Here are a few interesting pictures from the repair department at Sheaffer HQ.
The repair centers will be in our Philadelphia Warehouse in a month or so.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Am I right to assume from the pictures that Sheaffer will be undertaking vintage pen repair?

You've got a nice assortment there.

Ray, that's just the tip of the iceberg. I can't feed all the pictures to you guys
yet because I'd give half the board a heat attack.

adyf-

We will not be repairing vintage models that Sheaffer does not repair. I am
making arrangements that will make repair of vintage Sheaffers possible with
real Sheaffer parts through a couple of partners. I am working to make Sheaffer
into a better brand in the USA so that we can build it back to some semblance
of its former self. Obviously we'll have a few hiccups along the way but in the
end I think everyone will be happy.

Not if I figure out the route your using....

I think that's great- my old Sheaffers are among the best pens I have. I've got a new (to me) late 1920s era Flat Top on the way that I can't wait to add to the stable. If it's as good as my others, then I think I'm in for a treat.

That's great news. I have a couple of PFM's that are amongst my favourite pens.

Wow, thats awesome. Thats something I would love to see in person. Please post some more pics! I've been trying to find a PFM pen and pencil for a while. Thanks for sharing those pictures!

Please don't take this as intending to criticize. Rather, it is just my gut reaction of concern. I would love to see more pictures and am very glad that you're part of our community. Welcome, by the way!

What I'd like to know is: what about the repair folks in Ft. Madison? Are they packing up the shop and training their replacements right now? I did this at my own job (of 18 years) last summer, so I can't help but thinking about these folks. I had the not-so-enviable task of training Chinese engineers to replace me. I loved each and every one of them - they are lovely people.

I know you're not the one responsible for these people's well being nor their careers, so again please don't take this as a criticism of you or Sheaffer/Bic. Stuff like this happens all of the time and all of us just have to roll with the punches. I'm sure you're not at liberty to discuss severance packages and the like; I'd just like to know what's to become of the few folks that have had careers doing this work, and what they're up to right now.

Thanks for any response you'd care to share. And yes, more pictures please!


Cheers,
Tom

Tom-

They are packing up the repair center. A couple of the folks out there are just going to retire because they
are at that age. A couple of them are going back to school and will be funded by the NAFTA bill. I know there
will be a few people hanging around for a couple of year until everything is done. I have really come to appreciate
the folks in Ft. Madison, they are great people. It's a sad moment but we all have things like this to deal with
in our lives. They'll move on.

Thanks for the response. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

The Trade Act (TAA/TRA) is a great for folks that find themselves in need of training. And, retirement can be a beautiful thing! It's almost as difficult for the folks that carry on in a company where this happens as it is for those that hit the road. It's just good to know there's someone like you working with them that is a collector and user of fountain pens, someone that has some sensitivity for where they're at and what they've done during their careers. Please let them know, from those of us that appreciate all of the good stuff (and great service!) that's come out of Ft. Madison for the last century, that we're thinking about them!

Again, thank you for sharing your enthusiasm. Keep the eye candy coming, please! You've got a job that many of us would love!


Cheers,
Tom

First of all, all I want is a handful of PFMs from that box. I'm happy to hear that you are trying to restore Sheaffer to its former glory. I love my Sheaffer vintage pens. I hope that you are considering a new release of a PFM or PFM-like pen.

Jon

Sheaffer USA: Who are you? I don't need your SSN, I'm just interested in what capacity you are involved with Sheaffer.

I am the National Accounts Manager for Hampton-Haddon, the US Distributor for Sheaffer Pens.
My name is David MacDougall and I am a penaholic. I worked for A.T. Cross as a sales rep for
a couple years and moved my way into middle-management at Cross and lived through the series
of decisions to have rep agencies and then back to factory reps. I was deemed immortal by the
National Sales manager at Cross because I kept coming back through each successive decision to
change sales and management plans. After a while I grew sick of the management decisions and
I chose to leave instead of being a whiner. I left the pen business and was a rep for a Home Decor/
Gift Rep agency and then helped launch a fashion watch line in the US.
A couple of years ago I came back to the pen business and helped get Waterford Writing Instruments
kickstarted again with Hampton-Haddon. Last February we became the distributor for Sheaffer Pens
and after some inital thoughts of (oh sh*t, not THAT brand) I have come to appreciate what Sheaffer
means to so many people. With each passing day I become more aware and appreciative of what
Sheaffer once was. I hope to restore Sheaffer Pen's credibility and continue to push to revitalize Sheaffer
with relevant and exciting new products.

I can't upload any more pictures, my 4.59mb are all used up.

Hi David
You could use
www.photobucket.com
They'll let you load a whole bunch of pictures .
Then we can go drool all over their servers.

Steve

Good for you and welcome to FPN. In any case, let the fine people that are retiring from Sheaffer that they should join this forum so that we can send them our vintage pens for them to work on. It could be a nice income for "retired" folks.

What's all that interesting stuff inside the glass bottles? Anybody knows?

Ondina, I think those are the white dots...they lose some mysticism...I won't look again!

I thought they looked like those little saccharin pills one used to see.

Geez, you're right!. And miser me that was expecting them to be misterious curative FP pills!!

Congratulations on repossitioning Sheaffer in its original quality status. I´m here in Argentina and it would be very nice if everything could be replicated here. To give you some examples here we are not able to choose wich nib we want. We just have to buy the pen over the desk, or wait sometimes over a year. And any warranty here is not possible. If you brake a nib you have to buy a new pen, and if it is a vintage pen you have to use a donor pen. As vintage I say Targa For Example. Hope this can extend further south in the continent.

Best regards.

MS