Onoto De la Rue of London.

I am sure some of you guys know about this pen as you love Vintage pens and know about this Pen too. I am going to talk about the old vintage (antique) hard rubber pen, ONOTO de la Rue, " The Pen".

I got crazy I bought three Pens. All three pens need repair/ service/ refurbishing as they are very old belongs to the time 1930-1940 undoubtedly. These pens are "vacuum fill Plunger" self filling, that works with well sealing and rubber/Cork piston. I have done lot of research and found a resource to buy all the parts and this pen is more difficult to service unless you are very experienced. but I am opting for doing it myself although I have Zero experience in pen restoration. But I am a can do-to-do guy and nothing has missed me. And moreover I am planing to restore the whole pens trying to de-oxiding the hard rubber using some chemical that I am going to test before. This is a project that I am aiming for to get at least two pens out of three. One pen is without it's original cap.:crazy_pilot: I am getting ready to fly and I believe I can get over all vertigo that I am confronting. :faint:

I like to hear all your experience and comments and I very much appreciate if you have any thing to add. Thank you again.

I would be interested to hear updates as you progress; I have not yet tackled anything but lever fillers so far.

I am curious to see how the deoxidizing goes. Hard rubber sounds tricky.

Best of luck!

Cob is the man to advise you. He may pop into this thread but if not you can send him a PM through the board.

If you've not heard from Cob by the start of next month I can chase him for you at the London Pen Club, else you could just wander down anyway for a general pen chat - there's a mix of vintage and new pen fans there (and not limited by age as some of our younger member - still at school - prefer repairing vintage pens from playing with new ones).

Pen Club thread here is at: https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread...Geek-Gathering

Amazing everyone for joining this thread . Thanks and appreciate all your suggestions. I will come back to you soon individually to pay my humble gratitude for all the concern and help you offer. It is amazing and you are amazing... thank you million times ( mercy Mille fois !!!). :) :) :) :)....

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Originally Posted by Cyril

I am sure some of you guys know about this pen as you love Vintage pens and know about this Pen too. I am going to talk about the old vintage (antique) hard rubber pen, ONOTO de la Rue, " The Pen".

I got crazy I bought three Pens. All three pens need repair/ service/ refurbishing as they are very old belongs to the time 1930-1940 undoubtedly. These pens are "vacuum fill Plunger" self filling, that works with well sealing and rubber/Cork piston. I have done lot of research and found a resource to buy all the parts and this pen is more difficult to service unless you are very experienced. but I am opting for doing it myself although I have Zero experience in pen restoration. But I am a can do-to-do guy and nothing has missed me. And moreover I am planing to restore the whole pens trying to de-oxiding the hard rubber using some chemical that I am going to test before. This is a project that I am aiming for to get at least two pens out of three. One pen is without it's original cap.:crazy_pilot: I am getting ready to fly and I believe I can get over all vertigo that I am confronting. :faint:

I like to hear all your experience and comments and I very much appreciate if you have any thing to add. Thank you again.

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The old plunger-filler Onoto seems like a complicated pen for your first pen restoration. Perhaps Cob can suggest simpler and cheaper pens on which to practice. And tools and such.

Hullo!

Cob here!

Yes I have repaired quite a large number of Onoto plunger fillers. I have the appropriate tools and parts and a few spares to boot.

They vary enormously - some are as nice as pie: others can be complete bastards. You can spend an unconscionable amount of time trying to find the locating pin in the plunger knob and when found, removing this can try your patience (at least removal without collateral damage!). 5BA LH tap and die are a good investment I use these quite frequently.

Meanwhile as you seem to be an enthusiast for the marque, this piece I wrote about an unusual model might be of interest.

In general, if you are completely new to repairing fountain pens perhaps the Onoto is not perhaps the best place to start. Vulcanite itself whilst having its charms is awfully fragile and irreparable too.

As suggested above it might be a good idea to start on simpler pens just to get a "feel" for the trade!

Do not hesitate to contact me should you need help or advice.

Best of luck

Cob

Hi Cob and hello there, Thank you for the reply and offering advise and help.

You see that I did not come to this post since I posted. Now I have several Onoto pens ( all of them need restoring).
I know how complicating to fix them and I am planning to get them to fix by someone who has expertise skills I love those pens. of course, I need help.

They write wonderfully and I use them as dip pens it is still fun.
I have also a good pen that is having a good restoration with a new plunger rod and cork installed.

I'll contact you soon when I deside to get them fixed Cob.

They are great pens and need and deservs a new life ,


Thanks for your generous reply.

Cheers Cob.

As Cob has said, these pens can be among the most challenging repairs, though eminently worth the effort in the end - among the best pens ever made. Should you require their services, there are several repair people who could do the work for you.

Thank you Deb, for your kind advice. I really appreciate it.:)

I have gone through the three pens that needs to be fixed. They are the best pens in creative hands. Beautiful writers but very sophisticated tools.
I have determined to get them to work and of course, they must not put in a place of a hand to learn skills of restoring or repair pens. I will be back to you guys soon one day to get the repairs and fixed.

Thank you again and many regards,

Cyril.

You're not the only person who has some pens used as dip pens while waiting to be repaired! I have a couple of pens that need particular care in repair, not just a resacking or piston seal job (which I can do), so while I build up my expertise they're just used as dip pens for their really nice nibs. When I get confident enough to tackle the Wahl plunger filler and Sheaffer vac filler system... it might take a while!

It sounds like you have a challenging but exciting project ahead of you with restoring incredibox these vintage ONOTO de la Rue pens. It's great that you have done the research and found a resource to buy the necessary parts, and it's also good that you are testing the chemical you plan to use to de-oxidize the hard rubber before applying it to the pens.

It's helpful to document your restoration process by taking photos and notes along the way. This will allow you to track your drift hunters progress, remember specific steps you've taken, and potentially help others who may encounter similar restoration projects.

I'm a bit late to the conversation but:
I've restored a lot of Onoto piston fillers and once you've figured out what you are doing I would say that it is fiddly rather than difficult.
I would recommend "The Onoto Repair Manual' by Crook, Hull, Marshall and Odfield. It's a slim booklet that will set you back around $15-20 on eBay or from Onoto https://onoto.com/product/onoto-repair-manual/
Things you will need:
replacement piston washer and cork seals available from https://www.custompenparts.co.uk/en/10-onoto
A 1mm punch to knock out the retaining rods from the filler cap and the plunger cone (available on eBay from China)
Things to bear in mind:
If the pen is hard rubber you can't soak it for days like you would a plastic pen or the oxidisation will get worse.
If the piston rod is an original it will have an iron core which may have rusted and may shatter when you knock out the pins (thankfully custom pen parts sell peek replacements)
If the barrel has worn internally you may need the larger 7.78mm washers rather than the 7.65
A touch of silicon grease on the washer never does any harm
The 'la belle epoque' deoxidiser works but you have to apply white mineral oil frequently afterwards

If you decide this is all too much trouble and decide to just buy a restored pen then I usually have a few Onotos for sale on my site https://www.classicpens.uk (am I allowed to mention that one here?)

I wrote an in depth article on te service/repair of these pens , published in the Writing Equipment Society Journal. Complete with an exploded isometric tabulated picture (courtesy of Francis Goosens). If you join WES, all the Journal back catalogue of Journal are available to you. https://www.wesonline.org.uk/
Eric