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Vacumatic Questions


majolo

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I'm thinking of possibly getting my first vintage pen later this year, and looking around, I really like the look of the Parker vacumatics, specifically the crosswise-striated ones (I guess they are called "pearl"?). I read the pages on them at Richard Binder's site, and I have a couple questions left.

 

Do I understand right that the body has some transparency where the ink is contained, so the ink level can be seen?

 

What sort of volume do you get on a fill? I suppose this would vary by the size, and possibly the year if I read the website correctly. (I'm used to just modern converter and piston pens. I would intend to get a pen that's fully restored with a new diaphragm if I do it.)

 

For a restored pen, are there any usability/durability issues between eras, like with the plastic plunger versus earlier?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

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They are transparent, but one cannot see the ink level. They take around 1.5 ml. When a pen has been restored it will usually have a new plunger unless the old one is still all right; the new ones are generally ugly and the old metal ones may be very beautiful but they all do the job.

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My understanding is that the amount of ink depends on how long the breather tube is (i.e., the maximum ink capacity will only be to the height of the tube when the nib is facing down). I ran into that problem with one of the small Vacs I have -- it just didn't seem to have the ink capacity that I was expecting, even after having been serviced (new diaphragm, etc). I had it checked out a couple of months later (I had it initially done at DCSS last year at the Indy-Pen-Dance table). Mike Kennedy checked and/or replaced everything again under warranty, and still couldn't figure out what the problem was. :wallbash: So that pen (a Brown Shadow Wave Debutante), doesn't get a lot of use, as a result -- it would be okay for quick notes, but NOT for writing the Great American Novel because it would have to be refilled fairly often.

OTOH, my Silver Pearl Vac Major seems to hold a ton of ink.... :thumbup: I just filled it yesterday, and a single fill from a 2 ml sample vial used up most of the fill.

I would not call Vacs transparent so much as translucent. The "standard" colors (with the concentric rings like what it sounds as if what you want, majolo, will vary in transparency depending on condition: a lot of times there will be ambering of the barrel, which comes from (IIRC) contact with the ink and some off-gassing between the interaction between the ink and the rubber in the diaphragm. It gets a little harder to see, even when you hold the pen up to the light, when you're dealing with the "Shadow Wave" celluloids -- but my Red Shadow Wave Vac Junior is STILL one of my prettiest pens, IMO. :rolleyes: I just have to remember to always have my bottle of Waterman Mysterious Blue close at hand -- that may actually be the first bottle of ink I use up, because I've had that pen in rotation since I got it last summer at DCSS, and that's the only ink I've put in it....

I don't have one of the black Vacs, so I couldn't say about transparency on them one way or the other.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I'm thinking of possibly getting my first vintage pen later this year, and looking around, I really like the look of the Parker vacumatics, specifically the crosswise-striated ones (I guess they are called "pearl"?). I read the pages on them at Richard Binder's site, and I have a couple questions left.

 

Do I understand right that the body has some transparency where the ink is contained, so the ink level can be seen?

 

What sort of volume do you get on a fill? I suppose this would vary by the size, and possibly the year if I read the website correctly. (I'm used to just modern converter and piston pens. I would intend to get a pen that's fully restored with a new diaphragm if I do it.)

 

For a restored pen, are there any usability/durability issues between eras, like with the plastic plunger versus earlier?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

The barrels on the 'crosswise-striated' pens are made from alternating sheets of celluloid; one sheet is colored, the other was clear. After 75 or so years many have lost some degree of transparency. On a very clean Vacumatic it is quite easy to see the ink level, Parker marketed this feature with tag lines such as "Full Television Ink Supply".

 

The volume of ink will depend on the size of the pen. Parker changed model sizes and designations from time to time but the barrel size will determine how much ink a pen can hold. As mentioned a properly restored pen should have a breather tube of the correct length; the tube should extend to just below the end of the diaphragm when fully extended for filling. In the case of a lockdown filler, the breather tube should end just short of the diaphragm when in the locked position.

 

The plastic fillers are the most durable despite their being called disposable by Parker. If you purchase a properly restored pen you should not need to worry about the exact filler that is present in the pen, all the fillers operate on the same principle.

 

A quick note on pricing. Vacumatic pens range from ~75 for a single jewel mid-40s pen to several thousand for the more unusual/rare models. You should be able to find a fully restored Vacumatic for around $100 with a warranty covering the filling system.

San Francisco International Pen Show - The next “Funnest Pen Show” is on schedule for August 23-24-25, 2024.  Watch the show website for registration details. 
 

My PM box is usually full. Just email me: my last name at the google mail address.

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