I have bought my fist vintage pen today.

After some searching on the internet i have found identical photos of the pen here

http://www.ftic.info/Donahaye/ConwayStewar...ictur/cs60m.jpg

There are a few problems with the pen and I would like to get some information if it is worthwhile to get it restored?

Problems:
the end of the lever has broken of (round bit at end)
the clip has a lot of "brassing" (not sure of the word, but the plating has wear off) as well as the lever
the end of the cap looks like aluminium (i could not make out on the photo how it is supposed to look)
I have not opened the pen yet, but i think that the sac has perished. I can hear rattling inside the pen when i shake it.

The pen was dull but after a quick buff with a soft cloth (no polish) it already started to shine nice. It has a duro 14 ct nib, and after a quick dip in ink it writes very nicely.

Is there anyone that can help me to open the pen to check the sac and lever mechanism without destroying the pen?

I would like to restore the pen, but maybe I must start with a real cheapie!

Any suggestions and help will be appreciated. Is there anybody in South Africa that could help me?

Hi Carel

I have 2 CS in need of repair i.e. sacs, nibs, that I will attempt myself.

I should be ordering the parts I need within the next month or so.

Give me a shout should you require anything, we may be able to combine and save on postage.

You should be able to pull the front section off the barrel, revealing the sac (or remains thereof).

I am from Pretoria, and you?

Mike

Hi Mike, glad to hear from someone close by . Im also in Pretoria, staying in Garsfontein. I have send you an email, please let me know if you have received anything.

Congrats on your new pen. A cracked ice as a starter pen, very nice I'm sure there's been previous questions about replacing a broken lever, I might have a dig around later to see if I can find those. Alternatively you could ask in the repair forum about that and the clip. A while ago someone on EBay was selling replacement clips for a few of the CS models, can't remember which though and don't know if they're still being sold. I wonder if someone like David Wells - http://www.old-pens.co.uk/ - might have some spare parts or point you in the right direction. Johnathan's site that you've found is a wonderful wealth of information, but sadly Johnathan passed away not too long ago. The sac is an easy enough replacement, although I would seriously suggest that you might want to pick up a cheaper pen just to experiment rather than trying your first repair on a 60 Cracked Ice.