Can A Warped (Twisted) Barrel Be Saved?

[Jennings]

OK, before I start I fully admit the following:

 

1) Yes, I own up, it was me wot dun it guv'! I'm not going to pretend it was someone else and this is how I found it.

2) It was an accident...more haste less speed and don't get distracted by a conversation when you're using a hairdryer at a critical point. I won't be making the same mistake again.

3) I know, I know...I probably need more practice. On cheaper or already broken pens. I thought I was doing OK as this is the first time I've ended up like this.

 

Phew! Confessional over!

 

OK...onto business...I've overheated the barrel of my Conway Stewart number 58 while trying to free the section for sac repair. One minute nothing, the next the section came out but the barrel had clearly got too hot as it slightly twisted with my wrist action.

 

The section still fits the barrel snugly, so that's good. The cap still screws onto the threads of the barrel, however it's a little stiff due to the ridge caused where the warping starts on the barrel hitting the lip of the cap. The lever is slightly stiff due to the barrel cut-out being ever so slightly skewed, and the internal pressure bar has detached from the level itself. When I get home from work I'll take a pic and add it here to show what I mean, as I realise that description leave a lot to the imagination. There's a small ridge now which spirals down the length of the barrel. From a distance you wouldn't see it.

 

So, is the barrel now junk? Should I weep quietly into my inkwell and have my hands wrapped for tinkering to start with? Save the cap and section, nib, feed for spares? Or can I somehow rework the barrel and refit the internal pressure bar to at least end up with some kind of functional pen again? Please don't hunt me down and kill me...I'm already upset enough that this pair of hands made such a blunder to start with.

Edited August 13, 2012 by Jennings

[olivier78860]

I already bought a pen like this. I heated with a hairdryer and could put it straight again. Well not perfectly, but it way better than the way I got it. Don't force it, don't hesitate to heat it well over and over until the result is plainly satisfying (but don't pull on it, try to "compress" a bit while bending, or you'll end up with a longer barrel than before, and nobody wants that). Good luck !

[Chi Town]

Which ever route you chose to go Please post the end result on this forum so hat we know what youve done and how you've done it.

[red52ripple]

Hi Jennings,

It can be done but it's not a trivial repair, by any means. If you re-heat the barrel the chances are 50-50 that you'll either improve it somewhat, or make it a great deal worse. There's quite a bit more to reshaping a barrel than meets the eye. If you want the pen returned to its original appearance you can look for a spare barrel - generally a little easier to find than caps - or send it to a good repairer.

Regards,

[Jennings]

Thanks for the rapid replies folks...really gratefully received, let me tell you. I knew you good people here would be able to share your wisdom and experiences on this one. So it sounds like in theory it is possible to go some way to 'correcting' the problem if I'm careful, but as Red Ripple advises it could all end in disaster. Part of me is thinking I could try it, as if it all does go wrong I haven't really lost anything as I can't really use the barrel as-is. I'll also look for a compatible barrel anyway if I can source one.

 

Does anyone know any good repairers in the UK? I'm sure there's probably a thread on that somewhere, so happy if anyone can direct me to it. I'd be interested in looking at the cost viability.

 

In the meantime I took some pics to try and highlight my damaged barrel...it's very hard to photograph, but you might be able to make out the slight spiral ridge that now runs round the barrel down its length.

[olivier78860]

You could contact Eckiethump on this forum, by private message. He's from Edinburgh. He's done wonders with some of my pens.

[red52ripple]

+1 for Eckiethump.

 

Your pictures show more of a problem than I realised. Your pen is made from wrapped celluloid sheet, rather than machined from the rod. The heat has distorted it in such a way that the spiral sheet is beginning to separate. I think that barrel poses a challenge for any repairer, but if anyone can do it, Eric (Eckiethump) can.

Regards,

[Jennings]

Thanks Olivier and Red Ripple...I've sent Eckiethump a PM to ask what he makes of it all and I'll see what he recommends. I'll certianly not be tampering with anything myself as i don't want to make it any worse than it already is!

[Jennings]

Update - A very speedy reply from Eckiethump has confirmed what we were all now expecting...the barrel's beyond saving this time round. So, now I've got to decide whether I can source a replacement barrel, or whether the nib-section-feed assembly and cap are worth parting out for other restorations. Thanks folks for helping out with this thread...at least I now know where to divert my efforts.

[red52ripple]

Sorry to hear that, Jennings. The 58 is a kind of special case among Conway Stewarts in the sense that some of its parts aren't interchangeable with other models. The nib, for instance, is either a Duro 58 or a CS 58 which are dedicated to that model. It may be that the feed and section will fit some of the other larger models, possibly a 60, but I don't know. The lever and pressure bar are worth saving and caps are in huge demand. The grey hatch design, which is what yours seems to be, is quite common so you may be able to find someone who needs a cap, or may even sell you a barrel.

 

The 58 is one of the better post-war Conway Stewarts. If I were you I wouldn't give up on it too quickly. As I said before, barrels are invariably easier to find than caps because they're not so likely to be damaged.

 

Regards,

[Jennings]

That's really good info Red Ripple, thanks. I tend not to throw much away, so I've popped the parts into my FP parts tin (felt lined, so don't worry, they're safe as houses from further damage!). I never knew that about the nibs...just as well you told me before I bought another CS with a nib missing thinking I could just slot my 58 nib in!!!

 

What you say is pretty much what Eckiethump said too...keep calm and hunt a barrel!!! So that's what I'll do I think I really like this pattern (I have a 60 in the same design and colour too!), so I'm happy to have it sit on the back burner until i can raise it from the ashes with a suitable donor. If that plan changes i'll advertise the parts on here I think.

 

One thing I wonder is where the best places to look for parts actually are. I'm worries the unaware simply throw pen parts away, as ebay is mostly made up of complete pens for sale.

[Marlow]

For future reference, when you heat the section end prior to removal test the plastic with the tip of a finger pad - if it's too hot for comfort let it cool a bit before attempting to remove the section.

[OcalaFlGuy]

IMO, the best method is Ron Zorn's "see with your fingers". Put your fingers right in the heat stream with the part of the pen you're heating. If it's too hot for your fingers, it's too hot for the pen.

 

I also have about a 2" x 3" piece of bicycle inner tube (thinner than car or motorcycle) that I light wrap around the section and tape down with a masking tape piece. The idea (to me) is that a couple wraps of the inner tube will act as a heat shield for the section. There's no need to heat the section, and heating it would cause it to expand at close the same rate as the section. This way with the barrel thread area being heated more than the section, the barrel has to expand (get heated) Less than without the heat shield for the section to release. Plus the inner tube is there as a gripper when the time actually comes to pull the section. Hey, it's logical and it works for me.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[Ray-Vigo]

In theory you could make some sort of tube that functions like a reverse hat jack. That is to say it's a tube with a screw mechanism that can get bigger or smaller in diameter as you turn the screw. You'd then pop the barrel into the jack while softened and tighten it down until back in the proper shape, assuming the barrel is more or less a cylinder.

[Jennings]

Thanks for the tips folks...good idea on the rubber sleeving too. Might also be good for barrels - acting like a heat jacket meaning that the barrels indirectly heated instead of directly. I'll be much more carfeul in future...I was holding the barrel with my fingers, but got distracted by the missis so didn't notice I wasn't evenly heating where my fingers were any more. Still, hard lesson learned!

 

I've been thinking along those lines Ray too...could I come up with a way of heating and applying the right gentle pressue to at least some way reform the barrel. Mind you, if it was that simple I'm sure the repairers would have pointed that out. I'm still hoping I can find a replacement barrel somewhere.

[FarmBoy]

I was expecting to see something like this:

[Ray-Vigo]

I was expecting to see something like this:

 

 

Someone was feeling ambitious.

[PaFitch]

I was expecting to see something like this:

 

I've got a pen similar to that (but it's only an Arnold big red imitation, so no big loss).

[Jennings]

Wow!!! I've got two Parker Vacs (brown and blue) like that and I'm glad I didn't do that!!! My melted barrel is the second pen related mistake I've made in my life so far...the first was about 15 years ago when I broke a gold plated nib on a then relatively new pen by being overly enthusiastic in trying to fix a bend! I'm hoping I don't add to my tally!

[FarmBoy]

Wow!!! I've got two Parker Vacs (brown and blue) like that and I'm glad I didn't do that!!! My melted barrel is the second pen related mistake I've made in my life so far...the first was about 15 years ago when I broke a gold plated nib on a then relatively new pen by being overly enthusiastic in trying to fix a bend! I'm hoping I don't add to my tally!

I can't claim the fame on that barrel. It came to me in a large parts lot from the LA Pen show a few years ago. I have it sitting on the bench where I do the heating of pens for various reasons. I may some day flame it in the back yard just for fun.

 

But it is wicked, I'm looking at it now and wondering . . .