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Nib Removal, Pen Maintenence


Paul Austin

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New guy, with new-guy questions, appreciate your help and advice.

 

I would be grateful if someone would correct me if I have misunderstood what I've read on various threads.

 

My understanding is that when removing the nib of modern Pelikan M200 Classic Demonstrator, it is threaded in conventional thread, (counter-clockwise loosen, clockwise tighten) and removal should be done in with a finger grip that does not warp the nib.

 

Maintenance of piston involves using a toothpick to place a very small speck of silicone (someone said the size of a pin head) around the inside of the cylinder, and running the piston back and forth a few times. Does the interior of the piston need to be dry - and if so, "how dry," before you introduce the silicone?

 

When replacing nib, it should be "finger tight," not muscled into the barrel using any tools or anything to increase torque or leverage. (common-sense-tight)

 

Does any place a small speck of silicone on the threads of the nib to facilitate removal for next cleaning - or would that just gum it up?

 

Any kind of polish, or wax to use or avoid on the outside surfaces of the demonstrator models? (I've read to avoid alcohol on the pens) Has anyone used Meguiar car care products on their pens? (It may be a stupid question, but I'd rather ask it than mess up my pen, and Meguiar makes good surface-protection products.)

 

The general consensus seems to be that the plastic pistons do not cause any more problems than the brass ones on the M800 and M1000. (Having said that, once I learned that the brass pistons can be dis-assembled, I now find myself lingering over ads for the M800 and M100's.)

 

Thanks in advance for your comments and advice.

Edited by Paul Austin
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Piston does not need to be dry to introduce silicone grease. I don't put silicone grease on the nib unit threads as it is too easy to get the grease on the back end of the feed during reassembly, which can affect flow dramatically.

 

Pen polishes and waxes are available from some dealers. I'm not going to weigh in on the car products, but I can assure you that some would use them and some would say absolutely don't use them.

 

Pistons in the M2XX-M6XX are fine, and disassembly is really not needed 95% of the time...

Sun%20Hemmi2.jpg

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I've written how-to's about several of the topics that you've asked about...

 

How-to: Lubricate a Pelikan Piston

 

How-to: Safely Remove & Replace a Pelikan Nib

 

For polish or wax, I use Novus exclusively. Works quite well and is readily available. The pistons next to never need to be disassembled so do not long after the higher end Pelikan's for that reason alone. These are low maintenance high precision pens and repeated disassembly can have bad consequences.

PELIKAN - Too many birds in the flock to count. My pen chest has proven to be a most fertile breeding ground.

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THE PELIKAN'S PERCH - A growing reference site for all things Pelikan

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Thanks. Informative how-to's. Your point that repeated dissassembly could have unintended consequences is well taken. I'll look into the Novus products.

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Meguiar car wax should be just fine...not made it across town to buy any....still have antique Turtle wax on a shelf.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Thanks, Bo Bo. I love the Meguiar product line. They started out making furniture polish, and then when automobiles came along, started making wax for them.

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I don't polish my pens. The need for piston lubrication is not frequent. I finish with

a "touch" of lube on nib threads and piston know threads. Smoooooooth !

 

When turning the nib unit, grasp the nib and the feed underneath FIRMLY. You

want to twist both, rather than just the nib. I don't think the nib is meant to be

removed frequently. The pen is neither an eating instrument, nor a surgical tool.

"Clean enough" is good.

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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I buy old used pens(vintage), and finger polish them with semi-chrome....getting rid of any posting mars.

Then I wax them....preventing any mars from posting. Every 2 or 3 months I re-wax any pen that has been in use for a longer time.Often just a nice rub with flannel brings back the shine.

I'd been interested a number of years ago ...but Novus didn't ship overseas.

 

I pad my left hand's forefinger with a paper towel, placing the thumb on the nib top, before twisting the pen body. I though have a number of the old very delicate 3&4 rill/comb Pelikan nibs which are delicate....especially the first time I take the nib off....in some times they are on tight....tighter than when I put it back.

Edited by Bo Bo Olson

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Thanks, Sasha, and Bo Bo, for your thoughts. Sasha, I think I'll use a very tiny spot of silicone on the nib threads as well. You make a good point, that we will neither eat or do surgery with fountain pens, and clean enough, is in fact, clean enough.

 

But I'm afraid taht I am afflicted with the need to fiddle. Take apart. Put back together. Polish. Tweak. I did it to my bicycles when I was a kid, and still do. (My wife, saint that she is - 30 years - allows me to keep my bicycle in the dining room - but marriage and bicycles are probably subjects for another thread.)

 

That's one reason I've enjoying my Noodler Ahab. Made to be taken apart, put back together. O-rings you can replace from the hardware store. (if you can still find a "hardware store") I hope to learn on the Ahab, and use it for practice, and as a way to re-direct the need to fiddle, away from my Pelikan (when it finally gets here)

 

Bo Bo, I believe I may adopt a similar schedule to yours: reasonable cleaning, with special care not to damage the pen. Thanks for the suggestion of how to grip the nib. I think I'll also try to preserve some of the patina/history the pen may carry from it's past.

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TWSBI pens are (at least the Vac 700) are also a bit more user-serviceable than others, so you may want to look into those pens. The Vac 700 even comes with a tool/wrench to remove the piston :)

 

I have the same affliction; I currently do not have a single pen that I haven't completely disassembled (save removing the feed from my Lamy Safari, Studio, and Pilot Parallel). When I clean my pens, my mind goes "Yeah, the water's running clear... but while we're here, why not get under the section?"

"I have nixed all Noodler's inks in large part because of their feel, but also their behavior, etc. When I put Iroshizuku or Sailor ink into my pens, it's like the ink, pen, and paper are having a 3-some with smooth 'n sultry 70's jazz playing in the background." ~ Betweenthelines

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Another bicycle/FP afflicted here. I can't dissagree with any of the advice you have received: Fiddling, dissasembling and 'maintaining' is a need we all have to address to some degree, some of us more than others. This behavior is best reserved for your Noodler or the Twsbi as noted above. Feel free to maintain them to death, but spare your Pelikans the torture. (You wouldn't scrub your Van Gough with Simple Green would you?) Routine maintenance for bikes makes sense becuase you know that winter road grime is just grinding paste for that rear derailleure, but you will likely never be sitting on a curb using you Pelikan in a winter rain storm.

 

I have a Pel 120 which I bought new in the late 60's (last century). It has been serviced exactly once since I bought it. It began leaking ink out the back end. I tried to remove the nib but came to the conclusion that the nib and section were welded into the pen body ( I was a noobv). A Pen wizard took pity on me and removed the nib (lots of soaking in warm water, gentle steady pressure to unscrew the nib). Then added the rquired tiny drop of silicone grease.... et voila'! Pen was 'fixed'.

 

Thus 'routine' maintenance my be approriate on about a 40 year schedule. Write this down on the calendar now so that you donlt forget to dissassemble and tune up your lovelly Pelikan in 2055, .... or maybe to remind yourself that it is not yet time for mantenance just because you have the itch. When you get the itch, go out in the garage and clean your chain.

 

A good rule of thumb when adding silicone grease to the piston/barrel interface: If you are not sure if you have too big a glob on the end of that tooth pick,... you do. It is nearly impossible to add too little to be effective. Don't do this 'routinely'. This is not a sutuation where if a lttle is good a lot is better, think less (volume and frequency) is better. If you are not sure if your pen needs lubing, .... it doesn't. You will know when it does, the turning knob will be a little resitent or your pen me leak a bit. Use your pens lovingly and often, this is the best 'maintenance' you can give them.

 

My main ride is a cutom Ti framed Tournesol by Hampsten (Seattle), and fabricated by Kent Eriksen (Colorado). There are others; a single speed (Rivendel), a tandem (Davinci designs), and an old Ibis Hybrid.

 

PS: Bike in living room? ... how is that a problem?

Bike in bedroom? ... you may be a candidate for professional counselling.

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Thanks for feedback on pen maintenance. Enjoying the Ahab, will treat my Pelikan like a baby bird, and not kill it with kindness.

 

I ride a Scwhinn pedal-brake fat-tire beach cruiser I got from a big-box store - ride it to and from work, to the grocery store, most all of my local errands. Put 3,000 miles per year on it for a couple of years, but then the odometer battery went dead, and I took it off the bike. Riding it five years. Love it. Stand up to pedal up a hill, coast down. Cup holder on the handle bar.

 

Back to pens: I'm finding my penmanship practice to be so relaxing, so soothing. Are other folks finding this to be true?

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Yew, the analog nature of the FP (plus other things like aesthetic pleasure in using it) is a big reason for my interest. It's an antidote to fast electronically-dominated life whilst being very useful. The slow food movement of the desk-job era...

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DrCodfish, I have a question, does that 120 still work? I have recently bought a 400 and the piston unit doesn't work and it leaks ink from the piston knob, especially during the final turn that closes the piston knob. I couldn't remove the nib much as I tried but then again I didn't try soaking in warm water, just used normal water for an hour or so.

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Pelikan pens are not designed to take apart...sooner than later you will ruin the pen. It is not a Twsbi or Ahab.

It does not need to be AR operating room clean......I'm sure some time in the next 30 years my '50's pens might need some maintenance, like a new gasket.

 

Rick said once, something like, "you only have to put silicon in the barrel every 3 or more years."

 

Just wait until you feel it 'need' it. It is not like having to change oil in your car at regular intervals.

 

Yes, I can see putting half a rice corn of silicon in a pen that sat for a couple of generations in the back of the drawer with dried out ink.I do 'regrease' all my piston pens with twist out nibs on arrival...in many were such pens.

 

One of my "oldest" owned Pelikans is a '56 400nn....I've had it some five years and it has not needed a second treatment of silicon grease. If and when it feels draggy or hard to move the piston, then I'll fix the problem when it happens. Even though it's simple to do.

 

One way to prevent wear is to screw out the nib, clean the pen with a needle or rubber ball syringe. You don't have to cycle it so often when changing inks. You will have to cycle it a bit to get the ink out of the feed.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Thank you all for your responses. It seems that less may be more, in terms of Pelikan maintenance. I'll plan to use my Ahab for something to take apart and tinker with.

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Other than a flush, I have never once needed to maintain a modern Pelikan. Though the need has nothing to do with jonesing to take a pen apart.

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I don't polish my pens. The need for piston lubrication is not frequent. I finish with

a "touch" of lube on nib threads and piston know threads. Smoooooooth !

 

When turning the nib unit, grasp the nib and the feed underneath FIRMLY. You

want to twist both, rather than just the nib. I don't think the nib is meant to be

removed frequently. The pen is neither an eating instrument, nor a surgical tool.

"Clean enough" is good.

Rotating that nib on the feed even slightly will change the flow characteristics quite a bit.

Careful, and take your time.

"Today is, where your book begins...the rest is still unwritten"

-Natasha Bedingfield

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