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ndw76
December 21st, 2013, 05:59 PM
I have just bought a Conway Stewart Dinkie 560 with the intention of restoring it to working order. I understand that I will need to use heat when I remove the section, but what is the best way to apply heat? I'm sure you would all scream NOOOOO to open flame. Will a hair dryer suffice or should I look at getting a special heat gun?
Thanks.

DrChumley
December 22nd, 2013, 12:20 AM
I use a relatively inexpensive paper embossing heat gun that I picked up at my local craft store. I think I paid $25USD. It gets warm enough for my needs (thus far), but not so hot as some of the more powerful heat guns you might get at a hardware store. I think I use the Martha Stewart brand one.

Paul-H
December 22nd, 2013, 01:38 AM
Hi

I also use a craft store heat gun as well, but a hair dryer will also work.

Don't use an open flame, especially if you are working on a vintage celluloid pen "Poof"

Paul

Jeph
December 22nd, 2013, 09:31 AM
I have used a 60W lightbulb at 8 inches (still enough heat to destroy pens) but it is very slow and requires inventive masks to get the heat where you want it.
I have tried a hair dryer and it did not work well because the heat is not well focused.
I have even tried just gripping then in my hand tightly while I watched TV. That was a waste of time.
Now I use an embossing gun like this one Embossing Gun (http://www.amazon.com/American-Crafts-Zap-Embossing-Heat/dp/B002TM68OE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387729512&sr=8-1&keywords=craft+heat+gun) with leather wraps to protect the areas where I do not want heat.

I have also tried one of the cheap infraread thermometers but it did not work well enough to protect pens. I still find my fingers to be the only useful gague for how hot the pen is.

Note that the hotter your heat source, the easier itis to ruin a pen.

I can think of no good reason to use any form of open flame.

Flounder
December 22nd, 2013, 12:42 PM
For most pens a decent hairdryer or two (using those narrowing nozzles, and wearing ear defenders) have been enough for me, using two section pliers. Having said that, my next pen specific tool will definitely be a proper heat gun.

WirsPlm
December 23rd, 2013, 09:01 AM
2 words to the wise. Your hair dryer may have trouble putting out that much heat for that long (mine started sparking after running it for too long), and using makeshift heating tools on vintage celluloid will often result in pens en flambe (I have pictures, it wasn't pretty). A decent hair dryer will cost about the same as a cheaper craft heat gun, so you might as well get the right tool for the job if you're doing more than 1 or 2 repairs.

Brian Anderson
December 23rd, 2013, 02:05 PM
I use a variable speed heat gun. I only ever use two settings. The absolute lowest, and the next to absolute lowest. After a while you will find what heat level goes with what type of pen and how long you can keep the pen in the heat. Always rotate the pen, always check every few seconds or so. If the part is so hot your fingers recoil from the heat, it is too hot. Better to have to use lower heat and do it longer than too much and have to look for a new barrel because the old one melted off. Practice makes perfect, so practice, practice, and practice some more.

SFKenk
December 24th, 2013, 10:43 PM
I use a variable speed heat gun. I only ever use two settings. The absolute lowest, and the next to absolute lowest. After a while you will find what heat level goes with what type of pen and how long you can keep the pen in the heat. Always rotate the pen, always check every few seconds or so. If the part is so hot your fingers recoil from the heat, it is too hot. Better to have to use lower heat and do it longer than too much and have to look for a new barrel because the old one melted off. Practice makes perfect, so practice, practice, and practice some more.

Totally agree with Brian here. FWIW I use a hair dryer with the following rules.
1 - if it's too hot for your fingers, it's too hot for the pen.
2- if you're in a hurry, find something else to do. This can take a lot of patience. If three tries does not work, the pen gets put aside for some rest and another day.
3 - if you're angry or in a pi$$y mood when you work on a pen, pen flambe is the likely result. Just..don't..do..it.

Cob
June 3rd, 2014, 05:57 PM
I've done quite a few repairs lately; I use a 2000W hairdryer called "Red Hot" I bought it on Amazon for about £12. In one case I found that the barrel bent very easily and I had fun and games straightening it again (the pen was quite a nice Swan that I had just bought and did not wish to wreck).

In consequence I cannot imagine that I should ever need anything hotter - and I have dealt with some very crusty examples!

Best wishes,

Cob

ardgedee
June 3rd, 2014, 06:41 PM
At a pen repair seminar held by Ron Zorn that I attended last week, he said he uses a heat embossing gun, the sort that can be had for US$10-20 at crafts shops (and sure enough that's what he used in the repair demonstration).

You can permanently warp celluloid and hard rubber at temperatures of 120°F/49°C -- high wattage hair dryers and heat guns powerful enough to cook eggs aren't necessary.

Jeph
June 4th, 2014, 12:17 AM
...You can permanently warp celluloid and hard rubber at temperatures of 120°F/49°C -- high wattage hair dryers and heat guns powerful enough to cook eggs aren't necessary.

This is worth repeating. Pelikan confirmed this same number while I was there, 50°C is where the celluloid can start plastic deformation (not going to go back to where it was).

RayCornett
June 4th, 2014, 01:25 AM
I have two heat guns. I have also done the big no no and use candle flame(on my own pen) with great results. The one way I did it that still amazes me to this day is body heat. I once held a vintage Waterman firmly in my hand for about 15-20 minutes and evidently my hand was warm enough to soften the sealant and the section pretty much came right now.

Sad I had no witnesses...just like the time I solved the Rubics cube in under 30 seconds at the toy store when I was a kid,,,,,,,,,,

Chi Town
June 8th, 2014, 06:52 PM
As Brian already touched, pardon the pun, on this. But when using heat if your fingers can't handle the pen, you've used too much heat already! Someone else even talked about Ron Zorn, he wrote a paper on this very topic! Go to his website and move thru it looking for the one about heat and fingers! They talk about what I just did. I picked up my heat gun as did Richard at Richardspens.com from Hobby Lobby, I paid 27.00 and then used a 40% off coupon, it has two heat levels, HI and Low. I don't think I have ever used the High level as Low is just fine for pens! Keep us apprised as to which gun you choose, and then how you do on your repair, we would all like to know as we are giving you our input, NOW we would like yours........

Cob
June 9th, 2014, 01:37 PM
At a pen repair seminar held by Ron Zorn that I attended last week, he said he uses a heat embossing gun, the sort that can be had for US$10-20 at crafts shops (and sure enough that's what he used in the repair demonstration).

You can permanently warp celluloid and hard rubber at temperatures of 120°F/49°C -- high wattage hair dryers and heat guns powerful enough to cook eggs aren't necessary.

I suppose that I should add that the good thing about the El Cheapo hairdryer I bought is that it has three heat settings and three speeds - and the widget that fits on the end of the thing allows reasonable direction of the air-flow.

Cob