Whoops! Messed up a really nice pen!

[omb76]

Made a Venus pen for my mom and she accidently dropped the pen and the cap end hit the floor and the crystal on the end came a little loose. To fix it, I squeezed a few drops of thin CA into the cap to secure the crystal so it wouldn't rattle. Well last night she went to use the pen which had been capped and the nib section is completely fogged from the CA fumes I guess. Is there a way to fix this and how do I keep it from happening again? Below is a picture (not very good, but shows you the problem).

 

[Rchan63]

I've never done it but can you metal polish to clean it?

 

[JimMc7]

<snip> Is there a way to fix this and how do I keep it from happening again? <snip>

I had something similar and film wiped off fine with a soft, damp cloth.

Only way I know to prevent is:
- where possible, use red Loctite to secure parts
- if you have to use CA, allow the parts to cure open for several days (I usually wait at least a week)

The metal polish suggestion sounds good if a soft cloth doesn't do it.

 

[IPD_Mr]

Use a soft sloth and metal polish. Comes right off. DAMHIKT

 

[omb76]

Use a soft sloth and metal polish. Comes right off. DAMHIKT

I'm now in search of a "sloth"... Strange advise, but I'll see if I can find one. :biggrin:

Thanks for the advise guys! I'll polish it up and let it sit uncapped for awhile. I guess my main concern was preventing it from happening again because of any fumes. I imagine that leaving it uncapped will take care of this.

 

[Brooks803]

Yes, definitely leave it uncapped, at least 24hrs in not longer. Epoxy works best bc it doesn't offgas the same and can be ready to go much quicker. It's what I use when I do my crystal replacements on the Majestic. However, make sure it's a non yellowing UV protected epoxy or one day that nice clear crystal will turn on you. Red loctite is my recommendation for holding parts that aren't see-through.

 

[Jgrden]

Woodcraft sells the solvent that removes CA glue and I am sure it would work on this.

 

[IPD_Mr]

Use a soft sloth and metal polish. Comes right off. DAMHIKT

I'm now in search of a "sloth"... Strange advise, but I'll see if I can find one. :biggrin:

Thanks for the advise guys! I'll polish it up and let it sit uncapped for awhile. I guess my main concern was preventing it from happening again because of any fumes. I imagine that leaving it uncapped will take care of this.

Just showing you all that I am not perfect.

You should find the sloth next to the cloth diapers and cotton t-shirts. :tongue:

 

[omb76]

Use a soft sloth and metal polish. Comes right off. DAMHIKT

I'm now in search of a "sloth"... Strange advise, but I'll see if I can find one. :biggrin:

Thanks for the advise guys! I'll polish it up and let it sit uncapped for awhile. I guess my main concern was preventing it from happening again because of any fumes. I imagine that leaving it uncapped will take care of this.

Just showing you all that I am not perfect.

You should find the sloth next to the cloth diapers and cotton t-shirts. :tongue:

And here I thought you were referring to the animal. :biggrin: I was getting ready to head over to the Business Classifieds forum. :biggrin:

 

[bensoelberg]

Use a soft sloth and metal polish. Comes right off. DAMHIKT

I'm now in search of a "sloth"... Strange advise, but I'll see if I can find one. :biggrin:

Thanks for the advise guys! I'll polish it up and let it sit uncapped for awhile. I guess my main concern was preventing it from happening again because of any fumes. I imagine that leaving it uncapped will take care of this.

At least it won't be hard to catch when you find one...

 

[dl351]

I've had a similar fogging on a pen or two and I found that acetone takes it right off.

 

[IPD_Mrs]

Use a soft sloth and metal polish. Comes right off. DAMHIKT

I'm now in search of a "sloth"... Strange advise, but I'll see if I can find one. :biggrin:

Thanks for the advise guys! I'll polish it up and let it sit uncapped for awhile. I guess my main concern was preventing it from happening again because of any fumes. I imagine that leaving it uncapped will take care of this.

Just showing you all that I am not perfect.

You should find the sloth next to the cloth diapers and cotton t-shirts. :tongue:

You didn't need to show them dear ... all they had to do was ask and I could have Told them GDR

Make sure when you look for that sloth you get the 4 toed variety - it is REALLY rare and much more fun to work with :wink:

 

[galoot_loves_tools]

A little bit of CA solvent (that Woodcraft sells) on a q-tip will take that sort of thing right off. Since I switched to Enduro as a finish, I have found CA squeeze-out that occurs when gluing pen parts to be a non-issue since the CA solvent doesn't have any effect on cured Enduro.