Hi all. I'm not a total neophyte to fountain pen repair, having restored a couple of Sheaffer Snorkels (one for me, one for my father for Christmas). During Christmas, my mother gave me a couple of Vacumatics that were given to her by her father. My engineer's instincts required that I give repair a try. I decided to focus on the "nicer" of the two pens.

Thanks to the *great* advice here, I was able to remove the old diaphragm (I have a replacement on order) and fully disassemble the pen for cleaning. I found that a number of my watchmaking tools (another hobby of mine) were useful for removing the tapered collar and cleaning out old diaphragm remnants. Sadly, my *one* bout of carelessness was in attempting to wiggle the nib free...it is now in two pieces.

Everything else looks good, so I am confident that I will be able to get this pen fully restored once I source a new nib. For reference, I could not find a date imprint on the barrel (worn away?), but based on design features and Richard Binder's excellent website, I've narrowed the date of manufacture to the 1942-1948 range.

Hope this was of interest.

Congrats on the 1st steps and on a misadventure - I once ripped the feed off a sheaffer in a "wiggle" attempt - (really the thing wiggled promisingly). Any who - if you are looking for a nib - you may want to post in the Marketplace as a want to buy ad. Also post the length of the pen "capped" and the code on the barrel. May mean more to certain vac - aware people than others - in the search of finding a proper fitting nib. A close up of the nib would also be helpful (just find a nearby magnifying glass - sshh - do not let the photography people hear this )
Good Luck
badrsj

Thanks for the reply! I had put a small WTB on the Marketplace but have added some measurements and a nib photo.

No date code I can find on the barrel...I'll have to ask the Parker wizards on the brand subforum.

Depending on where the break lies, you might want to consider having the nib rewelded. This would also depend on how you feel about the pen as a family heirloom: would it be the same or at least acceptable with replacement parts. Repair would likely be more expensive than replacement, but you should be aware that it is an option.

UPDATE: Just saw the photo. Since the weld would not have to go through the imprint, it would be pretty economical. Ask Greg Minuskin how much he would charge. Expect to pay somewhere in the $20-40 range, plus shipping.

Thanks...I had just assumed a replacement would be more economical, but maybe repair is an option too. I'll take that under consideration. There is a second crack in the small piece as well.

Just a quick update. I have been able to source a replacement nib (cheaper than a re-weld based on the estimates I got) and await its arrival. I will keep the broken nib and perhaps have it re-welded at a later time.

I have installed a new diaphragm, thanks to Richard Binder's tutorials. The old pellet pocket needed to be trimmed a fair bit to accommodate the new Debutante sized diaphragm; I presume the plastic must have shrunk over the last six decades. Although it may offend the purists, I was able to remove the threaded collar without a Vacumatic tool (I was not keen on spending $40 for a tool I would use on restoring a single pen). I found that carefully using pliers with curved jaws and a thick piece of rubber tubing to protect the collar threads did the trick. I've pictured the setup below; the tubing has in ID of ~6 mm and an OD of ~11 mm. The tubing fit snugly over the exposed portion of the threaded collar to provide good friction. Only minor force had to be applied to the pliers to get sufficient grip to loosen or tighten the collar, thus preventing damage.

Congratulations on doing this all youself. I thought that I could do anything until I broke the nipple off of a Sheaffer section and ripped the fins off of a P21 feed . And I'm still trying to fix stuff .

Thanks...though the nib now lying in two pieces might argue otherwise.

Congrats on your work thus far - excepting the nib, of course. You might consider building a knock-out block for nib/feed removal. It's a much safer way to remove most nibs - non-threaded of course.

I would also suggest that you were fortunate to not damage the filler unit. I broke down and bought a vac wrench - the block model and it was a good investment as I was able to pick up a few vacs at estate sales, junk shops, etc with the confidence I could safely restore them.

The pen repair bug is hard to shake - have fun.

I have finally sourced a replacement nib and received it today. Using the advice found here, I was able to install the nib and feed in the section. It took several attempts--many times the feed and nib would not slide far enough into the section--and I used a watchmaker's bench block to aid with tapping out the feed and nib when needed. No more wiggling for me; my $60 mistake has taught me a lesson!

I have tried to minimize the number of sealants and adhesives used in the repair. The pellet pocket had shrunk, cracking and also coming loose from the plunger post. I used a bead of cyanoacrylate to fill the crack and a drop of shellac to reattach the pocket to the post. The diaphragm was lubricated with talc and the threaded collar simply screwed in until tight; the friction seems sufficient as there is no leak when the pen is filled with water or ink. I used a thin layer of pure silicone grease placed on the threads of the section when screwing it back into the barrel. I realize this is not optimal; if I can get my hands on a smudge of section sealant, I will use that to effect a better repair. Again, no leaks are observed when the pen is filled with ink or water.

Right now, the pen is writing quite well; I will use it over the next several days to ensure that there are no leaks or other problems.

I owe a lot of thanks to FPN; without the information available here, I would not have been able to complete this repair successfully. Thanks!

Good job there. Glad to hear that it is back up and writing again. Don't worry about the nib breaking, these things happen to all of us now and again. If you haven't broken anything you aren't trying hard enough.

Let me know about the nib welding, if you are looking to get that done drop me a line b/c. Might even be able to forward some section sealant too.

Just watch out, these things are habit forming. I ended up doing over 20 vacs last week in a 48 hour period, my hands still aren't the same. Do get the proper tools though if you intend to do this more and more. You got a little lucky with this one, some of those fillers are a real bear to get out even with the correct tools.

Cheers,
Sean

Congratulations on a job well done! I've a couple of vacs exactly like yours and one is usually in my pocket, they are wonderful pens.

Sean is right - repair/restoration is habit forming - I find it good therapy. And, you can get some great pen deals on ebay or at estate sales, etc and not have to worry about sending the pens away for months for repair. You do, of course have to be prepared to learn some lessons the hard way - as you found with your nib.

BTW: you might have been dealing with a cracked nib to start with and you didn't do as much damage as first thought - I've seen that more than once.

I also agree with Sean on purchasing the proper tools. I didn't buy a Vac tool for a long time but since I have, I've used it more than I ever expected.

Most of all - have fun!

Congrats to you! You are so much braver than I am!

Time for a quick update.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that the inside of the cap was inky; there appeared to be leakage from the seal between the section and the nib+feed. Reseating the nib+feed helped a little bit, but when depressing the plunger, bubbles were seen escaping from the seal with the section.

At the same time, SMG was helping me to resolder the fragmented original nib from this pen. He offered to install it in a section along with a feed and send the assembly to me. That assembly arrived today. I noticed that the feed protruded beyond the inner edge of the section by about 5mm, thus extending into the barrel (design change?). I had to cut off a bit of the breather tube so that the plunger and diaphragm could operate without interference. I reassembled the pen and the vacuum filling action now works flawlessly, sputtering much less than before. I also find that this nib writes better than the purchased replacement I originally had installed.

I also received some liquid carnauba wax from Tryphon today and added a couple of coats to brighten and protect the pen. The blue diamond has also been repainted.

I think this Vacumatic looks pretty good now!

*Droolz*

Pretty!! I like the new nib, very shiny I don't see the blue diamond anywhere...*cries* Very nice work, Tym

*Prays for another fountain pen so that he can practice more restoration*

Shangas,
The blue diamond would be near the top of the clip--it just can't be seen in the picture.

Your Azure Blue vac is indeed from 1942-1948. The easiest way to tell is the plunger rod--it's made of plastic.This was a wartime pen,and as such,metal was necessary for the war effort.
Enjoy your pen!

John

I know where the blue diamond is. I just wish that I could see it.

The feed which I used on the section was not the original for this pen, but one that I had laying around. I purposly installed the nib and feed a little deep so that the weld would not be stressed at the section joint. What I forgot to tell Tym was that he should check the clearance of the breather tube prior to installation in the pen. This is something that I check as a matter of habit, but as I was not reassembling the pen I missed it.

Glad to hear that the pen is up and running again. It was fun resoldering that nib.

Cheers,
Sean

Oh, now you tell me.



Is that a "good" fun or a "bad" fun?

Thanks,

Tim

Sean, more on this please. I've got a Vac apart here that has a broken breather tube. I have replacement tubing coming from Martin (Wood Bin) but have never had to replace a tube before. Is there a proper length for a Vac? In this case, I'm dealing with a Junior of 1941 vintage, very clean save for the broken breather tube. Thanks!

Paul

Paul, the easiest way to figure out the correct length of the tube is to hold the assembled section with the breather tube in it against the barrel on the outside. You can align the section so that the face which will abut the barrel is in the correct spot, and then depress the plunger. Sight through the barrel and you can see how far the depressed diaphragm comes down. Trim the breather tube so that there is about a 1/4" clearance and you can then assemble the section as normal.
Make sure to use section sealant on the section and you should be good to go.

One note though, I have some of the breather tube from Martin and found that it is slightly loose in the feed. You might want to use some section sealant to caulk the breather tube in place so that it is air tight and does not come out. If it is tight in the feed that you have then you can ignore this part.

Cheers,
Sean

Terrific. That 1/4-inch clearance is what I was wondering about; should be fairly straightforward to manage that. I'll keep your caution re Martin's tubing in mind when I evaluate the fit. Thanks!

Paul