NYC Fountain Pen Restoration

[The Nid Hog]

It's been a while since I've posted anything FP related. Hope you guys are all doing well. I'm still alive and still writing--have two or three pens inked and running on any given day.

A friend of mine living in Manhattan was telling me that she has a number of vintage FPs that she inherited from her grandfather, and she'd like to restore them to working order. Anybody have any suggestions about places in the city for restoration? Is the Fountain Pen Hospital still a good resource?

 

[jar_]

FPN doesn't do repairs any more IIRC, they accept them but the farm the repair out to others.

My suggestion is that if you can get a good picture of the pens maybe we can suggest the best route for them. Some of the restores do better with some vintage filling systems than other restorers.

 

[The Nid Hog]

FPN doesn't do repairs any more IIRC, they accept them but the farm the repair out to others.

My suggestion is that if you can get a good picture of the pens maybe we can suggest the best route for them. Some of the restores do better with some vintage filling systems than other restorers.

That would have been my advice to her too, but I don't think that she wants to get that deep into the weeds of fountain pen restoration. When I started to explain that there were people who were really good with Pelikans and others who were experts at calibrating nibs, her eyes started to glaze over. I think that she just wants a one stop service where she can drop them or send them off. Which, in 2017, narrows down the field a lot, doesn't it.

 

[Vacumatic]

The best reasonably priced repairer that I know about is Danny Fudge at the Write Pen

http://www.thewritepen.net/

I have been restoring pens in England for many years and people come to me with broken caps, pens with missing nibs or parts missing and ask me what the cost of repairs might be and how much will the pen be worth when it is finished.

Most third tier pens will only be worth lunch money even after I have restored them to perfect working order at a cost of $40+. I would suggest that it may be worth casting your experienced eye over them before they go to repair and help your friend arrive at a cost effective solution - is the pen worth repairing? You also need to factor in the cost of postage in both directions.

Third tier pens, or pens with missing parts or substantial cracks in the plastic may be difficult to justify having repaired. You may be surprised to learn that such pens in a poor state of repair can still fetch good money on ebay and perhaps enough to pay for the cost of repairing the better pens.

 

[jar_]

Danny Fudge will certainly at the very least look the pens over and suggest which are worth restoring, which are worth restoring but by someone other than himself and which should simply be cherished as they are.

 

[Jut]

I would just send them all to Ron Zorn if time and price is not an issue...

 

[nemo]

I would just send them all to Ron Zorn if time and price is not an issue...

I would also consider Ron Zorn for an honest appraisal. He's been doing excellent restoration work and is near NY.

 

[Vacumatic]

Yes good work from Ron and very knowledgeable, I understand that the turnaround time is 4-6 months which might put some people off.

 

[jar_]

In fact Ron is the person FPH sends repairs to.

 

[Snargle]

Ron Zorn is great and the go-to person for any really complex or difficult repairs/restorations. As noted, his repair queue is quite long and he doesn't work cheap. For basic restorations, Danny Fudge is my first choice. Fast turnaround, good prices, and does a fine job.