I'm relatively new to pen repair but already I've a growing list of Pen Repair Don'ts. Here they are in order of accomplishment:

1. Don't attempt to make a perfectly smooth nib smoother.

2. Don't knock out the nib & feed just so you can use a knockout block.

3. Don't scrape the nipple on a Touchdown section so relentlessly that you punch a hole in it.

4. Don't try to use a knockout block when you are tired & inattentive. Especially don't use a huge mallet with a tiny diameter bike pump adaptor as a punch on a 90 year old pen with an irreplaceable hard rubber nipple.

5. Don't choose and install a sac before installing the j-bar.

6. Don't incompletely scrape off the old sac and install a new sac so that the diameter is bigger than the section diameter.

I would love to read your list too!

A battle of lack of wits, is it?

Very well.

- Do not assume that extra force will necessarily get the job done faster (cracked a barrel at the screw-threads. Result of ehm...over-enthusiastic use of a pair of section-pliers!!)

- Do not wriggle all sections loose. Try a twisting & screwing motion as well (doing the former resulted in the above catastrophe!!)

- Do not assume that a sac-change is all that's needed in restoring pens (big mistake!)

- Do not underestimate the necessity of heat (Fifteen minutes pounding on a feed and nothing happened. Two minutes under hot water and the nib and feed practically fell out in the sink. Huzzah!...but made me feel stupid for wasting all the time!)

What a wonderful list. Lots of experience there, and I'll bet none of them came without cost... I wish I didn't have anything to add, but of course - I have my own little collection of ooooops'.

1) Don't use heat to try and remove bite marks on the tapered ends of Estie barrels/caps

2) Don't try to pry out the jewels on an Estie cap (that's generally the way they became chipped in the first place)

3) Don't try to punch out the screwed in jewels on some Esties. (Sigh)

4) Don't assume that because everyone recommends hot air heating of pen parts that you can't, or won't damage the plastics. Be cautious with the tool.

5) Don't get too physical with section pliers. A friend shattered a 51 hood in front of my eyes with one..

Regards,

Gerry

Lessons I've learned (some many times over!)

Be patient,

Don't work when you're tired.

Think before you do anything.

Slow down.

If you're about to do something, and say to yourself, "I hope this doesn't break the _____.", it will.

The distance between heat being your friend and your enemy is about 1/1000 of an inch.

If you don't have the right tool, you won't get the right result unless it takes 10 times as long or you hurt yourself. Or both (darn it).

I know these are somewhat generic. But if you need to know what I've broken, think of a pen part, - any part - there you go.

Cheers and happy repairs!

John

1. Fixing pens you used at primary school takes a lot of time (but good practice for nib work).
2. Don't try to do things well enough, do them well (or, it will bother you, and you'll start over).
3. Don't use superglue (when I was at primary school, I tried to fix a cracked pen with superglue; it leaked and now I cannot take it apart).
4. Don't think new or restored pens cannot need minor adjustments.

1. You CAN stab yourself with a snorkel - and it HURTS.

2. Don't melt the frickin pen trying to get the section off.

3. USE that knockout block, or your 1930's Balance feed might snap when you try to pull it out.

4. If heat doesn't do it, someone might have glued the section on.

5. Don't forget to polish.

You tried to rip out a feed??? It's for the precise worry about snapping it in half that I always drive them out with a punch and hammer, no-matter what.

Don't forget to print out or bookmark the original and oft-updated Pen Repair Don'ts article.

1. Don't use heat and section pliers to "pull out" a screwed-in section. (Doh!)

2. After snapping a screwed-in section (after using heat and section pliers to pull it out), don't use a bent paper clip to try to force the section remnant from the barrel.

3. After poking a hole through your marbled 1928 Wahl Personal Point Gold Seal's barrel with a bent paper clip, don't try to glue a snapped section to a remnant still stuck in the barrel in an attempt to gain leverage to remove the section.

4. After gluing a broken section of a 1928 Wahl Personal Point Gold Seal to the section remnants inside the barrel, don't AGAIN (What was I thinking?????!!!!!!!!!!!) try to wrestle the "repaired" section from the barrel.

5. Remember that, despite your marked ability to destroy a very nice fountain pen, you're not really subhuman.

5. Remember to thank Syd Saperstein profusely for fixing the total mess of a broken section, a broken feed, and a stuck remnant of a section inside the pen, of my 1928 Wahl Personal Point Gold Seal pen.

"Be patient,

Don't work when you're tired.

Think before you do anything.

Slow down." From post of Buzz J / John

This is the most important bit of advice and I could not improve upon it.

Phil

Don't set fire to a Duofold Senior barrel with a heat gun

Don't knock the tipping off a perfectly good Parker 61 nib by dropping it into a stainless steel sink

I haven't tried repairing pens, but I have tried tweaking certain parts, such as scraping down a plastic cartridge so that it wouldn't get stuck in the butt-end of a StarWalker. The only wisdom I can share with you from my experience is this: When thinning (scraping) a plastic cartridge with a box-cutter, empty the cartridge first.

Yeah, you'd think a heads-up would go without saying.



Sigh.

What Buzz said +:

Understand how the pen's constructed before attempting a repair

If you use heat - and you should - buy a decent thermometer to check the temperature of your heat source.

145 degrees F is sufficient for most work - shellac softens at 140 degrees +/-.

Celluloid starts behaving badly at temperatures much over 165 degrees.

When Celluloid begins behaving badly, things go from bad to worse very quickly and dramatically.

A little bit of force goes a long way. A little more force goes too far.

Patience, patience, patience.

To quote an esteemed repair person :-
"See with your fingers"!

Don't believe all the repair suggestions you read on the Internet.

Don't believe all the repair suggestions you read in Da Book.

No matter how careful you are, you are going to break some pens. Learn from the experience and move on.

- Just because it's not working properly doesn't mean that it's wrong. It means that you're wrong. And should try a different approach. (I learnt that after fitting in a J-bar for a pen of mine and wondering why it wasn't working. Turned out the bar wasn't securely in place and was moving around everywhere. Since fixed. Pen fine.)

Not a repair tip but more of a repair avoidance strategy:


1. Don't talk with your hands with an OMAS Paragon in your hand

2. If you must do #1, don't let go.

3.If you must do #1 and do let go,teach said Paragon to land on the non-nib end.

4. If you must do #1 and do let go and said Paragon will not learn new tricks, try to keep away from sharp objects and weapons till the madness passes.

This really did happen to a 'friend' of mine..

Don't think you're a nib specialist If you're not. Especially while writing with just-bought Serenite

1] Engage brain before touching pen.
2] Read #1

Send my pens to someone who knows what they're doing.
I don't do my own surgery either.
gary

I learned a new one today -

don't use a candle to heat a plastic section on a marine green striated Sheaffer.

I know, I know, there have been numerous warnings about this. I guess I just had to live it and learn it.

Bet you don't do that one again!!

You didn't take a movie for us?

Good thread idea! Here is some of my wisdom (FWIW):

• Don't EVER take apart a pen over a sink without first stopping up the drain!
• Do not try to take apart a pen that you are unfamiliar with. Search the internet or ask people how it comes apart before trying. Otherwise, you are more than likely to break it.
• Always BE PATIENT. Never rush anything. You likely have many pens--let a pen sit if you're stuck on a repair or servicing step and use another.
• NEVER do any pen repair when you're tired or in a rush. Otherwise, you'll just increase the chances of making a mistake.
• Where nibs are concerned, if you have any doubt about doing something to it, DON'T. Leave it to a nib expert. Nibs are relatively simple in design, but nib alignment and shaping is very tricky--only the lucky few are able to do it successfully without prior proven instruction or experience.

Nope, no movie - it was an impulse.

It doesn't look too bad, the cap still threads and there's just a small cloudy spot that I couldn't polish out. I don't think it was even one second in the flame.

And especially don't do both at the same time!

Friday night I flushed a M 400 and my nice gold nib found it's way down the drain
Fortunately it did not went down the whole way but stopped at the first bend.

Got some tools and dissasembled the drain and rescued the nib.

that was bloody lucky, I must say!!

I nearly lost a clutch-ring of a Parker '45' in a toilet-bowl once. I was washing the pen and cleaning it. I was wiping down the pen after a good flushing and tossed away the paper into the toilet. I was putting the pen back together when I noticed the cap wasn't fitting on properly.

???

*Shangas examines the pen and wonders what's missing*

And then I realised the clutch-ring that holds the cap firmly in-place was missing! I raced back to the bathroom and searched everywhere. Unfortunately, I'd already carried out another flushing of a different kind, I'd flushed the toilet!

Imagine my surprise and relief when looking into the toilet-bowl, I see a tiny golden ring sitting at the bottom of the water. I fished it out, washed it THOROUGHLY and put it back on the pen. Cap closes properly, problem solved, disaster averted!!

Gee, I'm really surprised the Murphy Towers crowd haven't been in to mention not to attempt to do complicated repairs after imbibing in copious quantities of Sloe Gin, Port or strong spirits. I mean, you won't feel particularly bad at the time..... it might even seem to be funny.... ;-), but there *are* drawbacks...

Regards,

Gerry

Nib smoothing - something that I tend to get obsessed with.

So another "don't"- don't try to smooth a nib when you are leaving in three weeks to have an exhibit overseas and you haven't finished the paintings yet.

Then there are the times when you suspect that a god stiff one might be appropriate before you jump into a repair..... Not that I recommend that, but some things are just plain scary!

My tag line is one that I saw on my daughters video game once, but it is apt for this thread.

Confidence, the feeling you have before you understand the situation.

I can agree with at least 90% of the lessons above, but here are a couple more

1. Esterbrooks don't like to be heated to remove teeth marks
2. Wrapped celluloid pens can unwrap with sufficient application of heat, again while removing teeth marks.
3. Celluloid can be warmed to the point were it is pliable, and not burst into flames.
4. the line between pliable and flambe celluloid is >< that thin.
5. Celluloid is surprisingly vigorous when it burns. Shall we say nearly explosive.


Cheers,
Sean

Neither do Sheaffer Balances


Much too wide. Much, MUCH too wide.

Yeah, but I couldn't find two closer fitting symbols. We have had this conversation before, someone really needs to sacrifice some celluloid and videotape the reaction when this stuff lights up. Heck it could even be pinned to the top of the repair forum as a cautionary video.

People if you have not seen celluloid burn, the closest thing I can relate it to is Magnesium. Explosively fast, with huge amounts of ash left over from the reaction.

Cheers,
Sean

I have noticed that celluloid happens to burst into flames if you hold it too long over the gas ring on the oven,i know this because i tried it a second time to see if the first time was a fluke(DOHHH).
And NEVER soak a casein pen to just above the barrel threads overnight hopeing the section will come lose,it does,in a big way.The part of the barrel left soaking will swell to twice its normal size so you can throw the section in from the other side of the room,and the rest of the barrel bends like a banana through nearly 90 degrees(mind you,i didn't know it was casein until i soaked it).
And i suppose most important,DONT RUSH THINGS,its amazing how stupid you can become when you do.

Now that's a useful thread to read!

I have one to add:

"When you leave the inner parts of your first "51" soaking in the bowl of ammonia solution on your terrace... look in the sky and check it for approaching storm clouds before you leave. Especially when the flattest sufrace you could find on your terrace is >< this close to the gutter's outflow."

That was my quickest return home ever when I realized what was about to happen. I entered my house just as the first raindrops started their attack. Saved

Thank you for the highly entertaining and therapeutic post, Artaddict. I blushed reading the long list and was heartened by Richard Binder's (even he breaks pens?) comment at the end.

Most of my misadventures have been covered already but I can think of one as yet unlisted positive point - spare parts. I wouldn't have any if I hadn't broken more than a few pens - now I can go looking for new projects to use them up!

Thanks, Darren!
I have a new one:
Be very very gentle when dealing with "red" hard rubber, even if it's a minor brand pen... you may crack the barrel... more spare parts...

A seasonal lesson-

Do not watch football when trying to pull a section out of a barrell.

Put the pliers down during kickoffs!!!!!


I have a nice crack in the threads of an esterbrook that I paid to much for.

To remove a Parker 51 hood,

1. Fill a glass or cup with water to a depth about equal to the distance from the nib to the clutch ring.

2. Heat the water in a microwave oven to near boiling.

3. Place a meat thermometer in the heated water, wait until it cools to 165-170F.

4. At 165-170F, place pen, nib down, into the hot water, and watch the pretty bubbles.

5. Wait until the thermometer reads about 150-155F (a few minutes) for the hood to soak in the heat and for the shellac to melt, then attempt to unscrew the hood.

6. When #5 fails, repeat #s 1 through 5 another three or four times, using increasing grippage (fingers to section pliers to ???).

7. When #6 fails, wait a bit, trying to control bizarre, insane, murderous impulses, admit hydrothermal defeat, start to gleefully imagine a full frontal, plastic puddling assault with SWMBO's flame throwing, three thousand degree hair dryer, and give a half-hearted last twist with bare fingers, at which point the recalcitrant hood will finally yield and come free. Don't laugh, this has happened to me more than once.

Sheaffer Plunger fill pens and heat guns don't like each other.

Your first time repairing something is always the most scary.

The empirical approach! What's not to like about that?

Shellac is soluble in whiskey.

Oh, there's gotta be a story to go with the revelation.

Do tell!

Do you remember the disintegrating gun in "Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th century"?