I found a Sheaffer Sovereign II all forlorn and lonely in a junk shop yesterday. Just had to give it a home. I replaced the sac. It is a nicely balanced pen and a good writer.

The clip is not held against the cap any more. I read that this clip has a spring mechanism inside the cap. There doesn't seem to be any way to dismantle this thing gracefully. Is there a trick to it, or do I need to try to find another cap?

Paddler

I don't know of a graceful or easy way to disassemble Sheaffer spring clip caps. There's usually a little metal disk in the top of the spring clip caps, right under the clip spring. I believe these are press fitted into the cap. Seems like Frank (Da Book) Dubiel said that it's possible (sometimes) to rock these out, but I've never been able to. Granted, I've only tried two or three times.

However, on a Sovereign II it might be a little easier. This is a wire band pen, yes? It might be possible to remove the wire band (which is really the whole inner cap) to access the spring mechanism, though you'd still have to get in there to do something to repair the mechanism. Easier said than done. If I were going to try to remove this, I'd probably soak the whole cap for a few days in a mild dish soap solution, then try very gentle heat (the celluloid on these is easily deformed and can shrink, leaving an impression of the inner cap) to loosen it up.

A replacement cap might be the easiest way to go.

So, what color did you get? I love old Sheaffers - they're great writers.

Cheers,
Tom

Hi, Tom,

Yes it is a wire band pen.

The pen is entirely black. The furniture is silver (I think) thickly oxidized to black. I am debating whether to polish it or leave it alone. A little buff job on the celluloid and a bit of wax may make a great contrast to the flat black furniture. It has a Triumph #79 nib and is a very nice writer. The top of the point has been ground so that it writes a very fine line when held upside down.

I have a Craftsman that has a clip that looks exactly like the one on the Sovereign II. It was very loose when I got it. I had no idea there might be a mechanism inside and could figure no way to get in there to tighten things up, so I just packed the recess under the end of the clip full of epoxy. The clip is really stiff, but it works. I am afraid to try that with the celluloid cap; the pressure of that stiff clip might break the whole side out.

The clip issue is not a big deal, really. If there is no graceful way to repair it, the pen can live in the cocktail glass on my desk. The pen has a fine balance unposted and I will use it often, clip or no clip.

Paddler

Perhaps this will help. To try to learn about some of these mechanisms, I've xrayed old pens. The attached xray shows the broken U-shaped spring that slides beneath the clip on the inside of the plastic portion of the cap. This plastic part then goes on the large metal "inner cap" which is also the cap band. It is glued and difficult to separate, but can sometimes be removed with VERY gentle heat. The problem is the plastic softens and contracts, so it won't fit on the metal inner cap. The little metal disc you refer to is not a disc, but the top of the inner cap. Good luck.
Michael

Sheaffer used an adhesive in their later pen caps that takes considerable heat to soften. I have removed the inner cap from a snorkel, but I don't remember the temperature at the moment. I used a rather expensive Steinel heat gun with controlled temperature and digital readout..... You do need to be careful with Sheaffer plastics though because they may shrink or do weird things when you don't expect it.

The clip has a square hole inside, and the spring fits into that. Easy to take out, not so easy to get back in. I was experimenting, trying to repair a peacock blue cap, but had to remove the spring. Because the plastic was so fragile, even though solvent welded back together it kept breaking, and I gave up and threw the cap away.

The truth is that there are so many Sheaffers out there, you may be better off just replacing the cap if you like the rest of the pen.

Hi Paddler,

If memory serves, the Sovereign II was a WWII era pen (maybe slightly later). The black trim you see might be vermeil (gf over silver) that has oxidized to black. A gentle polish of the trim probably won't hurt, and might reveal some nice gold fill. Of course, if you leave it alone, you can't hurt it.

I really enjoy the "writes two ways" nib grinds that Sheafffer offered. It's great to have one in which the tines are aligned correctly so it writes well both ways.

I really like Miko's x-ray. Great stuff, Miko!!! And, welcome to FPN!


Cheers,
Tom