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Thread: The Golden Dinosaur

  1. #1
    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default The Golden Dinosaur

    Inspired by both Deb and Fred, here's something I shared elsewhere last night on a pen that came in the day before, complete with my florid description:

    There is a quiet pleasure in chiselling out the diamond that you know is there... a junker pen, found for little but with a semi-hidden treasure. It takes a while, with some delicate bludgeon, but it releases, still coated in the India ink that ate the fins on the feed, a golden dinosaur released from the tar pit, soon to walk the page again in service of the written word.

    Man, I Iove this shit.


    "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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  3. #2
    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Golden Dinosaur

    So did you have to destroy the pen to get it out?

  4. #3
    Senior Member Deb's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Golden Dinosaur

    Oh yes, I concur.
    Regards,
    Deb
    My Blog

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  6. #4
    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Golden Dinosaur

    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    So did you have to destroy the pen to get it out?
    Nope! About 15 minutes of heat and repeat and the section came smoothly out. The sac was petrified (continuing the analogy) and the only real victim in this is the feed. It was completely clogged, the fins filled up, with dried India ink. I found out, happily, that simply putting Rapido-Eze on a qtip and rubbing the nib took all of the ink off of that, so I left the feed in a sample vial overnight in the same solution. It took off most all the surface stuff and I carefully picked the rest out between fins with Xacto. The fins have been damaged, but I can't tell if they have been eaten away or if someone else tried to pick them clean while the pen was assembled.

    In the range of jade darkening, this one is about halfway between pristine and butt-ugly. I think I have another feed but I am not sure about putting the pen back together or using the nib in another pen. I will say this: I often might have to do some alignment or light smoothing of a nib like this, somewhat normal tweaking, but this thing was *perfect*. I mean, smooth and perfect. The whole thing set me back for about what a bottle of ink costs. Modest ink.
    "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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    Senior Member penwash's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Golden Dinosaur

    And some people still ask questions such as: Is gold nib better than steel?

    This is a perfect example of the resilience of vintage gold nibs.

    In your shoes, Jon, I'd put the nib back in the pen, but it is also a great candidate to be paired with a better Sheaffer body in the future when one came your way.
    - Will
    Unique and restored vintage pens: Redeem Pens

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    Senior Member INeedAFinancialAdvisor's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Golden Dinosaur

    oooh pretty...

    and shiny...

    very nice work!

  11. #7
    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Golden Dinosaur

    For reference, here is what I was looking at in the posting at eBay:



    And the shot that made me think "yeah, I'll get this":

    "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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    Senior Member Waski_the_Squirrel's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Golden Dinosaur

    I enjoyed this. My favorite pens are some exotic pens that nobody seems to love. They deserve some extra loving from me.

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  15. #9
    Senior Member Deb's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Golden Dinosaur

    I could live with that barrel discoloration.
    Regards,
    Deb
    My Blog

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    Senior Member VertOlive's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Golden Dinosaur

    So writing sample pretty soon?
    "Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine

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