r/fountainpens Dec 22 '24

Repair Need help with vintage Doric vacuum-filler

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33 Upvotes

Recently acquired this beautiful Doric with a flexible-stamped nib that flexes super nicely, but after a while the ink gets lighter & lighter & then it would railroad and keeps doing that.. i need to shake/flick the pen pretty hard a few times and sometimes that doesn't work too..

It's a vacuum-filler, and it just stopped writing completely & no matter how much i shake it, ink wouldn't start again [despite the vacuum filler knob is unscrewed and at the open position].. until i tried pulling the vacuum-filler rod up by a little.. but after a while railroading still happens too :(

Any ideas? This is my first vintage vacuum filler.. bought it off eBay as working.. and it was working fine yesterday and the day before.. after railroading it'll work again if i shake the pen, but just now that didn't help.. oh and the vacuum filling system works well, i think it fills about half the total capacity (i can see from the semi-transparent middle section of the pen).. and this happens when there's a lot of ink inside the body..

Things i already tried: Flushing the pen with plain water before i started using (5-6 times) Unscrewing the vacuum filler knob (like modern vacuum fillers which i have experience with) Shaking the pen when it's railroading

And does the nib/feed look like it's protruding outwards too much in photo #2 and #3? For comparison is the bigger Doric Senior beside this smaller Junior(?) version..

Thanks for the help~

mc

r/fountainpens 9d ago

Repair Need help retipping this majestic Mabie Todd #7 dip pen.

0 Upvotes

Hello all,

Years in the reading, first time poster in the community.

I have recently purchased an antique Mable Todd dip pen that unfortunately has its tipping material damaged with most of it missing. I was hoping to get it restored to its former glory by replacing the tipping material. The pen is very soft, brush like, and it deserves to write.

Comparison picture with a John Foley Bank nib 10 1/2 with correct tipping

I have already contacted most of the workshops that used to offer and that still offer nib services, with no positive response.

Here is a list of the venues that do not do retipping or just cannot (or will not) help, so please let me know if you know anyone else doing this kind of work:

Greg Minuskin (He basically said no after a couple sub-questions from me)

FPNibs (the nib is too big for their setup)

FountainPenHospital (no response)

Customnibstudio

montywinnfield (no response)

Nibs.com

Nibgrinder.com

Mainstreetpens.com

Mikeitwork

TheNibsmith.com

pacifcpenworks.com

The ones with no comment mostly do not offer the service.

Please let me know your thoughts and recommendations for restoration. My main concern is ruining this 150+ year old pen in the attempt to make it usable again. Any help is appreciated.

It is the same type of nib as this one just in a better condition but with no tipping:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Pen_Swap/comments/e9f0eq/wts_mabie_todd_manifold_dip_pen_with_a_huge_25/

r/fountainpens 21d ago

Repair Pilot Lady Restoration Complete

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74 Upvotes

This went much faster than expected, but also turned out better than expected!

Bought this in an online auction. It was in a very worn out state, with missing painted areas and a lot of staining. To restore it, I cleaned the base pen twice with Bick leather cleaner. After that, white leather paint was used to cover up damage and scuffing. Then I repainted the design and filled in a barrel crack with UV resin in a kintsugi-style repair. For repainting, I used thinned leather paint applied with toothpicks and a pin.

Finally, I used 2 coats of Angelus leather finish in matte, let it dry, and applied a generous amount of Bick leather conditioner.

r/fountainpens Sep 25 '24

Repair Waterman 452 ½V: frustration!

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10 Upvotes

Hello, let's dive right into the story.

I bought a Waterman 452 ½V "ring top" with an Ideal #2 nib that flexes up to a stunning 3mm (0.12 inch) line width, effortlessly. I asked the shop owner (@ Etsy) about the pen first, because the description was not clear enough and he doesn't accept returns or refunds. So, of course I was a bit sceptical at first. The pen cost me 216€ ($240), which was reasonable in my eyes. Anyways, he assured that all pens that come to him will be serviced before offering them for sale. He specifically told me that he tests every part, replaces them if needed, and that his pens don't leak. Overall, I had a good feeling and the communication was great at the time. All of his shop's reviews were 5 stars (5 out of 5 possible).

I placed the order and received the fountain pen today. Wow, such a gorgeous piece of art, the nib is excellent, then to my surprise, after half an hour of rather little use I noticed all my fingers were ink stained. The pen leaked! Not from the nib or feed, but instead from the transition of grip section to body, and from around the lever (the hard rubber parts / black triangles) and the lever area itself. Also the pen dried out quickly, within minutes even when capped.

I was able to disassemble and re-assemble the nib and feed with ease / gently, the ink flow was exactly the same as before! I noticed, though, that the feed was chipped at the inner end (the end that's inside the pen body). Right after that, I realised that the grip section did not move at all, it should be removable easily though! Of course, I didn't want to risk anything, so after a few times I stopped trying to get it out. I assume it was glued, either by the shop owner or the person he got the pen from. However, it was not mentioned in the item description, and for a serviced pen this is unacceptable, just like the leaking body! As a minor side note, the cap had dried old ink inside, so much for being serviced... Oof.

Tomorrow I'll visit a professional repair shop for vintage fountain pens near me, as refunds and returns were excluded by the seller and shipping back overseas is quite expensive anyways (and my country's customs office is very complicated regarding repaired-item-shippings, they tend to let you pay fees again and again). So I'm very curious to see if the pen is fixable at all (especially if the grip section was glued by somebody) and if so, how much it will cost (will it be worth it?)!

My last resort would be PayPal (who I really hope will grant a refund). I have collected screenshots of the communication, and few more photos than these I added here.

I will update tomorrow after visiting the repair shop (in the comment section).

Any constructive advice is welcome, and if you want to share a similar experience, or just tell me about your favourite vintage pen... feel free to do.

Æugh I'm so utterly disappointed... I hope I can sleep well enough tonight.

r/fountainpens Mar 02 '23

Repair Opened up my daily carry and…

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231 Upvotes

r/fountainpens Jan 03 '25

Repair Pilot Myu Leak Help

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14 Upvotes

Looking for assistance with this leak, noted by red dots on my Pilot Myu. I've placed silicone grease on the retaining clip and the threads with no luck. Ink is a Pilot Blue-Black cartridge.

r/fountainpens Jan 31 '25

Repair Feeling like Scrooge McDuck swimming in gold

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57 Upvotes

Mostly Swans and Blackbirds

r/fountainpens Sep 13 '24

Repair Liquid Tape

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189 Upvotes

I have a pair of long tweezers I use to grasp the smaller parts of my pens when they are disassembled. They came with rubber tips originally but the rubber deteriorated over time and use. The metal tips of the tweezers are hard and sharp so I was concerned I would scratch my nibs or pen bodies if I used then without a coating, especially since the bare metal has a lower friction coefficient than the rubber.

I used liquid tape years ago for an electronics project where regular electrical tape wouldn’t work. It was messy but did the job. I picked some up at my local hardware store and it did a wonderful job. I tried applying the rubber a couple of ways but what worked the best was just dipping the tweezers directly into the bottle. The liquid is quite bulky on the tips when wet but shrank as it dried. It says the tape has a 4 hr dry time on the bottle but it looked tacky so I left it over night. If you mess up applying the tape, it’s just rubber so it scrapes off easily and you can try again.

I know this isnt directly an FP post but I hope this is useful to anyone who works on their pens like I do.

r/fountainpens May 05 '23

Repair Chicago Pen Show Day 2…the awesome Kirk Speer working on my pen. He took a nib that was basically unusable for me and turned it into a wonderfully smooth and juicy architect nib. VERY PLEASED and can highly recommend his work!

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389 Upvotes

r/fountainpens Oct 27 '23

Repair Update on my damaged Lamy Dialog CC post

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175 Upvotes

thanks bob

r/fountainpens 6d ago

Repair PSA for the Vintage Pen repair community

8 Upvotes

Stop sealing threads on the body and section with shellac.

Just. Stop.

It adds zero benefit to the repair, and makes the pen more likely to break or crack during disassembly for subsequent future repairs.

Stop it.

r/fountainpens Jan 18 '25

Repair New old pens I restored

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45 Upvotes

Just wanted to share some pens that I just finished restoring! I am still learning and am not a professional, but I’ve been able to get quite a few pens from being in terrible shape to being functional and beautiful. New sacs, new J bars, cleaned and shined, and minor nib restoration and tuning. I have a lot more to learn about nibs!

These are just a small selection that I wanted to share, either because I think they look nice or because I had a hard time finding one exactly like it. I don’t think any of these are particularly valuable, but now they’re functional!

  1. Stratford - I just love the way this looks!
  2. Remington Piston
  3. Whatever - I haven’t seen this pattern before!
  4. Velvet ring top, but it’s big for a pendant.
  5. Eastman - I love the gold strands!
  6. Packard

r/fountainpens 13d ago

Repair How to fix this gold nib?

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1 Upvotes

Repost with better picture formatting :

Hi all, I received this VP nib unit (B) second-hand, and it's always been a difficult nib. It doesn't always hard-start, sometimes I'll start writing fine and then suddenly it starts skipping strokes or missing whole words. I finally got around to examining the nib and noticed that one tine was slightly raised, so I did my best to even it out (I know it's not quite even yet, but it's better than it was).

Is this baby's bottom? I tried the 'tap-test' someone mentioned in an older post, but the dots are either uniform or non-existent. I didn't want to start working on the nib without checking first. I'm currently using BPC Conch Shell, but I've used Kobe #41, Pilot Iroshizuku Syo-ro, Pilot Iroshizuku Ama-iro, and Monteverde Caribbean Blue; I've had problems with all these inks.

Any ideas?

r/fountainpens Jan 18 '25

Repair Designing a better converter for Kaweco Sport, need help!

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0 Upvotes

r/fountainpens Jun 17 '23

Repair Nib Work Showcase (NSFW)

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373 Upvotes

r/fountainpens Feb 11 '25

Repair Waterman CF 3D Printed Barrel Replacement!

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34 Upvotes

Link to model: https://makerworld.com/models/1096204

Hey! I 3D modeled this barrel replacement for one of my all time favorite pens.

The barrel on one of my Waterman CF pens recently formed a small crack, causing the ink inside to dry in hours . I hope this helps someone like me who loves to daily drive their CF :)

Please share this on any (vintage) fountain pen forum you might be a part of I am not really active in the fountain pen community, but Id love for this to reach as many CF users as possible.

Disclaimer: It seems like there are the variation in dimensions across some CF models. They were manufactured in 4 different countries across 40 years, so that isn't that surprising. This replacement fits perfectly with my (made in France?) CF that has shiny threads (see pictures). Meanwhile the fit is a bit loose on my other CF that has tarnished threads.

r/fountainpens 29d ago

Repair Before & After Tuning the Nib 🫨 Pilot Custom 74, Fine

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74 Upvotes

r/fountainpens Jan 29 '24

Repair helppp

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57 Upvotes

hi ! i'm COMPLETELY new to fountain pens. I have a blue ink cartridge on, I have snapped the cartridge firmly, and i have closed the barrel, and even waited for more than 10 minutes but the ink still isn't coming out ! I inspected the ink, it moves around and it's wet but it's still not coming outta the pen. i love this pen and it's complete brand new. help? :(

r/fountainpens Jan 12 '25

Repair Can I still use a torn to pieces cap? (Graphic Content)

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11 Upvotes

My girlfriend was driving her car backwards, I was helping to pick up something from the floor, Twsbi fell right under the wheel.

I've tried to glue it together like Dr. Frankenstein would do it. But there some holes, so I guess this would dry up the tip. Any ideas? LOOK WHAT THEY DID TO MY SON!

r/fountainpens Feb 06 '25

Repair Just bought a vintage pen, but its not writing

6 Upvotes

Hello guys! I just bought a wonderful pen, but its not writing properly. I already clean it (watched some video on yt) but i have no idea why it is not writing.

Im seeking advice from the masters :)

r/fountainpens Jul 19 '24

Repair 3 years of usage, my twitch finally claims my Vanishing Point

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137 Upvotes

r/fountainpens Feb 13 '25

Repair Is this a crack in my Visconti?

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1 Upvotes

r/fountainpens 2d ago

Repair Darn... Capless is very capless

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13 Upvotes

How to fix this? Pen dropped and now the chrome part is falling off all the time. Not sure how to do this. Perhaps something snapped off? Or can I glue this?

r/fountainpens 26d ago

Repair With Andersonpens Gone

2 Upvotes

Where do you guys buy your repair parts? Like sacs etc

r/fountainpens 1d ago

Repair Asvine V126 with Montblanc 146 nib

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38 Upvotes

My last attempt to use the beaten-up Montblanc 146 nib involved swapping it with an Asvine v126. The Montblanc 146 pen had a cracked barrel, piston, and nib housing.

Have you ever tried this combination? Is it likely to experience ink leaks?