Replacing A Missing Tassie On A Vacumatic Blind Cap?

[jdllizard]

I recently won an auction for a vac to rebuild (golden pearl, 1941, speedline filler) that was missing it's blind cap tassie, it's one of the ones without the threaded jewel. It just has a faux jewel machined into the blind cap, and a ridge where the tassie aught to be.

 

Can a replacement tassie be added back on? I assume the old one's gone because of celluloid shrinkage, so would a replacement have to be glued on or is there a better fix?

 

I plan on keeping this pen for my collection but I'd really like to have it complete with the tassie.

 

Also, are those reproduction tassies I see on an auction site any good, or are they ill fitting and not worth it?

[Brian-McQueen]

The only way to get a new tassie on your pen is with glue, and I don't even know if that would hold it well. I can't speak on the quality of the reproductions. Your best bet is to get an entirely new blind cap. You can probably get a decent blind cap for just a little more than a repro tassie.

[Ron Z]

The reproductions are decent quality. Reproduction jewels from Woodbin tend to be pretty good too. I don't know if a tassie can be pressed on over the faux jewel or not. You would need to use glue. If it's a bulls eye jewel, you may want to find a way to preserve it. If it's black, cutting it off, drilling and tapping for a reproduction jewel is an option. Note that it's best done on a lathe.