A First For Me. [ Wish It Was Not.]

[JotterAddict62]

Picked up a Parker Vac Deb that was handy to use to write checks with

and pen was scratchy when using. I took a look with the eye loupe and notice the tines

were not lined up correctly. I was trying to adjust them with my fingers and a little pressure

on the note pad and [ snap ]. Broke one of the tines off the nib. Oh well pen now goes

in the parts bin for now. Will have to use the trusty P51 Areo [ daily user ] to finish the task.

 

 

Ken

[Sailor Kenshin]

O noz...

 

Smooth it into a stub?

[icardoth]

I know exactly what you feel. I did the same with a Parker 75 oblique nib...

[DerTiefster]

Picked up a Parker Vac Deb ... a little pressure

on the note pad and [ snap

 

Ken: I feel for you. In the past month I purchased my first Parker deb. It came as a pen/pencil set, nice emerald pearl. Tried dipping the pen and writing and found that the tipping was gone from the left tine! It was not possible for my untrained eyes to pick out from the photos I'd seen of these extra-fine (and relatively flexible) tines. Aaaahhhh. Been struggling with ways to restore its utility for a couple of weeks now.

 

The left tine was ground somewhat finer than the right (asymmetric fabrication) and the tipping material was probably not _quite_ properly spot-welded/adhered to the base nib material, snapping off some time in the possibly distant past. 1942 pen set, 1941 nib, of great historical interest to me as it seemed to span the Pearl Harbor attack: Q4 1941 nib, Q1 1942 vac with post-war non-metal plunger assembly. Couldn't guarantee it came that way from Parker, but it sure seems possible in the clamor and confusion of post Pearl Harbor activities and production line changes.

 

All of this is prelude to asking: did the break you experienced simply separate the tipping from the nib? If so, then a re-tip might be possible. Yes, I'm a n00b and don't know anything useful on the topic. Retipping might shorten the nib. Retipping costs I've seen (guess why I looked) dwarf my cost for the pen/pencil set, so retipping seems out of the question for me. I hate to have something like that be consigned to the dustbin for so tiny a mechanical failure, but it happens all the time.

 

Michael

[JotterAddict62]

 

Picked up a Parker Vac Deb ... a little pressure

on the note pad and [ snap

 

Ken: I feel for you. In the past month I purchased my first Parker deb. It came as a pen/pencil set, nice emerald pearl. Tried dipping the pen and writing and found that the tipping was gone from the left tine! It was not possible for my untrained eyes to pick out from the photos I'd seen of these extra-fine (and relatively flexible) tines. Aaaahhhh. Been struggling with ways to restore its utility for a couple of weeks now.

 

The left tine was ground somewhat finer than the right (asymmetric fabrication) and the tipping material was probably not _quite_ properly spot-welded/adhered to the base nib material, snapping off some time in the possibly distant past. 1942 pen set, 1941 nib, of great historical interest to me as it seemed to span the Pearl Harbor attack: Q4 1941 nib, Q1 1942 vac with post-war non-metal plunger assembly. Couldn't guarantee it came that way from Parker, but it sure seems possible in the clamor and confusion of post Pearl Harbor activities and production line changes.

 

All of this is prelude to asking: did the break you experienced simply separate the tipping from the nib? If so, then a re-tip might be possible. Yes, I'm a n00b and don't know anything useful on the topic. Retipping might shorten the nib. Retipping costs I've seen (guess why I looked) dwarf my cost for the pen/pencil set, so retipping seems out of the question for me. I hate to have something like that be consigned to the dustbin for so tiny a mechanical failure, but it happens all the time.

 

Michael

 

The nib will have to be a stub later in life.

[Runnin_Ute]

that sucks. Sorry about that.

 

I pulled a swift one myself. Burgundy 45. Apparently sent it through the laundry. Now it needs a new barrel. Still writes great, but now there is a big hole in the barrel. It was in such good shape too.

[JotterAddict62]

Working on another Vac I picked up on evilbay and when I was removing the section from the barrel the section broke. The threads were still in the barrel. I had to find my extractor set to remove the threaded section. When also I was working on a Parker Challenger, the cap cracked in half when I was cleaning the clip while the rest of the pen was in a soak for cleaning.

I have been lucky not to ruin all the many pens that I have since I started restoring the FP's in my using/collection. Always learning not to repeat the same mistake twice.

[PAKMAN]

Sadly this is the price of admission for collecting and using vintage pens. We never know what they have been through in past lives and how much can be done without a parts failure. But it's worth it! Loving using these old beauties!