Gold Bond restoration

[penwash]

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2822/34364125735_261c8dc159_z.jpg

You guys have no idea how much I've been waiting for this Gold Bond brand pen to "rise from the ashes". Last year the barrel and cap of this pen came to me, and I immediately like it because of its size and I can tell that this pen used to occupy the top tier model. But the section was missing and being a big pen (usually vintage pens are smaller) it's hard to find a section that would fit it, not to mention the one with a nib size that won't look ridiculously small.

Issue #2 is the clip. No clip came with the cap, just a stub that used to be a clip. Now what? Well, nothing else to do until an appropriately sized Z-clip come by. And one finally did, thankfully not costing me a lot like a seller on ebay wants for one. And it came with a nice "C" engraving. "C" for Cold Bond? :)

Okay, so now I had to borrow the inner cap puller from my FP restoration "master" and after soaking the cap for a few days, I finally were able to get the old inner cap out. Old clip stub out, new Z-clip in, and reinstall the inner cap with a lot of fitting and careful tapping. Careful is the key here, because one tap too many, I can crack the cap from the inside. Game over.

Back to Issue #1, what section will fit this beast? I tried about 10 different sections and modify 3 of them only to end up with non-satisfying creaky fit.

Fast forward to last week, enter the Morrison's 14K nib in a heavily stained Mandarin yellow barrel with no cap <--- it's amazing that the nib survived without a cap in the middle of basically a heap of junk, it was snuck up inside a batch of battered and broken bunch of pens I got from ebay. I didn't even remember seeing this pen in the photo. But the moment I hold the section, I knew I can use it for the Gold Beast. Some quality moments with the lathe later:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4160/33962001070_b37a6c5c2a_z.jpg

It fits like the glass shoe on Cinderella now.

So now the 64K question is: Why draw gold bars in the writing sample?
I don't know, Gold Bond, Gold Bar... not enough coffee? :)

[PaulS]

full marks for your patience and perseverance - well done. At least your 'new' section is a push fit, and you didn't have to cut a thread, but assume from seeing the section in your chuck there must have been some fine tuning to get the fit just right?

[penwash]

full marks for your patience and perseverance - well done. At least your 'new' section is a push fit, and you didn't have to cut a thread, but assume from seeing the section in your chuck there must have been some fine tuning to get the fit just right?

Thank you for the encouragement, Paul.

You are correct. In all, I took about .5 mm from the part of the section that fits on the barrel. That is about 3 passes through the lathe because we're talking about tiny cuts, I err on the side of taking too little because I can always use sanding paper, but I can't add back the hard-rubber if I took too much out.

Interestingly, even though my lathe is already small (A Taig), for this kind of operation I do wish I have a jeweler's (watchmaker) lathe which is easier to operate in tiny increments :)

[PaulS]

I can imagine the care needed for that sort of glove type fit - couple of thou. too much and it's going to be loose.

I now have one of those small Austrian Emco Unimat SL lathes - I think you guys call them DB 200 - really quite small - and I'm hoping to turn the odd section. So have been putting together a few extras to help and have ordered a 36 tpi thread master plus follower, as not all sections are a push fit. Also have some BHR blanks coming soon, and then if and when I get good enough, will try and make one of those clear barrel ends for my Wat. 100 year pen.

Assume your pen is celluloid - it looks to have that depth of shine. Does you tool post carriage not advance on fairly fine threaded increments?

[penwash]

The Unimat DB 200 is exactly what I was talking about. So we're on the same page :)
My tool post carriage can do sub-millimeter movements, but I imagine on a lathe that is designed primarily for that, the placement of controls would be a bit more precise.

Most American vintage pens I encounter have push-fit sections (except for some Parker Duofold), the few screw-in sections I've seen are from European and British pens.

Yes, the Gold Bond is celluloid.

[penwash]

Two years later, here I am with another tale of restoration featuring... another Gold Bond :)

I guess my obsession with Gold Bond has become quite ridiculous, I just love those knurled ends. And this one is a very pretty woodgrain ebonite (or at least I think it's ebonite since I smell a faint sulphur if I rub the barrel/cap). The yellow finials are celluloid though.

I got this pen knowing that there is at least one problem, but little that I know when I got it, that the section was "cemented" to the barrel (no amount of heat or immersion would loosen the section). How? I suspect the type of ink that was used last in the pen. The ink may leaked out of the old ink sac and formed a bond between the section and the barrel. I've seen this happening to a Wahl before.

Examine this photo:

https://jubilee-live.flickr.com/65535/48724725536_47192524cf_z.jpg

That was the barrel, in my lathe, I drilled out the section which was already marred because the previous owner probably lost their patience and try to take the section out using a (non rubberized) plier, resulting in gashes. Amazingly I was able to rescue both the nib and the feed by working slowly on the lathe to thin out the messed up section, until I can take the feed out to safety.

Then I use two sizes of drill from smaller to bigger to take out the section. This photo literally was taken seconds after the section finally "squirmed" itself out of the barrel without a single crack on the barrel lip (yes, I sighed a breath of relief...).

Notice the white residue on the section, it was inside the barrel also (a long scraping session ensued) that was the stuff that bonded the section to the barrel. And yes, the feed was full of this gunk also, that's why I suspect the type of ink used.

After taking the section out without harming the barrel, I was able to find a suitable replacement from my collection of sections.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48724695886_51561e661c_c.jpg

Voila!

[Chrissy]

Thank you. :thank_you2: I loved reading all about it. :) Great job. :hail:

[azkid]

Nicely done! Looks like the pen was in the hands of a very skilled surgeon.

[Deb]

Great restoration!

[FredRydr]

...the section finally "squirmed" itself out of the barrel without a single crack on the barrel lip....
Wow! Congrats on applying lots of skill, care and patience on these old beauties.

[Lady Onogaro]

So beautiful! Great job!

[penwash]

Thank you all for the kind comments.

[Chrissy]

Thank you all for the kind comments.
Please could we see the section on the Stonite Woodgrain pattern pen?

[penwash]

Thank you all for the kind comments.
Please could we see the section on the Stonite Woodgrain pattern pen?

Of course. Here's the original nib with a new section and feed (the original feed is now in my collection as a spare).

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48740736766_644a49315d_c.jpg

[Seattleite]

Nice pen and nice job done on the delicate work! Those yellow knurled end pieces really make a pen stand out in a crowd.

Not sure where the sulfur smell was coming from, but "Stonite" was National Pen Product's (maker of your pen) name for celluloid.

Good stuff.

Bob

[penwash]

Nice pen and nice job done on the delicate work! Those yellow knurled end pieces really make a pen stand out in a crowd.

Not sure where the sulfur smell was coming from, but "Stonite" was National Pen Product's (maker of your pen) name for celluloid.

Good stuff.

Bob

Hi Bob, thanks for the info on the Stonite branding of celluloid. It's possible that the sulfur smell comes from something else that day. I guess one way we can make sure is to run rough sandpaper on that barrel and see if it smells "minty" instead of sulphur.

But there's no way that I'll do that to one of my favorite pens :)

[penwash]

Aaaand, another woodgrain ebonite Gold Bond.

This one is similar to the one I posted above, but with a different cool Art Deco style clip.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49397345118_5bfc55da2a_z.jpg

On this one I do have to swap the nib with an Eversharp because the one that came with the pen was not an original Gold Bond, and it was poorly fitted.

[Fermata]

Swapping nibs into inappropriate pens takes me back to when I first started collecting. I was on some evangelical mission to preserve every pen that I touched for the benefit of future humanity. I would buy Wearevers, Gold Bonds, Black and Whites and far too many examples of some peculiar pen with a curved barrel, they all had damaged nibs which I would try and heal or replace with a nib from some other pen, usually Chinese, that I had previousky wrecked and mistakenly thought that I should keep the parts, just in case they might come in handy.

I fooled myself into believing that this was the pen repair equivalent of fitting an LS7 into a Ford Fleetline.

[penwash]

Swapping nibs into inappropriate pens takes me back to when I first started collecting. I was on some evangelical mission to preserve every pen that I touched for the benefit of future humanity. I would buy Wearevers, Gold Bonds, Black and Whites and far too many examples of some peculiar pen with a curved barrel, they all had damaged nibs which I would try and heal or replace with a nib from some other pen, usually Chinese, that I had previousky wrecked and mistakenly thought that I should keep the parts, just in case they might come in handy.

I fooled myself into believing that this was the pen repair equivalent of fitting an LS7 into a Ford Fleetline.

In my case, I always try to upgrade the pen that I'm rescuing with a better nib than the one on the pen when it reached me.
Almost in all cases, I replace steel nibs with 14K gold ones, and because I am a flex nib nut, I also ended up gravitating towards them :)

[penwash]

And my obsession with Gold Bond pens deepen.

My latest Gold Bond, the one in the middle:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50022216848_0b9954e032_c.jpg

I haven't put a new sac in it yet, but I already know that the nib is flexy and crispy. Joy!

[penwash]

Surprise! Another Gold Bond landed on my workbench.

This one was first appearing at Christof's mini-collection thread along with its three siblings (see above).

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50110621502_1fb6b527b3_c.jpg

And in restoring this one, I was reminded again at how much force sometimes it takes to separate a celluloid and ebonite that has been together for 100 years or so.

Don't worry, no one is hurt, including this restorer :)

And the nib on this one is truly original marked Gold Bond 14K, and it's "O la la" flexy, flexy.

[FredRydr]

Is the section faceted, or is that just the light?

[penwash]

Is the section faceted, or is that just the light?

Just the light.

[penwash]

Just did another sketch with the same pen:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50158711968_7775db1730_c.jpg

[Cyril]

Very adventurous journey with lot of patience . I love the story and a nice restoration!! :)

[penwash]

By now I realized that I am a sucker for pens that no respectable collectors would probably consider :)

This Gold Bond (surprise, surprise) is the equivalent of a mangy-looking dog who followed you home.

At one point, I believe this was a "jade" colored Stonite (one of the many branding of celluloid). Over time the celluloid had undergone several transformations. First the barrel discolored into orange, then the part of the cap which has no inner cap started to discolor and towards the cap lip, became semi-transparent!

So in the end, today, this pen has the same appearance as the "7-Layer Dip" (said my wife, i had to google that).

But I love it. It's full of character -- and no cracks. It's impressively sized, and feels so nice in the hand.

Plus the trims are in excellent condition, and the lever is strong and snug. I put a #20 ink sac in it which fits perfectly, fill with your favorite ink (Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz is mine, at least this week, hahaha) and you're set to go.

The nib is glorious huge Gold Bond 14K that writes with a precision of a Tango dancer.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50275016061_f9ef17e7d1_c.jpg

The sketch, if you care to know, is a tribute to one of my favorite painters: Albert Bierstadt. Of course, in my own Sloppy Sketch style.

[eachan]

Beautiful discoloration, beautiful sketch.

[azkid]

Very cool looking pen there. Personally I think it is great to see the old mangy dog pens rescued. :)

You probably already know that Colorado's Mount Bierstadt was named after this painter, who was the first recorded to make it to the top in 1863.

[penwash]

Very cool looking pen there. Personally I think it is great to see the old mangy dog pens rescued. :)

You probably already know that Colorado's Mount Bierstadt was named after this painter, who was the first recorded to make it to the top in 1863.

I actually didn't know that!

There must be one of his paintings featuring that mountain then.

[penwash]

Guess what!

Another Gold Bond. Going at this rate, I'll have as many Gold Bond in my collection as the number of movies about the other ... Bond! :)

(not really, not even close).

With these Gold Bond pens, is like a box of chocolate, you'd never know what new variation you'd find. This pen is a perfect example of something I've never seen before. A Gold Bond that has round ends, but not as tapered as the Sheaffer Balance. The size of this pen is kinda odd as well, a tad longer than my other pocket sized ones, but not as long as the 7-layer dip above. In fact, the size of this pen reminded me of a Geha or Osmia or Staedtler 1930s German piston fillers.

But one thing I can count on, almost all of my Gold Bond 14K original nib has the same characteristics. XF to F with the propensity of producing crisp line variations with a touch of pressure. A sketcher's dream (maybe that's partly why I'm addicted to them).

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50668355942_2b28f414d5_c.jpg

[penwash]

And guess what, I found a twin brother of the Gold Bond above.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51043245442_5fcd527954_c.jpg

Consider that these two were never expected to last this long, let alone to be collected and displayed in the distant future.

In the 1920s, these were just ordinary, department store -bought, writing tools that anyone could have used without any thoughts other than finishing their day at the job or business or office or factory or station.

Yet here we are, almost a century later, the two met each other.

Fascinating, isn't it?

[mizgeorge]

And guess what, I found a twin brother of the Gold Bond above.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51043245442_5fcd527954_c.jpg

Consider that these two were never expected to last this long, let alone to be collected and displayed in the distant future.

In the 1920s, these were just ordinary, department store -bought, writing tools that anyone could have used without any thoughts other than finishing their day at the job or business or office or factory or station.

Yet here we are, almost a century later, the two met each other.

Fascinating, isn't it?

It's almost like watching one of those long lost family shows. Twins, separated as infants...

[Jon Szanto]

They're everywhere!


https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/JRcAAOSwVgZZrtKq/s-l400.jpg

[penwash]

And guess what, I found a twin brother of the Gold Bond above.

Consider that these two were never expected to last this long, let alone to be collected and displayed in the distant future.

In the 1920s, these were just ordinary, department store -bought, writing tools that anyone could have used without any thoughts other than finishing their day at the job or business or office or factory or station.

Yet here we are, almost a century later, the two met each other.

Fascinating, isn't it?

It's almost like watching one of those long lost family shows. Twins, separated as infants...

This one is even better, because there is no chance that these two would found out that they can't stand each other :)

[FredRydr]

It was back in '36 in the dime store, when Miss McGillicuddy sold both those pens to a travelling salesman.


59665

[eachan]

And, strange to tell, George the salesman fell head over heels for Miss Gillicuddy and so little Muriel had a Daddy at last. They were all so happy together in the apartment above the dime store and Muriel had a Gold Bond pen to do her schoolwork.

[FredRydr]

Either that, or Ryan and Tatum O'Neal watch as Dorothy Price plays the mark in their change raising con. "It just don't seem quite right...somehow." (https://youtu.be/iqueZ1KNeT8) (Paper Moon, 1973)

I've always liked Gold Bonds, especially the ones that sport the distinctive yellow ends. Others seem to to like them, too; they sell well.

[penwash]

And so ...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51055640891_227affc213_c.jpg

Another Gold Bond.

"M" for Memoirs...

[AllPensOut!]

Just discovered this thread, nice pens !

[Seattleite]

And so ...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51055640891_227affc213_c.jpg

Another Gold Bond.

"M" for Memoirs...

An interesting Gold Bond. Pretty unusual Eversharp made pen. Based on the rather uncommon "Eversharp Junior", but with three narrow cap bands and a differently patterned celluloid. The complex two-part barrel with the visuated front is pure 1930's whimsey. That script on the nib matches the Gold Bond Dorics that crop up from time to time. Very nice and obscure collectors pen.

Bob

[penwash]

To continue this Gold Bond "saga"...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51144286871_10ffddc0e4_c.jpg

A smidgen shorter than 5 inches capped, with that super-cool clip. Each Gold Bond pen (from the same maker) that I have is slightly different than the rest, but they share the same "DNA". This one has that slight taper towards the end of the barrel. And of course, the bold yellow ends.

This one is engraved with the name of a certain Lois (not Lane, unfortunately).

[FredRydr]

...Each Gold Bond pen (from the same maker) that I have is slightly different than the rest....
That aspect has always puzzled me.

[KrazyIvan]

...Each Gold Bond pen (from the same maker) that I have is slightly different than the rest....
That aspect has always puzzled me.

Maybe a byproduct of non-mass-production methods?

[FredRydr]

...Each Gold Bond pen (from the same maker) that I have is slightly different than the rest....
That aspect has always puzzled me.

Maybe a byproduct of non-mass-production methods?
I assume they were mass produced, sort of.

[penwash]

...Each Gold Bond pen (from the same maker) that I have is slightly different than the rest....
That aspect has always puzzled me.

Maybe a byproduct of non-mass-production methods?

I would think that they are produced in quite a high volume since their destination is Montgomery Ward department stores (or mail order).

But maybe they are produced and marketed in series (annually or seasonally), which could explain a bit why they came in so many varieties.

[KrazyIvan]

I have to admit I know very little about Gold Bond but every time I see their pens in ebonite, they do not disappoint.