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Are you new to fountain pens, or trying to decide if fountain pens are for you? Reply here with your questions and our helpful members will do their best to answer!
#FPNewbie #FountainPens
@penfount oh hello! I have a vintage piston-fill pen that fits my hand beautifully but has a small crack in the barrel (or hmm maybe that’s the section?) juuuuust so that I get an inky index finger. I’m handy and not fussy about authenticity; is this likely to be something I can repair myself with the right weld/solvent, or had I better take it to a specialist? It’s a Montblanc 227, and I’m located in Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Alternately, know any modestly-priced modern pens with about the same form factor?
@infryq @penfount not sure about the repair, but have you seen the Peyton Street and Ranga Imperial 4CS? It uses a Shaeffer nib, I have one and it is very smooth to write with.
https://www.peytonstreetpens.com/psp-ranga-acrylic-4cs-for-sheaffer-imperial-nibs-fountain-pen-cartridge-converter.html
JJ Lax might be able to help with the repair, or at least advise
https://www.jjlaxpenco.com/
@BritishKoalaTea thanks for the rec! those do look fabulous
If you confident enough to do it yourself, sure, do it. Make sure to watch some videos to be sure of what you need to fix it. Pen repair specialist, like Rick from thesouthernscribe.com is very reasonable and fast. Not every repair specialist can repair cracks.
There are a few pens with the same form factor. Parker 45, Japanese made pocket pens (Sailor, Platinum, Pilot), If you want something thicker - Parker 51 or Parker 61. Chinese made pens - Jinhao, Hero, Wing Sung.
@backtoanalog ooh thanks for the big list! getting to know the space helps a lot.
@infryq photos please? I have experience with this Montblanc model and with solvent welding, and can give you some idea of how feasible it is to fix yourself
@paradoxmo it's so teeny I don't think I need anything other than capillary action, so roughly:
1. disassemble
2. clean, i have access to an ultrasonic but do i need anything special or just the normal jewelry cleaning solution?
3. CA or other appropriate weld, guidance here so i don't accidentally melt something catastrophically
4. ??
5. reassemble
6. joy
@infryq I would say no ultrasonic as that might make the crack worse. I think soaking the section in water would be enough to get the ink out. I would use methyl ethyl ketone for a solvent weld, you will only need a toothpick to fill in the gap, then you’ll need to bind the crack while the weld works (teflon floss or plumbers tape would do for this)— then leave for at least 48 hours for the weld to set.
I would not advise CA, not very water resistant so not good for places that ink touches.
@infryq And make sure the feed and nib are out of the section before you do the weld, you don’t want to weld the feed to the section permanently
@paradoxmo thank you this is perfect!
@infryq regarding replacing the pen, honestly if you want to go that route I would just get another of the MB 220/320 series. These have good nibs that are hard to get in modern pens and the vintage are not too expensive (around 80-120 USD probably)