Sonia's recent post about a Balance reminded me about a couple Sheaffers my grandpa tossed my way before he passed away. They've been in a box for nearly two decades and I'd like to get them in rotation.

This is one of two threads related to these Sheaffers.

I believe the one pictured here and in following posts to be a Balance, but it doesn't quite match up with the images I've seen on the web pages generally referred to for vintage sheaffers. There is no "dot" and the clip seems positioned too high on the cap. The dimension doesn't quite match up with those posted on Richard Binder's site. This one is 5" capped and 4 3/8" unposted. Fairly diminutive.

And last, I'm not sure if this is a defect or aging but the body is not perfectly cylindrical -- it seems to be slightly flattened on the face where the lever is and on the opposing side.

I can tell my grandpa used it and loved it quite a bit. I'd like to get it back into shape and love it some more (it'll need a new sac, and that appears to be it). I'd also like to know exactly what it is. Any of your help would be greatly appreciated:

Picture of the nib -- a "Feather Touch." Note a mfg flaw: the gold plating on the left goes beyond the horizontally etched line:

Actually, that's a solid gold nib. I think there's a lighter plating on the tip that has partially been worn off, probably by an overzealous polisher.

Oh.... So that's what that "14K" means...

Ahem.

That pen is not a Balance. Sheaffer retired the Balance during WWII, and your pen was made after 1950.

It's not a Balance. I'm sure the Sheaffer experts can tell you the model name; I don't know it. If it had a #3 nib it would be called a Craftsman, but this is a higher model. Maybe an Admiral?

Don

Umm, actually, no. The Craftsman's distinguishing feature, until the TIPdip version appeared in the 1950s, was a No. 33 nib, like the one on this Craftsman.



The Cadet has a No. 3 nib. The Admiral of that era is a Snorkel with a plain gold No. 5 nib. I don't know what model is pictured in the base note, but I'll bet Jim Mamoulides does.

Oops, yes I meant to write #33, not #3! I owned one once.

Don

I've been through all of Pen Hero's Sheaffer articles and I've come up with nada. Quite an education on Sheaffer pens, but not on this one here...

The pen above does look like a Cadet or Craftsman, except mine's a lever filler and the other's aren't (at least in the articles they aren't). Also, my understanding of the Cadet and Craftsman is that they are mold-injected plasic. I don't think my pen falls into that category.

Still searching... And thanks for everyone's help!

I'm renewing this thread (and, no doubt, ducking tomatoes) because I've just gotten this pen EXCEPT it's got the thin wire cap-mouth as shown on the penhero.com gallery page for the '50-'52 Touchdown Craftsman, and the masking hasn't been polished away on one side. There's a good deal of what it's not mentioned here, but has anyone hazarded a guess as to what it is? When the Balance marque was retired, what did Sheaffer call their lever-action models?

I could be wrong, but I'm nearly convinced the pen is an "Admiral" lever filler, made around 1951

The pen is indeed an Admiral. The Admiral of that era that is a Snorkel is called the...Admiral Snorkel.

--Daniel

Ah, so the fill-mechanism appelation acts as an appendix to the model name. This makes life easier. Thank you, merci and dank U wel, as preference decrees.

Does anyone know the era from which that nib configuration stems-- two-tone mask with the #5 stamping, heart-shaped breather and a straight line from shoulder to shoulder instead of the little arcs?

(Anticipated response: "Why don't you go read a book?" Riposte: "Can't find the right book, and all my money's in pens right now" )