Frankenpen -- Part Vintage Arnold, Part Modern Jinhao

[trdsf]

No major surgery involved; I've been casting about for large replacement nibs because the one that had been on this Arnold was damaged beyond my ability to repair. Today, the batch of Jinhao nibs finally arrived, so I was able to complete the 'mechanical' repair.

 

Anyway, polished the body, replaced the sac, and replaced the nib. The metal trim will need to be replated, which I will do when I get my home plating kit. Until then, this has turned into a lovely Deco-ish large black pen. This photo is of a dip test using Pelikan Brilliant Black.

 

[Pickwick]

That's very imaginative, you've turned it into a classic pen. Well done! Now you've given me an idea, thanks.

[white_lotus]

Neat!

[Angela]

I like it!

[trdsf]

Thanks, everyone. The goal was a working pen, rather than a historical restoration -- and for the person for whom it's a gift, it's the perfect style. He'll like something big, black, bold, and somewhere between Art Deco and Steampunk. I can't wait to refresh the gold plate; against that black, that'll look stunning.

 

I had wondered what the reaction might be to restoring a vintage pen as a pen, without special regard to historical accuracy. I would definitely hesitate to "hot-rod" a vintage Conklin or Parker or the like... but there are so many Wearevers and Arnolds and other so-called lower grade pens, just getting them working and looking good as (if not better than) new seems an interesting project.

[Beechwood]

Thanks, everyone. The goal was a working pen, rather than a historical restoration -- and for the person for whom it's a gift, it's the perfect style. He'll like something big, black, bold, and somewhere between Art Deco and Steampunk. I can't wait to refresh the gold plate; against that black, that'll look stunning.

 

I had wondered what the reaction might be to restoring a vintage pen as a pen, without special regard to historical accuracy. I would definitely hesitate to "hot-rod" a vintage Conklin or Parker or the like... but there are so many Wearevers and Arnolds and other so-called lower grade pens, just getting them working and looking good as (if not better than) new seems an interesting project.

 

 

Completely agree, keeping a pen usable with a modern nib has to be be preferable to allowing it to sit in a parts bin.

 

Noted the comment on Parkers and the hesitation although I bought a 20s Streamline that had been fitted with a UK Parker Duofold Maxima 50 nib by Oxonian and it is the perfect writing experience, again better than searching for a more correct (and probably inferior) nib. The hot rod analogy is probably on the money, a modern V8 fitted to a '57 Nomad.

[trdsf]

Completely agree, keeping a pen usable with a modern nib has to be be preferable to allowing it to sit in a parts bin.

 

Noted the comment on Parkers and the hesitation although I bought a 20s Streamline that had been fitted with a UK Parker Duofold Maxima 50 nib by Oxonian and it is the perfect writing experience, again better than searching for a more correct (and probably inferior) nib. The hot rod analogy is probably on the money, a modern V8 fitted to a '57 Nomad.

Well, I have in mind to take some of those old "third tier" pens and try to make something special out of them. Restoration has two meanings, and I'm always torn between the two of them: restoration to original condition, and restoration to functionality, which may mean straying from original condition sometimes.

 

I suppose my dividing line is based on a nebulous combination of collectibility and rarity. I wouldn't dare change a Parker 51, but I might be willing to experiment on a Parker 21. I'd never dream of putting anything but a Conklin nib in Grandpa's Symetrik; I'd love to brass- or gold-plate the trim on a red Estie (and I bet that would look fantastic). I have a Sheaffer body sitting in the 'fix me' bin, and it's going to wait patiently for the appropriate parts; I'm perfectly happy to mix and match among the pile of Wearevers I've amassed, and am already considering what structural changes I might be able to make to give them a little 'wow' factor... but I do prefer to restore to original condition first when reasonable.

[fabri00]

Where you purchased the jinhao nibs?

[Pickwick]

I bought a Walker Davison eyedropper probably made during the first decade of the 20th century for $10. I could never get it to work, even after experimenting with different feeds and attempting to fit a sac. The barrel and cap are in pristine condition and the original owner may well have given up on it. your imaginative concept led me to try out something similar. I bought a Hero 369 last year for $3 and the nib is very small but has a slight flex to it, and writes smoothly. The pen is too slim for me, so I tried the section in the barrel of the Walker Davison and found the threads matched. Here's the result.

[trdsf]

Where you purchased the jinhao nibs?

The great Bay of E. Caught 'em on markdown, I think it was eight bucks for the five of them. Hard to turn down at that price.

[trdsf]

I bought a Walker Davison eyedropper probably made during the first decade of the 20th century for $10. I could never get it to work, even after experimenting with different feeds and attempting to fit a sac. The barrel and cap are in pristine condition and the original owner may well have given up on it. your imaginative concept led me to try out something similar. I bought a Hero 369 last year for $3 and the nib is very small but has a slight flex to it, and writes smoothly. The pen is too slim for me, so I tried the section in the barrel of the Walker Davison and found the threads matched. Here's the result.

Nice! Maybe we should have a Frankenpen thread.

[Pickwick]

Nice! Maybe we should have a Frankenpen thread.

Well, there are quite a number of members experimenting, it will give a good exchange of ideas, what can be done bringing pens back to life, even improving their look as you have done.

[fabri00]

The great Bay of E. Caught 'em on markdown, I think it was eight bucks for the five of them. Hard to turn down at that price.

 

 

...Thanks...!

[SteveE]

Nice job! Don't forget, this is not much different than things would have been had the original owner brought the Arnold to a pen repair shop in the 1940's or 1950's and had them install an un-branded Warranted nib. When prospecting for pens in the wild, we often find mis-matched pens that were repaired long in the past but are still usable today. That's the reality of the dual standard for "restoration" although I would probably call the intentional mis-matching a form of repair rather than restoration. It might be just me, but when I hear/see "restored" I think of restoration to its original form rather than original function.

 

I guess we could coin a new term. . . "functional restoration." The purists would hate us. . .

[Zookie]

Very cool. That's something that I've been getting into lately as well. I bought one of those Hero 369 with the intention of stripping out the sac and nib. I've got a few busted up pens to "play" with. I wonder..........

[trdsf]

Nice job! Don't forget, this is not much different than things would have been had the original owner brought the Arnold to a pen repair shop in the 1940's or 1950's and had them install an un-branded Warranted nib. When prospecting for pens in the wild, we often find mis-matched pens that were repaired long in the past but are still usable today. That's the reality of the dual standard for "restoration" although I would probably call the intentional mis-matching a form of repair rather than restoration. It might be just me, but when I hear/see "restored" I think of restoration to its original form rather than original function.

 

I guess we could coin a new term. . . "functional restoration." The purists would hate us. . .

I can have my purist moments -- you should hear me on the subject of martinis; it was only this past summer that I admitted that using vodka instead of gin wasn't criminal mischief (on second thought, maybe you shouldn't hear me on the subject of martinis...) -- so I'm not going to begrudge them theirs.

 

Now that I've had a bit of a think, a better word than 'restore' in this case might be 'renovate' -- that gives a clearer idea of what's been done. Although I still like 'Frankenpen'.

[trdsf]

Very cool. That's something that I've been getting into lately as well. I bought one of those Hero 369 with the intention of stripping out the sac and nib. I've got a few busted up pens to "play" with. I wonder..........

 

You can usually find small lots of pens on the Bay of E, few (if any) of which will be in immediate working order, that will be inexpensive enough to permit mad science experimentation and self-education without denting either your wallet or your collector's conscience too badly. I have a good-sized batch of non-functional Wearevers I'm slowly wandering through, alternately learning new techniques and getting new ideas. Generally, I try to restore first, and if that's not possible, then renovate, and if that's not possible, then just cannibalize for parts.