Disassembly: New Style Omas "the Paragon"

May 23, 2016

Ok, so this is meant as an educational post (pictures at the end of the post). I had a tough time finding much information on the new OMAS paragon pens with the metal section. There's a lot of information on vintage pens and even the "new" old style paragons (a great YouTube video as well), but not much on the new ones.

Now, the back story: I bought my pen used from off ebay, it's in great shape, except for the inside... There was clearly ink dried in it and the piston wouldn't move. The seller already agreed to give me a refund if I wanted since the pen wasn't working so I figured, why not try and get it all apart and fix it?

As I was trying to flush the pen (about the same time I figured out the piston wasn't moving), I had the piston turning knob come completely off. I was then able to take out the little black plastic sleeve that goes around the threaded piston rod. I knew that in order to get things working again I would need to get the thing thoroughly cleaned out and re-greased so the piston operates again.

After a bit of effort, the nib and feed were pulled out. I left the little collar in there as I'd heard tales of that breaking and it wasn't coming out easily. Next I used a sonic water bath cleaner to give the nib, feed, and barrel some cleaning. It loosened some of the bits, but not much.

Now with the sonic cleaning, the thing heats up a little, so I figured while it was warm I would try and turn the section. I'd read there is a resin used to seal it that's softened with heat. Sure enough, I grabbed the section with some rubber pliers and the barrel with a rubber pad, gave it a twist and without too much effort the barrel began to spin. The tricky thing that I figured out part way through is that not only does the barrel unscrew from the section, but the metal piece that's on the back of the pen also unscrews... and that piece needs to be unscrewed before the barrel can be unscrewed. Lucky me, they unscrewed together and nothing broke. That metal piece at the back makes up the ring separating the barrel from the piston turning knob when everything is put back together. Removing the barrel reveals a clear plastic tube inside the barrel where the ink is housed. This is probably epoxied into the section, I'm not going to try to remove it for fear of it leaking afterwards if it happens to not be threaded. From there the piston itself can be pulled out through the back and there you go, pen taken apart!

Hopefully this will help anyone with a busted New Paragon who's got the itch to fix it rather than send it in as I'm sure it will become increasingly more difficult for repairs to be made now that OMAS is no more. And if not, then I hope you at least found it interesting to see the pen taken apart. Here's the pictures.

http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag391/chemguyethan/Pens%20and%20things/20160522_220300_zpsoobwz8mj.jpg

Above is everything laid out. From top left to bottom right: top slot- nib and feed, section with clear tube, beneath that is the piston, then the metal piece that's at the back, and the black plastic sleeve that turns to drive the piston up and down. Bottom slot- cap, barrel with threads, and piston knob.

The clear threads on the clear plastic tube attach to that metal piece next to it (the long end goes into the plastic). And the metal threads on the black barrel seat underneath the metal section. There was sealant on the metal threads and what looks to have been either a different sealant or just grease on the metal piece that fits into the clear plastic tube.

So, other than needing regreasing and the obvious ink staining, it all looks to be in good shape!

http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag391/chemguyethan/Pens%20and%20things/20160522_220344_zps138sxtmc.jpg

And above are the tools I used aside from the sonic cleaner which isn't shown. The skinny metal clamps I used to grab the piston and pull it out.

Again I hope this is informative/helpful to someone! Happy writing!

-Ethan

Edited May 23, 2016 by chemguyethan

May 24, 2016

Got all the ink cleaned out and put everything back together. Found a slight issue with the piston, that being the clear plastic piece was freely spinning around the black rod, making it impossible to push the piston down with the normal knob turning. So to fix this, I knew I wanted to use something sticky to keep it together, but not permanent like superglue. I settled on sticky-tak like you can use to put up posters on a wall. Worked like a charm!

Finally, after a little finagling, I got the everything put back together appropriately. I adjusted the tines as they were a little out of alignment, then heat set the nib/feed. Filled 'er up, and oh man. What a pen, best fine nib I've used to date. Shame OMAS is no more.

Very proud to have fixed this thing up. See the picture below for the result. Hopefully no one else decides to do this, haha, but if anyone is trying to repair an OMAS pen like this, let me know and I may be able to help. I don't know everything, but I certainly overcame a few hurdles.

http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag391/chemguyethan/Pens%20and%20things/42399f21-a1a7-470f-9571-29986c2aa2b4_zpsltbev9fq.jpg

Edited May 24, 2016 by chemguyethan

September 30, 2016

lol i just got one myself from eBay and i bought it with a broken cap ... i fixed the cap with some super glue ( like new now ) ...i wanted to take it apart and give it a good cleaning now i have the confidence and knowhow to do so .... thank you

October 1, 2016

thanks for the post. My paragon's piston is getting tight, probably need some grease in it. After looking at your post I think i know how to take the pen part.

February 7, 2017

Thanks for your helpful disassembly.

I'm having issues with the same pen, the piston not working properly- where did you put the sticky tac? I don't know what part is moving freely and thus not connecting the back piston knob to the plunger.

February 20, 2017

Great post. Did you just use water in the ultrasonic. While I don't think I would ever contemplate using the solution they use when cleaning jewellery (amonia based I think) I wondered if a detergent or plant based surfactant would help things along (or cause more problems)...

February 20, 2017

Great post. Did you just use water in the ultrasonic. While I don't think I would ever contemplate using the solution they use when cleaning jewellery (amonia based I think) I wondered if a detergent or plant based surfactant would help things along (or cause more problems)...

Hi, and thanks. I did use just water. You could maybe consider using a tiny amount of dish soap, similar to what you'd use to make some pen flush. I may have done that and just don't remember doing so... Best of luck.

Thanks for your helpful disassembly.

I'm having issues with the same pen, the piston not working properly- where did you put the sticky tac? I don't know what part is moving freely and thus not connecting the back piston knob to the plunger.

You're very welcome. I put the sticky tack on the back of the clear seal for the piston where the black male threads connect. That black part on mine I could just pull out (whether it's supposed to be that easy I don't know). That black piece was freely spinning inside the clear seal for the piston and that was causing the problems. In the top picture, the part I'm talking about is in the top middle, just below the clear, ink-stained barrel. I will note that recently the sticky tack has lost it's grip, so I'm considering super glue at this point...

thanks for the post. My paragon's piston is getting tight, probably need some grease in it. After looking at your post I think i know how to take the pen part.

This is very late, but you're very welcome and I'm glad I could help out.

lol i just got one myself from eBay and i bought it with a broken cap ... i fixed the cap with some super glue ( like new now ) ...i wanted to take it apart and give it a good cleaning now i have the confidence and knowhow to do so .... thank you

Haha, if it's easily fixable and you're a little handy, those purchases can be quite nice. And sorry this is so late but I'm glad I could help.

February 20, 2017

Great post. Did you just use water in the ultrasonic. While I don't think I would ever contemplate using the solution they use when cleaning jewellery (amonia based I think) I wondered if a detergent or plant based surfactant would help things along (or cause more problems)...

I use some of the jewellery cleaning solution in mine, but at a lower strength than is recommended for jewellery.