Osmia 883 - How To Remove Piston For Servicing?

[Paul-in-SF]

This pen works very well in general, but the action of the piston is rather stiff. Whether it just needs lubrication or the seals need work, I would like to remove the piston workings to check it out.

 

Also, incidentally, I am wondering if it has a removable nib unit. I can see what looks like a collar inside the section, but it doesn't budge when I try to turn it, and the section is also very much stuck in place. If the nib unit is removable, perhaps soaking would loosen it up?

[Nethermark]

The Osmia 883 is a great pen, as most Osmias are. Just took a look at the ones I have, and I cannot see a collar inside the section. That is the case for most of my 88x Osmias. However I have an 882 with a collar. You can recognize it by it having slots in the collar were an instrument for turning it out would fit. So i'ts possible that your 883 has a collar (nib section).

 

About the piston removal: I have taken the blind cap from an otherwise worthless fountain pen that fits on the threads of my Osmias. I have cut off the back part of the blind cap, so I'm left with a ring and then cut it through. This can then be put around the threads of the piston, which allows one to screw the piston unit out with normal pliers. Be careful however: First heat the end of the pen where the piston is with a hairdryer or something similar and don't apply too much pressure with the pliers, or you risk destroying the piston unit! If it doesn't come out fairly easily, apply more heat and try again, etc.

[Nethermark]

And now with a picture

 

[ralfstc]

My 294 looks like it has a collar, but no turning slots. I've never tried to shift the collar, but just removed the feed and nib as if it were a solid section. It's a tight fit, so care is needed!

[Paul-in-SF]

The Osmia 883 is a great pen, as most Osmias are. Just took a look at the ones I have, and I cannot see a collar inside the section. That is the case for most of my 88x Osmias. However I have an 882 with a collar. You can recognize it by it having slots in the collar were an instrument for turning it out would fit. So i'ts possible that your 883 has a collar (nib section).

 

About the piston removal: I have taken the blind cap from an otherwise worthless fountain pen that fits on the threads of my Osmias. I have cut off the back part of the blind cap, so I'm left with a ring and then cut it through. This can then be put around the threads of the piston, which allows one to screw the piston unit out with normal pliers. Be careful however: First heat the end of the pen where the piston is with a hairdryer or something similar and don't apply too much pressure with the pliers, or you risk destroying the piston unit! If it doesn't come out fairly easily, apply more heat and try again, etc.

 

Thanks (and for the picture). I assume you are turning counter-clockwise, facing from the back end (as in your picture)?

 

I do see some little holes in that thing that appears to be a nib collar, at approximately positions 12 and 6. It doesn't seem worth trying to find a specialized tool in order to take it out, so I guess I'll leave it be. It may not be worth it for me to try to remove the piston either, it's not that hard to move if I use a piece of grippy rubber on it. It does make cleaning a bit tedious. Maybe I'll focus on removing the section instead.

[OMASsimo]

Don't! I doubt the section is removable and you risk to destroy the barrel. It looks like the 88x pens have at least a nib collar if not a screw-in unit because there are two slots in the collar as you described. But I haven't taken any of mine apart because they simply work. But if your piston gets too hard to work, removing the nib unit with a suitable tool might be the safest. Then you could apply a bit of silicone grease and you might be good for the next 70 years.

[ralfstc]

If you torque on the piston knob with grippy rubber it may well end badly. The mech can only take so much "oomph" going through it. Most likely a tiny amount of Silicon grease would save a lot of heart-ache. I'd recommend popping the nib and feed out (either alone or with the collar using the tool) and lubricating the piston. Omassimo is bang on here.

[Paul-in-SF]

Summary: I don't have a tool for removing the nib unit/collar, and I wouldn't know where to get one. I don't think I would be able to remove the nib and feed separately, they are very solidly in there, plus (as folks have noted) they work very well as they are. If it's dangerous for me, in routine use, to turn the piston knob when it is stiff, then it sounds like the only option is to attempt to remove the piston end, as Nethermark suggested, or to stop using the pen altogether, which seems a shame.

 

OMASsimo, you are correct I believe, I checked under magnification and there is no evidence of a seam of any kind where the section could be removed. That, plus requiring a specialized tool to remove the nib and feed, seems a little short-sighted of the pen designer, but I'm no expert. In any case, thanks for bringing me up short there.

 

I am going to try soaking the nib end of the pen for a few hours to see if there is any resulting looseness so that I might be able to remove the nib and feed somehow without a specialized tool.

[Nethermark]

OMASsimo is right. The section is glued in place and can typically not be removed without destroying the pen.

 

The point of the removable nib unit was precisely to be able to remove it easily, but only for the professional repairmen. And those would have been supplied with the appropriate tool. Unfortunately, these tools are not readily available. Sometimes, I can get the nib unit out on Osmias, but in most cases, they are simply stuck in there.

 

I normally take out the piston unit and then knock out the feed and nib. Alternatively, you can do as you suggest yourself; soak and carefully walk the nib and feed out. Best first to try to slowly walk out the nib by moving it a bit from side to side while pulling slighltly on it. With the nib out, it usually is easier to get the feed out. But be careful, Osmia nibs and feeds aren't cheap.

[Paul-in-SF]

Success! Soaking and a few minutes of ultrasound on the section area and I was able to wiggle out the nib, and then the feed, and then I used a screwdriver that was exactly the right size to fit into the slots to unscrew the nib unit collar. Now I have access to apply silicone grease to the piston.

 

I have never done this from this end before, so here is what I would do if I were left to my own devices: swab the inside of the barrel, using a non-metal tool of some kind (a swab with the cotton removed perhaps), with a small amount of silicone grease, and then run the piston up and down to spread it around and loosen the piston action. Then I would assemble the nib unit outside the pen, and screw it back into the section with the aid of a little bit of that silicone grease that probably got on the threads inside the barrel anyway.

 

Any problems with this approach?

Edited May 28, 2020 by Paul-in-SF

[Nethermark]

That's great!

 

While you're having the nib unit out, give the nib, feed and collar a turn in the ultrasound cleaner, so you get rid of all the old ink. Then first clean the inside of the barrel. You can use a swab dipped in water with some soap or put it in the ultrasound clearer too. If you do the latter, you need to make certain that there is water in the barrel all the way up to the piston.

 

To apply the silicone grease, use a swab with the cotton on. Just a very small amount will do. You can always apply more grease if that is necessary, but the stuff can be hard to remove. Then move the piston up and down, as you already mention. And yes, first assemble the nib unit and screw it in with a little bit of silicone on it.

 

If this approach doesn't work, it looks like you will need to remove the piston and adjust the seal. But I expect that a bit of silicone grease should do the trick.

[OMASsimo]

Congratulations! I'm glad it worked out for you and you'll have an outstanding daily writer after you finished.

 

By the way, your pen is an earlier version of the 883 because later models don't have a blind cap anymore. They have a differential piston like Pelikans. Servicing those pens from the piston knob side would be even more difficult without the right tools.

[ralfstc]

Great news! Can't wait to see how it comes out (pix or it didn't happen!)

 

Ralf

[Paul-in-SF]

Nethermark, thanks for the advice, I will follow it.

 

Edited to add: All done, piston works beautifully, and I managed to reassemble the nib unit so that it writes just as well as before. Thanks to everyone for their advice and input. I'm glad I tried it this way before trying to remove the piston.

 

Congratulations! I'm glad it worked out for you and you'll have an outstanding daily writer after you finished.

 

By the way, your pen is an earlier version of the 883 because later models don't have a blind cap anymore. They have a differential piston like Pelikans. Servicing those pens from the piston knob side would be even more difficult without the right tools.

 

Thank you for the information about the relative age of my pen. From what I have read, the 883 model was introduced around 1955 as a mid-range model. I don't know how long it went on, only that the Osmia trademark was discontinued from the early 1960's. Does that match your understanding? Mine has the Osmia trademark on the barrel and the model number picked out in gold, and the A.W. Faber-Castell logo only engraved with no color. It also has a greenish ink window with lateral black stripes.

Edited May 28, 2020 by Paul-in-SF

[OMASsimo]

Nethermark, thanks for the advice, I will follow it.

 

Edited to add: All done, piston works beautifully, and I managed to reassemble the nib unit so that it writes just as well as before. Thanks to everyone for their advice and input. I'm glad I tried it this way before trying to remove the piston.

 

 

Thank you for the information about the relative age of my pen. From what I have read, the 883 model was introduced around 1955 as a mid-range model. I don't know how long it went on, only that the Osmia trademark was discontinued from the early 1960's. Does that match your understanding? Mine has the Osmia trademark on the barrel and the model number picked out in gold, and the A.W. Faber-Castell logo only engraved with no color. It also has a greenish ink window with lateral black stripes.

 

First of all, great news!

 

Unfortunately, as great as the Osmia pens are, as poor is the data base for reliable information. I don't know what Faber-Castell did with the company documents after they took over completely. Some information about dating pens can be obtained from patents but that's tedious and indirect. Better info would be dated advertisements but those are hard to find for less well-known brands like Osmia. There is a lot of misinformation about dating many European pens because people pick up hearsay on the internet and report it as facts. Therefore, I'd be careful with a date like "1955". I think 1950s is a pretty good guess. The 88x series are cigar shaped pens and most German producers adopted this "new" design around 1950 (probably most prominent the 144/146/149 MB series). Osmia was a fierce competitor of MB and of course they had to bring out something similar at the same time. Also, during the 1950s most first tier German manufacturers upgraded their piston mechanisms to differential screw pistons. That's obviously the case here with the 88x series. Faber-Castell kept using the Osmia logo well into the 1960s but the Osmia imprint was mostly dropped around 1960. I'm not sure if the 88x series was still produced in the 60s when the new fashion became hooded/semi-hooded nibs in Germany (they were always a bit behind ). My feeling is that the first version of the 88x was introduced around 1950 and the updated version around the mid of the decade. But who knows for sure?

 

Another problem is that Osmia produced their pen series over long periods with many design changes but using the same model number. I have an 884 with the old piston mechanism like yours but also the old rippled ink window. By contrast, my 883 has the new differential piston mechanism and the new striped ink window that you describe. Thus, your pen seems a transition model between the two that I have. So, in the end, "1955" might be a very good guess but I have no idea if there is any real evidence for this documented anywhere.

[Paul-in-SF]

OMASsimo, thank you for sharing your knowledge in this area, it is both very interesting and a great help. The fate of the Osmia company seems to me one of the sadder stories in the fountain pen world. It makes me wonder what might have been if they could have found different strategies that allowed them to survive and prosper instead of failing and being gradually absorbed by a giant amoeba another company.

[whych]

@Paul-in-SF

You can also try soaking the WHOLE pen in water and working the piston by filling and emptying it. You be surprised at how much ink comes out.

Don't worry about leaving a bit of water at the back of the piston, it will evaporate. The back of the piston is not sealed by the filling knob.

Over the years, a little bit of ink migrates to the back of the piston causing it to stiffen up. By soaking and working the piston, you will clear the dried ink from both sides of the piston.

 

Usually this on its own is enough to loosen the piston without having to use silicone.

[Paul-in-SF]

@Paul-in-SF

You can also try soaking the WHOLE pen in water and working the piston by filling and emptying it. You be surprised at how much ink comes out.

Don't worry about leaving a bit of water at the back of the piston, it will evaporate. The back of the piston is not sealed by the filling knob.

Over the years, a little bit of ink migrates to the back of the piston causing it to stiffen up. By soaking and working the piston, you will clear the dried ink from both sides of the piston.

 

Usually this on its own is enough to loosen the piston without having to use silicone.

 

Thanks, I will remember that.