Parker 51 Aerometric Shellac-Substitute And Scratch Removal.

[Joarder]

Dear all, I am restoring my 51. I do not have access to any shellac to fix the hood. What common household items will suffice? Clear nail polish maybe?
Also, please the photo and tell what will the best method to remove the scratch on the hood, and the grit sizes. I have bought Micromesh grits.

Regards,
Joarder

[Chrissy]

I have a Parker 51 and it has no shellac on the hood. It just screws on or off without any adhesive and it's fine, no problems. I wouldn't recommend nail varnish as an option to shellac, as that contains a solvent that might damage the plastic.

 

If you're going to repair pens, you will need to get some shellac though. Most online pen stores will sell a small bottle that should last a lifetime.

 

The scratch looks quite deep, and the hood isn't very thick plastic. I might be tempted to only use plastic polish on it.

[Glenn Atkins]

I'd start with a micromesh grit of about 8,000 and go up or down from there, and then back up (down?) through the higher grits from there. Use it wet. Go slow. Make sure you don't make a flat spot.

 

Glenn

[mana]

I use a thin coating of silicone grease on the O-ring and threads to keep the hoods of the Parker 51 Aerometrics in place, it seems to have high enough viscosity to keep everything in check. So yeah, it has worked a treat so far (no leaks etc. with having pens filled for months on end).

And for the scratch... if it is really deep you can use superglue to fill it in. If you can live with slight surface deformation (and less of a chance of fudging things up) just work on it with Micromesh pads, starting from coarse to finer grits and finally a polish with Microgloss.

 

There seem to be quite a few videos on youtube on how to repair cracks and do a proper polish on plastic fountain pens. Grandmia Pens comes to mind... start from this one > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-taRQmxTcM

[PaulS]

Glenn's comment about avoiding creating a flat spot is important - it's very easy when abrading a curved surface - using a hard support under the Micromesh paper - to rub too consistently in one small area, rather than working around the curve. You might also mask off any part of the pen where proximity might just mean the abrasive paper could catch and mark some part of the pen you don't want to mark.

I've not tried superglue to infill very small imperfections - no idea how hard this glue is compared to the plastic of the pen, though I do know that Marshall & Oldfield recommend superglue if the imperfection is shallow.

[Joarder]

I can't buy any shellac. I am in Bangladesh and won't be stateside for a while. Hence thinking about resorting to drastic measures. Will try the silicon gel method. I should explain why I need to shellac. Right now, trying to unscrew the barrel unscrews the hood off. I think the barrel has some shrinkage.

As for the scratch it is not terribly deep, just an eye sore. I'm tempted to use the superglue method. What are the downsides?

EDIT: Thank you all for replying!

Edited August 21, 2018 by Joarder

[pajaro]

I can't buy any shellac. I am in Bangladesh and won't be stateside for a while. Hence thinking about resorting to drastic measures. Will try the silicon gel method. I should explain why I need to shellac. Right now, trying to unscrew the barrel unscrews the hood off. I think the barrel has some shrinkage.

 

As for the scratch it is not terribly deep, just an eye sore. I'm tempted to use the superglue method. What are the downsides?

 

EDIT: Thank you all for replying!

If you use super glue you won't be able to remove the hood without damaging the pen.

[Kelly G]

The downside to the superglue is that it will not yield a perfect repair. If you don't mind a bit of imperfection it will suffice. Do Not use nail polish or any other glue to seal the hood as you risk not being able to remove the hood again. Nothing on the threads is better than glue of any type. A rosin based sealant will work if you can source that; it won't seal as tightly as shellac but it does require some heat to soften.

Good luck with your pen!

[CS388]

Try the micromesh BEFORE trying the superglue. It may do the trick and disappear the scratch.

Personally, I think I'd live with the scratch, rather than using superglue, especially if it's just for cosmetic reasons.

 

Have you tried cleaning out the barrel threads and section threads? It may make the barrel easier to unscrew - ie. unscrew without screwing off the section.

 

Good luck

[Chrissy]

I've used a specialist 2-part epoxy resin to fill in teeth marks on the black tail piece on a Parker 45 Insignia. I was very surprised and pleased with the result. It took a heck of a lot of polishing though!

 

I don't routinely use Superglue for filling holes or deep scratches, but maybe the end result would be similar. It certainly could not be harder to polish than the adhesive that I used.

[PaulS]

some confusion I think - the comments regarding the use of superglue were intended to refer to filling the scratch - not for keeping the hood in place.

I'd agree - it may be adequate to simply polish the scratch, so do try that initially, and there's not shame in owning a 51 with what may end up as only the merest imperfection - I could live with that too. Another suggestion, when needing to re-fill with ink, might be to grip the hood tightly either with section pliers or finger and thumb even might work - until you can get some shellac, though perhaps you might send off for some in the post.

In view of the barrel tightness you mention, it might be worth checking to make sure the barrel hasn't cross threaded with the threads at the rear of the section.

Edited August 21, 2018 by PaulS

[CS388]

 

In view of the barrel tightness you mention, it might be worth checking to make sure the barrel hasn't cross threaded with the threads at the rear of the section.

 

Good point.

 

Looking at the photograph, it does look as if there may have been some shrinkage? I'm not sure how (or if) this is possible with Lucite - and it may just be the lighting/reflections in the photograph, but it seems to taper down sharply after the threads?

 

I repeat myself, but I'd make sure those threads (M&F) are thoroughly cleaned out, before resorting to glues and shellacs.

 

Good luck

[Glenn Atkins]

I have used Devcon Two Ton Epoxy on deep burn holes in a gold striped vac with good results. It's slow though. Put on a thin layer...wait a few days....repeat. If you fill the entire hole in one go it might form air bubbles and it would take a year of Sundays to cure.

 

Always put in slightly more than needed near the end and then wet-sand with micromesh to the contours of the pen. When I say a deep burn hole, I mean one about the size of a pencil eraser. As Chrissy says, it takes a lot of polishing, but the results have been fantastic. I bought this particular pen just to try out the method.

 

Glenn

[mitto]

I can't buy any shellac. I am in Bangladesh and won't be stateside for a while. Hence thinking about resorting to drastic measures. Will try the silicon gel method. I should explain why I need to shellac. Right now, trying to unscrew the barrel unscrews the hood off. I think the barrel has some shrinkage.

 

As for the scratch it is not terribly deep, just an eye sore. I'm tempted to use the superglue method. What are the downsides?

 

EDIT: Thank you all for replying!

 

I make my own shellac here in Pakistan. You just need a few pieces of shellac flakes put into a little denatured alcohol/spirit. Simply visit a wood/furniture polishing shop in whatever town you are in Bangladesh and they would guide you where to buy the stuff. I use a nail polish container (after emptying it and cleaning it) that comes with a brush attached to its lid to make the shellac in. A store here in Islamabad refused to accept any payment for such a small quantity of shellac flakes and denatured alcohol.

 

I always use few drops of super glue, sold here under the brand name ELFY, to first fill the scratches and then polish away the excess glue.

 

Here is a guide on how to prepare the shellac.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/213706-preparing-shellac-glue/

Edited August 31, 2018 by mitto

[Glenn Atkins]

Use melted violin rosin or pine rosin and castor oil to make thread sealant. Mix well, store in a glass jar. You want it thicker than molasses but not solid. When you poke a toothpick into it, it should string out with a fine strand between the stuff in the jar and the toothpick.

 

Glenn