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vossad01

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I have decided and an ink syringe would be worth having around. I am wondering what else are things that are other good things for someone new to pickup? Local shopping is somewhat limited so it helps to have things ahead of needing them or you end having to wait on shipping.

 

I was looking around and found Goulet's set. Does anyone have experience with it? From what I saw in Repair forum, it sounded like it was better to get a set of brass sheets with different thicknesses. I am not convinced of a real need for flush when there are recipes out there. But overall the set makes sense to me.

Edited by vossad01
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It depends on which pens and inks you use. For me, a good starting point will be a syringe and a bulb respirator. But after that, it goes down hill as you can get so many things. The first major item I will consider is an ultrasonic cleaner. Using it to clean pens and nibs is totally different from just soaking and flushing. First thing I do when people come by for ink flow adjustments would be an ultrasonic clean. Normally pens which have been flush will still have ink deposits in them. However, if you are using vintage pens, you have to be careful as not everything can be soaked in water.

 

Pen flushes are okay but I rarely use them unless I am dealing with something stubborn which cannot be removed using the ultrasonic cleaner and dish washing liquid.

 

As for repair work, first item is a good loupe. Which is 10x or more. Don't touch the micro mesh or lapping film until you master the basics of tine alignment.

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Straits Pen Distributors and Dealers of Craft Rinkul, JB Perfect Pen Flush, Ohto Japan, Parker, Pelikan, Pilot Pen, Private Reserve Inks, Schrade Tactical Pens, Smith & Wesson Pens, Noodler's Ink LLC Pens, TWSBI Inc and Waterman in Singapore

Disclosure: I do nib work for others and am affiliated with those which do. I also sell and represent certain brands of pens.

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Ink syringe, bulb syringe, and loupe.

 

I use a large surplus medical syringe, a drugstore baby's ear bulb, and a pocket magnifier. So far, that's all I need for the many cartridge pens. . .

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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i find a small led flashlight to be irreplaceable for basic pen repair. as others have suggested, a bulb syringe, loupe, and an ultrasonic cleaner are definitely things to have around too

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The first major item I will consider is an ultrasonic cleaner. Using it to clean pens and nibs is totally different from just soaking and flushing.

 

I think the first thing I got was the ear syringe. After that was the syringes and blunt needles.

 

The last thing I got was an ultrasonic cleaner, and that was a game changer.

 

This past week I was cleaning out a cc fountain pen that had been loaded with Noodler's Henry Hudson Blue ink. It's a nice ink, and I was surprised to find that it was waterproof when I did a soak test on it. But I was done seeing how it looked and it was time to get that fountain pen cleaned.

 

While using the Henry Hudson Blue ink I'd found that it would dry a little faster than I liked. If I paused to reflect while writing I sometimes had a bit of difficulty getting the pen started again.

 

I cleaned and flushed the pen and got a bunch of ink out of it. I even soaked it for days in a dish detergent solution.

 

So the pen was soaking and no longer putting any ink into the water. But I figured I'd give it a little ultrasonic time anyway.

 

Oh boy! Blue ink came out of it then, all right. In the end I used detergent and then plain water, rotating what the pen was soaking in a number of times, and giving the pen several five minute shots of ultrasonic cleaning for each medium it was soaking in. It took quite a lot of that sort of treatment to finally get clear water after an ultrasonic shot. And after that I blasted it a couple of times with the ultrasonic cleaner while it was soaking in some ammonia. I figured that since it came out clear after that I had finally gotten the ink out of it, at least as much as I was going to.

 

So if I had just used manual methods I'd have left a bunch of ink drying out in that fountain pen and it may not have worked the next time I went to use it, or it may have worked not nearly as well as it could have.

 

So there's a little story about why an ultrasonic cleaner is a really decent investment if you're going to mess around with fountain pens and inks in an exploratory way.

On a sacred quest for the perfect blue ink mixture!

ink stained wretch filling inkwell

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Loupe for sure. A 10x is a good all purpose magnification. One of the tool sets I use a lot is sold by Richard Binder called "Twicks" kit. Includes a large tweezer and some dental type tools. Very good for removing sacs and sac pieces from vintage pens. I also use a section removal tool, though many here prefer using their hands to remove sections from barrels. Silicone grease, pure talc powder, sac cement - it goes on. I have an ultrasonic cleaner but don't use it that often.

 

Good luck. If you like to tinker and are reasonably proficient with small hand tools pen restoration is a lot of fun.

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Loupe is definitely necessary (so much easier to fix issues when you can actually see them!), and I would get the Mylar paper and micromesh also (just don't use them until you're sure the pen is aligned and the flow is good to avoid incorrect smoothing, and start out on cheaper pens).

 

If you want to start replacing sacs on vintage pens, get a pair of hemostats (thin pliers) and an ultrasonic cleaner (there's some threads with recommendations around somewhere), a small light too see inside the barrel and a hairdryer or other heater for warming up materials so you can pull sections out.

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Thanks for all the great feedback! I have been looking at your replies and researching the types of items mentioned. I have now ordered a BelOMO 10x loupe. Sounds like an Ink syringe, bulb syringe, Mylar paper, and micromesh all a fairly cheap and will be useful at some point. An Ultrasonic cleaner is something I will to have to save up for and have a specific need.

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any cheap loupe is good. 20x with an attached LED from ebay, plastic lens is more than sufficient. bulb syringe or squeezable sauce bottle from the dollar store. Medical syringe from the pharmacy. Some super fine grit wet dry silicone carbide paper. Pen flush, either premade or home brew.

 

that should be all you need.

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I'm not the kind of tinkerer many of the other responders are, but did find a cheap and very useful syringe at fountainpenrevolution.com for $1.50 USD and $3 shipping. For no additional shipping they will include a syringe loaded with silicon grease for $3. That is if you have not already taken the plunge for these items.

 

 

Edit to add: Does anyone have thoughts whether a 10X or a 20X loupe would be better?

Edited by rtruslow
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20x for sure. get one with an LED light attachment. Get it off ebay. I have a 7x, 14x, and a 20x. One without LED and one with LED light.

 

The 20X with LED light is the one that gets used the most.

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Edit to add: Does anyone have thoughts whether a 10X or a 20X loupe would be better?

 

As my eyes age and get worse I think about going from my 10x loupe to a 20x.

On a sacred quest for the perfect blue ink mixture!

ink stained wretch filling inkwell

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One thing to bear in mind with loupes (and other lenses) the higher the magnification you get, the smaller the field of view you get, and the shallower the depth of vision.

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If you're not going to do more than the very occasional adjustment or flush-n-fill, it's probably not necessary.. but I find (especially as I age), my jeweler's visor is indispensable. Couldn't do without it... Then again I have had it since the days when I was a jeweler, so it wasn't anything I had to go purchase when I got into fountain pens.

 

Lighted ones can be had relatively cheaply on amazon or ebay though... shouldn't set you back more than $20 or so for a reasonably good one (maybe less).

 

Edited to correct. What I wrote was exactly the opposite of what I intended to write. It bugged me a lot. So I fixed it :P

Edited by AnnieB123
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Bulb syringe is very handy, as is a loupe or magnifier to check for tine alignment. I also keep a smaller syringe around for drawing up the last bit of ink in a bottle or sample.

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i've got the Goulet tuning kit, and i'm happy with it overall. the loupe could be a 20x instead of just 15, but it's vastly better than no loupe. don't bother with built-in lighting in a loupe, get a separate light source such as a LED flashlight or spot. the micro-mesh and mylar paper will do for your nib smoothing needs, i'd say.

 

a bulb syringe is easy to get, and should help flush c/c pens and removable sections. i've not used one, but i almost never do such flushes anyway. they're easy to get, so might as well have one.

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For general pen maintenance, you need the ear bulb, 10X or 15X loupe, a 5 - 10 ml syringe with a blunt needle, and a spool of Nylon or Dacron sewing thread. If you need any more tools than these, you are into pen repair and the tools you need depend on the type of pen you are dealing with.

Can a calculator understand a cash register?

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That is the first I have heard of that one. What all is it used for?

 

It wasn't I who suggested it.. but I use it for flossing out nibs that have 'stuff' in them. I used to use non-waxed dental floss, but I'm increasingly convinced that non-waxed dental floss, isn't. (And it seems to shred more easily).

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I recently posted on my blog about some of the things I use for my crazy pen and ink hobby ;)

 

I can't believe I forgot the bulb syringe - it was the first item I bought and I highly suggest getting one to make pen cleaning so much easier.

 

http://pentulant.blogspot.com/2013/11/news-information-tools-of-trade.html

pentulant [adjective]: immodest or wanton in search of all things related to pens<BR> [proper noun]: Christine Witt Visit Pentulant<br>

President, Brush Dance - we make high-quality, mindful Calendars, Planners, Journals, and other fun stuff you'll love

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