What is on your bench?

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

19 minutes ago, es9 said:

Which pliers? I agree the tiny ones are not great, but the thin ones are awesome for when you need to bend between the tines. 

 

My favorite pliers to date are Lindstrom round nose ones. They’re quite expensive, but are just so good. 

 

The ones with the long rectangular thin ends, unfortunately. I wish I never bought them, I have had such a bad experience with them. It's possible I was using them wrong or perhaps the ones I got were defective. I just did not find them useful at all and worse, I ended up damaging two nibs with them. And they were not cheap either.

 

My preferred "tools" for manipulating tines are my fingers and a small piece of brass shim to hold on to the tines. Better than any nib block or pliers in my experience.

 

13 minutes ago, es9 said:

Ummmmm, really?!  You might be the first… 

 

I could be wrong but my understanding is that Simichrome uses a larger particulate than Micro-Gloss which has 1 micron bits in it. I've gotten Simichrome into threads and random spots it should be in but I am almost always able to get it out with a toothbrush or some tissue with minimal effort. If I get Micro-Gloss into an imprint... well, that's there permanently now.

 

I will say I am very conservative with my use of Simichrome, like VacNut I only apply a very very small amount to a cotton cloth and use that so I'm not using much in the first place. The only time I apply more than maybe a tiny half-pea sized amount is if I'm polishing a sterling silver pen. I only recently bought a new tube, the last tube I had for over 3 years. The old one probably could have lasted even longer but I was not responsible enough with rolling up the tube to get the stuff at the bottom (like toothpaste) so it got kind of messed up and too difficult to push out so I kinda gave up and bought a new one.

[VacNut]

Fingers and patience works most of the time. Every once in awhile I use a small Swan brass  nib “anvil”that just perfectly fits most nibs. I use a small soft wood dowel to press down.

Maybe the brass is just more soft than aluminum 

[es9]

23 hours ago, LoveBigPensAndCannotLie said:

The ones with the long rectangular thin ends, unfortunately. I wish I never bought them, I have had such a bad experience with them. It's possible I was using them wrong or perhaps the ones I got were defective. I just did not find them useful at all and worse, I ended up damaging two nibs with them. And they were not cheap either.

I have had great success with those. Anytime you’re working near tipping, you must be extremely careful. Even the best tools aren’t magic. 
 

I realize I’m perhaps in the minority here… lots of extremely well respected repair folks swear by nothing more than fingernails and a chopstick. I am much better with tools—pliers, nib block, burnishers, etc.—at least for anything more than misaligned tines. I’m just able to be much more precise… apply pressure just where I want it and in just the amount I mean to. 

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

I found them to be absolutely useless, but different strokes (or tools?) for different folks. But I understand what you mean, I am the same way with section pliers. Some people heavily discourage using them but I have far more success with them than just using my hands.

 

I know exactly how much force I am applying and how much to twist or not twist when using them and I find that I have much more control with them than just using my hands and some gripping material. Particularly for pens with short sections (like early Sheaffer Balance pens), it's hard to get a good grip on those with your hands without also accidentally mangling the feed or nib.

 

For nibs I haven't found that any other tools are really all that useful. I have pretty small hands so maybe that's part of it? Easier for me to work around tines. But I also suppose I'm not really all that good at it. The best repair I've done was that Moore Fingertip nib from a few pages ago here (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/357414-what-is-on-your-bench/?do=findComment&comment=4723577) but it's not perfect. 

 

[VacNut]

Take out food chopsticks are perfect. Soft wood. I cut at 45 degree angle (sometimes the are already cut at an angle) and file the tip into concave shape with a round file. I also try to work from tip backwards, so I don’t knock off iridium. But always fingers first.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

I've actually never thought about using chopsticks or skewers, this is a great idea. I will try next time I have a nib in need of straightening/tuning.

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

14 minutes ago, LoveBigPensAndCannotLie said:

I've actually never thought about using chopsticks or skewers, this is a great idea. I will try next time I have a nib in need of straightening/tuning.

I’m with you on this!

[VacNut]

A part of me just thinks it’s more fun using everyday items for other uses, especially during Covid times when we have entire drawers of take-out utensils.

 

The tool works better if you make the tip concave.

 

I also split a skewer or chopstick about an inch down the top. Insert a small strip of paper towel into the slit and wrap it around several times to create a cylindrical drying tool to dry out the interior of the cap. It saves on cotton swabs and lets me reuse the paper strip. It’s a little better than a swab as it lets me gently wipe ink off the inside of the cap

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Alright I have a dumb question, is there any sac on this sac nipple? 

 

 

When I took the pen apart it had a soft but twisted sac already on the pen which I pulled off intact. I started scraping at the stuff thinking it was old dried up sac (and I scraped some off) but it feels like I am scraping plastic, not sac. 

 

For reference, this is from a very late Esterbrook J (like the one here https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/372694-looking-to-id-a-strange-lj/) and the quality of the pen is very poor. Like barely a step above a Wearever. It feels like the section was just poorly injection molded.

 

Gotta say, it's an interesting pen though. It has an icicle cap and initially I thought it was a mismatch, but after shining a light through the pen, I can see faint lines running along it like a normal icicle pen. It's like the cap and barrel were made in different batches. The barrel feels significantly worse.

 

Edit: another interesting oddity, they forgot to put air holes in the cap. Probably not an issue since I haven't found that they do anything anyways.

[Ron Z]

1 hour ago, LoveBigPensAndCannotLie said:

is there any sac on this sac nipple?

 

Yes.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Hmm, it does not feel like sac. It feels like I am cutting plastic off the section when I scrape it. I'll try again, had it soaking for a while - I figure if it is leftover sac it should have softened. If it's sac, the last person put their new sac over the old one.

 

Edit: I can't get it off so I'm leaving it. I know what sac feels like (cough) and it does not feel like latex to me. High chance I might need to use a replacement section anyways, this one has an egregious molding line that looks like a crack.

[VacNut]

Shouldn’t the section be smooth for the sac? Could it be dried shellac? 
Water does not soften latex or shellac

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

It does not feel like either, I can cut into it, but it does not separate like a sac does. It feels like I'm cutting material off the section rather than removing sac/shellac. I really think this is shoddy molding. I've now learned that these late Esterbrook J's are really low quality.

 

The other weird part is I removed the sac that was in the pen, it was fit over this weird sac nipple. But of course it's possible the last owner couldn't remove it either and just put their sac over it. I'll see if a sac fits over it okay, if it does I'm leaving it as is.

 

Currently waiting for the section to dry overnight, I added a layer of shellac to the part that is friction fit since the barrel is extremely loose, it just slips out. Hopefully it thickens it just enough where it fits well or else I will have to polish that layer down.

[FarmBoy]

Use a Scotchbrite pad to clean the sac nipple.
 

 

[VacNut]

Etsy lovers are a different class of hobbyists.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

I don't have a brillo pad but I guess I can try a buffing stick. I really don't think this is sac or shellac though. The good news is the section fits perfectly with one coat of shellac, so that's one problem fixed.

[FarmBoy]

8 hours ago, VacNut said:

Etsy lovers are a different class of hobbyists.

I think you meant Estie. That detail aside some are just in a different class altogether, Estie or Etsy not needed. 

[VacNut]

iPhone autocorrect. I guess I have been shopping for crafts too much 

[VacNut]

 

It isn’t always about the larger Vacumatics.

 

A group of Vacuum Fillers, Crystal Vacumatic.

Red Shadow Wave

Red Marbled Vacumatic

 

The Vacuum Fillers predate the Vacumatic Pens. They are similar except that they are not transparent and the section is shaped from the barrel material. It is not threaded. (This is apparent because the lamination pattern of the section are identical to the barrel. ) The feed has to be knocked out from the filler end to properly clean the pen. I have read about people torquing off the section trying to remove them. 😥😥😥

 

One of the pens was particularly clogged and no amount of soaking would clear the blockage or loosen the feed. I was able to remove the feed only by accidentally knocking out the celluloid sleeve plug inside the section. I was fortunate to not damage the sleeve as it is a relatively thin celluloid sleeve.

 

I don’t know what was in the pen, but it is really uncommon to have a clogged tube that can’t be cleared by inserting a fine wire.

 

I suspect that Vacumatics were made by rolling flat sheets of laminated celluloid into barrel while the celluloid was still curing.

 

I think the vacuum fillers are actually solid celluloid stock that was bored out from both ends. It is speculation on my part, but it is based on an inner step inside these pens that show bore marks on either side of the step. The steps are suspiciously in the same location in multiple filler pens.

 

The pens are not transparent so there is no need to polish out the bore marks - similar to the 51 barrel interior.

I guess the plug sleeve allowed them to use a larger bore from the nib side of the section and reinforce the section at the feed after the bore. It is a clever technique

 

Replacing the delicate sleeve with the feed and nib in place is more cautious work, than I am willing to try, so the pen has been sent to a specialist.

 

A Red Shadow Wave is just a great design. The longer version of them are difficult to find.

 

A Vac Crystal is literally a diamond in the rough when they are unrestored. Most are ambered, but I have seen NOS versions of these pens and the a clear celluloid barrel is really impressive - although I suspect the celluloid was straw or light green colored rather than completely clear. It’s ironic that there are Demonstrators versions of this model, since the pens are identical. Perhaps the Demonstrators predate the Crystal Pen.

[LedZepGirl]

Today it's this Monitor (a sub-brand of Wahl Eversharp) syringe filler.  Not a real high quality pen, but interesting none the less.  To get it working again it think it just needs a new gasket on the filler rod- if I can get all the hardened remains of the old one cleaned out of the groove that holds it.  It has a crack in the cap lip and some discoloration on the cap and barrel ends, and a bit of very minor crazing in the clear section of the barrel- like I said before not the best quality.  I don't think anyone made nice quality syringe fillers.