A Guide To Servicing A Sheaffer Triumph Vac Fill Fountain Pen...

[grandmia]

http://youtu.be/HmF0CnazNK4

 

Hi all...Above is a video guide in servicing a Sheaffer Triumph Vac Fill fountain pen...I hope you find it informative...

 

For myself, I think it would be infinitely more educational to actually see you dismantle the pen on camera, as I am certain that is where MY first problems would arise. You spent a great deal of time talking about what the perils of doing it incorrectly could be, but you did not even one time say which direction the threads turn to remove the nib. THAT I would have found more helpful than the discussion of the pen's coloration or the style of the nib. I am also more than a little leery of covering everything with shellac to make it stay in place, or using silicone grease as a sealant. I have purchased more than one pen touted as "fully restored" only to find that the restoration was not done as neatly or correctly as it could have been and that there is now shellac gumming up the feed or parts that have been cemented together for all eternity with shellac. Any pen that I buy must come with a full warranty or it had better be extremely inexpensive. If I were to do my own sac or filler repair or "restoration" I would not want to have it glued together making it impossible for a qualified repair person to disassemble it and do it right if the need arose. Like I said - these are only my opinions, and not being a repair person I am not criticizing your choices, only explaining how I view them as a potential pen buyer. Thank you for the information in the video that I was able to tuck away for future reference - I am sure that they (the videos) are quite time consuming to make.

Hi...Thank you for your reply.If i covered every thing then the video would have been even longer,so i try and cover what i think is important and keep it as short as possible.Regarding the shellac it was only used in parts were it was needed.As you have no doubt read in this post,there are different methods in "sealing the nib thread" i had no qualms using silicone grease in this video.

Sorry to hear you have had a bad experience with your "fully restored" pen,but unfortunately i cant comment on as i have not seen it or know were you purchased it.

As i have mentioned i restore my pens to a level that i would expect to receive it my self.

If you are unsure on any part of the procedure within the videos then you only need to ask.I try and encourage the viewer to leave comments,therefore if there is any thing the viewer is not sure about then i am more than happy to help.

Thank you for your views.

Regards Stef.

[SheWrites]

http://youtu.be/HmF0CnazNK4

 

Hi all...Above is a video guide in servicing a Sheaffer Triumph Vac Fill fountain pen...I hope you find it informative...

 

For myself, I think it would be infinitely more educational to actually see you dismantle the pen on camera, as I am certain that is where MY first problems would arise. You spent a great deal of time talking about what the perils of doing it incorrectly could be, but you did not even one time say which direction the threads turn to remove the nib. THAT I would have found more helpful than the discussion of the pen's coloration or the style of the nib. I am also more than a little leery of covering everything with shellac to make it stay in place, or using silicone grease as a sealant. I have purchased more than one pen touted as "fully restored" only to find that the restoration was not done as neatly or correctly as it could have been and that there is now shellac gumming up the feed or parts that have been cemented together for all eternity with shellac. Any pen that I buy must come with a full warranty or it had better be extremely inexpensive. If I were to do my own sac or filler repair or "restoration" I would not want to have it glued together making it impossible for a qualified repair person to disassemble it and do it right if the need arose. Like I said - these are only my opinions, and not being a repair person I am not criticizing your choices, only explaining how I view them as a potential pen buyer. Thank you for the information in the video that I was able to tuck away for future reference - I am sure that they (the videos) are quite time consuming to make.

Hi...Thank you for your reply.If i covered every thing then the video would have been even longer,so i try and cover what i think is important and keep it as short as possible.Regarding the shellac it was only used in parts were it was needed.As you have no doubt read in this post,there are different methods in "sealing the nib thread" i had no qualms using silicone grease in this video.

Sorry to hear you have had a bad experience with your "fully restored" pen,but unfortunately i cant comment on as i have not seen it or know were you purchased it.

As i have mentioned i restore my pens to a level that i would expect to receive it my self.

If you are unsure on any part of the procedure within the videos then you only need to ask.I try and encourage the viewer to leave comments,therefore if there is any thing the viewer is not sure about then i am more than happy to help.

Thank you for your views.

Regards Stef.

 

I guess the point I was trying to make was that "A Guide To Servicing A Sheaffer Triumph Vac Fill Fountain Pen" doesn't really need a discussion of the color of the pen or the style of the nib, but that a set of clear instructions for disassembling the pen could reasonably be something that you might expect to see. It seemed to me to be more of an advertisement for a pen that you were hoping to sell with that video than a guide to servicing a pen. If I am wrong, I apologize, but it was nowhere near as informative as your title led me to expect. And I DID leave a comment and still I do not know which direction those threads go, do I?

[grandmia]

http://youtu.be/HmF0CnazNK4

 

Hi all...Above is a video guide in servicing a Sheaffer Triumph Vac Fill fountain pen...I hope you find it informative...

 

For myself, I think it would be infinitely more educational to actually see you dismantle the pen on camera, as I am certain that is where MY first problems would arise. You spent a great deal of time talking about what the perils of doing it incorrectly could be, but you did not even one time say which direction the threads turn to remove the nib. THAT I would have found more helpful than the discussion of the pen's coloration or the style of the nib. I am also more than a little leery of covering everything with shellac to make it stay in place, or using silicone grease as a sealant. I have purchased more than one pen touted as "fully restored" only to find that the restoration was not done as neatly or correctly as it could have been and that there is now shellac gumming up the feed or parts that have been cemented together for all eternity with shellac. Any pen that I buy must come with a full warranty or it had better be extremely inexpensive. If I were to do my own sac or filler repair or "restoration" I would not want to have it glued together making it impossible for a qualified repair person to disassemble it and do it right if the need arose. Like I said - these are only my opinions, and not being a repair person I am not criticizing your choices, only explaining how I view them as a potential pen buyer. Thank you for the information in the video that I was able to tuck away for future reference - I am sure that they (the videos) are quite time consuming to make.

Hi...Thank you for your reply.If i covered every thing then the video would have been even longer,so i try and cover what i think is important and keep it as short as possible.Regarding the shellac it was only used in parts were it was needed.As you have no doubt read in this post,there are different methods in "sealing the nib thread" i had no qualms using silicone grease in this video.

Sorry to hear you have had a bad experience with your "fully restored" pen,but unfortunately i cant comment on as i have not seen it or know were you purchased it.

As i have mentioned i restore my pens to a level that i would expect to receive it my self.

If you are unsure on any part of the procedure within the videos then you only need to ask.I try and encourage the viewer to leave comments,therefore if there is any thing the viewer is not sure about then i am more than happy to help.

Thank you for your views.

Regards Stef.

 

I guess the point I was trying to make was that "A Guide To Servicing A Sheaffer Triumph Vac Fill Fountain Pen" doesn't really need a discussion of the color of the pen or the style of the nib, but that a set of clear instructions for disassembling the pen could reasonably be something that you might expect to see. It seemed to me to be more of an advertisement for a pen that you were hoping to sell with that video than a guide to servicing a pen. If I am wrong, I apologize, but it was nowhere near as informative as your title led me to expect. And I DID leave a comment and still I do not know which direction those threads go, do I?

The video was a guide to the servicing of the said pen followed by a quick review as i have lots of request from viewers who want to see the pen writing.I thought the video actually shows that the nib was screwed on with a right hand thread.Therefore i would have thought it was self explanatory that it was unscrewed with a right hand thread.I have checked the video and i see no comment from you so unfortunately i could not answer your query regarding the "thread".

The video does not mention anything about the pen being for sale,however i do get lots of emails and personal messages asking me if the pens are available for sale.This pen is now with its new owner who is delighted with the pen and is writing with it on a daily basis.Quality pens like these do not have problem finding new homes.

Sorry that the video is not to your liking however "You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time."

 

Regards

Stef.

[Ron Z]

The web site is in effect still being constructed when i can find the time to update,so it is still in a very early stage.There is no details regarding warranty/return policies.

 

The advice that I was given when I was first rolling out the web site was "you must have a policies page," so it was one of the first built and was posted from day one. I found it interesting that when I applied to add a credit card service, one of the first questions that they asked was "do you have a warranty and return policy, and what is it? Do you have it on a web site?" I actually had to provide the link for the page. The implication being that this was a rhetorical question; that they expected that a business would have one and have it published.

[grandmia]

The web site is in effect still being constructed when i can find the time to update,so it is still in a very early stage.There is no details regarding warranty/return policies.

 

The advice that I was given when I was first rolling out the web site was "you must have a policies page," so it was one of the first built and was posted from day one. I found it interesting that when I applied to add a credit card service, one of the first questions that they asked was "do you have a warranty and return policy, and what is it? Do you have it on a web site?" I actually had to provide the link for the page. The implication being that this was a rhetorical question; that they expected that a business would have one and have it published.

Hello Ron...The site is by no means finished and needs the time to update it.I am not having it built by a professional and unfortunately i am not the most computer literate person although i don't think its to bad for my first attempt.Hopefully one day it will be finished,but until then i will make do.

Thanks for the advice.

 

Regards Stef.

[Freddy]

Fascinating Read... .

 

Fred

"Air is free..but it tends to smell better in Malibu than in East L.A.."

~ Garret Keizer ~

[Ron Z]

Curious then - how do you find the time to do all those videos? You must have close to 70 of them. Do you shoot, edit and post them yourself?

 

There's some great software out there that lets you create and edit/update a website very easily - it's free too. I haven't had anyone else update anything on my site since 2006.

[grandmia]

Curious then - how do you find the time to do all those videos? You must have close to 70 of them. Do you shoot, edit and post them yourself?

 

There's some great software out there that lets you create and edit/update a website very easily - it's free too. I haven't had anyone else update anything on my site since 2006.

Hello Ron

Exactly,were do i find time ? I must admit i do enjoy doing the videos and yes they all done by me ?

I have quite a few ideas that i would like to try but its a little harder if your not a computer whizz kid.I am actually starting a course this week so hopefully i will be a lot wiser once finished.

 

Thanks

Stef.

[gmberg]

http://youtu.be/HmF0CnazNK4

 

Hi all...Above is a video guide in servicing a Sheaffer Triumph Vac Fill fountain pen...I hope you find it informative...

Hi Stef:

 

I've done I don't know how many hundreds of Sheaffer plunger-filler restorations, so I was really interested in seeing how someone else approached it. I wrote an article on such matters,"The Re-birth of Sheaffer's One Stroke Plunger-filler", for the Spring 2009 issue of Pennant, a publication of the Pen collectors of America, but I had very little knowledge about how these repairs were done outside of the U.S. The only knowledge of U.K.practices I learned from some brief discussions with Laurence Oldfield (he mentions one of our discussions in his pen repair handbook).

 

For me, the most interesting thing about your method concerns the packing unit (="capsule" in Marshall/Oldfield). First, I would have thought that the shellac you use to cement the unit into the barrel would not stand up to the severe stresses of repeated refilling and of changing weather over many seasons. Marshall/Oldfield use "epoxy". On this side of the puddle, I use acetone to create a fusion or weld, and I believe Nishimura and Zorn do the same. Do you find that shellac works over the long run?

 

Second, I note that the O-ring is glued into the packing unit with rubber cement and that no sealing ring (or "spacer")is inserted into the unit over the the O-ring. This would seem to leave about half of the unit empty. Under the "considerable forces that act" around it during filling (Marshall/Oldfield, 2nd ed., p.101), wouldn't the O-ring move around a bit, especially since rubber cement never becomes rigid, and it flexes a lot? This would seem to allow the seal eventually to degrade, as air under pressure escapes around the lone and moveable O-ring. Here again, I use acetone to cement a styrene "spacer" (Marshall/Oldfield, or "closing ring" (Nishimura), over the O-ring. This fills the packing unit tightly and holds the O-ring rigidly in place. It produces a seal that will last for many years with little maintenence.

 

Of course, the technique I outline above and in my article is more labor intensive than the one in your video. That is why I find your video so attractive. If only I could be convinced that your method would produce a seal that is durable over the years, I would adopt it in a flash!

 

Many thanks for any insights you can offer me.

 

Cheers,

Gerry

Edited September 11, 2012 by gmberg

[grandmia]

http://youtu.be/HmF0CnazNK4

 

Hi all...Above is a video guide in servicing a Sheaffer Triumph Vac Fill fountain pen...I hope you find it informative...

Hi Stef:

 

I've done I don't know how many hundreds of Sheaffer plunger-filler restorations, so I was really interested in seeing how someone else approached it. I wrote an article on such matters,"The Re-birth of Sheaffer's One Stroke Plunger-filler", for the Spring 2009 issue of Pennant, a publication of the Pen collectors of America, but I had very little knowledge about how these repairs were done outside of the U.S. The only knowledge of U.K.practices I learned from some brief discussions with Laurence Oldfield (he mentions one of our discussions in his pen repair handbook).

 

For me, the most interesting thing about your method concerns the packing unit (="capsule" in Marshall/Oldfield). First, I would have thought that the shellac you use to cement the unit into the barrel would not stand up to the severe stresses of repeated refilling and of changing weather over many seasons. Marshall/Oldfield use "epoxy". On this side of the puddle, I use acetone to create a fusion or weld, and I believe Nishimura and Zorn do the same. Do you find that shellac works over the long run?

 

Second, I note that the O-ring is glued into the packing unit with rubber cement and that no sealing ring (or "spacer")is inserted into the unit over the the O-ring. This would seem to leave about half of the unit empty. Under the "considerable forces that act" around it during filling (Marshall/Oldfield, 2nd ed., p.101), wouldn't the O-ring move around a bit, especially since rubber cement never becomes rigid, and it flexes a lot? This would seem to allow the seal eventually to degrade, as air under pressure escapes around the lone and moveable O-ring. Here again, I use acetone to cement a styrene "spacer" (Marshall/Oldfield, or "closing ring" (Nishimura), over the O-ring. This fills the packing unit tightly and holds the O-ring rigidly in place. It produces a seal that will last for many years with little maintenence.

 

Of course, the technique I outline above and in my article is more labor intensive than the one in your video. That is why I find your video so attractive. If only I could be convinced that your method would produce a seal that is durable over the years, I would adopt it in a flash!

 

Many thanks for any insights you can offer me.

 

Cheers,

Gerry

Hi Gerry

First and foremost the video is a guide for the less experienced members who do not have the tools or the special potions that the professionals have and use.This in not a video aimed at you professional repair people to adopt a different method that you are already using.

I find that shellac works fine for the packing unit and will hold for many years to come,and will allow the unit to be removed if ever it is needed in the future.It was removed successfuly after soaking and heat,however if it was "fused or welded" i doubt i would have been able to remove it.If that would have been the case then the felt washers would have had to be removed from inside the barrel which i feel is a far less stable repair.As is the "rammed rubber washer" method you refer to (Marshall/Oldfield p 101).

The rubber cement holding the O ring is literary packed before the O ring replacement then after the O ring is installed more cement is packed inside (but not in the centre hole) and therefore the unit is completely full.There is absolute no movement of the O ring and therefore no were for air pressure to move inside the unit apart from the centre hole itself.

On occasions i will use the spacer when i find the materials of the packing unit or the top plastic washer has been damaged or have deteriorated.Each pen is different and the method i adopt may differ slightly as i look at each pen on its own merit.Hence the use of silicone grease to the nib unit as the threads were quite tight,if it was quite loose then no doubt another method would have been called for.

If your method is labour intensive but it works for you,then why change it ? As i said this is more of a guide for the inexperienced to watch and decide whether they would attempt the repair themselves or send the pen to you to repair.If the video helps someone then i'm more than happy.

Thanks for watching and for your comments.

Regards Stef.

[gmberg]

Hi Gerry

[...]

I find that shellac works fine for the packing unit and will hold for many years to come,and will allow the unit to be removed if ever it is needed in the future.It was removed successfuly after soaking and heat,however if it was "fused or welded" i doubt i would have been able to remove it.If that would have been the case then the felt washers would have had to be removed from inside the barrel which i feel is a far less stable repair.As is the "rammed rubber washer" method you refer to (Marshall/Oldfield p 101).

 

 

I don't use "the rammed washer" method, nor do I recommend it. I do leave the packing unit in place whenever possible, so the fact that it might be fused there wouldn't be bothersome to me. After all, most plunger-fillers leave the factory with packing units "fused". My first preference is to leave the packing unit in place if possible and to work from the barrel.

 

Many thanks for your comments.

 

G

[grandmia]

Hi Gerry

[...]

I find that shellac works fine for the packing unit and will hold for many years to come,and will allow the unit to be removed if ever it is needed in the future.It was removed successfuly after soaking and heat,however if it was "fused or welded" i doubt i would have been able to remove it.If that would have been the case then the felt washers would have had to be removed from inside the barrel which i feel is a far less stable repair.As is the "rammed rubber washer" method you refer to (Marshall/Oldfield p 101).

 

 

I don't use "the rammed washer" method, nor do I recommend it. I do leave the packing unit in place whenever possible, so the fact that it might be fused there wouldn't be bothersome to me. After all, most plunger-fillers leave the factory with packing units "fused". My first preference is to leave the packing unit in place if possible and to work from the barrel.

 

Many thanks for your comments.

 

G

Hi Gerry

Whichever way you feel comfortable with im sure the end result is still the same.

Thank you for your comments to.

Regards Stef.