Interested In A Vacumatic, But Know Nothing About Them

[LamyOne]

Hello Everyone,

 

I've been considering a foray into vintage pens and I'm intrigued by the Vacumatic. I like the look, (reminds me of a Visconti Wall Street) and I love the name. I also did a little research at Richard Binder's site and have a somewhat vague idea how the pen works - but that is all I know - and that isn't much.

 

I had a 51 Aerometric but didn't care for the hidden nib and the difficult flushing process - I have a grim feeling, flushing out a Vacumatic would be equally laborious, (compared to the C/C pens that I've gotten used to), so if I got one, I'd have to only use inks that are easy to flush out.

 

I guess what I'm asking is how much should I expect to pay for a nice looking, decent specimen in solid, good working condition? I like the emerald green and the brown, (I don't know if either of these colors are hard to come by). Also, is there anything I should know about maintaining a Vacumatic or do they basically take care of themselves until something goes wrong? Also, how often do things go wrong, (because I'm not very mechanically inclined)?

 

Any input or advice on Vacumatics would be greatly appreciated.

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

 

Edit: I also checked out this site and it piqued my interest further, (I like #5, 6 & 7):

http://parkerpens.net/vacumatic.html

Edited September 1, 2014 by LamyOne

[bsenn]

I think Vacs are my favorite pens. They look amazing! They write well, hold a lot of ink, and there are many colors and variations if you are into collecting.

 

As best as I can tell silver and brown are the least expensive, then green, blue, and red (I mean Burgundy). Buy a full size (5"), not a demi.

 

I have bought very nice brown and silver majors for under $70 with new diaphragms. You can buy an as found one for under $50 and have someone put in a new diaphragm for $20 to $30.

 

If you buy one watch for teeth marks, name imprints (if that bothers you), worn clip or cap band plating, and bent nibs.

 

I flushed one today. I am guessing 10 minutes of my time, spread over several hours.

 

Great pens, well worth owning. Good luck and have fun!

 

 

Brian

[Tylerjordan]

Flushing them is indeed a bit difficult. The trick to to slowly depress the plunger and the ink will come out after 8-10 reps. If you want to speedily clean it out you can always unscrew the section and simply rinse out the barrel, though.

[bsenn]

Oh, I have not had any problems with the three I use regularly. Not had to do any maintenance and they've needed no repairs. Two of them I bought in the wild and rebuilt, sonic they work well after I've touched them, they should really work well if a professional restored them.

 

Brian

[risingsun]

Flushing out a vacumatic is not bad if you make a salad spinner centrifuge. It takes a ton of the labor out of the process.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/12704-drum-roll-the-salad-spinner-centrifuge/

[Inga]

I don't know much about them either, but I would say maybe anything less than 110 for a good restored one would be an average price.

Once I had the chance to get a fairly good condition one (working but not restored) for about 40 dollars... still regret not getting it.

[Florida Blue]

 

I guess what I'm asking is how much should I expect to pay for a nice looking, decent specimen in solid, good working condition? I like the emerald green and the brown, (I don't know if either of these colors are hard to come by). Also, is there anything I should know about maintaining a Vacumatic or do they basically take care of themselves until something goes wrong? Also, how often do things go wrong, (because I'm not very mechanically inclined)?

 

About $70 to $100 for a common, restored Vac in user grade, good condition.

 

Neither Emerald Green or Golden Pearl (Brown) are hard to find, although Emerald seems to sell for a bit more. Golden Pearl vacs are very common.

 

The only thing you need to do to maintain your Vac (if it is already restored) is to throughly flush out any ink when changing colors, between fills and when you put it away for extended periods of time, just like any other pen.

 

Vacs work by unscrewing a blind cap at the end of the pen and pressing down several times (about 10) on a plunger. The ink is held in the barrel and on the plunger end there is a rubber diaphragm. When the plunger is pressed down it extends the diaphragm inward pushing air out of the barrel through a breather tube. When you let go of the plunger, the diaphragm regains it shape creating a vacuum that sucks in ink.

[bullet08]

i'm also looking into them. lovely looking pens, but i can't figure out what's what.

[Hooker56]

Try Richard Binder's site:

 

http://www.richardspens.com/

 

Type vacumatic into the search box and you will get all kinds of info including some great graphics explaining how the diaphragm works.

[LamyOne]

Hello Brian, (bsenn),

 

Thank you very much for the very helpful info regarding the pricing, condition, rarity, cleaning and maintenance info - it really helped me a lot.

 

 

Hello Rising Sun & Tyler,

 

Thank you for the detailed cleaning info - that centrifuge article was a riot to read - it took me back to a time when we still had a sense of humor.

 

 

Hello Inga,

 

Thanks for the pricing data, that helped a lot; btw, I know just how you feel, CraigR had a really nice looking Emerald Green Vacumatic for $75 and I let it get away from me while I was doing this investigation.

 

 

Hello Florida Blue,

 

Thank you for the info.

 

 

Hello Bullet08,

 

Hopefully, we'll both "luck out" and find a nice one.

 

 

Thanks Hooker, I've done that - Mr. Binder has a great site, that other Parker site I have a link to in my first post is also quite informative with the historical data. The Vacumatic must be an iconic pen for all the coverage it gets.

 

 

Thanks again, everyone,

 

Chris

 

PS: If anyone knows any good dealers for these pens, please lmk.

Edited September 2, 2014 by LamyOne

[bullet08]

been searching the net for the price. if they are restored, and in writing condition with new diaphragm, i see $130 and up. ones with no restoration $50 and up, but hard to find those. i seen few on fleabay few weeks ago. i think i'll go for 3rd gen major. seems like they are available readily, and least expensive with good color choice and clarity. it seems golden pearl are most available. i'm hoping for emerald, azure, or burgundy, but they are touch more expensive. definitely an eye candy.. i heard the nibs are little stiff. but i like stiff nibs.

 

pete

[Ernst Bitterman]

I'm going to pitch in on the flushing question; more tedious than a button- or lever-filling pen, certainly, but the relatively simple feed means it's an order of magnitude less of a hassle than a "51", even without the spinner. Also, with one that's got half-decent clarity, you can watch the process, which relieves the tedium immensely.

[Florida Blue]

been searching the net for the price. if they are restored, and in writing condition with new diaphragm, i see $130 and up. ones with no restoration $50 and up, but hard to find those. i seen few on fleabay few weeks ago. i think i'll go for 3rd gen major. seems like they are available readily, and least expensive with good color choice and clarity. it seems golden pearl are most available. i'm hoping for emerald, azure, or burgundy, but they are touch more expensive. definitely an eye candy.. i heard the nibs are little stiff. but i like stiff nibs.

 

pete

 

Nibs are generally going to be firm on Vacs, but Canadian-made Vacs are known to have flex nibs occasionally. Burgundy was only available in the 1st and 2nd generation Vacs and they don't seem to be as plentiful as the other colors so they tend to sell for more than the other colors.

[Brian-McQueen]

Just for fun, here's a little spread of several different models in Burgundy Pearl. This is by no means a complete spread of models available. There's a Vacumatic to fit everyone's style. A simple Google search will pop up several different dealers with restored Vacumatics for sale. Expect to pay no less than $100 for a restored model in any color or style.

 

[bsenn]

Just for fun, here's a little spread of several different models in Burgundy Pearl. This is by no means a complete spread of models available. There's a Vacumatic to fit everyone's style. A simple Google search will pop up several different dealers with restored Vacumatics for sale. Expect to pay no less than $100 for a restored model in any color or style.

 

Good Lord man! Wow.

Speechless drooling...

[Sasha Royale]

Before the The Parker Vacumatic, fountain pens were fairly thick-walled, for strength. The Vacumatic

emerged in the mid-1930's made of the first acrylic. The material was hard and strong, allowing thin-wall

design and large ink capacity. Ink was pumped directly into the barrel, rather than into a sac. The

material used was the same material as military aircraft windshields and canopies. DuPont USA called

it "Lucite". In Britain, it was called "Plexiglas".

 

Each Vacumatic was coded with the year and calendar quarter of manufacture.

 

You are going to love this pen.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Sasha Royale

[LamyOne]

Hello Ernst,

 

Thank you, yes, the way you describe it, flushing out a Vacumatic doesn't sound like much of a chore at all.

 

 

Hello Brian,

 

Beautiful Collection of Burgundy's you have there - WOW!

 

 

Hello Sasha,

 

Thank you for the info - I appreciate it. Yes, the Vacumatic strikes me as a pen that I could really sink my teeth into... so to speak.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

Edited September 4, 2014 by LamyOne

[Hooker56]

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the info - I appreciate it. Yes, the Vacumatic strikes me as a pen that I could really sink my teeth into... so to speak.

 

 

 

But you really won't? Right Chris?

 

Clayton <-----Has polished way to many teeth marks out of his old Vacs.

 

P.S.- Yes Brian is Known as the "McQueen of Vacumatics!"

[KBeezie]

My first foray into flushing out a 51 Vac wasn't that bad just a little patience.

 

I noticed that if you *slowly* pump the vac, it expels out the ink/water much easier in the beginning, allowing the rest to be whisked up as you go to refill for another rinse.

[FarmBoy]

Before the The Parker Vacumatic, fountain pens were fairly thick-walled, for strength. The Vacumatic

emerged in the mid-1930's made of the first acrylic. The material was hard and strong, allowing thin-wall

design and large ink capacity. Ink was pumped directly into the barrel, rather than into a sac. The

material used was the same material as military aircraft windshields and canopies. DuPont USA called

it "Lucite". In Britain, it was called "Plexiglas".

 

Each Vacumatic was coded with the year and calendar quarter of manufacture.

 

You are going to love this pen.

 

The Vacumatic pens are made from celluloid.