Att: Piston Filler Experts!

[Cob]

I have a few pens at home for repair - not mine - three are done, the last is a pig. It is an attractive-looking German piston-filler called a Big Ben:

Big Ben s.jpg

The chap who sent it to me said "don't spend too much time on it" but this is my own time and a sort of grittiness has overcome me. After 36 hours of soaking, I managed some dismantling at which point I discovered that the designer was obviously a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic, since he had specified aluminium for the piston filler mechanism, so what we have now is a lot of corroded stuff and white powder and nasty things to look at:

Big Ben Pieces s.jpgBig Ben detail.jpg

The state of the screw thread can be imagined - overnight soaking and heat have had no effect so it's a write-off.

Amazingly the cork was still a nice fit in the barrel! And the pen was not a cheap item with a steel nib: it has a 14ct gold nib.

Does anyone recognise these bits - and better still, does anyone have any parts likely to fit? Dimensions: Cork 8.8mm dia, threaded section that screws into the barrel 10mm. Thanks in advance.

Cob

[Jeph]

Arrgh! That is painful to look at. That might even be tin instead of aluminum, but most likely it is some early soft aluminum alloy. Finding a donor without rotten innards is going to be a chore. But the coloring is super nice so it would be worth keeping your eyes open for a donor. If all fails you still have a 14K nib to play with.

[manoeuver]

Maybe call on some eyedropper experts.

[Cob]

Arrgh! That is painful to look at. That might even be tin instead of aluminum, but most likely it is some early soft aluminum alloy. Finding a donor without rotten innards is going to be a chore. But the coloring is super nice so it would be worth keeping your eyes open for a donor. If all fails you still have a 14K nib to play with.

Yes it's a beaut isn't it? I was just speaking with the customer; he's bought another one - and on this one he cannot even unscrew the end cover... more joy!

Definitely aluminium - in my car days I saw plenty of that sort of corrosion - 1970s Triumphs were famous for it - turned to white powder. Anyway as you say, the likelihood of finding parts is most remote.

Finally, perhaps the most interesting point is that the cap is stamped "Big Ben" with a British Patent number - which apparently relates to Wyvern!

And I suggested that it would make an eyedropper, but he won't do that; he says that if all else fails, he'll keep it as a display item.

Thanks a lot

Cob

[scrivelry]

Possibly totally screwy suggestion, but what about using some form of something (Epoxy? some Acrylic/Polyester/Mystery plastic liquid? Sacred Bat Spit?) to fill in where the aluminum is corroded and reinforce the ot\riginal parts, if new cannot be found?

(perhaps it is obvious I am not an engineer? You can all laugh at the suggestion - just trying to clutch at a straw...)

The only other thing I can think of is having new parts machined, which probably costs more than a car, but should work, if you get the right person to do it?

I don't see any simple solution here that anyone missed...

[whych]

The aluminium part is 2 pieces: an outer sleeve and a threaded piston shaft.
You need to free the threaded shaft to get the piston to move.

Big Ben was a Danish manufcturer.

[Jeph]

The aluminium part is 2 pieces: an outer sleeve and a threaded piston shaft.
You need to free the threaded shaft to get the piston to move.

Big Ben was a Danish manufacturer.

True on all counts. But many Dutch pens were actually renamed German pens. I don't recall Big Ben being one of them though. I sure have not seen that type of piston arrangement on a German pen.

...although I have an itch in the back of my noggin. Maybe something useful will pop out of there in time.

[Jeph]

Well, never mind. I found the answer in Lambrou's Fountain Pens of the World Nefa Big Ben, with Nefa being at 35 Leuvenstraat, The Hague in 1935.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I had one of these under my hands once, although it seems that a spasm of common sense overcame the maker. Here's the mechanism I was dealing with:



A later example, with rubber rather than cork for a seal, and a protective rubber end over the end of the piston. Perhaps they were spending too much on warranty claims?

[Cob]

Possibly totally screwy suggestion, but what about using some form of something (Epoxy? some Acrylic/Polyester/Mystery plastic liquid? Sacred Bat Spit?) to fill in where the aluminum is corroded and reinforce the ot\riginal parts, if new cannot be found?

(perhaps it is obvious I am not an engineer? You can all laugh at the suggestion - just trying to clutch at a straw...)

The only other thing I can think of is having new parts machined, which probably costs more than a car, but should work, if you get the right person to do it?

I don't see any simple solution here that anyone missed...

Thanks for that; I doubt a successful repair could be made (it's worse in the phlesh than in the foto!). The other small matter is the fact that it is unlikely to unscrew without disintegrating!

Thanks and best wishes

Cob

[Cob]

I had one of these under my hands once, although it seems that a spasm of common sense overcame the maker. Here's the mechanism I was dealing with:



A later example, with rubber rather than cork for a seal, and a protective rubber end over the end of the piston. Perhaps they were spending too much on warranty claims?

Yes, aluminium again; the perfect material for the insides of a pen! Still as you suggest, that maker at least had some sort of clue.

Cob

[RudyR]

There are some times when its time to let it go. This is one of them. Very little can be done for poor design. Just remember these old car bloopers: Chevy Vega, Ford Pinto.

[Cob]

There are some times when its time to let it go. This is one of them. Very little can be done for poor design. Just remember these old car bloopers: Chevy Vega, Ford Pinto.

Ha ha - yes and the Triumph "Snag"

Cob

[kidde]

Poor design? Sounds like a recommendation for the Lucas electric systems on a '66 Triumph Bonneville T-120 I once had. I learned the hard way why Lucas was called "The Prince of Darkness"!

I wonder if your pen could house a piston setup from something else (Dollar 717 or?) maybe in a sleeve or shaved depending on ID. I find giving up difficult, though sometimes that is the smart thing to do.

Paul

[tandaina]

Given how straightforward the piston system is in say a Noodles pen there has to be a way to build a new piston, right?

[Cob]

Yes, but the problem is the mechanism that actuates the piston - and of course the means of mounting the assembly into the pen.

Regards,

Cob

[RuiFromUK]

Last night there was a Big Ben going cheapin the bay somewhere in continental Europe. That could be an alternative to get spare parts hopefully.

[Cob]

Thanks Rui,

I'll have a look

I had a look: cheapest I could find was £84

Rgds

Cob

[RuiFromUK]

Last night there was one for few Euros. Very much a Jeph's price.

Thanks Rui,

I'll have a look

I had a look: cheapest I could find was £84

Rgds

Cob

[Cob]

Last night there was one for few Euros. Very much a Jeph's price.

Thanks Rui,

I'll have a look

I had a look: cheapest I could find was £84

Rgds

Cob

Ha ha - and mine you know!

Cob