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What is this and What do I do with it?


Ron Z

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I've lost count on how many we've done..... but here's another one for you. No "right" answers, but the idea is to take an ordinary object and turn it into a pen repair tool. I'll post my use this evening, but you get a chance to chime in with your ideas. The fact that it's bent has no relevance - it's just the one I pulled out of the can.....

 

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Depending on the size of the former nail, it might be useful in persuading dead sacs to vacate a barrel or sac tube.

 

 

I've lost count on how many we've done..... but here's another one for you. No "right" answers, but the idea is to take an ordinary object and turn it into a pen repair tool. I'll post my use this evening, but you get a chance to chime in with your ideas. The fact that it's bent has no relevance - it's just the one I pulled out of the can.....

 

http://www.mainstreetpens.com/pix/nail.jpg

 

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With a little bit of work, it's a drift for knocking out feeds.

 

But not yet :yikes:

Edited by Ernst Bitterman

Ravensmarch Pens & Books
It's mainly pens, just now....

Oh, good heavens. He's got a blog now, too.

 

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With a little bit of work, it's a drift for knocking out feeds.

 

But not yet :yikes:

 

Anything that you would use it for would take a little bit of work. :rolleyes:

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With a little bit of work, it's a drift for knocking out feeds.

 

But not yet :yikes:

 

Anything that you would use it for would take a little bit of work. :rolleyes:

 

 

Ya mean it's not a toothpick??

 

bummer.

 

d

 

 

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What, have we no imagination??? Think outside the box - does the nail have to stay in it's original form??

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Your last post gave me the clue I needed Ron.

 

Nothing said we were constrained to the use of one nail.

 

Collecting quite a large number of nails, Ernst and myself stayed up all night working away feverishly over the furnace, and came up with this as a possibility.

 

Don't be too quick to judge - it hasn't been painted yet :)

 

Regards,

Ruaidhrí

BTW - while not wishing to sound commercial, I am open to offers from transport companies.

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Administrator and Proprietor of Murphy Towers

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On a more serious note, I regularly use nails in turning.

 

Banged into a handle, they can be sharpened into a 3-point tool, bent & sharpened to form hook tools, and even made into small skews.

All for miniature work of course, but d-- handy things :)

 

Cheers,

R

Administrator and Proprietor of Murphy Towers

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hmm

 

Shape it into a hook and then sharpen it to catch Nemo for some sushi lunch?

 

George

 

Possible, but in the immortal words of Richard Jarvis "I don't eat bait." * IMO there's a reason why God put fish under water.

 

 

 

 

*response to David Isaacson at the 2004 NYC pen show when David suggested sushi for dinner.

Edited by Ron Z

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Look guys, since yall can't figure out what to make of it to play with your pens... I will tell you what to do with it to use for making leather journal covers...

If you heat that head and straighten the shaft... then turn two opposite sides up...and file one of them down a little... you can use it to burnish the edge of veg tanned leather articles to make them look ' finished' instead of having to lace the edge..I have one that is over 60 years old and works perfectly...

 

 

 

LOL

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david i said:
TOOTHPICK, dagnabit.

 

d

 

Only if your mouth is big enough..... :D

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The bent end with the head could be used to move a lever into a position whereby it might accept a pressure bar as it is slid into place.

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TOOTHPICK, dagnabit.

 

d

 

Only if your mouth is big enough..... :ltcapd: :ltcapd:

 

 

Is there really any doubt? ;) :rolleyes: :embarrassed_smile:

 

d

Edited by david i
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Although a bit primitive, you could use it as an engraving tool... :D

 

Warm regards, Wim ;)

the Mad Dutchman
laugh a little, love a little, live a lot; laugh a lot, love a lot, live forever

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I hate to admit that I'm drawing a blank, so I'll make some lame guesses:

 

1) Round/smooth/polish the tip into a burnishing tool,

 

2) Really too soft to drive feeds out of sections,

 

3) Flaten & indent the end to use installing a Vac diaphram,

 

4) Put it on the end of a long stick to pick up candy wrappers and trash around the shop,

 

5) Cut off the head, nail into a board to hold any hollow tools or parts.

 

6) or something else really useful that eludes me............... :headsmack:

so many pens, so little time.......

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Actually Buzz, you have the right idea - take a common item and use it for a different purpose. Any of the things suggested would be appropriate.

 

Here are a couple of things that I made from nails. The top is a wrench, the bottom is a punch for oversize feeds. I've also used a finishing nail as a pellet pusher. They're ideal because they have a dimple in the end that holds the pellet in place while you seat the diaphragm.

 

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What got me going was having to restore an Eversharp vacuum filler. Eversharp uses a hex nut to hold the piston rod onto the blind cap, where Sheaffer uses a nut that takes a spanner. I couldn't find anyone who sold a wrench small enough and that would do the job that I needed it to do.

 

So I made one, and while rummaging through the basement, I remembered my grandfather showing me how to make a screwdriver out of a nail. I was in my early teens at the time, and thought that it was really cool - he heat treated and case hardened the thing too boot!

 

In this case I ground off the end of the nail, then heated it with a torch. I flattened the end on the anval of my vise, bent the end and squared it off. Then ground the notch with a bench mounted Dremel, smoothed things and case hardened it. After polishing it I mounted it in a handle made from acrylic rod stock. Purpose made, and about 20 minutes of work. The wrench fits down inside the blind cap, and grips the nut perfectly.

 

Here's the wrench on an Eversharp vacuum filler.

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Maybe it's just a nail, or brake line, or who knows what else, but you may very well be able to modify it to make a tool that'll do exactly what you need to repair a pen. Like the steel crib rails I snagged years ago that have been turned into all kinds of things....

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Visit Main Street Pens
A full service pen shop providing professional, thoughtful vintage pen repair...

Please use email, not a PM for repair and pen purchase inquiries.

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Actually Buzz, you have the right idea - take a common item and use it for a different purpose. Any of the things suggested would be appropriate.

 

Here are a couple of things that I made from nails. The top is a wrench, the bottom is a punch for oversize feeds. I've also used a finishing nail as a pellet pusher. They're ideal because they have a dimple in the end that holds the pellet in place while you seat the diaphragm.

 

http://www.mainstreetpens.com/pix/nailtool.jpg

 

 

What got me going was having to restore an Eversharp vacuum filler. Eversharp uses a hex nut to hold the piston rod onto the blind cap, where Sheaffer uses a nut that takes a spanner. I couldn't find anyone who sold a wrench small enough and that would do the job that I needed it to do.

 

So I made one, and while rummaging through the basement, I remembered my granfather showing me how to make a screwdriver out of a nail. I was in my early teens at the time, and thought that it was really cool - he heat treated and case hardened the thing too boot!

 

In this case I ground off the end of the nail, then heated it with a torch. I flattened the end on the anval of my vise, bent the end and squared it off. Then ground the notch with a bench mounted Dremel, smoothed things and case hardened it. After polishing it I mounted it in a handle made from acrylic rod stock. Purpose made, and about 20 minutes of work. The wrench fits down inside the blind cap, and grips the nut perfectly.

 

Here's the wrench on an Eversharp vacuum filler.

http://www.mainstreetpens.com/pix/nailtoolused.jpg

 

Maybe it's just a nail, or brake line, or who knows what else, but you may very well be able to modify it to make a tool that'll do exactly what you need to repair a pen. Like the steel crib rails I snagged years ago that have been turned into all kinds of things....

 

 

Yah, you'd mentioned few days ago that you'd... finally... gotten.... around.... to.... doing....Wahl plunger fillers.

 

All i can say (on behalf of me and a good chunk o' the rest of vintage pendom). is... it's about flippin' time!

 

BTW- for folks not familiar- Wahls plungers are pretty close to Sheaffer plungers, both a pain in the tuchus to restore. That Ron is now doing both, and doing them an elegant and long lasting way, is a very good thing.

 

cheers

 

david

 

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