I wonder what others prefer to use to attach sacs to pens. Presently im using shellac to attach sacs but not sure that is best to use. Im thinking of using rubber cement.

Shellac is the preferred adhesive.... DO NOT use rubber cement, it can cause damage to certain types of pen material....

Tryphon Enterprises sells sac cement, which works very well. This is anecdotal, but I've read that it will last longer in the bottle than shellac.

Tryphons sac cement IS Shellac. Its good shellac, but I find a can of Zinssers cheaper. So far it seems to work about the same.

Cheers,
Sean

Shellac is the most effective and least damaging material to use for sacs. It is what the pen companies themselves used (except for a few cheap-o companies that used thread or wire). Rubber cement contains a witches brew of volitile chemicals that can damage older plastics (presuming you are not talking about a modern pen here). Shellac is the tried and tested solution.

John

Some companies really did that? Wowsers! It'd be like wearing an extension cord as a belt.

Shellac is the duct tape of pen repair. All kinds of uses because it's cheap, it holds, and it's reversible if you need it to be. It is, and always has been the best stuff for attaching sacs. Ink won't break it down either.

Rubber cement OTOH really sucks when it comes to pen repair. Neither the stuff for paper nor the stuff for fixing a bicycle flat should be used.

I got a quart of shellac at Home Depot for $9.99. By the time I paid shipping for a small bottle elsewhere it worked out to be the same. Plus, I'll never use up an entire quart. Splee!

Go to a hardware store - Ace, True Value, Do It Best etc. You can buy a half pint of the stuff for about $4.

Why not share? They send you an empty nail polish bottle, maybe a buck or so and some postage, you fill it and sent it back?

Hi all, interesting comments about shellac. However, I've just got my copy of 'Da Book', and in that, Frank Dubiel says that the best thing to use "By far" is clear nail varnish (polish, if you prefer).

Has anyone used that, and can you recommend it?

Ya know that thought actually did cross my mind. I hate that it is just sitting there waiting in the dark. Do you think it would be a problem shipping it through the US mail?

There are several things in Franks book with which I disagree rather strongly. The use of nail polish in particular is one of them. Nail polish has solvents that could damage your pen, it also breaks down over time and is likely to leak.

There is a new successor to "Da Book" by the way that I highly recommend. You'll find my review of the book here.

I hate nail polish.

Thanks Ron, shellac it is then.

While I'm here, can anyone tell me what dilution to use with shellac flakes and meths? Is there a particular consistency to aim for? I haven't used shellac since I was at school forty-mumble years ago, and then it was from a tin ...

But it looks good on you!

Effrafax,

Add enough alcohol to make a solution that's like a thick syrup, not unlike the consistency of nail polish. This is the way the stuff I bought ready-mixed for pens is. For better coverage, or if you like something runnier, add some more alcohol.

Cheers,

absent_minded

Shellac: A commercial resin made from Lac which is the secretion of lac producing insects. They deposit Lac on bark of trees to hold onto the trunk primarily in Thailand. It is interesting that with all the chemicals that have been produced, that Shellac has been in use such a long time and is still the preferred adhesive for ink sacs.

Thanks for that, absent_minded, I'll give it a go.