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Thread: Cleaning BCHR pens

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    Default Cleaning BCHR pens

    When cleaning a BCHR pen, do you use cool (not cold) water to flush the pen or do you use a different method? I have heard people suggests soaking a BCHR pen in warm water to remove the section, flushing the pen in cool water, and have even heard others suggests flushing a pen in mineral oil instead of water. Does cool water have a negative effect on rubber pens? Should I be using something else?

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Rubber pens should NEVER be immersed in water. Exteriors need to be wiped with a damp cloth at best - old HR will react with water and almost immediately oxidize to a brown color and it can't be reversed. Do some research at dedicated pen sites, such as this page at David Nishimura's site.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Rubber pens should NEVER be immersed in water. Exteriors need to be wiped with a damp cloth at best - old HR will react with water and almost immediately oxidize to a brown color and it can't be reversed. Do some research at dedicated pen sites, such as this page at David Nishimura's site.
    No pen should be immersed in water.

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    There could be a bit of confusion due to terminology. To "flush" a pen, means to fill the reservoir with liquid one or more times, as a means of cleaning both the reservoir and the nib/feed assembly. To "soak" (or, I suppose, "wash") would be to immerse the pen, in part or in whole, as a means of cleaning it internally and externally. Soaking can be used, ill-advisedly, to loosen the section.

    You can safely flush a hard rubber pen with water, so long as you minimize contact with the outside of the pen. Obviously you get the section a bit wet whenever you fill or clean the pen, but this can be wiped dry right away. You cannot soak a rubber pen without permanent consequence. And mineral oil will just make it slippery.

    If you are looking to loosen the section, you won't likely need liquid of any kind. Just use heat. Hard rubber and heat are great friends. You can heat it to very high temperatures (relative to plastic, that is), and all it does is soften. If it is deformed at all (due to age or infirmity), just heat it up and it will magically spring back into shape. Bite marks? Heat it. Heat won't affect the chasing or threads because the material was cut away, not impressed. The only thing to be careful of is the imprint, which was often hot-stamped.
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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Quote Originally Posted by Farmboy View Post
    No pen should be immersed in water.
    Oh, I think Noodlers pens should be. Preferably to a depth of no less than 1000 fathoms.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Yes, I never intended to imply immersing the entire pen in water. I have typically flushed my pens in cool water and used heat to removed any section. However, on Mark Hoover's site he suggests that he never uses water to clean a hard rubber pen. Rather he suggests mineral oil. Was just curious what steps every one else took for BCHR care.

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Quote Originally Posted by Farmboy View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Rubber pens should NEVER be immersed in water. Exteriors need to be wiped with a damp cloth at best - old HR will react with water and almost immediately oxidize to a brown color and it can't be reversed. Do some research at dedicated pen sites, such as this page at David Nishimura's site.
    No pen should be immersed in water.
    I do that regularly when cleaning pens

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Quote Originally Posted by Wuddus View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Farmboy View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Rubber pens should NEVER be immersed in water. Exteriors need to be wiped with a damp cloth at best - old HR will react with water and almost immediately oxidize to a brown color and it can't be reversed. Do some research at dedicated pen sites, such as this page at David Nishimura's site.
    No pen should be immersed in water.
    I do that regularly when cleaning pens
    What Farmboy says is true. Even if there are some circumstances where a pen could be totally immersed, it is neither recommended nor necessary. As should be assumed from the subject matter of the thread, I'm primarily talking about vintage pens, but this would still be a good habit for modern pens, as well.
    Last edited by Jon Szanto; June 12th, 2018 at 01:32 PM.
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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Wuddus View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Farmboy View Post

    No pen should be immersed in water.
    I do that regularly when cleaning pens
    What Farmboy says is true. Even if there are some circumstances where a pen could be totally immersed, it is neither recommended nor necessary. As should be assumed from the subject matter of the thread, I'm primarily talking about vintage pens, but this would still be a good habit for modern pens, as well.
    Oops!

    I've often soaked sections that have had ink in and been sat for a while, and which aren't behaving well (partially dried out feeds?). I leave the section soaking while I clear/flush out the reservoir (be it cart, converter, or integral), then flush out the section under a running tap.

    The reason I've done it this way, is that I don't want to introduce wear between feed and section, by removing the feed more often than absolutely necessary. I'm not saying my way is right, but it's the habit I've gotten into. I'll reconsider how I do this in future.

    I only stuck my nose in this thread to find out what BCHR was. Is this a type of hard rubber, or a specific pen brand which uses hard rubber?

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Quote Originally Posted by Wuddus View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Wuddus View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Farmboy View Post

    No pen should be immersed in water.
    I do that regularly when cleaning pens
    What Farmboy says is true. Even if there are some circumstances where a pen could be totally immersed, it is neither recommended nor necessary. As should be assumed from the subject matter of the thread, I'm primarily talking about vintage pens, but this would still be a good habit for modern pens, as well.
    Oops!

    I've often soaked sections that have had ink in and been sat for a while, and which aren't behaving well (partially dried out feeds?). I leave the section soaking while I clear/flush out the reservoir (be it cart, converter, or integral), then flush out the section under a running tap.

    The reason I've done it this way, is that I don't want to introduce wear between feed and section, by removing the feed more often than absolutely necessary. I'm not saying my way is right, but it's the habit I've gotten into. I'll reconsider how I do this in future.

    I only stuck my nose in this thread to find out what BCHR was. Is this a type of hard rubber, or a specific pen brand which uses hard rubber?
    "Black Chased Hard Rubber"

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Quote Originally Posted by Wuddus View Post
    ...I don't want to introduce wear between feed and section, by removing the feed more often than absolutely necessary....
    Another reason for limiting how often you remove the section of a vintage pen is the repeated risk of cracking the barrel - every time you do this.

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Quote Originally Posted by Wuddus View Post
    I've often soaked sections that have had ink in and been sat for a while, and which aren't behaving well (partially dried out feeds?). I leave the section soaking while I clear/flush out the reservoir (be it cart, converter, or integral), then flush out the section under a running tap.

    The reason I've done it this way, is that I don't want to introduce wear between feed and section, by removing the feed more often than absolutely necessary.
    Nothing wrong with that, good practice actually (nib/feed removal *only* if for repair). I think we were mainly referring to immersing an entire pen into water. As with most pen stuff, I just go from the absolutely least invasive methods and work backwards!
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Think of water for pen parts as being a tool, like a scalpel. In the hands of an expert it is an excellent tool used for specific tasks, in specific situations. In the hands of an amateur, it just shouldn't be.
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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Quote Originally Posted by joepike16 View Post
    Yes, I never intended to imply immersing the entire pen in water. I have typically flushed my pens in cool water and used heat to removed any section. However, on Mark Hoover's site he suggests that he never uses water to clean a hard rubber pen. Rather he suggests mineral oil. Was just curious what steps every one else took for BCHR care.
    I would suggest that ink is mostly water and that it contacts the inside of most sac-less pens. Perhaps Mark has a goo for the inside as well as the outside and as such eschews using water?

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Mark follows up his Deoxidizer with a mineral oil bath, sometimes doing gallon buckets of disassembled pens at a time.

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Water and BCHR I learned the hard way, with a mixer tap that still had warm water in it; instant result, a discoloured section. Just running a little water to get ink off the nib, not leaving the section in the water for any length of time. Cold water might take longer, but really, it's not a great idea to put ebonite in water. Full stop.

    Oh and also... water and casein. This one I haven't learned the hard way but if you want to use water on a 'celluloid' pen make very sure that it *is* celluloid before you do it.

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Quote Originally Posted by amk View Post
    Water and BCHR I learned the hard way, with a mixer tap that still had warm water in it; instant result, a discoloured section. Just running a little water to get ink off the nib, not leaving the section in the water for any length of time. Cold water might take longer, but really, it's not a great idea to put ebonite in water. Full stop.

    Oh and also... water and casein. This one I haven't learned the hard way but if you want to use water on a 'celluloid' pen make very sure that it *is* celluloid before you do it.
    To add in the event a newbie is cruising through and doesn't know: Its not the water that browns the pen explicitly, its UV from sunlight that causes the damage. The water just makes the discoloration appear. This applies equally to vintage and modern ebonite pens (Noodler's, FPR, Range, etc.). Liquid in and of itself doesn't hurt ebonite, hence early hard rubber pens being eye dropper pens.

    To expand on casein: Casein is a milk protein that can be made into a plastic. You can get some very cool colors from the material, the only downside is that if you soak it, it can swell, distort, and eventually dissolve from being rehydrated. The section and feed are hard rubber, though, and can be soaked for cleaning. Note: the section shouldn't discolor since it is often in a cap, but if you're worried, you can soak just the feed.

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Quote Originally Posted by D Armstrong View Post
    Heat won't affect the chasing or threads because the material was cut away, not impressed.
    False and dangerous information, though it reflects a widely-held ignorance of how hard rubber fountain pens were manufactured.

    Material was not cut away when hard rubber was chased. It was merely displaced/compressed. As a result, the application of heat will soften the material enough for the memory of the material to cause the chasing to be diminished. This is a well-known effect among professional restorers.

    --Daniel
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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    Quote Originally Posted by kirchh View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by D Armstrong View Post
    Heat won't affect the chasing or threads because the material was cut away, not impressed.
    False and dangerous information, though it reflects a widely-held ignorance of how hard rubber fountain pens were manufactured.

    Material was not cut away when hard rubber was chased. It was merely displaced/compressed. As a result, the application of heat will soften the material enough for the memory of the material to cause the chasing to be diminished. This is a well-known effect among professional restorers.

    --Daniel
    I should ask Lynn if the Parker chasing machine he had was destroyed in the fire or if anything was salvageable.

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    Default Re: Cleaning BCHR pens

    I am not very experienced pen user but I never soak ebonite pen parts in water, regardless warm, hot, room temperature or ice cold. To separate section from barrel I use heat gun or hairdryer, then I knockout nib/feeder from section. Nib and feeder is safe while soaking in water about 50-55ΊF, section too, but I flush them with water then use air gun to dry it fast when remaining of old ink is removed. I would recommend to avoid for section (only) any detergents, and ultrasound cleaner, special for vintage pens made till 1930's.
    Below example of section discoloration during ultrasound cleaning.

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