Crack Repair?

[winterwolfen]

I'm looking for someone who I can fix my fountain pen.

It's a burnham 65, made of celloid. The crack is on the cap, close to the goldband, and not at the end of the caplip. I want it stabilized and hopefully gone, if it's possible.

I know the pen in many eyes is not 'worth' fixing, but in my eyes it means a lot to me, so I'm not asking the price of the repair, in this case I will pay for it even if it's pricy. I just want it to be fixed with good quality.

I want the person to be well known and have done this kind of repair before with good result, no newbies here, sorry.

btw, I'm from sweden, so I know the pen most be sent to someone overseas.

/mirjam

[Bill Wood]

Ron Zorn. Main Street Pens

[slippery when wet]

Ron Zorn. Main Street Pens

Curious to know what a repair of this nature would cost and just how stable does the repair/weld become

[winterwolfen]

I mailed Ron, 2-3 days ago, still no replay, maybe his on vaccation?

[Hooker56]

Winterwolfen,

 

I know from talking to him he gets a ton of email, but tries to answer it all in a timely manner. He also moderates and contributes a lot here... in addition to repairing pens all day and running his business. When you throw in pen shows and time with his family he's a BUSY guy. He may be at a show this week.

 

His repairs are top-notch and his knowledge of how to make them seems bottomless. In short, worth waiting for him to respond. There are many good repairers with a presence here. (I have no affiliation to anyone, but good endorsements for many- Ron is one of the best).

 

Good luck-

 

Clayton

[daredevil22r]

Can you upload pictures of the cap?

[Chi Town]

If you still need of a repairman I have one.....he is a professor in Phoenix, AZ ...... PM me for his info, he has done work for myself and others that I know......nice work and good priceing!

[FarmBoy]

Curious to know what a repair of this nature would cost and just how stable does the repair/weld become

Without seeing the pen and the crack it is hard to estimate. It would be fair to say the effort typically starts at $30 and goes up from there.

The work is not hard, but progress is slow if you allow proper curing time between steps. In some instances you must fix the cracks in a stepwise fashion since there are often multiple cracks. Most fun would be when pieces have fallen completely off and must be returned to their proper place-sort of a 3D jigsaw puzzle.

[TLMG]

Please upload a picture. Like FarmBoy said, about $30 and up is pretty common... but it really depends on how damaged it really is and, more importantly, how weirdly placed the damage is.

[Sasha Royale]

If you feel the pen worth repairing, it is worth repairing. Many of my fountain pens have value beyond monetary.

Not all "fractures" are repairable. Sometimes, the solution is a replacement part. Sometimes, it is retirement.

 

Good luck.

[northlodge]

With the Burnham I would imagine a replacement cap might be a cheaper and quicker solution. A picture of the pattern might help here.

[winterwolfen]

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/280x200q90/674/UyVWEy.jpg

 

here is the tiny crack. I have been looking for celloid burnhams on ebay, they are rare, and I don't know how I'll find a replacement cap

 

mirjam

Edited July 27, 2014 by winterwolfen

[GG917]

Curious to know what a repair of this nature would cost and just how stable does the repair/weld become

 

I did repair a few cracks on celluloid by solvent welding. It is very strong if allowed to cure for long enough, something like a week.

One who did impress me the most was on the barrel thread of an LJ esterbrook. something like 3mm long crack, in the same axis than of the barrel. I was quite worried that it will not hold because the barrel needed to be heated for the section to be inserted in it. Once the section inserted and the barrel "cold", it is impossible to move the section or rotate it. But the repair is holding very well. With glue it is impossible to obtain such a result.

[Ron Z]

I have been working to catch up on quite a backlog of repairs, and are also focusing on repairs to deliver at the DC show at the end of next week. The queue for new repairs is closed until close to the end of Aug. 2014 just so that I get it back down to something more reasonable. Email response has had to be delayed at times to focuse on other things.

 

Solvent welding is an involved process, and an evolving process. I find that simple solvent welding does not quite do the job, and requires using a slurry of liquid celluloid to fill rather than depending on the material of the cap/barrel itself. The slurry makes a huge difference. The best solvent to use is not available to the ameature, not that they want to have it around the house. It's nasty.

 

Cure time is a minimum of a week. Best results are obtaind when you can let the repair set for closer to a month because the repaired area has hardened to something close to the surrounding material so the repair blends better. Todd is correct - it often has to be done in steps with an appropriate time for the repair to harden between steps.

 

Blending is the most difficult step. Many factors come into play, including the original material itself. Each pen responds differently to the solvents because the exact mix varied a bit from batch to batch, so from pen to pen, and the environment in which each pen was kept or used varies too. A curved cap lip can be challenging because you need to preserve the profile if the repair is to be invisible, and polishing it without having a crack pop up somewhere else in the cap lip can be interesting.

 

My repairs start at about $35 and go up depending on how difficult the repair turns out to be, and how many steps it takes.

 

In short, it isn't fast and not likely cheap, but worth it for many pens.

[winterwolfen]

Thanx everyone for the answers, and Ron, I can wait for repair until your open, If it's ok with you?

 

The money is not the problem, I just want it fixed and can wait a long time for good quality.

 

Btw, I'm the one who started this topic https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/266762-this-is-what-you-bid-on-when-you-really-want-a-mont-blanc-strited/ I won a lot with 3 montblanc, 2 of the 3 pens had cracks, and my first thought was to send them back. Well, somone told me to contact Tom Westerich who also restors pens, I guess, and he persuade me to save the pens. Well the green strited montblanc 146 alone will cost me over 400$ to save/restore, so yeah, my wallet will cry when I get the bill, but If I really want to save a pen, I'll pay for it too.

 

mirjam

[Ron Z]

Contact me by email at the end of August.