How to remove Parker 61 heirloom nip to repair hood crack

[subgmt]

hi,

 

i am new to this forum. I have started collecting fountain pen as a hobby and bought some new old stock parker 61. I have a new old stock parker 61 heirloom but saw that there are cracks from the screw edge of the hood and the ring is also cracked. It seems that crack was initiated from the stress of screwing the barrel.

 

It is really a pity as this is a beautiful turquoise blue Parker 61 with outstanding no scratch heirloom rainbow but the pink gold starts to fade a little after too many polishing by me to remove tiny scratches.

 

Anyone here expert could advice what to do next? how to remove the nib out of the hood and repair this?

 

Can i use silicon glue (transparent to fill up the cracked gaps)?

 

or leave it since it is a new old stock with the capillary sponge still in red color....it will never leak as it never sucked ink before.....Wat a waste.. for a pen

 

AC

[psfred]

You have three choices:

 

Leave the pen as an uninked collectible

 

Repair the crack and hope it holds

 

Find a replacement hood

 

The hoods (and barrels, for that matter) on Parker 61's are notorious for getting brittle. You will have to remove the hood to fix it, and often this results in complete destruction as they crack more from the strain. The ferrule screws into the hood -- hold the threaded section the barrel screws onto, heat the hood with dry heat (only to 150F or so, no hotter as the plastic will shrink, ruining the pen) and unscrew the ferrule from the hood. The nib, collector, feed, and filler will then pull out. The hood is notched to hold the collector in the right position and align the nib with the hood.

 

Once it's all apart, you can solvent weld the crack -- spread it fractionally and flow some methylene chloride or liquid polystyrene cement or MED into the crack, making sure it penetrates all the way to the end and that you do NOT get any significant amount on the exterior -- it melts the plastic and will leave nasty marks. Wait a minute or so for the plastic to soften, apply a tiny bit more solvent, then gently clamp the hood to hold the crack firmly together. I use a clamp type clothes pin, it seem to apply adequate but not excessive pressure. Make sure the crack is closed exactly flush, not offset or crooked. May take a couple of tries to get it set right. When you do, put it away somewhere safe and do NOT touch it at all for at least 48 hrs. This is necessary to allow the solvent (which melted the plastic in the crack) to evaporate and hence allow the plastic to harden again. If you poke about with it any sooner, it will crack again, and eventually it will become non-repairable if you mess about with it repeatedly.

 

If there is ink in the crack (probably not true for you as the pen appears un-inked), you must sonicated and rinse it until the crack is completely ink free or it won't weld.

 

Once it has set, coat the interior side of the crack with several coats of shellac. This will prevent "weeping" through any portion not actually welded, usually at the narrow end.

 

Then re-assemble the pen. Make sure the small clear plastic ring is in place at the top of the ferrule or the pen will leak all over the place. You will need to use significant force to seat that seal, and this is the bad part -- I suspect the hoods crack because the plastic shrinks along with getting more brittle, and the hood is now really too small. The force needed to get the ferrule installed properly (and not unscrew later) can simply crack the hood again, if not the original spot, somewhere else instead.

 

The last option is the best so far as I'm concerned, but finding a good turquoise hood isn't going to be easy, they were not common when new.

 

Peter