I am in the process of trying to restore my Parker 61 Custom to functional use. The pen was given to me in 1978/79 by my late mother and I used it as my only pen until 3 years ago when the barrel cracked.

The pen has a cracked barrel, cracked hood, missing tip to the hood, missing hood arrow, dinged & badly eroded cap, and metal jewels with peeling plating. The hood has so many ink filled micro cracks that the colour has gone from burgundy to blackish and there is a white sheen to it when held at the correct angle to the light - just like an over stressed motorcycle visor. It's in a bad way, but the nib is great. This pen is never going to be sold - so it's value as a pristine P61 is nil, I just want to get it working, whatever it takes (except money!).

The pen is one is one of the UK made convertors.

The barrel is the principal item stopping the pen from being used every day.

Now, I have a small stock of brass & purpleheart timber. I measured the thread on the barrel side of the conector, it's a 16 thread per inch triple start thread. Not easy to copy for a new barrel. So, as the thread on the hood side of the connector is a 34 threads per inch single start thread I can copy it with my lathe much more easily (getting the right gearing is a story for a metalworking forum, not here). So, I've made a new purpleheart barrel with a brass threaded insert at one end and a brass jewel at the other. The connector and cartridge section is from 2 pieces of brass soldered together. Generally I'm happy as the hood screws on nicely and the pen is functional. BUT...

The hood is staggering to the end of its life. Can anyone advise me on how to get the nib unit out of the hood without doing damage to this fragile item? Basically, I'd prefer to get the nib unit out and make a new hood from cast aluminium using a variation on the lost wax process, and machine it to fit the nib. (If anyone wants to look at my home aluminium foundry web page look at http://www.geocities.com/richardandtracy/a...les/foundry.htm )
However at the moment I have no idea of how the hood is assembled. Can anyone point me to a cross section diagram - preferably dimensioned? There seems to be at least a nib, a central breather tube that goes into the cartridge convertor, a polythene(?) bulkhead/retainer and something else inside the hood. I'm a bit nervous about dismantling this lot. Can anyone help please?

Regards

Richard.

The nib is fixed to the front end of the collector, and the unit is secured inside the shell (hood) by the threaded ferrule onto which the barrel screws. The ferrule is sealed to the shell by a heat-softening adhesive. Heat the back area of the shell gently until it's quite warm, then grasp the ferrule with a plier that has a padded, rounded jaw. Grasp the shell with another similar plier, and unscrew the shell from the ferrule. The "guts" will remain with the shell. You can then simply pull the guts out the back of the shell, using due care and, if it sticks, soaking in cool water for a while before trying again.

Richard,

Thanks for this. The I think I may have got the ferrule out already - as I've re-made it with the 34tpi thread and at the other end I've made a new M10 x 1.5 barrel thread. The 'guts' certainly don't want to come out - at least without extreme force, and I think it's possible the 'polythene(?)' bulkhead I referred to is actually a glob of this heat softening adhesive you refer to. The bulkhead is moderately soft (which is why I thought it might be polythene), and an adhesive could show the same characteristics. I'll try softening it. Will hot tap water (approx 60C) do it, or do I need to get it hotter?

Regards

Richard.

Well both Richards, thanks for that, I served an apprenticeship as a patternmaker, which reading your link brought a lot of things back.

Coming back to the thread, I laughed out loud, as I forgot that this started off as a fountain pen question, which Richard was answering.

You'll have to be careful now, it's a Pandora's box all the weird and wonderful tools, yes just tools, you can make for fountain pen repair.

Best of luck and wellcome, I do not think this will be the last we'll hear of your adventures.

et

eckiethump,

What?!
More tools.
Oh no!
I have tools for carpentry, cabinet making, veneering, slating, bricklaying, plastering, tiling, decorating, plumbing, metal work, casting, welding, electrical work, sailmaking & so on in addition to the usual fixed tools of pillar drill, metal cutting bandsaw, grinder, mitresaw, vice, anvil & lathe. I do hope there aren't too many more I need - I haven't got much room left, and most of the remaining space is set aside to build a small forge when I can get around to it.

One thing I have been surprised with so far is that the tools I've got have easily enabled me to make all the mandrels, fixtures and gauges I want for the pen work I've attempted. And that turning the barrel down to the nearest 0.025mm (half thou) is not as difficult as I feared.

One site I have found particularly useful is Marv Klotz's site http://www.myvirtualnetwork.com/mklotz/ for programs to make machining easier. I used one of his programs, 'Profile', to generate a cutting list for the external profile on my pen barrel. All I needed was to measure 4 diameters at known positions along the barrel and the program then prints out the depth of cut at specified increments down the barrel. Using this incremental method you get an approximation to the shape with little steps that can be sanded or filed off. The net result was a replica P61 barrel shape from purpleheart and brass that needed virtually no application of lathe skills.
I must declare an interest with regard to Marv's site, he's been kind enough to publish two programs of mine (boltload & plate) and has been very helpful over the last couple of years with my efforts to learn how to use a lathe.

Regards

Richard.

you know what this thread needs?
PICTURES!!!!!!

Richard (the richardandtracy one),
this sounds like a great project. i'd love to see what it looks like. i also have some metalworking tools and have thought abut finding an old, worn-out "51" or 61 and doing what you're doing.

andy b.

--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(andy b @ Jul 27 2007, 05:48 PM) [snapback]339768[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->you know what this thread needs?
PICTURES!!!!!! [/quote]

When I can
a ) find a digital camera and
b ) find how to post photos
I will.

I may update my web site with the engineering drawings I used for the tooling, connector and barrel if anyone is interested. Let me know please if you are.

Regards

Richard.

You need to talk to a guy around these parts called Ralph Prather, he re-manufactures Parker "51"s and has made them from aluminium and titanium, he may be able to help you with some general tips on making hoods etc. He may not have done it for the 61, but all knowledge is power

Do update with the drawings, you are not alone in your interest for these things! But if it was mine I would be looking to get some old parts on eBay and repair the pen that way. But then your solution has more elegance

Link to Ralph on this forum http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...p?showuser=2467

Best,

Jim

Jim,

I'll post the web page when I've completed it.

The idea behind all my changes is that they're 100% reversible. I replace bits rather than modify them - that way I can put the spares back if I can ever afford them. Also, I actively enjoy making things.

Regards

Richard.