A friend of mine collects old fountain pens.
Frequently the barrel and the nib are sealed with shellac.
He needs to soften and remove the shellac to restore the pen.
The barrels may be of wood or plastic, the nib is of metal of course.
Can you recommend a method of removing the shellac without damaging
the plastic?
Thanks
Jerry

Jerome Ranch wrote:
A friend of mine collects old fountain pens.

Can you recommend a method of removing the shellac without damaging
the plastic?

It's usual to do this over a spirit lamp. A candle will work too, but
tends to be sootier. It isn't hard, but don't learn it on your oldest
and rarest first! Very little heat is required. Don't use an electric
hot air gun!

You might also like to read the very active
alt.collecting.pens-and-pencils group (I might have the name wrong)
where such things are frequently discussed There's also the late
Frank Dubiel's book on the topic.

"Jerome Ranch" wrote in message
news
A friend of mine collects old fountain pens.
Frequently the barrel and the nib are sealed with shellac.
He needs to soften and remove the shellac to restore the pen.
The barrels may be of wood or plastic, the nib is of metal of course.
Can you recommend a method of removing the shellac without damaging
the plastic?

Shellac dissolves in alcohol/ketones, is eaten away by alkali. It also does
melt. Curious - why risk the melt with the other two obvious choices?

In article . com, "Andy Dingley " wrote:

Jerome Ranch wrote:
A friend of mine collects old fountain pens.

Can you recommend a method of removing the shellac without damaging
the plastic?

It's usual to do this over a spirit lamp. A candle will work too, but
tends to be sootier. It isn't hard, but don't learn it on your oldest
and rarest first! Very little heat is required. Don't use an electric
hot air gun!

Why wouldn't one simply soak it in ethyl alcohol?

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Thanks people
This fellow is newsgroup savvy..I'm surprised he doesn't know about
the usenet group on collecting pens
I'll let him know
Jerry


A friend of mine collects old fountain pens.
Frequently the barrel and the nib are sealed with shellac.
He needs to soften and remove the shellac to restore the pen.
The barrels may be of wood or plastic, the nib is of metal of course.
Can you recommend a method of removing the shellac without damaging
the plastic?
Thanks
Jerry

Doug Miller wrote:

Why wouldn't one simply soak it in ethyl alcohol?

Because using heat is quick and localised. There are a lot of things on
a pen (including other shellac-locked attachments) that you don't want
to dismantle at the same time.

Also I doubt if soaking would work in any useful time. We're talking
about a shellaced screw thread here between two thin-walled cylinders.
Heat through the cylinder is a short quick path, alcohol along the
joint is a long and narrow path that would probably take weeks.

In article . com, "Andy Dingley " wrote:

Doug Miller wrote:

Why wouldn't one simply soak it in ethyl alcohol?

Because using heat is quick and localised. There are a lot of things on
a pen (including other shellac-locked attachments) that you don't want
to dismantle at the same time.

Also I doubt if soaking would work in any useful time. We're talking
about a shellaced screw thread here between two thin-walled cylinders.
Heat through the cylinder is a short quick path, alcohol along the
joint is a long and narrow path that would probably take weeks.

Ahhh, I see. Thanks for the explanation -- I really had no idea.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.