While not strictly an FP question, it's in the same box as the FP. Does anyone know what type of refill the ballpoint pen in a TM Admiral takes?

Hello Jon,

Needed to double-check a few dates before replying. I think I've got this right, but I welcome corrections.

If the pen belongs to the TM Touchdown era (c. 1950-1), it takes the original "Micro-Crafted" refill used by the original Sheaffer Stratowriter - long out of production.

If it's of the TM Snorkel generation, then the answer depends on the year of production - simply because the Snorkel series straddled the two types of Sheaffer ballpoint. The old refill was dropped c. 1955, in favor of the modern design that - with minor changes - remains in use to this day. The Snorkel ran from 1952 through 1959, so the 1955 date falls smack in the middle.

One possible way to tell - since I assume the pen in question doesn't have the old refill in place - is by examining the point end of the barrel. If the opening is about the same size as that of a modern ballpoint, then you can simply pop a current-production Sheaffer ballpoint into the pen and scribble away. If, on the other hand, the opening is significantly larger than that of a modern ballpoint (more like the business end of a clutch pencil), then it's the older version.

If that's the case, all is not lost. You can buy a so-called "ballpoint widget" from Pendemonium that will allow you to use current-production Sheaffer ballpoint refills. Look under "Pen Repair Supplies" for the widget and the instructions for using it.

Good luck!

Jon

useful question. Just picked one of these up at Washington.

d

This one is definitely a TM Touchdown and had the unusually wide opening. It looks like the person who received this (as a gift) used the ballpoint and the MP, but never inked the Admiral. You are correct, the refill is missing from the BP. Thanks for the Pendemonium suggestion. I'll see what they have.

Here is a photo of the set. I haven't decided whether to ink the admiral (it still has a "fine" wrapper around the nib) or to sell or trade it.

Hi Again,

There may be other ways of adapting a modern refill, but in my experience the widget has worked flawlessly. For a capped BP like this one, you simply drop the widget into the barrel, allowing it to seat itself at the point opening. I seem to recall that I also screwed one of them in, using a long thin slotted screwdriver - the old Sheaffer refills actually screwed into the point end of the barrel - but that may not be technically necessary. Then you drop a BP spring, scavenged from some other pen, into the top half of the barrel. Insert the modern refill, put it all back together, and you're in business.

I've got a late-40s brown Sentinel BP, retrofitted as described above, that I use fairly often. The balance of the older BPs is noticeably different from that of most modern BPs, and I find them much more pleasant to use.

The best of the old Sheaffer BPs is the original push-buttom Stratowriter, c. 1946-8. Lots of fun to use, endearingly anachronistic, and beautifully made and balanced. Getting the modern refills to work in that model is a little bit more involved, but well worth the trouble.

Of all the old-style Sheaffer BPs I've encountered, only one had a refill with any ink left - enough for about three sentences, if memory serves. The ink was markedly different from modern BP ink - more like the graphite paste in the Parker Liquid Lead pencil (if you've ever found one of those that was still working!)

Cheers,

Jon

Thanks for that information, Jon. After closer inspection, I realized that the ballpoint is actually a rollerball. I didn't thing they had rollerballs in '51. So, now I'm looking for a rollerball refill for this small TM RB.

Regards,

Jon

Hi Jon,

Hmmm...I think your first instincts were correct. I don't believe the rollerball had shown up at that point. Does the pen clip have a little bump (not a White Dot) near the top? If so, you've got one of the early ballpoints. (I reckon the bump was there to help owners to distinguish among instruments by feel - much like the top jewels of the Esterbrook J series.)

I hope our moderator won't mind if I borrow an image from his ever-helpful PenGallery site. It shows one of the early gold-filled Stratowriters; a 1948 capped BP (fatter than yours, of course); and one of the early BP refills. As you'll see, that refill looks much more like a modern-day rollerball refill than a modern-day BP refill. That could easily account for a certain amount of understandable BP/RB confusion.

Click to view attachment

In any event: good luck getting it up and running. You'll enjoy it once you do.

Cheers,

Jon

Jon,

Yes, I see what you mean. I associate retractable with ballpoint. This is an early ballpoint, non-retractable, with a bump on the clip. All is right with the world. By the way, I like what you've done in that photograph. I have a bunch of postcards from the 30's and 40's. I think I'll incorporate them into some of my vintage fountain pen photos.

Regards,

Jon

Hi Jon,

I thank you for the kind words - but the credit goes to our moderator Jim. I'm a thief with scruples: I don't mind borrowing the photo, but I can't, in good conscience, accept a compliment on it.

(I agree, by the way: it's a great photograph.)

Cheers,

Jon