Who is a good person to send my Sheaffer balance to for repair?

[edteach]

I have a Sheaffer ballance combo I want to have repaired. How is best to send it to have it repaired.

[Lady Onogaro]

Ask Danny Fudge at The Write Pen if he can do it (I suspect he can).

[edteach]

Ask Danny Fudge at The Write Pen if he can do it (I suspect he can).

Sent him an email. thanks. His web pages says 15 dollars, that seems very reasonable.

[gregamckinney]

There are any number of great restorers. One of the great Sheaffer specialists (should Danny not pan out for whatever reason, or should you have another Sheaffer now or in the future) is Sherrell Tyree of Ink-Pen.
You can reach Sherrell via http://ink-pen.com/

Besides doing great work, Sherrell is one of the nicest people you will ever meet (/ interact with.)

Best Regards, greg

[edteach]

Contacted Sherrell, nice person, but 90 day turnaround is a bit long. I was hoping within two or three weeks.

[Lady Onogaro]

Danny is pretty fast, as far as my experience with his repairs have been. (I also want to thank silverbreeze who recommended him to me in the first place a while ago).

[stub]

Vac or Lever? That makes a difference.

BIG difference.

[Jon Szanto]

Vac or Lever? That makes a difference.

BIG difference.

He noted that it was a "combo" pen, hence a mechanical pencil opposite from the pen nib. These only come as lever fill, as there is no place to put the piston, etc.

[stub]

Vac or Lever? That makes a difference.

BIG difference.

He noted that it was a "combo" pen, hence a mechanical pencil opposite from the pen nib. These only come as lever fill, as there is no place to put the piston, etc.

Ah ha. Totally forgot about those. I thought he merely met combo as in pen & pencil "set". I stand corrected.

Then anyone really. Be cautious with vac-fil repairs. Even some big name dealers/restoration folks still just use plugs, some are badly kludged too boot.

Danny Fudge is great. Or you could DIY it with a few tools, some shellac and some talcum and have a super fast turnaround and free shipping /wink

[edteach]

Vac or Lever? That makes a difference.

BIG difference.

He noted that it was a "combo" pen, hence a mechanical pencil opposite from the pen nib. These only come as lever fill, as there is no place to put the piston, etc.

Ah ha. Totally forgot about those. I thought he merely met combo as in pen & pencil "set". I stand corrected.

Then anyone really. Be cautious with vac-fil repairs. Even some big name dealers/restoration folks still just use plugs, some are badly kludged too boot.

Danny Fudge is great. Or you could DIY it with a few tools, some shellac and some talcum and have a super fast turnaround and free shipping /wink

I would not mind doing it myself. If anyone could help me with a few questions. I removed the pencil and tapped out what was left of the sac. The lever works very well. I tried to remove the nib assembly. If I can remove the nib assembly I have no problem repairing it. If anyone can tell me how to remove the nib without damaging the pen I would be grateful. Also where do I get a new sac, and what type of shellac do I use?

[gregamckinney]

Another great repairer with, AFAIK, decent turn-times is Ron Meloche. Great guy, and does great work. You can find him here: http://ronmeloche.com/

Regards, greg

[scrivelry]

Danny Fudge is great. Or you could DIY it with a few tools, some shellac and some talcum and have a super fast turnaround and free shipping /wink[/QUOTE]

I would not mind doing it myself. If anyone could help me with a few questions. I removed the pencil and tapped out what was left of the sac. The lever works very well. I tried to remove the nib assembly. If I can remove the nib assembly I have no problem repairing it. If anyone can tell me how to remove the nib without damaging the pen I would be grateful. Also where do I get a new sac, and what type of shellac do I use?[/QUOTE]

You don't have to take the nib out, and if the nib is ok, you're better off not, if you can avoid it. What you have to do is take the section off/out - that is the part, probably black, that has the nib stuffed inside it. It's the part you hold while you write. If the pen is a combo there is a very good chance that part is rubber, in which case you don't want to soak it too long if you can avoid that.

And here I hand you off to someone who has done it without soaking, which I have little experience with. Ok, pretty much none. But others have and they will be along shortly, I'm sure!

Once you get the section out, you scrape whatever old rubber is left off the end of the tube sticking out, cut the sac to fit, slap some shellac on the tube part and wiggle the open part of the sac onto it. It's not hard. I was all nerves for the first one I did, and then I did another 20 over the next 24 hours. (I had to go back to the pen show and buy more sacs, or it would have been a considerably shorter period of time!)

It's getting the section off the pen without cracking anything that needs care. Most of the time I win, but sometimes I lose.

[edteach]

Danny Fudge is great. Or you could DIY it with a few tools, some shellac and some talcum and have a super fast turnaround and free shipping /wink

I would not mind doing it myself. If anyone could help me with a few questions. I removed the pencil and tapped out what was left of the sac. The lever works very well. I tried to remove the nib assembly. If I can remove the nib assembly I have no problem repairing it. If anyone can tell me how to remove the nib without damaging the pen I would be grateful. Also where do I get a new sac, and what type of shellac do I use?[/QUOTE]

You don't have to take the nib out, and if the nib is ok, you're better off not, if you can avoid it. What you have to do is take the section off/out - that is the part, probably black, that has the nib stuffed inside it. It's the part you hold while you write. If the pen is a combo there is a very good chance that part is rubber, in which case you don't want to soak it too long if you can avoid that.

And here I hand you off to someone who has done it without soaking, which I have little experience with. Ok, pretty much none. But others have and they will be along shortly, I'm sure!

Once you get the section out, you scrape whatever old rubber is left off the end of the tube sticking out, cut the sac to fit, slap some shellac on the tube part and wiggle the open part of the sac onto it. It's not hard. I was all nerves for the first one I did, and then I did another 20 over the next 24 hours. (I had to go back to the pen show and buy more sacs, or it would have been a considerably shorter period of time!)

It's getting the section off the pen without cracking anything that needs care. Most of the time I win, but sometimes I lose.[/QUOTE]

Sorry I did not mean the nib alone, but the black part that holds the nib. I tried with my hand to remove it and twist it firm but not a hard torque. It does not move. I was thinking it may have some old ink or other material that is hard dried in. Its not a cheap pen or easy to find so I don't want to break it. It looks to be made of the same material as the rest of the pen. I was wondering if soaking it in a mild dish detergent water solution would help?

[Jon Szanto]

I would also suggest a trip to Richard Binder's site and look at the tutorial on how to re-sac a pen. Complete with diagrams and lots of helpful info from a master repairman.

[edteach]

I would also suggest a trip to Richard Binder's site and look at the tutorial on how to re-sac a pen. Complete with diagrams and lots of helpful info from a master repairman.

Thanks after reading several repair blogs I sat for ten min with a hair dryer turning the pen and then trying to move it heating repeat. It started to move a small bit and I got it out. the barre is now clean with a Q tip and light soap and water and a tooth pick got the rest of the sac out. Nice and clean. Am I correct in that all I need now is a new sac and some shellac to finish the job? If anyone could give me a list of things needed to finish, thanks.

[jbb]

Add unscented talc to your list. It prolongs the life of the sac.

[Jon Szanto]

Am I correct in that all I need now is a new sac and some shellac to finish the job? If anyone could give me a list of things needed to finish, thanks.

Ahem. As mentioned, and he lists all required tools and materials.

[edteach]

Am I correct in that all I need now is a new sac and some shellac to finish the job? If anyone could give me a list of things needed to finish, thanks.

Ahem. As mentioned, and he lists all required tools and materials.

I have an old bottle of pure talc and from Anderson pens I ordered the repairman set of sacks and a bottle of shellac. So its wait for the parts to arrive and I will have enough to fix a few other pens. From what I could find the Sheaffer Balance takes a 17 sac. So I ordered the reapirman kit has 5 sacs and one extra 17.

[penwash]

I would also suggest a trip to Richard Binder's site and look at the tutorial on how to re-sac a pen. Complete with diagrams and lots of helpful info from a master repairman.

Thanks after reading several repair blogs I sat for ten min with a hair dryer turning the pen and then trying to move it heating repeat. It started to move a small bit and I got it out. the barre is now clean with a Q tip and light soap and water and a tooth pick got the rest of the sac out. Nice and clean. Am I correct in that all I need now is a new sac and some shellac to finish the job? If anyone could give me a list of things needed to finish, thanks.

Since you have the section out of the barrel, it is worth the time to remove the nib and feed out of the section to clean them.
For this you need a nib "knocking block" which you can buy, I didn't.

I wish I can explain away how I created mine, which is not a block at all, just a sturdy but soft pair of wood 1x1x6 inches (each) tied with a rubber band on one end (think a very chubby and square chopstick that holds the nib and feed between the wood, and the section resting on both sides of the almost parallel wood). Then let's make the feed pusher: Saw and file off the sharp end of a nail big enough but not too big to fit behind the opening of the section. After filing, you should end up with a nice and round end that can push the feed out of the nib without gouging it.

Now the action begins: Position the section with the nib and feed to be firmly held by the woods, facing down into a film canister with some cotton or tissue at the bottom to cushion the nib when it fell out of the section. Insert the blunted nail into the hole in the back of the section, then tap gently until you feel the feed giving way. If the feed won't budge, DO NOT follow the temptation to tap more rigorously. Instead, put the section into an extra film canister, and fill it up with room temp. water. Leave that for an hour or so and try again. NOTE: If the section, or feed, or both are ebonite, DO NOT immerse in water unless you want them to be in a different color when you pull them out. For these, dry heat, no wet stuff.

Once you have the feed and nib out, examine the feed, flush it with water and you most likely will see that the ink channel is fully gunked with hardened ink. Scrape the gunk using dental picks and make sure that the feed is clear of any debris in the channel, so you will enjoy your restored pen more.

Man, it takes a lot of words to explain what I now do regulary.

[Farmboy]

I would refrain from removing the nib and feed from the section unless absolutely necessary. Almost always they can be cleaned without removal.