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

[kirchh]

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

I concur with Todd on this, particularly if one does not have experience with the disassembly procedure and the proper tools.

--Daniel

[penwash]

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

I concur with Todd on this, particularly if one does not have experience with the disassembly procedure and the proper tools.

--Daniel

Sure, from the perspective of a fountain pen user doing a DIY restoration, what you and Todd said makes sense.

But for me, I'd like to give the people who buy my restored pens the best condition that I can provide.
Besides it gives me an opportunity to fit a better (in some cases much better) nib onto a pen.

My hero in this regard is Stefan (Grandmia Pens).

[Jon Szanto]

My hero in this regard is Stefan (Grandmia Pens).

Ouch.

[edteach]

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

I agree. From all the videos I have watched they all said unless the nib needs to be replaced you can soak it out. I have used a water with small amount of alcohol and dish soap and warmed it up in the MW and used a needle and syringe to pressure it through till it would not run any thing but clear. I am waiting on order to finish the project.

[kirchh]

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

I concur with Todd on this, particularly if one does not have experience with the disassembly procedure and the proper tools.

--Daniel

Sure, from the perspective of a fountain pen user doing a DIY restoration, what you and Todd said makes sense.

But for me, I'd like to give the people who buy my restored pens the best condition that I can provide.
Besides it gives me an opportunity to fit a better (in some cases much better) nib onto a pen.

My hero in this regard is Stefan (Grandmia Pens).

Obviously, if the nib is going to be switched, the existing nib needs to be removed. Absent that, a thorough cleaning can be accomplished without disassembling the front end. Nothing "DIY" about that; pros often don't dismantle the nib/feed/section assembly when servicing a pen if only a cleaning is needed; the existing alignment and conforming of the components is often best.

--Daniel

[penwash]

Obviously, if the nib is going to be switched, the existing nib needs to be removed. Absent that, a thorough cleaning can be accomplished without disassembling the front end. Nothing "DIY" about that; pros often don't dismantle the nib/feed/section assembly when servicing a pen if only a cleaning is needed; the existing alignment and conforming of the components is often best.

--Daniel

I beg your pardon.
How exactly do you clean *thoroughly* without taking the nib and feed out? Syringes? Air/water blowers? Sonic-cleaners?

I've seen debris caused by corrosive ink chipping off the thin ink channel walls and made a solid blockade preventing good ink flow. How on earth can I see that let alone clean it without disassembling the section parts?

Here is the principle, people buy the pens I restored because they want to be happy with it.
If I slack off and just be happy with whatever I can flush out without checking the feed condition and re-adjusting the nib, I'd feel that I'm not doing the best I can.
My pen restoration teacher, a pro pen restorer, told me about this principle, and I am glad I listened.

EDIT: I apologize to the OP because this thread has gone away from the topic. I'll shut up now

[kirchh]

Obviously, if the nib is going to be switched, the existing nib needs to be removed. Absent that, a thorough cleaning can be accomplished without disassembling the front end. Nothing "DIY" about that; pros often don't dismantle the nib/feed/section assembly when servicing a pen if only a cleaning is needed; the existing alignment and conforming of the components is often best.

--Daniel

I beg your pardon.
How exactly do you clean *thoroughly* without taking the nib and feed out? Syringes? Air/water blowers? Sonic-cleaners?

I've seen debris caused by corrosive ink chipping off the thin ink channel walls and made a solid blockade preventing good ink flow. How on earth can I see that let alone clean it without disassembling the section parts?

Here is the principle, people buy the pens I restored because they want to be happy with it.
If I slack off and just be happy with whatever I can flush out without checking the feed condition and re-adjusting the nib, I'd feel that I'm not doing the best I can.
My pen restoration teacher, a pro pen restorer, told me about this principle, and I am glad I listened.

An intelligent, skillful, and experienced repairperson will know how to evaluate a nib/feed/section's performance to ascertain whether disassembly is necessary to address an ink flow problem. In most cases, it is not. On the other hand, an inexperienced or insufficiently skillful repairperson might have to knock out every nib because s/he is unable to determine if it is necessary or not in any individual case.

--Daniel

[scrivelry]

I think there are pros and cons to taking nibs out.

I agree that every time you take a nib out, you are taking the chance of breaking something, and if the pen is running well, that might be an opportunity to avoid.

Sometimes you have to take the nib out - you are replacing it, or the pen is just refusing to work and after trying soaking, etc, it is still not right, there is some obvious problem with the feed or section, etc.

If one has a pen one owns, and either intends to keep or intends to sell, one is taking the risk for oneself and no one else is really in a position to complain. If you like all your nibs minty fresh, or you can never straighten out old tines and just prefer to put in a new nib as a matter of course, or if you have done your darndest and still, the ink, he floweth not, then you knock out the nib and do as you will because it is your pen, and you are not hurting anyone but yourself if you break it.

I can absolutely see experienced repairers being able to evaluate a pen and say "This ink is flowing the way my customer says they like their ink to flow now that I have flushed it/vibrated it/tweaked the nib/set the feed/spoken firmly to it about how the last owner may have let a ham handed ball point natural get a hold of it but how this owner will be instructed to be more careful and therefore I do not need to take the risk of of possibly breaking something by going further with the nib/feed."

This is why we treasure good, experienced repair persons and why some people who do a lot of their own repairs will still send out thing they find tricky, or pens with great value to them.

But really, so long as you know the risks, what you do to your own pens is your own business. Anyone reading the thread now knows there is a risk involved and can ask questions if they want to.

[penwash]

An intelligent, skillful, and experienced repairperson will know how to evaluate a nib/feed/section's performance to ascertain whether disassembly is necessary to address an ink flow problem. In most cases, it is not. On the other hand, an inexperienced or insufficiently skillful repairperson might have to knock out every nib because s/he is unable to determine if it is necessary or not in any individual case.

--Daniel

So you are implying that I am an inexperienced or insufficiently skillful repairperson?

[kirchh]

An intelligent, skillful, and experienced repairperson will know how to evaluate a nib/feed/section's performance to ascertain whether disassembly is necessary to address an ink flow problem. In most cases, it is not. On the other hand, an inexperienced or insufficiently skillful repairperson might have to knock out every nib because s/he is unable to determine if it is necessary or not in any individual case.

--Daniel

So you are implying that I am an inexperienced or insufficiently skillful repairperson?

Do you know how to evaluate a nib/feed/section's performance to ascertain whether disassembly is necessary to address an ink flow problem?

--Daniel

[edteach]

Received my shellac and sac from Anderson. Had the Talc on hand. After a good cleaning over a couple of days I let it dry. I bought the 17 silicone sac and used a set of snap ring players. If you don't know what they are they work like they were made for putting on sacs. The ones I have are spring loaded to open. So after I put the sac on the spring keeps it tight without me doing a thing. Put a nice bit of shellac around section that takes the sac and slipped it over. No problem at all. Let it set for a couple of hours and then took a small amount of water and dipped the section in the water and squeezed the sac. It sucked up water fine and then squirted it out. Wiped the water off and put talc on the sac and inserted it in the pen without turning it. Once tight I pulled the lever and the small bit of water inside squirted out with a blast of air. Should be good. And I did not have to wait 3 months. I also have enough shellac to do 30 more pens.

[scrivelry]

Received my shellac and sac from Anderson. Had the Talc on hand. After a good cleaning over a couple of days I let it dry. I bought the 17 silicone sac and used a set of snap ring players. If you don't know what they are they work like they were made for putting on sacs. The ones I have are spring loaded to open. So after I put the sac on the spring keeps it tight without me doing a thing. Put a nice bit of shellac around section that takes the sac and slipped it over. No problem at all. Let it set for a couple of hours and then took a small amount of water and dipped the section in the water and squeezed the sac. It sucked up water fine and then squirted it out. Wiped the water off and put talc on the sac and inserted it in the pen without turning it. Once tight I pulled the lever and the small bit of water inside squirted out with a blast of air. Should be good. And I did not have to wait 3 months. I also have enough shellac to do 30 more pens.

Good for you! It's fun, isn't it?

You have a lot more fun ahead of you. 30 more pens from the amount of shellac you have is probably a very conservative estimate... ;-)