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Hi, I was tinkering with a cap and needed a quick tool to grab the inner cap and hold it in place while turning the tassie. The junk box is an endless source of inspiration for me, and this time was no different. Basically, I needed something that could be expanded into a hole and then turned (or held in place while turning the hole), and a wall anchor immediately called out to me. The anchor was too short, of course, but that's what I needed: some semi-rigid material that I could expand at will. Next stop, the kitchen. Chopsticks! I carved one so that it could fit inside the cap, but reverse-tappered it, so the end would be thicker than the rest of the stem. And then another piece that I'd use to have the entire contraption push outwards once in the cap. In order to secure the grip, once the thin piece is inserted, it needs to be hammered-in (a few taps with the edge of a metal ruler was all it took). If you have to do this in a pinch, like I did, make sure that the thin piece is long enough to protrude from the cap or removing it will be a lot of fun (don't ask how I know this). To remove it, just pull the thin piece with pliers or grab it with the edge of a sharp knife. Have fun... alex

I was trying to clean the inside of the cap of my Lamy 27n. The cap is the double lamination steel version. However, I pressed the side of the cap against the edge of my table using too much force thus created a stripe shaped dent. I tried to restore it using a mandrel of similar shape of the cap. The mandrel was inserted into the cap and gently hammered on top. I also used a steel bar to press the dented surface with the mandrel inside. To my surprise, because of the elasticity of the steel, unlike the gold filled or sterling silver cap, the dent could not be restored. I will be really grateful if anyone had experience on repairing the steel cap and provide me with some advice.

Good afternoon! On several of my Parker 61s (and some 51s too) the shells (hoods) are scratched with many fine scratches. These would appear to be coming from contact of the shell with the spring clutch in the cap that holds the cap in place. I can probably polish these scratches out, but I want to stop (or at least minimize) them. Would polishing the inside surface of the clutch spring help the situation? Should I just learn to live with the scratches? I can, but it will bother me. Any thoughts are appreciated. Tom C.