When Pen Tragedy Strikes
Dec. 29th, 2008 08:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deirdreOne of my resolutions is to get as many things repaired as possible or at least sent off for repair before the end of the year.
Those of us who have repairable pens will no doubt come into a situation where pen tragedy strikes. In my case, I'd dropped two pens (not at the same time) onto the floor where they landed nib first.
Now sometimes this isn't a tragedy, and it could be a much worse tragedy, as sometimes it doesn't just damage the nib, it damages the feed. Fountain pens work on capillary action (and a well-tuned pen will write point-up), so the feed is just as important as the nib.
In both cases, the pens were out of production, so feeds might have been problematic. I lucked out.
Here's what they looked like after I dropped them:
Here's more photos of the before and after. Greg did a great job fixing them, especially the Nettuno which, because of the plating, was the more difficult repair.
There's other pen repairers and restorers. Those who make their living primarily from repairing pens include:
John Mottishaw
Richard Binder
Ron Zorn
There's plenty of others, too, but if you have a family heirloom that needs some care, any of the above have the most experience. They all handle both antique, vintage, and modern pens, though they typically recommend factory service centers for recent modern pens.
Those of us who have repairable pens will no doubt come into a situation where pen tragedy strikes. In my case, I'd dropped two pens (not at the same time) onto the floor where they landed nib first.
Now sometimes this isn't a tragedy, and it could be a much worse tragedy, as sometimes it doesn't just damage the nib, it damages the feed. Fountain pens work on capillary action (and a well-tuned pen will write point-up), so the feed is just as important as the nib.
In both cases, the pens were out of production, so feeds might have been problematic. I lucked out.
Here's what they looked like after I dropped them:
Here's more photos of the before and after. Greg did a great job fixing them, especially the Nettuno which, because of the plating, was the more difficult repair.
There's other pen repairers and restorers. Those who make their living primarily from repairing pens include:
John Mottishaw
Richard Binder
Ron Zorn
There's plenty of others, too, but if you have a family heirloom that needs some care, any of the above have the most experience. They all handle both antique, vintage, and modern pens, though they typically recommend factory service centers for recent modern pens.