Vintage sheaffer

I picked up an old sheaffer fountain pen in a shop today -- 14kt nib, and
what apparently is called the "touchdown filler" system -- I'm not the
biggest expert, and haven't seen or heard of this system until today. The
pen is currently soaking in warm water. Oddly, it appears that its last fill
of ink was *purple*. Hmm.

Thing is, I don't have the knowlege to establish if the filler system is
operational. The back end of the pen screws away, and you pull it open.
There is a connecting rod of some sort, and it opens about a half inch, with
no pressure or recoil in either direction, in or out; that is, it will stay
in either position, open or closed. It appears that, if you hold the tip
under water, and pull the back cap open that half inch or so, then remove
the tip from the liquid, when you then push the cap back closed, a couple
drops of liquid come out the nib. I can't imagine that this is correct,
since, how would you close the cap after refilling, when closing the cap
immediately re-empties it?

Anway, any information would be greatly appreciated, as well as information
on how likely it would be to find someone to repair it, assuming it needed
repairing. I can take photos, if that would assist anyone's diagnosis.

CT

"Crewman Tapote" wrote:

I picked up an old sheaffer fountain pen in a shop today --
14kt nib, and what apparently is called the "touchdown filler"
system -- I'm not the biggest expert, and haven't seen or heard
of this system until today. The pen is currently soaking in warm
water. Oddly, it appears that its last fill of ink was *purple*.
Hmm.

Thing is, I don't have the knowlege to establish if the filler
system is operational. The back end of the pen screws away, and
you pull it open. There is a connecting rod of some sort, and it
opens about a half inch, with no pressure or recoil in either
direction, in or out; that is, it will stay in either position,
open or closed. It appears that, if you hold the tip under
water, and pull the back cap open that half inch or so, then
remove the tip from the liquid, when you then push the cap back
closed, a couple drops of liquid come out the nib. I can't
imagine that this is correct, since, how would you close the cap
after refilling, when closing the cap immediately re-empties it?

The sac in the pen fills with ink when you push the plunger in,
but you have to leave the nib in the ink for ten seconds after
pushing in the plunger.

Here are some filling instructions (look at the whole page):

http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Sheaffer/SheafferTouchdownGuide.htm

The sac may be unusable by now (they don't last forever). Perhaps
others will recommend somebody to restore the pen. You might start
by looking at Richard Binder's website (I've never had any work
done by him myself):

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=rep_txt.htm

--
Steve

My e-mail address works as is.

Thank you, sir. Upon further examination, and (finally) success getting the
pen barrel to open the way *most* pens open (unthreading at the barrel just
below the nib-holder assembly/'grip'), 2 things are apparent:

1) the sac is absent. As you suggested, it would be improbable that one in
there would have been in good shape anyway, and

2) this is apparently an 'early' touchdown pen, 1949-1951. It is not a
'tip-dip' touchdown, as described on the page you sent.

So: where can I get a replacement sac? Anyone know? It certainly seems to be
a sweet pen; the tip is nice and broad (it's marked "3") and writes and
feels great as a dip pen.

CT

"Stephen Hust" wrote in message
...
"Crewman Tapote" wrote:

I picked up an old sheaffer fountain pen in a shop today --
14kt nib, and what apparently is called the "touchdown filler"
system -- I'm not the biggest expert, and haven't seen or heard
of this system until today. The pen is currently soaking in warm
water. Oddly, it appears that its last fill of ink was *purple*.
Hmm.

Thing is, I don't have the knowlege to establish if the filler
system is operational. The back end of the pen screws away, and
you pull it open. There is a connecting rod of some sort, and it
opens about a half inch, with no pressure or recoil in either
direction, in or out; that is, it will stay in either position,
open or closed. It appears that, if you hold the tip under
water, and pull the back cap open that half inch or so, then
remove the tip from the liquid, when you then push the cap back
closed, a couple drops of liquid come out the nib. I can't
imagine that this is correct, since, how would you close the cap
after refilling, when closing the cap immediately re-empties it?

The sac in the pen fills with ink when you push the plunger in,
but you have to leave the nib in the ink for ten seconds after
pushing in the plunger.

Here are some filling instructions (look at the whole page):

http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Sheaffer/SheafferTouchdownGuide.htm

The sac may be unusable by now (they don't last forever). Perhaps
others will recommend somebody to restore the pen. You might start
by looking at Richard Binder's website (I've never had any work
done by him myself):

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=rep_txt.htm

--
Steve

My e-mail address works as is.

Stephen Hust wrote:

"Crewman Tapote" wrote:

I picked up an old sheaffer fountain pen in a shop today --
14kt nib, and what apparently is called the "touchdown filler"
system -- I'm not the biggest expert, and haven't seen or heard
of this system until today. The pen is currently soaking in warm
water. Oddly, it appears that its last fill of ink was *purple*.

The color you see floating in the soak bath is usually not the color
originally in the pen. You can see how black or blue-black ink leaches
out by putting a drop on a damp paper towel. You can get some lovely
images that way.

Hmm.

The sac in the pen fills with ink when you push the plunger in,
but you have to leave the nib in the ink for ten seconds after
pushing in the plunger.

As counterintuitive as it may seem, most American plunger pens fill on
the downstroke. Onoto (British) was also famous for this kind of
filling mechanism, and Visconti (Italian) currently makes several
lines of downstroke fillers.

Sherrell Tyree of Inkpen Vintage Writing Instruments is a true Doyen
of Sheaffers. Their repair price list (very reasonable) is available
at http://www.ink-pen.com/repair.html and Sherrell can be reached
via their contact page or by phone at 913-642-3216. She is in Kansas
City. Joel Hamilton, her brother, is in Alamogordo NM and specializes
in Parkers. I can't recommend them highly enough for repairs,
purchases, appraisals, and as good, fun, interesting people.

Hope this helps.

Jon

"Crewman Tapote" wrote:

So: where can I get a replacement sac? Anyone know? It certainly
seems to be a sweet pen; the tip is nice and broad (it's marked
"3") and writes and feels great as a dip pen.

Take a look at this:

http://www.pentrace.net/penbase/Data_Returns/full_article.asp?id=50

--
Steve

My e-mail address works as is.

On Sun, 25 Jun 2006 22:36:59 -0500, j fabian wrote
(in article ):

Stephen Hust wrote:

"Crewman Tapote" wrote:

I picked up an old sheaffer fountain pen in a shop today --
14kt nib, and what apparently is called the "touchdown filler"
system -- I'm not the biggest expert, and haven't seen or heard
of this system until today. The pen is currently soaking in warm
water. Oddly, it appears that its last fill of ink was *purple*.

The color you see floating in the soak bath is usually not the color
originally in the pen. You can see how black or blue-black ink leaches
out by putting a drop on a damp paper towel. You can get some lovely
images that way.

Hmm.

The sac in the pen fills with ink when you push the plunger in,
but you have to leave the nib in the ink for ten seconds after
pushing in the plunger.

As counterintuitive as it may seem, most American plunger pens fill on
the downstroke. Onoto (British) was also famous for this kind of
filling mechanism, and Visconti (Italian) currently makes several
lines of downstroke fillers.

Sherrell Tyree of Inkpen Vintage Writing Instruments is a true Doyen
of Sheaffers. Their repair price list (very reasonable) is available
at http://www.ink-pen.com/repair.html and Sherrell can be reached
via their contact page or by phone at 913-642-3216. She is in Kansas
City. Joel Hamilton, her brother, is in Alamogordo NM and specializes
in Parkers. I can't recommend them highly enough for repairs,
purchases, appraisals, and as good, fun, interesting people.

Ah, so that is the woman pen-mech I was told about from K. C. The teller of
the tale was a vintage book-seller who had heard there was a pen repairer in
K. C., but didn't know the name. He had heard about her from a customer from
out of state some time earlier, and that customer had not been back in town
yet.

Nice to know that a good pen-mech is that close to me, much better than
sending clear off to (all together now) NEW YORK CITY! 90 miles is much
better for me, I just prefer to send my pens to someone in the area instead
of halfway across the country to NY or California, plus I can drop one off if
I need to, I hate sending pens by mail. I had heard of Sherrell Tyree, I just
had not realized that she was the one being talked about, I think I had
assumed that she and her brother were both in NM.

I had also heard her name mentioned (here) as a possible source with regard
to replacement Cadet pen nibs and was going to contact her about those once I
got around to it.

I like the little Cadet, just got a mint set a few weeks ago that may some
day join my old one that I use for work, but right now it is just too damn
cute, still has the price marking on both pen and pencil, sucks/spits water
with the original sac. I have to say that my other Cadet, which I do use as
my at work pen does that just as well and had been used for years before I
got it, also with the original sac. Those touchdown sacs may be thinner but
even a 50 year old one can still work if you take a little care with it and
had even a bit of luck. My only "problem" is that the Cadets tend to need
refilling every two days because of the amount of paperwork involved at work,
if I try to go three days I run out just before the end of that day.

I blame my re-interest in fountain pens on that Cadet, it was my first find
five years ago that I actually got around to using often, unlike the Waterman
Gentleman I had bought about 15 years ago, which is a nice pen, just seems a
bit heavy and with too fragile a surface with the lacquer finish to carry
around all the time. Strangely enough I do not have the same feeling about my
Parker Big Red, it is not a perfect pen in looks, but it works great now and
I like its feel. Yet the only problem with its looks is that the imprint is
faint, so it is not mint but then neither were my grandparents at eighty
either and most of them still had a lot of life left in them.

Now I have a nice little selection of twelve fountain pens at the moment,
about seven with mechanical pencils, Diane had another six or seven, plus I
am having another fixed for her now, that one was her dad's late 1930's
Sheaffer Balance lever-filler, a 1000, big, fat pen, but she likes it, maybe
I can get her to let me use it once in a while. Nah, better go look for
another pen, maybe a similar one in red striated or possibly black instead of
the gray striated she has... I wonder how some folks end up with those huge
collections of fountain pens? ;-)
--
Harry F. Leopold
The Prints of Darkness
(remove gene to email)