Help Removing Safety Pen's Nib

July 13, 2011

I recently acquired a German safety pen with the manufacturer’s name “Imperial”, which I assume was made some time in the 1920’s. The nib tines are damaged, but I’m having a difficult time removing it. The feed and shaft are one piece, and the nib is held in place with a collar (fairly typical). However, there appears to be a small black hard rubber pin going through the collar and into the feed; as you point the nib at your eye, this pin is in the 6 o’clock position on the collar, directly under the ‘centerline’ of the nib. This pin is set into the collar so that it’s flush with the surface of the collar.

Has anyone handled a safety pen with this sort of feature in the collar, and if so, what is the best way to remove the pin so I can take off the collar and replace the nib?

Don Jr.

July 13, 2011

You wouldn't be able to provide some detailed pictures, because it's difficult to guess what exactly you mean by just your description.

July 13, 2011

its fairly easy - heat it up with a blow dryer (better, if you want to spend some money, with an electronically adjustable one) to about 60°C and then take a small splint driver (or grind a tiny watchmakers screwdriver down to about 0.9 mm) and drive the metal pin out. The carefully heat up again and pull the nib and the security ring off. Heating is important - it makes the hard rubber flexibel and futhermore: if you heat it up it takes back to its former shape. But also it gets more vulnerable. There are some smaller German companies, that secured the collar by a metal or sometimes even by a hard rubber pin.

July 13, 2011

Osmia,

I don't understand your suggestion; if I tried to heat and then tap the pin that's in the collar (you called it a 'security ring' for to keep the nib and feed together), where would it go? The pin is on the underside of the nib and feed; driving it further in would seem to smash it into the nib. I can't access the other side of the pin because it's blocked by the nib and feed -- does that make sense? Unfortunately I won't be able to take & post digital pictures because my camera was loaned to a family member visiting the UK through Sunday... perhaps I can post some next week.

Don Jr

July 22, 2011

I wanted to update everyone on German safety...

I've been tinkering with it on & off for the past week or so, and last night, finally got the BHR collar off. The trick (as Osmia relayed) was indeed gentle heat... I set up a sort of 'screen' in front of my heat gun; the screen had a very small narrow opening which allowed me to expose a small area -- the BHR collar and it's pin. I then slowly rotated the feed/shaft/nib unit (exposing only the collar) to the heat, and slowly the BHR pin became more defined. As mentioned before, the pin 'locked' the collar to the feed at the 6 o'clock position, and there was only one direction for it to go: out (ie, I couldn't drive it all the way through, like you would do on the safety's turning knob, because the nib was on the other side). As the BHR pin become more defined in the heat, I took a straight pin, and 'picked' away at the pin, being careful not to scratch/mar the collar. I did scratch/pit the surface of the pin a little bit, but not to the extent that it couldn't be reused.

Next challenge was to actually remove the collar, which was a bit of a trick with the nib in place because of natural wedge formed between the collar, the feed, and the widening angle of the nib. Gentle heat helped again; using the same screen & heating process as before, I slowly got the collar pliable enough that it could 'stretch out' slightly, while I pushed it forward from the shaft-end using a bit of brass tubing that fit perfectly behind it. I only nudged it a millimeter, which then allowed me to wiggle the nib out from between the collar and feed. The original Krupp steel nib (a #2 I think) was badly pitted & not useable. Unfortunately, I did not have an identical replacement Krupp nib, but I did have another steel nib that fit, so I used that instead. (If anyone has a stash of suitable/similar Krupp or other German steel nibs, and are willing to let a couple of them go, please send me a PM.)

Fitting nibs with collars like these is almost as tricky as getting them off (to me anyway) because of how they're wedged in, but heat helped again. I didn't bother putting the BHR pin back in the collar; I've set it aside in case I find a better/more suitable nib in the future... but even then, I'm not sure I would replace it unless I was going to trade/sell the pen in the future. Apologize for lack of photos; suitable camera still absent...

Don Jr