Snorkel Dilemma

[pajaro]

Fairly recently I bought a desk pen on ebay that turned out to be a Snorkel, open nib, not conical. It has a great extra fine nib, but has probably a bad sac. I took the pen apart and looked at Richard Binder's instructions on restoring the Snorkel. At that point I thought about taking the nib out and putting it in another pen. I saw a couple of NOS Touchdown desk pens, restored, on ebay for little more than the cost of having someone else restore this Snorkel. If I have the Snorkel restored, it will just need another expensive restoration in a few years, but I can do the Touchdown myself. So, I am wondering if there is something about the Snorkel that makes it worth the trouble and expense. .

[Gudi]

You can fill that last drop of ink without a syringe.

 

Now seriously: I just love the ingenuity of the snorkel and using it is totally different than filling any other pen. It has its problems too, like cleaning the feed. So it's up to you if you want the trouble of maintaining it in order to appreciate the exquisite filling mechanisms.

[makas]

Hello Pajaro

 

If you are servicing touchdowns you can service a snorkel. It isn't that much more. I think the hardest thing on the snorkel is the "o"ring. If you are thinking about moving the nib what do you have to loose? If you fix it and then someday you run across a PFM you are set to fix it also. Every new pen you can fix opens another door. Everyone should have at least one snorkel even if it is just to shoot water across the room.

 

Have fun!

 

Mark

[redbike]

For me the greatest challenge in restoring a Snorkel is getting the correct alignment of the Snorkel tube with the nib, and the correct length of the Snorkel tube from the sac section. Otherwise it's as easy as a TD restoration.

[pajaro]

You can fill that last drop of ink without a syringe.

 

Now seriously: I just love the ingenuity of the snorkel and using it is totally different than filling any other pen. It has its problems too, like cleaning the feed. So it's up to you if you want the trouble of maintaining it in order to appreciate the exquisite filling mechanisms.

I appreciate the elegant engineering of the Snorkel. After trying to start into disassembly, I wondered if it might not be time to stop playing at pen repairman.

[pajaro]

Hello Pajaro

 

If you are servicing touchdowns you can service a snorkel. It isn't that much more. I think the hardest thing on the snorkel is the "o"ring. If you are thinking about moving the nib what do you have to loose? If you fix it and then someday you run across a PFM you are set to fix it also. Every new pen you can fix opens another door. Everyone should have at least one snorkel even if it is just to shoot water across the room.

 

Have fun!

 

Mark

I found it hard to get the Snorkel apparatus apart. This might be one of those projects that languishes.

[pajaro]

For me the greatest challenge in restoring a Snorkel is getting the correct alignment of the Snorkel tube with the nib, and the correct length of the Snorkel tube from the sac section. Otherwise it's as easy as a TD restoration.

If you say so. This is good information. I'm not sure I will be able to get the Snorkel apart. I can keep trying to get it apart, send it off or make it a pen tray sample. It has the nicest nib I have found in a Sheaffer. Murphy at work.

[Ron Z]

 

 

If I have the Snorkel restored, it will just need another expensive restoration in a few years,

 

 

This is where I part company with many other pen mechanics. This needn't be the case. I contend that given the vulnerability of the internal parts of a snorkel to damage by exposure to water or ink and the rate at which I have seen latex sacs have failed in snorkels a synthetic (PVC) sac should be used, not latex. Though not perfect, a synthetic sac will last much longer than a latex sac, so therefore is less likely to leak, and therefore you are less likely to have parts inside rust. About 5 years ago I quit using latex sacs in snorkels, and have had very few problems with the pens restored since then.

 

Because the sac is a bit stiffer than a latex sac I also did a test- measuring how much water was taken out of a graduated container of water, then filling a clear sac with the same amount. The pen was nearly filling the sac.

 

Just make sure that you have replaced the 0-ring in the barrel, replaced the point holder gasket, and also seal the section threads with thread sealant, which is what the Sheaffer service department recommended. David Nishimura and Anderson pens have the data I supplied on the type of material and factory specifications for dimensions and durometer. If they have ordered their stock using this information, your pen will fill better than if you use off the shelf, generic 0-rings. They're a bit bigger, and a bit softer than what we had 10 years ago, so grip the TD tube better and provide a better seal.

[pajaro]

Stalk is a bit slanted in this pen.