Vintage Koh-I-Noors--Where To Start?

[takkun]

Hi everyone!

 

As I mentioned in my (re)introduction to the site, I was bequeathed a number of technical pens by my mother, a former illustrator. I'm an architecture graduate student who does a lot of hand-drafting, so it's a fun bit of goodies and a step up from felt-tip Pentels I've been using.

What was given to me was a complete boxed set of the 3065s, circa 1970, with cartridge-style filling, and even a mostly-full bottle of ink and cleaning fluid, along with a couple of loose piston-filling 3060s. Those, unfortunately, have trashed nibs, and I can't really figure out if the filler knob is coming loose or not.

 

So far I've taken all the sections apart and am soaking them in Rapido-eze. Some have flats to take the nib unit out of the section, while others seem to have a conical end and no provisions for disassembly.

 

So what ought I be doing to get these in workable shape? Are the self-fillers salvageable?

 

I also was given a Pelikan Graphos dip pen set with a tremendous array of nibs, but that's for another day.

 

 

 

 

[cpmcnamara]

I can't offer much here in terms of restoration, but have a newer set and generally like them. Soaking in rapidoeze has solved all problems I've run into, though with a set so old, dealing with acrylic ink, I'm not sure if anything is guaranteed.

 

Have you seen the bulb syringe that Koh-i-noor sells? It can help force rapidoeze through the nibs if soaking doesn't work.

 

They also have jewel tipped nib replacements that resist wear better than the stock versions. I'm not sure if the piston fillers can take a newer nib or not.

[takkun]

Yep, as recommended by someone in another thread, I picked up a cleaning kit. jar of Rapido-eze, bulb, and point wrench.

 

For future reference for anyone finding this page for a similar:

http://crythebird.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/howtocleanrapidographpens/ This was a useful guide. The older pens were just a hair different, with no flats for the wrench and a metal retainer for the weight/wire assembly, preventing me from removing it fully. Brass retainers for the ink reservoir, too.

Essentially, I let the entire front pieces and the reservoirs soak for 24 hours, allowing me to loosen the points out of the sections with finger pressure. Good god, was that a lot of gunk. I'll probably avoid filling these with India ink..

Q-tips, the blower bulb, and lots of paper towels, until they ran clean water through. A jewelers screwdriver let me chip out the solidified block of pigment from the reservoirs. Let everything dry overnight, and I inked up the 1mm one. Works beautifully. Just in time to finish my midterm project.

Thankfully, only one nib was completely destroyed. The weight had come off the wire, and I was able to source a replacement from the bookstore's fine writing section.

 

As for the piston-filler, more of the same. I'm told they're hard rubber, so I just dipped it in warm water long enough to get the filler mechanism and the (also broken) point out, washed everything, and reassembled. The colored band that retains the piston shaft takes a bit of work to get out, but a rubber band helps.

 

 

Second question now: I might end up using the piston filler as a sketching pen to replace the Microns I usually use. Does anybody have a favorite nib width and FP ink that plays nice with stylos?

[cpmcnamara]

 

 

Second question now: I might end up using the piston filler as a sketching pen to replace the Microns I usually use. Does anybody have a favorite nib width and FP ink that plays nice with stylos?

 

I'd be curious to know as well. My guess would be that, with fountain pen ink, smaller tips with thicker inks (platinum carbon black) would be best to match the viscosity of drawing ink. That said, I think drawing ink is still best if they are used often - that's what these pens are designed for, and they don't have fins or a feed like a fp. Also, awesome job cleaning up/restoring the pens

[takkun]

Thanks! I'm going to attempt putting a new O-ring and sac in a vintage Sheaffer Touchdown I got off the 'bay....eventually.

 

Re: ink--I picked up Pelikan Fount India at the recommendation of someone at Artist and Craftsman. So far, so good. Gentler than regular India ink, but viscous and rich colors for the sort of drawing I'll do with it.

[Fox Point]

Hi Ian, I have an old radiograph which I am having no luck getting open. Did all of yours disassemble readily? My nib section won't budge even with pliers and a rubber band, and the piston works its way out only about a mm beyond the normal range before freezing so determinedly I'm afraid I'll break the knob. Where did you think there was ebonite in the piston filler? Mine has a black body and, I believe, a seemingly intact 0.7 mm tip.

 

Cheers, it is very hesrtening to read about someone else's success.

 

Fox Point

[brewsky]

My grand father recently gifted me his old koh i noor rapidiograph from the 1950's. The pen is in excellent shape (functionally). The piston section simply unscrews like any piston mechanism. I rinsed it out and filled it with Parker quink and it immediately wrote lovely. Only downside is that the hard rubber is discolored and the cap band and clip are brassed heavily.

[takkun]

Hi Ian, I have an old radiograph which I am having no luck getting open. Did all of yours disassemble readily? My nib section won't budge even with pliers and a rubber band, and the piston works its way out only about a mm beyond the normal range before freezing so determinedly I'm afraid I'll break the knob. Where did you think there was ebonite in the piston filler? Mine has a black body and, I believe, a seemingly intact 0.7 mm tip.

 

Cheers, it is very hesrtening to read about someone else's success.

 

Fox Point

 

Soak, soak, soak. Rapido-eze worked well, though I've heard of ethanol and ammonia soaks too. I just didn't want to take chances. After letting the nib end and the piston end soak overnight separately, they came off using a rubber band as a grip. The trick is to not back out the piston knob, but to grab the colored ring and turn that, pulling out the whole assembly. If you just try the knob, it bottoms out against the retainer. Again, it took a lot of soaking before either end would budge, and even more before the nib disassembled and it turned out it was shot anyway.

 

As for the ebonite body---https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/135052-on-hold-vintage-koh-i-noor-rapidograph-piston-fill-hard-rubber/ this thread gave me that indication. I have one of these originally labeled for a 0.7mm/#2 point, and thus a blue band.

 

All in all, it was a good learning experience. I just got back from a trip to Canada involving a lot of plein air drawing, and they did not disappoint.

Edited October 20, 2014 by takkun

[sd10521]

A few months ago a found a bunch I had from the 70's when I was in high school. Luckily most were in good shape and easy to take apart to clean. I have not had the nerve to ink any of them up yet.

I would only stick with the Rapido - eze, I remember melting the body of one of these back in my stupid days.

I loved to write anything from class notes to cassette track lists with these.

If any one is in need of the ring to remove the nib let me know, I have a few extra.