New To Fountain Pens And Need A Little Help

February 15, 2015

I recently got started with fountain pens and I am enjoying them. My grandfather had some old ones and gave them to me. I haven't been able to identify them yet. I was wondering if I could get some help identifying them and tips to repair them. I know only the esterbrook has a sac that works. The black sheaffers sac was crumbled when I opened it up. The silver sheaffer I was wondering if the converter that they make would work in it. The silver and the white one both had cartridges in them.

Thanks in advance

Andrew

Edit: I can take more pictures if needed, or clearer.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Gilly03

February 16, 2015

Sheaffer Balance. (No clue on the exact model designation. I'll guess it it is a CX2-325BA and wait to be corrected.)

Esterbrook 'Icicle'

Sheaffer Targa - Cartridge or converter
Sheaffer School Pen - Uses a cartridge

Random 3rd tier lever filler pen.

February 16, 2015

The top pen is a non-Lifetime standard Balance (ca 1935-1938) in ebonized pearl, chrome plated furniture with flat-ball humped clip. The nib is a FeatherTouch 5, the nib used on non-Lifetime standard (full) size pens.

February 28, 2015

Check out Oldfield and Marshall's excellent repair book, available by mail order from their English web site. I don't have the URL handy, but you can Google it. If you decide to repair more than your grandfather's pens, you'll appreciate the book.

If the pens have sentimental value, you might practice a sac replacement on a few other pens first, since breaking pens is common when you first learn to repair them. Look for cheap lever fillers on eBay.

Replacing the sac in the Sheaffer will be the same as for the Esterbrook. Both are straight-forward sac replacements, assuming there is nothing amiss but the dried sacs.

You can also check YouTube for sac replacement videos.