Cleaning Old Dried Pens

[JHalliday]

Hello,

 

So I was given three vantage fountain pens from around the 1950s, a Conway Stewart No.28 Green Marble, a Osmiroid 65 Green, and a Parker "51" Plum.

They have been sitting around for years without cleaning and thus the ink has dried in them.

I tried to clean out the CS28 with soapy warm water (as was recommended on this site) but the lever did not move easily and stopped at a certain point.

Any ideas as to what to do with them?

[the_gasman]

A few years ago, I got my father's old pens writing again, after they had been abandoned in a draw for a couple of decades. A friend that restores old pens told me to leave them standing, nib down, in an old jam jar which contained half an inch of unheated water with a drop of washing-up liquid in. If you suspect that the section might be hard rubber or other non-plastic, cover the nib but not the section with the soapy water. I think that the Osmiroid and the Parker 51 are water-safe but I can't remember about the Conway Stewart 28 (I should do – I've got one!. Anyway, leave it to soak for 24, or even 48, hours as a quick soak may make no difference, As the hours crawl by, old ink (probably blue-black) will start to discolour the water. You can swish it about every so often, to agitate the water.

 

If a 24-48 soak doesn't shift the dried ink, you may need to repeat the process. Patience is key.

 

None of this will leave you with a useful writing pen if the ink sac has perished. This certainly applies to the CS 28, but maybe not the P51 sac. I know nothing about the Osmiroid filling mechanism, though it may be a piston-filler. Replacing a sac on the CS 28 is easily within the abilities of a novice (I have done it!) but you must search either FPN or Google to study how to do it. Pay great heed to instructions on how to loosen the section/barrel interface as it is likely to be secured by shellac. If you do this be EXTREMELY cautious when using heat (I use a hair-dryer and keep my fingers in the air-stream as a warning against excess heat). The ink sacs are easy to source either on-line or at pen shows.

 

Final warning – it's addictive!

 

Cheers,

David.

 

PS: far more knowledgeable experts will appear here soon enough. Listen to them in preference to me. Good luck.

[FarmBoy]

A quick PSA: Best to not "soak" pens in anything, even water. Soaking a pen typically means filling the pen or placing the pen nib down in a solution to a level just past the nib. Immersing a pen in a solvent solution can result in unexpected and undesired results.

 

The 51 most likely just needs a flush. Possibly it needs a breather tube. While 51s are nearly bullet proof, the collectors can become impacted with dried ink and require disassembly to properly clean.

 

Conway has a latex sac that is likely perished and will require disassembly to repair.

 

Osmo might be a pseudo aerometric filler and need a sac. Seem to recall seeing cartridge fillers as well. Nibs screw out on many of these and can be cleaned in water.

[the_gasman]

A quick PSA: Best to not "soak" pens in anything, even water. Soaking a pen typically means filling the pen or placing the pen nib down in a solution to a level just past the nib. Immersing a pen in a solvent solution can result in unexpected and undesired results.

 

Thanks for clarifying. In advising half an inch of water, and by cautioning against allowing water near any non-plastic parts of the pen, I was intending the soaking to be of the nib, not the pen. I wasn't as specific as I ought to have been, so your clarification was both necessary and helpful. Thanks again.

 

David.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I believe the Osmiroid 65 is a standard, lever-filling pen with an internal sac, like many of the Esterbrooks. The nib unit itself ought to thread out, and the pen will probably need a sac replacement.

[cattar]

Osmiroid 65 is a celluloid lever filler that takes certain osmiroid/esterbrook/venus nib units. Do not soak the pen.

The nib/feed unit will unscrew from the pen. The submerge the entire nib/feed unit in a glass of water and leave it there. Change the water a couple times a day. Use an art syringe to push water through the tiny opening on the filler end of the unit. This soak and flush may take days to clear old ink.

Probably the sac will need replacement.
Go to the RichardBinder.com reference pages
and read about that, it's an easy and inexpensive to do.

Be sure the nib/feed unit is screwed into the section when removing the section from the barrel. The empty section is fragile.

 

Enjoy the pen, it's a nice writer.

Edited January 29, 2017 by cattar

[Sailor Kenshin]

Some, at least, of the 65s are plastic. It would help if the OP could post a photo or two of his pens.

 

Another good reference.

[cattar]

Osmiroid 65 is marked on the barrel. It was a cheap pen, so they'd all be the same - plastic.

 

Don't soak the pen. The 65 tends to have some shrinkage, it's not made of the most stable material.

Edited January 30, 2017 by cattar

[northlodge]

Many moons ago I wanted my first vintage pen. I went to an auction and purchased a box of 9, on the premise that I must be able to get one to work.

 

Well the most attractive of the bunch was a Blue Herringbone pattern CS28, and like you I decided that a soak for 24 hours would be a good start. The following morning I inspected my handy work to find the pen a mass of bloated goo. I then find that I have opted to start with the rarest and most valuable item in the box.

 

Motto - be extremely careful when using water over a prolonged period.

 

Also, if you genuinely have a Parker 51 plum (rather than a burgundy 51) then it would be well worth having this restored by a professional as there is a 5x price difference between the colours

Edited January 31, 2017 by northlodge

[ac12]

Do NOT NOT NOT force a stiff lever.

If the sac has hardened, all you will do is bend/break the lever. Then you will have an expensive repair bill.

The section has to be pulled and the hardened sac removed.

 

Some of the Osmiroids have a PVC-like sac that is still still functional, others have latex sacs that need to be replaced. Again the section has to be unscrewed and removed to see what sac is inside and the condition of it.

[the_gasman]

Well the most attractive of the bunch was a Blue Herringbone pattern CS28, and like you I decided that a soak for 24 hours would be a good start. The following morning I inspected my handy work to find the pen a mass of bloated goo.

 

Ouch! I feel the pain.