Solvent Weld

[FredRydr]

Addertooth,

 

In the event your repair doesn't work out, Dale Bebee (PenTooling) is looking for a junk Ink-Vue to fabricate a tool for Ink-Vue restoration and sac installation. He said on Sunday that he will bestow the name of the donor upon the tool on completion.

Edited November 5, 2019 by FredRydr

[Addertooth]

FredRydr,

I appreciate you forwarding the offer, but I feel very comfortable that the repair will work out quite fine.

The most difficult thing to have, and the part that trips many people up... is simply the lack of patience to wait for a proper curing.

There are enough unfinished pens awaiting love, that I will be quite occupied for the next several weeks.

Also, I suspect if he is making a tool, it is for the more difficult variant of the Ink-view pens to repair, not the easier variant.

[Paul-in-SF]

I have a pretty good idea what a band clamp is in general, but when I google "dental band clamp" I don't get anything that looks like what I might have expected. Can someone link to where to buy one?

[FarmBoy]

You are looking for a Tofflemire Retainer

[Bibliophage]

Can anyone point to an actual example of what to purchase? Tofflemire Retainers don't look like they can hold _anything_ with a circular torque (bad wording, but I'm tired)

 

Possibly a video of someone using it on a pen barrel?

[FarmBoy]

CIRCLAMP

 

https://pentooling.com/files.html

[Bibliophage]

Thanks. So it's _two_ pieces. gotcha. All the places I was looking just sold the tool, but no bands. Just looking at the tool, it's a bit difficult to see how to use it on a circular object

[joss]

Thanks. So it's _two_ pieces. gotcha. All the places I was looking just sold the tool, but no bands. Just looking at the tool, it's a bit difficult to see how to use it on a circular object

 

It is the band, not the tool, that clamps the circular object. The object can be a pen or a tooth, as in this tutorial video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptpYx_Wr44I

[Bibliophage]

It's funny. Stainless steel bands - 1/2" and .025 (25 mils) thick, cost more than buying the tool - even from US sellers.

[joss]

It's funny. Stainless steel bands - 1/2" and .025 (25 mils) thick, cost more than buying the tool - even from US sellers.

 

These are essentially medical tools and supposed to be of superior quality.

[Ron Z]

You can buy stainless steel shim stock and cut them yourself. You can also make the bands from brass shim stock from the hardware store.

[Bibliophage]

You can buy stainless steel shim stock and cut them yourself. You can also make the bands from brass shim stock from the hardware store.

I didn't even think about brass shim stock. That's probably all I need - I hope to not have to repair more than one or two pens. I might try using it and a bit of heat to fix the lever pivot point on a couple of cheap plastic pens, however. more out of curiosity than need

[Addertooth]

The Solvent weld held up nicely on the Waterman Ink-View Silver Ray pen. The pen was kept wrapped with floss while the threads had the remnants of the old shellac removed with a 3/8-32 tap.

The Sac was replaced, as well as the seal at the end opposite of the nib. No sign of the crack, and to be frank, I can not find where it used to be.

 

[Paul-in-SF]

 

These are essentially medical tools and supposed to be of superior quality.

If electrical tape can work, I think I'll stick with that for the couple of pens that I am considering trying to repair.

 

I'm in California so apparently I can't get MEK. I think I can get acetone without any problem.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Paul-in-SF

[austollie]

 

I'm in California so apparently I can't get MEK. I think I can get acetone without any problem.

 

I had to google that, before I could believe that MEK has been effectively banned in California. I guess it makes sense, given that it is carcinogenic. There is no more effective product for solvent welding polystyrene. I wonder how all the plastic modellers in California are coping without this solvent?

[Addertooth]

Estate sales and Garage sales are a good way to get MEK in all 50 states. A lot of people bought it years ago before any bans existed.

[Paul-in-SF]

 

I had to google that, before I could believe that MEK has been effectively banned in California. I guess it makes sense, given that it is carcinogenic. There is no more effective product for solvent welding polystyrene. I wonder how all the plastic modellers in California are coping without this solvent?

I was just reading on a woodworking board about a solvent called dichloromethane (DCM) as a possible substitute solvent for MEK. Of course they weren't talking about plastics at all, but does anyone know if DCM would be useful for solvent welding celluloid (or any other pen plastics)?

 

Regarding banning VOC solvents, Southern California is apparently even more strict, banning mineral spirits as well as other things.

[RayCornett]

If electrical tape can work, I think I'll stick with that for the couple of pens that I am considering trying to repair.

 

I'm in California so apparently I can't get MEK. I think I can get acetone without any problem.

Make friends with a mechanic or someone who works for a machine shop. They use it to clean metal parts. Some of them get it by the barrel full. I was able to get a half gallon of it from a mechanic friend last year. Even acetone is getting difficult to get. Basically, you're allowed to buy what's on the shelf and in their old inventory if they have any but the stores are not restocking it.

Edited November 28, 2019 by RayCornett

[RayCornett]

MEK application question. Let's say you have a barrel snapped in half but it's a clean break. MEK on both pieces or is one enough?

[Bibliophage]

Small amount on both pieces. You're trying to actually dissolve the material slightly on both sides, then merge them back together. If only one side is softened, then it won't get a good contact/mix.

 

(it's late, my brain isn't working very well)