Jump to content

Busted Pen Help

sbarnett

By sbarnett
in Repair Q&A

 Share

Recommended Posts

sbarnett Dipped Only

sbarnett

Posted
Posted

I just knocked my Montagrappa Extra off my desk :bonk: When I picked it up, I found that the threaded section of the cap is still on the pen body, but the rest of the cap is snapped off above the silver trim. :o

 

The break is very clean, and the broken pieces mate together very nicely. Do you think that this can safely be repaired with cyanoacrylate (super glue), or do you think it needs professional help?

 

Thanks!

 

Distraught Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 8
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • whv

    4

  • sbarnett

    3

  • Gerry

    1

  • Gatorade

    1

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

whv Near Mint

whv

Posted
Posted

celluloid can be welded with acetone, but the job would best be left to a pro, imo. drying is slow, so you would want to use a jig to hold the pieces for days while the weld sets and unless judiciously applied, the acetone can permanently mar the surface finish of your pen. i would avoid ca on this type of repair altogether.

wayne

things get better with age -- i'm approaching magnificent

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sbarnett Dipped Only

sbarnett

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Thanks for the info on acetone. I have a pretty complete workshop at home, so clamping the cap together properly for a long term cure would not be a problem.

 

Do you have any details about surface prep or suggested curing temperature / duration?

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

Edited by sbarnett
Link to comment
Share on other sites
whv Near Mint

whv

Posted
Posted (edited)

so long as you haven't touched the break, thereby transfering oils to the plastic, i think you should be good to go. no need to rough up the surfaces as you will literally be melting them. i bring the pieces close together and touch the tip of a bodkin dipped in acetone to the break from the inside - capillarity should do the trick, then push the pieces together. i've never concerned myself with ambient conditions on this sort of job as it is a process of evaporation/outgassing, rather than 'curing' or polimerization. local advisors recommend 2-3 days for a decent weld, but curing will take much longer. good ventilation would also be advised.

i am sure that the pros have other ways of doing this, but the method has worked for me the few times i tried it.

Edited by whv

wayne

things get better with age -- i'm approaching magnificent

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gatorade Rare

Gatorade

Posted
Posted
so long as you haven't touched the break, thereby transfering oils to the plastic, i think you should be good to go. no need to rough up the surfaces as you will literally be melting them. i bring the pieces close together and touch the tip of a bodkin dipped in acetone to the break from the inside - capillarity should do the trick, then push the pieces together. i've never concerned myself with ambient conditions on this sort of job as it is a process of evaporation/outgassing, rather than 'curing' or polimerization. local advisors recommend 2-3 days for a decent weld, but curing will take much longer. good ventilation would also be advised.

i am sure that the pros have other ways of doing this, but mt method has worked for me the few times i tried it.

I feel like I just got done watching surgery performed.

 

Dr.- Acetone

Nurnse- Acetone

 

 

Dr.- Clamp

Nurse- Clamp

 

Dr.-Sponge me.

Nurse- Sponging.

 

Dr.- Close it up. I think we are done here.

Nurse- Good job Doctor.

 

Dr.- Tell the patient it can take the brace/cast off in a few days and not to do and more high dives!

Best use of a pen:

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y196/Gator_b8/DANNYSICOVER.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
whv Near Mint

whv

Posted
Posted

lmao -

actually, i'm rather sloppy. i hang with guys who actually hang damp rags in their shop to collect the dust that's floating around to keep it out of their work!

wayne

things get better with age -- i'm approaching magnificent

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gerry Donor Pen

Gerry

Posted
Posted (edited)

Me too, unfortunately. one of my friends, a serious photographer, built a darkroom in his basement with positive pressure ventilation - feeding of slightly overpressure filtered air to the darkroom to eliminate dust spec's on his prints...

 

Nice prints BTW.

 

Heh... he worked with large format cameras - his contacts were blow ups to me - the negatives were 8x10. Of course portability of the camera was an issue occasionally... ;)

 

Regards,

 

Gerry

 

PS: No, I don't know how many megapixels that works out to. Quite a bit more than is available today I would suspect.

Edited by Gerry
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
sbarnett Dipped Only

sbarnett

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I followed Wayne’s advice, and applied a small amount of acetone to the mating surfaces, and clamped it up for ~50 hours. Cap seems good as new with no visible evidence of the break. It helps that the break was aligned with the top edge of the silver trim. This helps disguise any break lines, but I can’t even find any evidence of the break under 5x mag.

 

Thanks for the help

Link to comment
Share on other sites
whv Near Mint

whv

Posted
Posted

more than welcome - glad it worked out so well!

wayne

things get better with age -- i'm approaching magnificent

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33583
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26772
    5. jar
      jar
      26105

  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      Links to web pages or articles about Chinese typesetting, signwriting, etc.

      By Shanghai Knife Dude · Posted

      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By adamselene · Posted

      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By adamselene · Posted

      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o

  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More

  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...