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Thread: Vintage Pelikan 100N celluloid barrel separating and rescuing

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    Default Vintage Pelikan 100N celluloid barrel separating and rescuing

    Hi,
    I have the following situation: a nearly mint condition celluloid barrel attached to a broken ebonite grip section. I have an original NOS spare section prepared.
    Is it possible to somehow unscrew the broken grip without damaging the original barrel, or such success stories just happen to be urban legends?

    I have unscrewed a number of good grips from previously damaged barrels so far, so I didn’t have to take extra care for preserving the celluloid. I also know about some rosin threading sealant they used to put in there 80 years ago, which tends to make celluloid crystalized and brittle.

    I know this can be a tedious and tricky work with uncertain outcome, also that some exact temperature has to be attained and kept during the procedure. Can anyone who has gone through this procedure successfuly please give some exact advice?

    Thanks in advance!

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    Senior Member christof's Avatar
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    Default Re: Vintage Pelikan 100N celluloid barrel separating and rescuing

    This is indeed a delicate job. I have done that only twice. One time with success, another time without. If I had to do that a third time, I would rather try to machine the broken section out of the barrel on the late.
    C.
    Last edited by christof; December 7th, 2020 at 11:04 PM.

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    stoen (December 6th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Vintage Pelikan 100N celluloid barrel separating and rescuing

    Thanks, Christof.
    Following a bit of research in chemistry and using some special solvents, controlled heating and few non-standard tools I have just managed doing it once. I have to do it at least once again repeating the procedure in order to even dare call it “a method”.
    Still the nastiest part is having to deal with the mineralized mixture of ink and sealant which is has partly fused with celluloid.
    As for machining, I’d hardly dare doing it because of the delicate undercut at the grip interface and a vulnerable barrel inner threading...
    Here’s the pen repaired with new grip and restored to original condition. Still few things to be done, the “underbinde”, performance fine tuning, but so far good, I dare say...


    3B2860E4-6CEE-4495-9C61-536848A5B8D7.jpeg

    Thanks again & thanks everybody for having read this post.
    Last edited by stoen; December 6th, 2020 at 11:37 AM.

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    amk (December 10th, 2020), carlos.q (December 6th, 2020), guyy (December 8th, 2020), mana (December 8th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Vintage Pelikan 100N celluloid barrel separating and rescuing

    congrats to the successful repair. Well done!

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    stoen (December 7th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Vintage Pelikan 100N celluloid barrel separating and rescuing

    Thanks, Christof,
    Isn’t it fun how an old and broken pen can be made spring back to life and write reliably as if having been made nowadays, yet with elegance and versatility that a modern pen would hardly give.
    BTW. I’ve just successfully repeated the separation procedure. One day, after having had few more such “success stories”, I’ll dare write something about it to the forum.

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    Default Re: Vintage Pelikan 100N celluloid barrel separating and rescuing

    congratulations indeed! It is a nerve-wrecking procedure I guess.

    Could you share some light on how you proceeded with this (sacrificing the section & preserving the barrel).

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    Smile Re: Vintage Pelikan 100N celluloid barrel separating and rescuing

    Quote Originally Posted by jos View Post
    congratulations indeed! It is a nerve-wrecking procedure I guess.

    Could you share some light on how you proceeded with this (sacrificing the section & preserving the barrel).
    Thanks for your interest. The way I did it isn’t that simple. In my previous post I’ve said I’d share it. However, please let me have at least a third successful attempt in a line to make sure I’m not writing irrelevant things. Twice may still be a coincidence...
    Thanks for your understanding.

    Just one thing worth extra mentioning. You don’t sacrifice anything. Under no circumstances would I attempt separating a good section from a good barrel. I only do it if either one of the two is already broken beyond repair, with the aim of rescuing the other.
    Last edited by stoen; December 9th, 2020 at 05:44 AM.

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    Default Re: Vintage Pelikan 100N celluloid barrel separating and rescuing

    Nice work! May the next repair go as well.

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    Default Re: Vintage Pelikan 100N celluloid barrel separating and rescuing

    Great job, stoen. Nice work. Pen looks excellent.

    Fingers crossed for the third.
    Nice to know this can be done.
    Thanks for sharing.

    Good luck

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    Default Re: Vintage Pelikan 100N celluloid barrel separating and rescuing

    Hello,
    It’s a while since I’ve been posting to this thread. In my current experience, I’ve managed unscrewing more than 20 broken sections from good 100N barrels, so far.
    In fact, I’ve been successful with 100% of barrels which haven’t had any structural damage or material decay.
    Normally, the ebonite sections are sealed to the barrel with a wax-based sealant. As cellulose nitrate barrels tend to shrink up to approx. 3% with time, unscrewing broken sections without damaging the barrel can become a challenge.

    Here’s the short description:
    1. soak the barrel joint in water for days. Repeated ultrasound cleaning can also loosen the threads.
    2. try inserting a thin metal shim between the broken section and the barrel.
    3. Repeating 1&2 will eventually let water penetrate the inner threading.
    4. Protect the inkview before applying dry heat.
    5. Apply heat evenly. Never above 65 centigrade. Remove from heating source and let heat penetrate the material deeply and evenly. Wait for 15 seconds and repeat the procedure.
    6. Remove from heat and make sure it is not too hot to hold. If done properly, the temperature will be between 60 and 65 degrees, which is a “sweet spot” for unscrewing. The ebonite starts softening slightly less warm then the celluloid.
    7. Wait for 10 seconds before gripping with hands and applying counterclockwise radial movement.
    8. If the section gives in, carefully add a little heat and advance slowly unscrewing in gentle but firm radial turns until completely out. This can take up to a minute. Take care not to overheat and to apply as little force as possible.
    9. if the section does not give in, go back to step 1 and repeat the procedure until done.

    Please, observe that there have been poor repairs with sections re-glued in with epoxy. In this case I’ve seen no success.

    Thanks for reading the post. Hope this can help.

    Last edited by stoen; October 23rd, 2024 at 01:04 AM.

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