Sheaffers and Parkers would be particularly vulnerable though.

Dried ink and a bit of tarnish will come right off with a jeweler's cloth, toothpaste and a soft toothbrush, or even Simichrome and Maas polish. The pastes have a way of finding their way into the feed so buff very sparingly with a little on your thumb or a Q-tip then wash well with mild soapy water, you don't want any junk remaining in the nib slit. This is good only for solid gold nibs, not plated.

Steel wool may shine up any brassing today but in a month the pen will not look so happy.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

So the restorations are more or less complete, here they are




from left to right,
Sheaffers Jade
Sheaffwe with a bold italic nib
Waltham push button filler
Esterbrook dollar pen
Arnold
Unknown small pen

Regards
Dave

 

[syngent]

Nice collection Dave

 

[oc_in_fw]

The red one is a Sheaffer No Nonsense. If you eyedropper it it will hold a lot of ink. I just put silicone grease on the threads on my two. Even after sitting a month, they start right up once you pick them up.