Repair And Maintenance Tools

[Vintagepens]

I'm about to write a full blog post on the subject of shims and nib flossing.

At least for gold nibs, just don't go there. I don't know how it has become such a popular notion that this is the best way to adjust tine spacing. I played with it many years ago, and gave it up many years ago. Not worth the risk, not nearly as effective as proper nib bending.

[FarmBoy]

I'm about to write a full blog post on the subject of shims and nib flossing.

At least for gold nibs, just don't go there. I don't know how it has become such a popular notion that this is the best way to adjust tine spacing. I played with it many years ago, and gave it up many years ago. Not worth the risk, not nearly as effective as proper nib bending.

I've been saying this or something very close for as long as I can remember...

 

Nib flossing is like flossing your teeth, you are trying to remove debris, not generate a spitting gap.

 

Feel free to quote me.

[ac12]

A heater, preferably adjustable temp, to heat the barrel to remove a stuck section. Some people use a hair dryer or hobby craft heater. I use a glasses frame heater, with adjustable heat.

 

An instant read dial or digital thermometer to monitor the temp of the air coming out of the heater.

If the heat is too HOT, you could ignite the pen. I did Smoke coming off the pen is NOT a good thing to see.

The thermometer can also be used to determine the temp at different distances away from the heater. This is so that you can position the pen to get the desired amount of heat.

 

A no contact IR thermometer to check the temp of the pen as you heat it.

These things are not expensive today. I saw an add for one at Harbor Freight for less than $20.

[praxim]

Regarding IR thermometers, two cautions:

1. Where the dot points is not what you are measuring because the transmitter creating that helpful dot is not centred on the receiving lens but offset, so you get parallax error which varies with distance.
2. Where the dot points is not what you are measuring because the receiver is covering a much larger area which it averages for a reading, and this area varies with distance.

The above two sources of error act contrarily (closer is worse for 1, better for 2) but not in a way that helpfully cancel each other because they are separate error modes.

 

If you can get a reasonable thermocouple probe, for example they come with quite cheap multimeters, then your readings will be slower (allow ten seconds for stability) but far more accurate.

[Ron Z]

Many of the small ones do not have a dot. The one I use does not. You hold the meter close to the object.

 

Be careful with glasses frame warmers. The bead warmers in particular are much higher in temperature than is needed. I melted a couple of pens with one even at the lowest setting when testing to see how it worked. (this was in the days when we were working on the best way to take Sheaffer plunger fillers apart) The schematic and application notes for the control chip indicated that it should have been possible to set it lower by changing resistors, but I couldn't get enough data to figure out what the changes should be.

 

I think that the important thing is to: 1] know what the actual temperature of the air flow is. Measure using putting the probe of a digital thermometer in the flow until the reading stabilizes and measure at different distances. 2] Monitor the temperature of the workpiece. Check frequently. and use your fingers or a digital thermometer to measure. With time you will learn how things work, but it never hurts to check.

[FarmBoy]

I have found that when attending pen club if I encounter a stuck hood in the absence of a suitable heat source enough hot air can be generated if I ask about flex nib pens.

[PaulS]

[pen lady]

Reading through the posts, has anyone mentioned getting a good "How-To" repair book? I don't start anything other than the simplest repairs without looking things up in my copy of Marshall & Oldfield's invaluable reference book.

[PaulS]

that's a very good suggestion - well worth the money, especially if someone is new to repair/restoration.

[Ron Z]

The Marshall/Oldfield book is the only one I recommend.

[ac12]

 

 

Regarding IR thermometers, two cautions:

1. Where the dot points is not what you are measuring because the transmitter creating that helpful dot is not centred on the receiving lens but offset, so you get parallax error which varies with distance.
2. Where the dot points is not what you are measuring because the receiver is covering a much larger area which it averages for a reading, and this area varies with distance.

The above two sources of error act contrarily (closer is worse for 1, better for 2) but not in a way that helpfully cancel each other because they are separate error modes.

 

If you can get a reasonable thermocouple probe, for example they come with quite cheap multimeters, then your readings will be slower (allow ten seconds for stability) but far more accurate.

 

Yes thank you, parallax. I forgot about that, shame on me since that is a common problem with certain cameras. At close distances, the laser is NOT accurate, because it is pointed off from the IR sensor. I think I should try to measure the parallax error, just for fun.

 

When I measure a pen's temperature, I ignore the laser and put the IR thermometer right up to the pen, so the sensor is pointed at the pen.

 

Thermocouple proble sounds interesting. I'll check the local electronic distributor.

[Ron Z]

I wouldn't expect a thermocouple to be accurate because it has to warm up as well. Good for measuring the temperature of the air flow, but not instantaneous surface temperature measurements. That's where the IR is really good.

[praxim]

That is exactly the point. I see ac12's concept for measuring the pen. Mine is to switch on the heat source (set on the work bench) and find the right temperature point within the air flow with a thermocouple. Note that point in the stream. Now you know that you can be slightly aggressive to heat faster with correspondingly higher risk or cautious without reaching the intended temperature or if you think only mild heat is needed. It saves a lot of guesswork.

 

If you wanted to measure the pen with a thermocouple then you would be have to get a fairly expensive specialised contact one, not the usual wire type I am discussing. I have one, but do not use it for that purpose because it would be a slow measurement during which the pen cools. An Exergen Microscanner is much faster and more accurate if I want to measure the pen itself.

[Vintagepens]

IR thermometers seem great in theory. In practice, though, I've not found them any use at all. Much better to learn the exact temperature of the air flow of one's heat gun -- though once that is ascertained, it becomes pretty easy to judge it by feel. Calibration is key.

[fabri00]

While travelling in Japan I bought several useful tools at Tokyu Hands.

They have small piec4s of very n9ce and hard wood that can be used to make a nib block, as I did, at cheap price.

As you know Tokyu Hands is present all over Japan.