Aurora Piston filler - resurrection possible?

[Multum in parvo]

I do all my (terrible) handwriting with fountain pens and have currently a bunch of Kawecos and Jinhaos in use. All budget and on cartridges so not much to think about.

I did had a phase though, 10-12 years ago, were I wanted something nice and got an Aurora Piston Filler and some Noodlers ink. Long story short the nib never felt comfortable (scratchy, dry) and the filling operation was more burden then joy so I neglected it.

For the last couple of days now I’m looking into Japanese higher end stuff Sailor, Platinum, Pilot that run with their respective proprietary cartridges and which I will probably have a bunch of questions for you folks later on. The issue on hand now though is it possible to make the Aurora run again?

I put it into a glas of warm water and dish soap and got a bunch of ink out but I’m not sure if a) that this is enough and b) that it still mechanical sound. It’s currently drying but I’m not sure how to go forward and what to do next (pics to follow).

 

[Multum in parvo]

 

[m949]

Lovely pen, Hannes. I like the ink window a lot.

Normally, you shouldn’t have a problem with the pen starting to write. Just make sure that you fill and empty the pen a couple of times with clear water. You want all the dishwashing detergent to be out of it.

If the piston mechanism still works, there isn’t a need to fiddle with that and it’s probably not advisable anyway. If the piston is moving a bit more difficult some silicone grease might be needed. It’s unlikely you can disassemble the piston mechanism yourself, you can do that with TWSBI‘s but probably not with Auroras. It’s also finicky because you don’t want silicone grease on the bottom of the piston, only on the sides, nor do you want any grease on the ink feed.

If you filled the pen with water a couple of times and released the water out a couple of times, the pen should be ready to go after it dried. You can try to keep the pen upright in a tissue cushioned glass for a while to let the little bit of water usually accumulating in the section to drip out entirely. Just make sure that the pen is secure and doesn’t fall out of the glass. It’s a bit more difficult to clean a piston filler, but it has other advantages like large ink capacity.

As for the dry writing there’s usually not much you can do yourself. There are „nib adjustment sets“ available from some fountain pen merchants. They usually contain some sanding paper and a few brass metal sheets. The sanding paper is for reshaping the iridium point on the nib, but it’s kind of a permanent thing as you remove material from the point. I haven’t tried this myself and I’d be very reluctant to do so- a lot can go wrong. The brass metal sheets are meant to be pulled through the ink channel to slightly widen the tines, this will increase ink flow as the channel widens. I have used brass sheets to widen the ink channel in some of my pens and this method works quite well. You just need to pay attention that you don’t scratch the nib surface with the brass or that you inadvertently misalign the tines that’s all.

Let me know if you have questions about Sailor or Pilot pens. I have several Japanese pens and there are a few differences between those two brands.

In the meantime,

Frohe Weihnachten!

 

[Multum in parvo]

Lovely pen, Hannes. I like the ink window a lot.

Normally, you shouldn’t have a problem with the pen starting to write. Just make sure that you fill and empty the pen a couple of times with clear water. You want all the dishwashing detergent to be out of it.

If the piston mechanism still works, there isn’t a need to fiddle with that and it’s probably not advisable anyway. If the piston is moving a bit more difficult some silicone grease might be needed. It’s unlikely you can disassemble the piston mechanism yourself, you can do that with TWSBI‘s but probably not with Auroras. It’s also finicky because you don’t want silicone grease on the bottom of the piston, only on the sides, nor do you want any grease on the ink feed.

If you filled the pen with water a couple of times and released the water out a couple of times, the pen should be ready to go after it dried. You can try to keep the pen upright in a tissue cushioned glass for a while to let the little bit of water usually accumulating in the section to drip out entirely. Just make sure that the pen is secure and doesn’t fall out of the glass. It’s a bit more difficult to clean a piston filler, but it has other advantages like large ink capacity.

As for the dry writing there’s usually not much you can do yourself. There are „nib adjustment sets“ available from some fountain pen merchants. They usually contain some sanding paper and a few brass metal sheets. The sanding paper is for reshaping the iridium point on the nib, but it’s kind of a permanent thing as you remove material from the point. I haven’t tried this myself and I’d be very reluctant to do so- a lot can go wrong. The brass metal sheets are meant to be pulled through the ink channel to slightly widen the tines, this will increase ink flow as the channel widens. I have used brass sheets to widen the ink channel in some of my pens and this method works quite well. You just need to pay attention that you don’t scratch the nib surface with the brass or that you inadvertently misalign the tines that’s all.

Let me know if you have questions about Sailor or Pilot pens. I have several Japanese pens and there are a few differences between those two brands.

In the meantime,

Frohe Weihnachten!

Many thanks, my concern came from that that window didn’t became clear as it is most probably permanently stained and that it visually still has some liquid in it. I will just fill it up and give it a try.

On other pens…

I wouldn’t mind adding one of each brand in the next couple of months.

Pilot VP - just to see if I like the concept I ordered a Jinhao 10 press which will show up in the next 2-3 weeks. So this decision is pending.

Platinum - something with a 18k nib

Current favorite this one, but I’m open for suggestions.

Sailor - something with a 21k nib that doesn’t break the bank.

Question here, is this nib something to look out for or not?

 

[m949]

I don’t have the Pilot VP but I heard a lot of good things about it. It has a very good reputation. I don’t think you can go wrong with this pen.

Platinum I would go with a President, it looks a bit nicer than the clear plastic of the 3776 the nib is also more beautiful.That Maki-e you showed does look nice though.

Of the three you posted, I like the Sailor 1911 the most, both from looks and the way it will write.

Note that the nib widths will be different from western nib sizes. A Japanese M will be roughly equivalent to a Western F.

Nib smoothness will also be different. Pilot nibs are usually very smooth, but Sailor nibs are often described as hard as nails and can be scratchy. There is a sweet spot with Sailors where they get really incredibly smooth when you find it. Platinum feel somehow in the middle to me.

I’d also look at the Pilot Custom Heritage 912, the 742 and 743. You have more nib options with those pens. The 743 for example is available with a Soft-Fine medium, a soft medium and a Waverly nib among others. SFM and SM nibs are not flex nibs, they are just a bit springier than writing. A Waverly nib will write a fine line but the slight upward curved nib will write in almost any writing angle. It’s a lovely nib. Avoid the FA nib, it’s a bit of a gamble. The ink feed is not really made for the increased ink flow. On some pens the FA works without problems, mine railroads has hard starts and sudden stops of ink flow.

As you can see the world of Japanese fountain pens is a whole other rabbit hole.

 

[nemo]

Please, no more Noodler's in that pen. I've seen first-hand what boutique inks can do to nice pens.
Staining, clogging, eating internals, etc.

On the Sailor, that's a great pen but I think you could do better on the price ... I've ordered from Japan a few times.
Not a lot of ink capacity but that hasn't been a problem for me lately, not writing so much.

 

[InkStainedWretch]

In addition to the many find suggestions already made:

1. You could try flushing the pen with some skilled ammonia. Doing so many clean up the ink window.

2. If you don't have brass sheets, you could try an old film negative to slightly with the slit.

3. If the nib is scratchy, it may be because the tines are misaligned. This is easy to fix, but you need a loupe or other magnification.

4. You could also try cleaning up the pen using an ultrasonic cleaner.

5. If you let ink dry in the pen, it may take more than a couple of attempts to clean out the pen. I've heard of cases when it's taken a week of soaking, with daily flushing, to clean out dried up ink.

I have a couple of Jinhao 10 fountain pens. I found the EF nib a bit scratchy, and the F nib excellent.

By the way, your Aurora is a beautiful pen. I have a couple of vintage Aurora 88s that I love.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Please, no more Noodler's in that pen. I've seen first-hand what boutique inks can do to nice pens.
Staining, clogging, eating internals, etc.

On the Sailor, that's a great pen but I think you could do better on the price ... I've ordered from Japan a few times.
Not a lot of ink capacity but that hasn't been a problem for me lately, not writing so much.

I have time to clean it more thoroughly and I’m happy to switch to a more common ink perhaps this will also make it easier to write as well. Is there any gold standard that works well with a wide range of pens?

 

[Multum in parvo]

In addition to the many find suggestions already made:

1. You could try flushing the pen with some skilled ammonia. Doing so many clean up the ink window.

2. If you don't have brass sheets, you could try an old film negative to slightly with the slit.

3. If the nib is scratchy, it may be because the tines are misaligned. This is easy to fix, but you need a loupe or other magnification.

4. You could also try cleaning up the pen using an ultrasonic cleaner.

5. If you let ink dry in the pen, it may take more than a couple of attempts to clean out the pen. I've heard of cases when it's taken a week of soaking, with daily flushing, to clean out dried up ink.

I have a couple of Jinhao 10 fountain pens. I found the EF nib a bit scratchy, and the F nib excellent.

By the way, your Aurora is a beautiful pen. I have a couple of vintage Aurora 88s that I love.

Thank you for the detailed suggestions.

On 1. Is there a readymade solution or do you mix your own batch?

2. there should be some around somewhere so definitely an option

3. 10x loupe available so I‘ll have a look

4. also available - just putting it in as a whole?

5. it might have thickened but was still liquid

 

[silverlifter]

Is there any gold standard that works well with a wide range of pens?

Waterman Serenity Blue is used by most nib tuners to test their work.

Lovely pen you have there. I'd check for nib alignment before doing anything else; it's an easy fix.

 

[InkStainedWretch]

Thank you for the detailed suggestions.

On 1. Is there a readymade solution or do you mix your own batch?

2. there should be some around somewhere so definitely an option

3. 10x loupe available so I‘ll have a look

4. also available - just putting it in as a whole?

5. it might have thickened but was still liquid

1. I have some ammonia at home, so I just miss my own. You could get fancy and buy some pen flush.

4. You can put the whole pen, except the cap, into the ultrasonic cleaner.

I second @silverlifter's recommendation for Waterman Serenity Blue. A rule of thumb: inks made by pen makers are generally safe.

 

[nemo]

Is there any gold standard that works well with a wide range of pens?

As @silverlifter says, Waterman is good. I'm partial to Montblanc (lately made in Austria!), Pelikan 4001, Parker Quink.

Hope you get the nib problem straightened out, the 88 is a classic!

I usually only need to flush with water but have occasionally used the old standard 10:1 water/ammonia solution.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Please, no more Noodler's in that pen. I've seen first-hand what boutique inks can do to nice pens.
Staining, clogging, eating internals, etc.

On the Sailor, that's a great pen but I think you could do better on the price ... I've ordered from Japan a few times.
Not a lot of ink capacity but that hasn't been a problem for me lately, not writing so much.

Thank you Doug, eBay.jp has them for 150-160 and in two sizes. Is there much difference between regular and large?

 

[Marco63]

the nib should unscrew, after a bit of soaking. if it doesn't you might need the dedicated key. you can then try and clean the ink window with earbuds without the need to soak the whole pen. Noodler's inks have a tendency to stain ink windows.

 

[dojpros]

Great Pen BTW.

Solid suggestions given re repeated rinsing with mild mixes.

Spot on re a Tier 1 ink going forward i.e. Waterman (Pelikan, Lamy, Basic Pilot, Parker)

Danny Fudge can fix ANY PEN worth fixing and is transparent re pricing and time line.
he is on time and reasonably priced x3 for me.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Great Pen BTW.

Solid suggestions given re repeated rinsing with mild mixes.

Spot on re a Tier 1 ink going forward i.e. Waterman (Pelikan, Lamy, Basic Pilot, Parker)

Danny Fudge can fix ANY PEN worth fixing and is transparent re pricing and time line.
he is on time and reasonably priced x3 for me.

Thank you for the suggestions but I will have to fiddle a bit on my own. Being based in Europe makes sending to the States a no go but if worst comes to worst I’m sure I can find someone a bit closer as well.

 

[Marco63]

if you are based in Europe there are many good repairers this side of the pond as well. And you save on shipping and customs as well

 

[nemo]

Thank you for the suggestions but I will have to fiddle a bit on my own. Being based in Europe makes sending to the States a no go but if worst comes to worst I’m sure I can find someone a bit closer as well.

Once when I was in Vienna I stopped in at WFW, Wiener Füllfeder Werkstatt (Lerchenfelderstrasse 29).
Didn't have a pen to repair (my vintage Pelikans were fine) but it seemed like the guy worked on them. It was awhile ago and all I remember was it was in a little corner shop. They may not even be there any longer. You might check.

 

[dojpros]

MIP
Copy re DF not being a ready solution given your location.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Once when I was in Vienna I stopped in at WFW, Wiener Füllfeder Werkstatt (Lerchenfelderstrasse 29).
Didn't have a pen to repair (my vintage Pelikans were fine) but it seemed like the guy worked on them. It was awhile ago and all I remember was it was in a little corner shop. They may not even be there any longer. You might check.

They are still alive and kicking so this would be definitely an option. They don’t mention Aurora specifically but the site gives the impression that they can handle a wide variety of stuff.