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The Fountain Pen Network > Brand Focus > The Sheaffer Forum
Garageboy
Is there a list of dimensions for all the Balance sizes?
rroossinck
Probably too many to count, but Dr. Isaacson would probably be the best one to make that call.
david i
QUOTE (rroossinck @ Jul 23 2008, 01:08 PM) *
Probably too many to count, but Dr. Isaacson would probably be the best one to make that call.


Nah, i'm just a wee dabbler in things Sheaffer. wink.gif

Think richard has some measurements up, though I vaguely recall i use a bit of different descriptive schema. Though, come to think of it, that's pretty typical lticaptd.gif

-d
Univer
Hi,

Here's the link to Richard's Balance profile, including the size chart.

Cheers,

Jon
Ray-Vigo
The measurements on Richard's website, I think, are good guidelines- have a look at them.

Do remember too though that the sizes are never "exactly" the same. You do find pens within a supposed size range that are a little bigger or a little smaller today. For example, I've got two nice slender Balances that are not perfectly the same girth and the same length, or even perfectly the same shape. Age and manufacturing tolerances and changes do cause some variation from pen to pen.
david i
QUOTE (Garageboy @ Jul 23 2008, 11:57 AM) *
Is there a list of dimensions for all the Balance sizes?



Too, and while i realize it's not quite what you are asking, getting a sense of the relative sizes of the pens often is of great help.

Key is to know the pens can be had in three girths, Oversize, Standard and Slender

By the late (striped plastic) Balance era, pens are are catalogued as:

1) Oversize (Long and Fat)
2) Standard (Long)
3) Slender Long
4) Slender Short.

Also well known but perhaps not catalogued in the late colors is

5) Standard (short)

Earlier colors i believe are catalogued in the Short Standard size.

So now we have 5 sizes.

Oversize
Standard Long
Standard Short
Slender Long
Slender Short.

Furthermore, a number of earlier colors are found in an extra-short Slender size most refer to as "vest pocket" though in keeping with the ebove schema for now let's just keep extra-short Slender

Leaves us with 6 sizes, not all colors available in all sizes

Oversize
Standard Long
Standard Short (some call Stubby Standard)
Slender Long
Slender Short
Slender Extra-Short

To make things worse, whilst pens after the first year or two- when available in a given girth as both White Dot and non White Dot models- are of the same length, the earliest pens in at least Standard size are longer in White Dot trim than in non-white dot. They also are longer than later similar niche pens. OS pens are longer than later OS pens.

Thus a "first year" white-dot Jade color Standard (long standard) is longer both than later Long Standard but is longer than a similar era non-white-dot Standard. An early OS is longer than a later OS. These really are not considered separate sizes from the above 6, as they are more variants on a given size, but some of us will refer to such pens as "extra long" Whatevers.

Don't even get me started on the Semi-Stubby Standard...

regards

david
Garageboy
That was exactly what I was looking for

What is the size closest to an Esterbrook SJ?
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