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1910S Sheaffer - Nib Repair Or Replace?


Ray-Vigo

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I bought a pen recently that I think is a fairly early Sheaffer - it's a slender pen with an imprint that has an "S" with a picture of pen going through the S. It has threads on the barrel, but the threads are of a wider diameter and stick out. It seems like a 1910s era pen. Color is OK, nothing great. I had to replace the rotted spring bar.

The nib has one tine that broke off right below the tipping and a small breather hold crack. It's a #2 self-filling nib.

Is this the sort of pen where it would actually be worth having the nib repaired? It came out of a second hand junk sale for like $30. Or is it more effective to look for another #2 nib for the pen?

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#2 self fillers are available, but maybe not with that stamping. I would expect repairing a tine, in addition to retipping to be expensive. Greg can do it, as could John. I don't know of anybody else who could.

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It depends on what kind of your nib is. If it has a teardrop shape vent hole which is quite early and not so easy to find, I think repairing is a better idea.

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It depends on what kind of your nib is. If it has a teardrop shape vent hole which is quite early and not so easy to find, I think repairing is a better idea.

I'd be surprised if the nib had a tear drop vent hole as it should be just past that time period. By 1915 the Progressive Pen Company was making at least some if not all of Sheaffers nibs and they had a heart shaped punch. The two owners of the company were persuaded to sell to Sheaffer with one remaining for many years in Ft. Madison, Winfield Kay, which I write about in the issue of the Pennant currently coming out.

 

Roger W.

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1915 would be one of the oldest pens I have. Most of the stuff I have is after WWI. I repaired the pressure bar, disassembled and cleaned the pen about 3 months ago. But I hit a stopping point with the nib issue and put it aside in a box. At this point, it's the only pen I have in the box that I have not gotten to repair fully, so I thought it time to re-visit.

 

I appreciate the information. I had guessed a nib repair might run $50 originally. Do you think it would be even more than that? I wish I had a spare early #2 self-filling nib in my parts box, but I don't have anything that old.

Edited by Ray-Vigo
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I had guessed a nib repair might run $50 originally. Do you think it would be even more than that?

 

Greg charges $70 plus return shipping to retip. If part of the tine has broken off, its likely that he would have to rebuild that part of the nib, so significantly more. He has a laser welder, so can do quite a bit for a nib.

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So this sounds pretty expensive then. I guess you could call it a broken tine. It broke off right below where the tipping began from the look of it. The other tine is intact. There's a tiny crack at the breather hole as well. I'm leaning toward locating a decent substitute #2 Sheaffer from roughly the same era, re-saccing, and then calling it 'good'. This project got sidelined when I located a rather nice #34 smooth black hard rubber Sheaffer. The 34 was a larger pen with a nicer nib and that took up my time restoring.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Can you post a picture of the broken nib? Might be easier to source a replacement knowing what to look for. Replacement nib will almost certainly be less than a tine rebuild and retip.

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. 
 

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I think this imprint is circa 1915. It is one of my favorites.

 

Roger W.

I thought that this was the imprint that came after the "squared S with an arrow through it" imprint. Did they have that imprint until 1914, or am I missing an imprint somewhere?

 

Thank you

Nathaniel Harter
Sheaffer Pen Museum Volunteer
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