Lexaf
March 12th, 2015, 09:33 AM
This last week I finished the last batch of 8 of a total of more than 100 old German vintage pens I found. I restored them and sold (most of) them. Here on FPG and on FPN. I feels good that I could send these old forgotten beautiful pens to good homes all over the world.
Now, at the end of this fascinating restoration project I ended with some boxes of spare parts. Many pens broke down during the restoring process, most of the time when I tried to disassemble the pens into their different parts. All of them needed thorough cleaning and repolishing as they were very dull and dirty. Sometimes the barrels broke, a lot of caps had broken or had loose rings (some caps did not have any rings so these were the easiest!). Lots of clips were heavily corroded. The biggest problems occurred with the filling mechanisms, the majority of the lot had driver rods and nuts that were made from ZAMAC, a pre WWII German invention for a cheap metal alloy, made from zinc, brass and aluminum. They were all heavily oxidized and stuck. Trying to take them apart resulted in broken rods many times. Also a lot of the 'Edel' nibs were quite bad, corroded, broken and misaligned, so in the end of the run I had barely enough good nibs left to complete the pens.
I made an inventory of all the leftover parts that were still usable to construct some more 'new' pens. This resulted in a small lot of pens that are now completely functional again. I reconstructed them as close as possible to the originals. The broken rods were the biggest problem and after some research I succeeded to make new rods based on converted high speed construction screws. They do the job very well, the only difference is that the moving speed of the piston is somewhat slower, so one needs to make more turns on the filling knob to take them up and down.
In this series of several 'for sale' ads I present them one by one, each with their individual specifications and a remark where there is a modification compared to the original. As there is some aspect of being a Frankenpen, I will offer these 'reconstructed' pens with some discount.
Here is number 9 of the series I called the 'Lexaf Special'
#9
Several of the leftover barrels and caps of the chased pens had scratches and other small damage. So I decided to do a little experiment by polishing the barrel and cap to a shiny smooth black surface. Here is the result.
Specifications:
Made in Germany - Manufactured around 1935. - No name or brand on the pen. - Nib branded 'Edel'
Material:
Barrel & Cap: Black chased Thermoplastic. Modification: Originally chased cap & barrel polished to a shiny smooth surface.
Top and blind end cap: Bakelite.
Section and feeder: Ebonite
Piston mechanism parts: Black plastic and cork seal. Modification: New steel piston rod inside, so slower movement of the piston seal.
Clip: gold color plated brass. (Plating material unknown, but probably not gold). Some light corrosion damage on this clip.
Filling system: piston (refurbished original cork). The pen has a blind cap to cover the filling knob.
Nib: Steel; remarkably flexible. The nib is stamped: 'Edel - Chromstahl - 1 Qual'. Modification: Nib is reground to medium stub. Still flex.
Flex runs from M to BB - See writing sample.
Condition: Never used (New old stock) and completely restored and rebuilt by me.
Dimensions:
Closed: 134 mm
Without cap: 124 mm
Posted: 170 mm
Diam. over barrel: 11.85 mm
Diam over the cap: 13.36 mm
Asking us $ 20,--
(normal price = us$ 25,--)
Shipping us$ 7,--
Shipped World wide from The Netherlands
(standard priority letter mail, no insurance, no registry, no T&T).
Please mail to my e-mail address (do not PM)
HERE (lexvangalen@gmail.com)
and refer to: " #9 Lexaf Special"
FIRST ONE WITH A FIRM 'I WANT IT' HAS THE PEN.
Paypal only.
Please look at the pictures below.
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4579_zpsl7i38q7m.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4579_zpsl7i38q7m.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4584_zpspwc9twf8.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4584_zpspwc9twf8.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4588_zpszvyxhjzr.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4588_zpszvyxhjzr.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4590_zpsub4d3bo0.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4590_zpsub4d3bo0.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4591_zpsdu3kr89q.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4591_zpsdu3kr89q.jpg.html)
Thank you for looking.
Now, at the end of this fascinating restoration project I ended with some boxes of spare parts. Many pens broke down during the restoring process, most of the time when I tried to disassemble the pens into their different parts. All of them needed thorough cleaning and repolishing as they were very dull and dirty. Sometimes the barrels broke, a lot of caps had broken or had loose rings (some caps did not have any rings so these were the easiest!). Lots of clips were heavily corroded. The biggest problems occurred with the filling mechanisms, the majority of the lot had driver rods and nuts that were made from ZAMAC, a pre WWII German invention for a cheap metal alloy, made from zinc, brass and aluminum. They were all heavily oxidized and stuck. Trying to take them apart resulted in broken rods many times. Also a lot of the 'Edel' nibs were quite bad, corroded, broken and misaligned, so in the end of the run I had barely enough good nibs left to complete the pens.
I made an inventory of all the leftover parts that were still usable to construct some more 'new' pens. This resulted in a small lot of pens that are now completely functional again. I reconstructed them as close as possible to the originals. The broken rods were the biggest problem and after some research I succeeded to make new rods based on converted high speed construction screws. They do the job very well, the only difference is that the moving speed of the piston is somewhat slower, so one needs to make more turns on the filling knob to take them up and down.
In this series of several 'for sale' ads I present them one by one, each with their individual specifications and a remark where there is a modification compared to the original. As there is some aspect of being a Frankenpen, I will offer these 'reconstructed' pens with some discount.
Here is number 9 of the series I called the 'Lexaf Special'
#9
Several of the leftover barrels and caps of the chased pens had scratches and other small damage. So I decided to do a little experiment by polishing the barrel and cap to a shiny smooth black surface. Here is the result.
Specifications:
Made in Germany - Manufactured around 1935. - No name or brand on the pen. - Nib branded 'Edel'
Material:
Barrel & Cap: Black chased Thermoplastic. Modification: Originally chased cap & barrel polished to a shiny smooth surface.
Top and blind end cap: Bakelite.
Section and feeder: Ebonite
Piston mechanism parts: Black plastic and cork seal. Modification: New steel piston rod inside, so slower movement of the piston seal.
Clip: gold color plated brass. (Plating material unknown, but probably not gold). Some light corrosion damage on this clip.
Filling system: piston (refurbished original cork). The pen has a blind cap to cover the filling knob.
Nib: Steel; remarkably flexible. The nib is stamped: 'Edel - Chromstahl - 1 Qual'. Modification: Nib is reground to medium stub. Still flex.
Flex runs from M to BB - See writing sample.
Condition: Never used (New old stock) and completely restored and rebuilt by me.
Dimensions:
Closed: 134 mm
Without cap: 124 mm
Posted: 170 mm
Diam. over barrel: 11.85 mm
Diam over the cap: 13.36 mm
Asking us $ 20,--
(normal price = us$ 25,--)
Shipping us$ 7,--
Shipped World wide from The Netherlands
(standard priority letter mail, no insurance, no registry, no T&T).
Please mail to my e-mail address (do not PM)
HERE (lexvangalen@gmail.com)
and refer to: " #9 Lexaf Special"
FIRST ONE WITH A FIRM 'I WANT IT' HAS THE PEN.
Paypal only.
Please look at the pictures below.
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4579_zpsl7i38q7m.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4579_zpsl7i38q7m.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4584_zpspwc9twf8.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4584_zpspwc9twf8.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4588_zpszvyxhjzr.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4588_zpszvyxhjzr.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4590_zpsub4d3bo0.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4590_zpsub4d3bo0.jpg.html)
http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/jj504/Lex_van_Galen/DSCF4591_zpsdu3kr89q.jpg (http://s1265.photobucket.com/user/Lex_van_Galen/media/DSCF4591_zpsdu3kr89q.jpg.html)
Thank you for looking.