Hi,

Can anybody give me some guidance on the value of a PFM demonstrator in good condition. I found several references on the web noting the rarity of these pens but no data on the actual value.

Thanks for any help you can give...

/Woody

OOOOOH!!!!

I have yet to see or hear of a PFM Demonstrator.

Not that I could afford it but $500 plus? $600 ????

I don't have my notes with me, so going from memory. I can remember three or four of these selling in the last few years. Condition is (as always) important, but I think these sold in the $400-700 range.

gregM

I'd say a good PFM demo would be in excess of $800, they rarely come up.

Roger W.

http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Sheaffer/SheafferPFM.htm

I presume?

Higher than what has been posted so far.

A lot.

Higher than what has been posted so far.

A lot.

I have seen them sell during the last 4 years from $400-900. If clean, given what Snorks are doing, i'd guess higher. Clean is key. Many of these have internal cracks.
regards
david

Thanks for the replies everybody. I would love to post pictures but I don't have the pen. I should get a look at it tomorrow. I don't even know the asking price. I will post some pictures if it works out.

Aside from internal cracks is there anything specific to these pens that I should look out for?

And a final question... I have seen one of these before and it had some kind of black mask painted on the inside of the cap. This is also shown on the pictures in the link posted above. Does anybody know the purpose of this? It certainly doesn't add to the looks.

/Woody

Woody;

The black masking looks better than the inner cap showing through as usually there is an adhesive looking stuff around it that is not very attractive. The best models retain the black masking as Sheaffer was only wanting to demonstrate the clip spring only on the cap. Therefore, any degree of black masking degredation is points against the pen.

Roger W.

Thanks for the information Roger. I actually have a demo cap sitting here which has the black mask removed. The adhesive is rather nasty looking so I see why they added it.

/Woody

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I borrowed the pen for the weekend to give it a thorough inspection. It is pretty clean overall but does have a few issues...

1. There is a small area of the black mask missing. The owner stored it in a box for years and when he removed it one time the mask had adhered to the lining and was pulled off. The rest is intact and uniform.

2. There is some gunk at the threaded joint between the section and barrel. Most of it is beeswax from what I can see. I assume this can be disassembled and cleaned easily?

3. The seal behind the feed isn't perfect and some ink has leaked into the threads behind it. I assume this is another one which is easy to correct?

4. There are a few small stress fractures. One just behind the seal at the end of the barrel. One in the cap where the gold ring is pressed in above the cap (this part looks like it is simply a bearing surface for the clip spring?). Finally, a group of them in the barrel threads. I can't really tell if these are cracks but they only exist in the threads, not all the way through to the outside surface of the pen.

The nib is a fat broad and the joint around the section looks perfect. The pen fills and expels water as it should. The plastic and trim are all bright and have no issues other than some very minor surface scratches.

I know it is difficult to grade a pen without touching and seeing it yourself but I would love to have some help narrowing down a fair offer for this pen. I think I have described and illustrated all the defects I have found. Thanks for looking and thanks for any help you can provide.

/Woody

DBD

If it is beeswax in the threads, warm water and an old toothbrush should take it out safely. It takes time, but works well for removing wax.

Thank you for the advice. I will try that if I buy the pen. Can someone point out some instructions on how to disassemble the section? It could use a cleaning.

I seem to remember the owner of Bexley pens had a demo PFM on ebay within the last year, and put a heads-up on the board. My hazy memory is that he was asking about 2.5Kish USD for it, although I believe it was in excellent conditon.

cheers
eric

It was a demo version of the 1997 Sheaffer's Balance LE. Very few were made.

This is definitely not a pen for do-it-yourself, unless you have a LOT of experience with PFM repair.

Note that the black masking is on the outside, not the inside. If on the inside, it wouldn't come off. As is, wear and polishing takes it down. Frankly, I don't see a big difference in market price for pens with or without fully intact black masking. If there were, people would start putting it back, which wouldn't be at all difficult: black lacquer in an airbrush and presto!