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All My "white Dot" Pens Are From Local Antique Stores This Year.


KBeezie

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Something about the early "White Dot" Sheaffers. I've had a few before, but this is where I'm at now.


Coincidentally, while most of what I own came from trades online, as well as purchases online, all of the white dot Sheaffers I currently own were Antique Store finds since January of this year.


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The "Pastel Green" Sheaffer Snorkel Statesman (1950s) with a PdAg (palladium silver) Medium nib was purchased on my wedding day while I stayed away from the venue browsing the antique mall over by my inlaw's place (Williamston, Mi).


I wasn't to be near the venue for a couple hours and found that familiar pen shape in one of the booths having a closing up sale of 30% off. It was originally a Valiant (14K gold Triumph nib), but I took the nib from the second find of the year.


This particular one I'm not keeping as another one in this set already replaces it as my favorite 'medium' nib of the group.


The Grey Sheaffer Snorkel Valiant (1952) with a 14K EF nib was found here in Grand Rapids, Michigan at a little place called Back in Time Antiques just off Division and 44th Street. The set was already a rather attractive price, but I haggled down to under 20 being unsure of the internal condition and the nib/tube was looking black from external observation.


Getting it home and cleaning it up I was surprised to find that it had a solid 14K gold snorkel tube (making it a first year 1952 model), which isn't impacted by inks like iron gall (though the tube can still be clogged). I didn't care for how the PdAg nib looked against both the gold trim of the cap but also the 14K gold tube, so I put the PdAg nib onto the green Snorkel, and took the 14K EF nib off an old Sheaffer Desk pen I had cannibalized for parts, especially as I really really liked the EF nib off that desk pen. Unfortunately since the nib unit differed (thin band versus thick band), I actually had to work down the shellac and unscrew the actual nib itself off of the collar and feed in order to get it onto the grey one.


I went a step further with the grey one, and replaced the latex sac with a PVC one ( can be found here ) , because I wanted to be able to use Iroshizuku Syo-ro, one of my favorite inks, but because it's an alkaline ink, it would rupture a latex sac. Due to having a metal sac protector, it was save to use a PVC sac, and also as a result safe to use modern alkaline inks. (you do lose a tiny bit of capacity due to PVC not being quite as responsive to pneumatic pressure change as latex, but it's very easy to top off a Snorkel as needed).


It is currently my favorite of this grouping. It is currently inked with Iroshizuku Syo-ro (don't put this into a snorkel unless it has a PVC sac).


The Black Sheaffer Triumph (1940s) with a 14K "Lifetime" Triumph Medium nib (which also does a fine cursive italic on the flip side, something they advertised capable of doing / "It writes both ways!") was found in an Antique shop over in Holland, Michigan, which actually has quite a few fountain pens (albeit a little on the high price for a few up into the range of $6,500 down to around $300). The place being called "Not too Shabby". I was visiting with my wife after we had just stopped by an animal shelter to show off scrubs from her work place to place orders for them.


I was offered $20 if I paid in cash, this is actually the only pen in all of the pens I have where I actually asked for my wife's permission and paid her back (since it was the cash from her wallet).


I kept this one with a latex sac as the grip being translucent is a celluloid grip while the rest of the body is plastic (PVC will destroy celluloid). Also I didn't want to fuss with a silicone sac on this one. It's actually one of the easier ones to restore because the grip unscrews from the barrel, and you can just attach the sac right there, and can just unscrew it as needed if you didn't get it quite right (and doesn't need to be sealed since it's a lever filler).


This is my second favorite, nice wet medium, smooth with a touch of tactile feedback writing a medium line across and a fine line down and always ready to write. It is currently inked with Waterman Inspired Blue.


The last one I got today, a Blue Sheaffer Imperial IV (1960s?) with a 14K EF (possibly), Touchdown Filling that I just got finished restoring and did a water test. Polished up the trims and installed a PVC sac (same one meant for snorkels from Nishimura's site), talc'd it, and applied some rosin (also from his site) to the threads and greased up the rods. The existing o-ring (which seems to be original Sheaffer being a grey-ish flat o-ring) still holds a good seal, though I will eventually replace that with a fresh one for a better pneumatic action.


It came from a local antique mall here in Grand Rapids off 28th and Kalamazoo called Wally's treasures. The same location I got a beautiful red Parker Challenger from that I also cleaned up and restored. Saw this one at the same time I got the Challenger back in February but was hesitant to get it until today. The location has the same stock as I saw several months ago in regards to fountain pens, and they only have one more that is a 3rd tier brand with a pretty mangled steel nib.


I have not tested it yet, and might not be a fan of the clutch cap, but it is without a doubt one of my prettier ones.

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Not only do I admire your shopping skills but I appreciate you naming names of the stores.

 

Must be a matter of right time/right place, as I'm from Grand Rapids and live in Holland now and have missed seeing anything worthwhile in my wanderings.

 

Well done,

 

gary

Edited by gary
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I'm going to have schedule semi-regular trips it seems... The local antique store in Lowell (granted, there are more than one, but its the only one where I found pens) tends to get seen monthly (when I pay the electric bill).

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I'm going to have schedule semi-regular trips it seems... The local antique store in Lowell (granted, there are more than one, but its the only one where I found pens) tends to get seen monthly (when I pay the electric bill).

I was unaware there was one in Lowell.

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I was unaware there was one in Lowell.

On the block between the one-way streets -- West of the clock outside of Reagan Dentistry.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lowell,+MI+49331/@42.9341109,-85.3402865,19.5z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8818500be42e6aab:0x7edcb636eb1c6ea0!8m2!3d42.9336426!4d-85.3419609

 

North Star Antiques is listed as "furniture" but has lots of smaller stuff... Unfortunately, only one or two pens at a time (I've bought a silver Esterbrook LJ that DIDN'T need resaccing! and then a few months later, at nearly 50% more, a green SJ that I do have to still resac). Last time I looked they had an early 60s (round end) Sheaffer "School" pen. (I think North Star and Journeys Time are the same store).

 

Red Barn Consignment doesn't have as much selection... But does have a large display of recent production Matchbox cars, and a bulk candy area...

 

Don't recall if I've checked out Flat River Antique Emporium... Think this one really is mostly furniture. It also means crossing the street.

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