Jump to content

Flexible Parker Vacumatic Nibs

Carl_S

By Carl_S
in Parker

 Share

Recommended Posts

Carl_S NOS (New Old Stock)

Carl_S

Posted
Posted

While sorting some of my parts I found a few Vac nibs that are flexible. Are they commonly found? One nib has VACUMATIC imprinted below the arrow. Does anyone have an idea of the vintage?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 4
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • ANM

    1

  • Brian-McQueen

    1

  • Florida Blue

    1

  • Carl_S

    1

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Florida Blue Collectors Item

Florida Blue

Posted
Posted

Most Vacumatics had a lifetime warranty and as a result, Parker equipped most Vacs with firm nibs. If someone sprung or mangled their nib they could send it to Parker and Parker would be obligated to replace it for a service charge of 35 cents. The warranty ended up losing quite a bit of money for Parker.

 

Flex nibs do appear in American-made Vacs, but I would say they are uncommon. Flexible nibs are more common, but still not that common, in the Canadian-made pens.

Parker: Sonnet Flighter, Rialto Red Metallic Laque, IM Chiseled Gunmetal, Latitude Stainless, 45 Black, Duovac Blue Pearl Striped, 51 Standard Black, Vac Jr. Black, 51 Aero Black, 51 Vac Blue Cedar, Duofold Jr. Lapis, 51 Aero Demi Black, 51 Aero Demi Teal, 51 Aero Navy Gray, Duofold Pastel Moire Violet, Vac Major Golden Brown, Vac Deb. Emerald, 51 Vac Dove Gray, Vac Major Azure, Vac Jr. Silver Pearl, 51 Vac Black GF Cap, 51 Forest Green GF cap, Vac Jr. Silver Pearl, Duovac Senior Green & Gold, Duovac Deb. Black, Challenger Black, 51 Aero Midnight, Vac. Emerald Jr., Challenger Gray Pearl, 51 Vac Black, Duofold Int. Black, Duofold Jr. Red.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Brian-McQueen Vintage

Brian-McQueen

Posted
Posted

I agree with Florida Blue. Truly flexible nibs do not show up as commonly on US-made Vacumatics. You find them more readily on Canadian pens. But even then, I've seen very few that I would consider TRULY flexible. People tend to have different definitions of the word "flexible," and most I've seen have just been what I would call "springy" or "semi-flexible" at most.

 

You'd have to post pictures of the nibs for us to give you an idea of their vintage. They might have date codes on them.

Check out my article on the Sheaffer Snorkel in The Pennant magazine!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ANM Antique

ANM

Posted
Posted

I just tested all 18 of my Vacs. Only one is close to a nail. One is pretty flexible, the rest have some small flex to them. None are real nails like most Sheaffers.

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time. TS Eliot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33563
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26747
    5. jar
      jar
      26101

  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      Links to web pages or articles about Chinese typesetting, signwriting, etc.

      By Shanghai Knife Dude · Posted

      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By adamselene · Posted

      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By A Smug Dill · Posted

      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      Skeleton of a primer for a budding hobbyist

      By adamselene · Posted

      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o

  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More

  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...