Vacumatic Repair - The Journey Begins

[Ytland]

Hi all!

 

That's it. I've decided to run the gauntlet and repair my broken Vacumatic. I bought this one (pics below!) off a fellow FPNner about a while ago knowing it wasn't holding ink, but I figured I'd send it in for repair and hopefully have a fully functional pen for cheap... Well, reality has a nasty way of kicking in when you least expect it and the sheer price of sending a pen overseas from Australia for repair far outweighs any saving I would have made, so I figured that if I'm already going to invest money into making this Vac functional, why not learn a few skills and buy a few tools on the way?

 

So, any advice on the required toolset? Of course I've read the articles on Richard Binder's and Ron Zorn's site, and also just ordered 'Da Book', but I want to know you guys' take on it!

I managed to get the filler out without any fancy implements since it wasn't screwed in all that tightly. I can see that the diaphragm is quite worn and a new one will be needed. This Vac also needs quite a good polish... It has quite a shallow but noticeable scratch on it that would be nice to buff away, as well as a multitude of microscratches...

 

And thus the journey begins.

 

 

A "before" pic of the 'patient'

 

This nib looks like it's semiflex EF, only minimal pressure spreads the tines!

 

 

Great transparency... This baby NEEDS to be used.

 

 

The sorry state of the diaphragm...

 

 

 

I'll be sure to update you all on the progress of this repair!

 

[Apologies for the terrible photography, my good camera needs a recharge... But not bad for a phone camera, huh?]

Thanks for all your help :clap1:

 

ytland

 

Edited for clarity.

Edited June 12, 2012 by Ytland

[Yanks27]

I have a Vac that I'm waiting on delivery and will need a new sac as well.

[Ron Z]

With transparency like that, I would avoid any of the boutique inks or super saturated inks because they will stain the inside of the barrel. A more gentle ink like Pelikan blue will help to preserve the transparency.

[penmanila]

congrats and good luck on taking the plunge. i've found the vacumatic repair kit from woodbin (in canada) more than adequate for restoring many of my vacs, and it's not too expensive, either--about what you'd pay for a working vac major:

 

http://www.woodbin.ca/VacumaticToolsNibsJewels.html

[Ytland]

Thanks Ron and Penmanilla for your replies!

 

I'll be sure not to use aggressive inks in this one, thanks for the heads up. It's interesting that it's so easy to stain a Vac barrel, they seem so durable in every other way from what I've read on FPN. I'll probably limit the ink to J Herbin EdS, which doesn't seem to me like an especially aggressive ink.

 

Penmanilla, I appreciate the link . Ive actually contacted the woodbin for payment on a bunch of stuff I want to buy now, but haven't got an email confirming payment yet... That intro Vac repair kit looks very tempting...

 

Regards

ytland

[Ytland]

I have a Vac that I'm waiting on delivery and will need a new sac as well.

 

Yanks27, I hope you enjoy the pen! I've used a Vac before but I sold it to fund another purchase. They're some pretty sweet pens! I'm sure that once you get it repaired you will be a very happy (if now hopelessly addicted...) Vac user. If you don't want to repair it yourself, there are plenty of eager and skilled repairmen waiting to do it for you, such as Ron Zorn of Main Street Pens who has replied to this thread above.

 

Good luck

 

EDITed to remove a ridiculously large amount of exclamation marks. I shouldn't yell when I type :embarrassed_smile:

Edited June 13, 2012 by Ytland

[inkthefinks]

IMO, there is nothing more satisfying in this hobby than restoring a pen yourself. I've never sent one out to a pro, and I probably never will. My first Vac was a challenge, but it gets easier every time. You will also be able to restore Vac-filling "51"s with the same tools and skills... good luck!