chickenfeet

The other day I acquired a Parker Vacumatic (1942 vintage) that looked a right wreck. The trim and nib were filthy and in fact I thought they were likely badly brassed. Being a doofus I forgot to take a before shot. To my surprise the pen cleaned up pretty well.

showing a handsome wide capband, a pretty Blue Diamond clip (albeit minus the blue diamond)

and a rather beautiful two tone Arrow nib.

Needless to say, the pen wasn't working so I stripped it with the help of my trusty Vac wrench. Here are all the bits. The breather tube is actually a replacement as the original one was rubber and had perished.

The next thing to do was to fit a new diaphragm to the filler

This then has to be pulled back tight and trimmed to fit. It's not an easy job but, as always with getting rubber into tight places, lubrication helps a lot.