Parker Vacumatic Filler.

[hari317]

 

Opened this pen today. The White metal taper seat is firmly attached to the black threaded filler bushing. The spring is of course trapped inside.

 

How to separate these two parts? This is the first time i have encountered such a firm bonding. I suspect shellac or something was used. I have tried heat and gentle tapping with a nylon mallet to no effect. The dents and pin pricks on the taper were left there by the previous restorer. It is right now soaking in wd40.

 

Thanks!

[bsenn]

I think you're on the right track with wd40. If you've access to penetrating oil such as kano kroil that might do an even better job.

 

Brian

[hari317]

Thank you Brian. I dont have penetrating oil. Let me see what I can get locally. What is the safe way to grip the taper seat so that I can apply some torque to separate the parts? Thanks!

[Glenn Atkins]

Bicycle inner tube, large rubber band, or rubber-like jar opener? Kitchen drawer mat?

 

Glenn

[Ron Z]

Penetrating oil won't get you very far. Small vac wrench on the thread bushing, large vac wrench on the shoulder of the cone. Twist back and forth a few times and it will come off. Clean the corrosion off of everything - as you know the thread bushing has to spin freely on the cone when you put it back in, or the diaphragm will twist as you tighten the bushing down.

[hari317]

Penetrating oil won't get you very far. Small vac wrench on the thread bushing, large vac wrench on the shoulder of the cone. Twist back and forth a few times and it will come off. Clean the corrosion off of everything - as you know the thread bushing has to spin freely on the cone when you put it back in, or the diaphragm will twist as you tighten the bushing down.

Thank you. This is what worked. Unfortunately I did not have the larger wrench so I used a pair of parallel pliers to grip the shoulder of the taper but that has marred the taper. The taper is still round but it has two marks of the serrated jaw at 180 degrees.

Can the taper be salvaged?

 

Parts just separated:

 

 

After cleaning the green corrosion off. There was a thick layer of gunk inside the bushing too.

 

[ralfstc]

Hi Hari,

 

I'm certainly not a professional, but I think I'd want a smooth taper. Two ways to get this occur to me. One would be a new taper (maybe Ron has such a thing?) or you could find somebody with a lathe to smooth the angle? I'm always cautious about how much damage rough metal can do inside celluloid etc., plus the taper needs to be able to rotate freely for the diaphragm to set up right.

 

Humbly submitted as a placeholder until somebody who really knows stuff comes along! :-)

 

R.

[Ron Z]

This why you never throw away any vac pumps or parts. I have a bag full of random parts that I go to from time to time. Unfortunately the cost to get a cone to India would be as much as it would to send a replacement pump.

 

Hari - I would sand with the coarse material on a buff stick, or file gently so that there are no burrs. If they don't go all of the way down, you may be OK. If not sure, fill with epoxy and then sand flush again when it cures. If there is a cut all the way across either the cone, or the seat in the barrel, you have a pathway for air to get into the pen. If the damage to the cone does not go from end to end, you might get away without filling in the damage.

 

One correction to the post above... The cone does not rotate in the diaphragm. The two stay in position while the thread bushing is screwed down - the bushing must rotate freely on the cone as I noted above because it turns as it is screwed in, but the cone and diaphragm must not.

[ralfstc]

Thanks Ron, I expressed myself clumsily.

 

R.

[Vintagepens]

The better release agent would be naphtha, which also cleans up more readily.

To separate the two parts, use a sharp blade along the seam, wedging it open. Follow up as necessary with a wider blade.

[hari317]

Hi Ron, the marks do not extend all the way down the cone. I will remove the high points as suggested by you and try to see if the pen works. I have cleaned the parts well, the bushing now rotates freely on the shoulder of the cone to keep the cone and diaphragm stationary wrt to the barrel as the busing is threaded in to snug the assembly.

 

David, thanks for the inputs. My first attempt after soaking in wd40 was to pry the parts away using a knife edge, but I did not succeed at all, the corrosion bond was quite strong.

 

I am a newbie to vacumatics, having worked only on a few as I own only a few vacumatics.

 

But I am curious, when they(Parker) black anodised the aluminum bushing, why did they not anodise the taper/cone? after all, this part is first exposed to corrosive ink when the diaphragm fails. Also if they had simply threaded the union between the shaft and the pellet cup, it world have made pellet removal easier, especially with a through hole axially drilled in the pellet cup to drive the pellet ball out using a thin drift inserted from the back.

[mitto]

Congrats on the success, hari. You must be tired playing KABADDI with the tiny filler parts.

[hari317]

Congrats on the success, hari. You must be tired playing KABADDI with the tiny filler parts.

not yet, have ordered some diaphragms, waiting to arrive.

[mitto]

not yet, have ordered some diaphragms, waiting to arrive.

 

You sound as if the KABADDI playing phrase did not amuse you.

Edited January 23, 2018 by mitto

[hari317]

 

You sound as if the KABADDI playing phrase did not amuse you.

[Ron Z]

The outside end of the thread bushing was exposed and could be seen, so making it black was desirable. The cone inside was not visible, so not anodized. Threading the rod VS a quick slit was a more involved, so more expensive process. Multiply a few cents by thousands of pens.... you get the idea. The pumps were considered to be "disposable" units, and were often replaced when the pen was restored. They weren't thinking about someone repairing and using the pen 70 or 80 years later.

[siamackz]

They weren't thinking about someone repairing and using the pen 70 or 80 years later.

What I tell myself every time I am frustrated trying to open a section, piston, or restore a difficult pen

[hari317]

The diaphragms arrived today ( from the late Martin Smith, he will be missed). The damaged cone was used and is working fine. I had to fashion a small clamp using a paper clip to keep the plunger extended so as to easily shellac the pellet cup to the shaft and allow the shellac to dry. The ebonite pellet cup came from Jack Lynch in the USA.

 

This is the arrangement I fashioned. If i dont lose it. I can re-use it several times.

 

 

Here is the pen post repair. Holds approx 1.15ml ink. The breather can be longer , there is space but I have let it be for the moment. Wideguy, if you are reading this, this is the pen you gifted me years back.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Hari

[mitto]

Great, hari. Congrats on completing the 'mission impossible'.

 

Enjoy using your pen in good health.

[PAKMAN]

Quite an ordeal! Congrats on bringing this lovely pen back to life!