Vintage Celluloid FPs: thoughts on repairing?

**Lefty John** · April 4th, 2017, 07:14 PM

Some shots of some celluloid button-filler pens I picked up from a basket at a local "antiques" shop for $4 each.
On the left is a striped brown Stratford 77 (I believe by Salz Brothers), with a broken nib tine, and a green Waltham with it's original "Waltham Du-O-Way Tip 14K".
Both are button-fillers, and the buttons are stuck. I've tried warm water, and then low heat, but cannot seem to budge the feed sections to repair them to working condition after cleaning and new sacs.
Anyone familiar with these (1940's?) pens' sections? Are they probably threaded, and any tips on removing them? I'm afraid to try anything harsh such as ammonia or denatured alcohol to loosen any possible shellac sealing the section to the barrel...for fear of ruining the barrel.
The second set of images are a celluloid FP with NO markings, other than "Diamond/Iridium/Point" on the nib. It seems to be a vacumatic filler, and the protruding filler stem on the rear will not budge. Tried soaking in water, and attempted hand turning the feed/section to remove: won't budge either. Thoughts?
Thanks for any thoughts!

**Jon Szanto** · April 4th, 2017, 08:14 PM

In the first two pens, the sections are most certainly held in place by shellac (the traditional method). Removing them will require gentle and patient use of dry heat (I loudly suggest reading all the restoration-related pages in the Reference section on Richard Binder's site). The button filler is only slightly more difficult than a lever filler, and will require re-saccing of the pen (again, Binder).

The third pen is a bit of a conundrum, but I'm suspect it is a syringe system, similar to a piston-fill. Go here and scroll down to syringe.

Honestly, these are all fairly... inexpensive pens, and the nibs won't be too great even tweaked (the first is a loss). You can probably pick up some #5 nibs for not much money and try them. The most benefit these pens will serve is gaining experience and knowledge in doing restoration work, and then when you find a true hidden gem you might be able to do all the work yourself. I think #3 is a sleeper pen and may have the most intrinsic value, if only because the filling system is fairly uncommon.

Good luck!

**Lefty John** · April 4th, 2017, 10:37 PM

Gotcha! Agreed: I'll do my homework before ruining even these $4 pens!

**FredRydr** · April 5th, 2017, 07:42 AM

http://pentooling.com/books.html

**Sailor Kenshin** · April 5th, 2017, 08:36 AM

We recently repaired a Waltham button-filler. Even though the button's a little beaten up and the blind cap won't fully thread back on, the nib is NICE, and it's a great writer.

The clip was gone. I glued on a polished rock chip as a roll-stop.

Is one of those a Standard? You may be able to replace the nib. Good luck and let's see what the results are.

**penwash** · April 5th, 2017, 08:41 AM

I have tried to restore two Waltham button-fillers (looks exactly like yours) and I can't get the section to come off on both. And I have a pretty good rate of success when it comes to restoring vintage pens by accumulation of experience.

One guy (via one of the forums) disputed my suspicion that the section is glued not shellac-ed and tried to remove the section, in the end, he gave up as well.

So take it for what it's worth, I don't bother with Waltham pens anymore since there are so many other vintage pens that I can remove the section without a lot of drama.

The other two pens may still have some hope, just keep soaking the section and nib in plain cold tap water. Do it for days if you have to, be patient and check once in a while. Try both unscrewing motion and wiggling motion (rocking the section) but with moderate force, and always be diligent to check the barrel to see if it developed a crack. Good luck!

**Sailor Kenshin** · April 5th, 2017, 09:43 AM

I asked DH, who did the button/sac/bar work on our Waltham. He says:

"After trying way too hard to remove the button on my Waltham, I discovered it's not removable. It's like the metal buttons on some later Parkers that don't come out. The top end of the pressure bar sits against a ridge in the body, so it is safe to remove and reinstall the section with the pressure bar in place. You can just remove the section and re-sac like you would do for a lever filler."

**Lefty John** · April 5th, 2017, 11:27 PM

Thanks for the link to all these resources!

**PaulS** · April 6th, 2017, 02:31 AM

surprised to hear that cold water can be of help - have to say I've not tried it though, and assumed dry heat was better, which I always use. On really obstinate joins, I've had better luck in getting them apart by using two sets of section pliers - it seems you get a better grip than with either hands or other material - a greater force can be applied. I made up my own set by converting a pair of mole grips with rubber tubing around the jaws.......... not saying I'd do this on a valuable pen, but if we're talking lower tier pens, then it's worth a go. You can set the moles to grip at a certain level of pressure and crunch them on. Also worth remembering to de-grease section plier rubber jaws - after some use they don't grip too well - possibly dirt/grease on pens that gets onto the jaws, and some white spirit or other solvent can be used to wipe them clean.