I have a Schaeffer Cadet (pastel green, fine nib) that came from my mother-in-law's house. I'd forgotten about it as there were many other things to worry about at the time, but I'd like to see if I can get the pen in working order.

The pen appears to be in complete and in good condition, except for a missing ink sac. I'm unfamiliar with this style of pen, so I don't know what else to look for in terms of what parts will wear or age and need replacement.

Where can I get a new sac? Any ideas what else needs to be investigated?

Thanks in advance!

Jamie

Jim Mamoulides, a regular here, has a profile of this pen and its 'relative' the Sheaffer Craftsman on his website http://penhero.com/PenGallery/Sheaffer/SheafferTipDip.htm. I am not certain about the repair process on this particular pen, but it will definitely require disassembling the pen and attaching a sac to the appropriate part with an adhesive, usually shellac. Sacs can be purchased from Woodbin (http://simcom.on.ca/woodbin/) online or the Pen Sac Company (http://www.pencentral.com/pensac.htm) or perhaps some other places.

Alternately, a qualified repair person could do the work for you for a small fee (usually $15-$30). People often mentioned in connection with pen repair are Dennis Lively (http://virtualinfamy.com/penden/), Sherrell Tyree (http://www.ink-pen.com/), Aaron Svabik (http://www.pentiques.com), Richard Binder (http://www.richardspens.com) and many others. See this thread for more discussion of repair people for Sheaffer pens.

These Touchdown fillers are quite reliable, often needing only a sac replacement to be in perfect working order, if that. I'm sure others here can provide you with more details on sac size and repair process.

Just a few things to add (an overview - there are more details to a repair, but these are the general steps):

The Tip-Dip pens are great pens to learn how to repair a Touchdown filler. There are only two things to replace, the first, the sac, is very easy to replace, not much different than a lever filler, and I think much easier.

The barrel unscrews at the section, usually quite easily. Under the barrel will be a metal tube attached to the back end of the nib section. The sac is under this tube. This device is called the sac protector and simply pulls off. It's friction fit over a snap ridge on the section. Replace the sac with a proper replacement (sac companies will state which size fits the pen) and you're done for most Tip-Dip pens. Make sure to have some proper orange shellac to seal the sac so it stays in place.

To do a "complete" job, you're going to need to replace the o-ring in the end of the barrel. This seals the barrel when the Touchdown tube is depressed so that all the air pressure it generates is working on the ink sac inside the sac protector. A bad o-ring will mean a pen that is weak filling or won't fill at all. You have to take the plunger tube out of the pen to get to it. A long screwdriver inserted into the open end of the barrel will engage the screw inside the base of the tube and that will allow you to take the plunger cap off and then push the tube out of the wide end of the barrel.

The o-ring is located near the base of the barrel and is friction fit against a ridge there. Replacements for o-rings are available at the same places sacs are sold and from other pen repair sources.

Put the pen back together and water test it. It should whoosh nicely and fill fully. The acid test is when it produces a strong stream of water when expelled.