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Sheaffer Vac Fill Restoration


KCat

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Received one of these unrestored. I don't know what sort of condition it is - haven't done a water test yet.

 

But.. from what I read these are tedious to restore and only certain people will restore them. But... i'm willing to try.

 

what are the pitfalls?

 

I've got Da Book and haven't looked to see if Frank had any vac-fill advice.

 

sure is a pretty little pen. it has the "flat ball" clip which according to FPotW was only made in 1935. This is the red striated.

KCat
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Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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I considered getting into vac-fill repairs. I spoke to Richard Binder and he talked me out of it. He doesn't do them. He said that the washers and other parts are not at all standard and you would need a huge inventory of different sizes to do it. I think there were other reasons, but I can't remember. Why not post a question on Pentrace about it - I'll bet he'll answer.

 

Please let me know if you make any progress!

 

Elaine

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Rumours abound of places to obtain parts for these beasts but they are demmed elusive. I converted one into an eye-dropper this morning after having it sitting in pieces in my drawer for months.

Ther are 10 types of people in the world; those who understand binary and those who don't

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Victor Chen (who took over from Fr. Terry) used to stock the pieces parts for vacs (& snorks too). I got the bits from him to repair my Balance.

 

BTW: The plunger gasket that goes on the end of the rod can be made from a piece of bicycle innertube. The packing gasket was from VC. Did have to work on it to make it fit inside the barrel just right but I think that was because I got the wrong size.

 

Some frown on putting a replacement packing on the inside of the barrel but my Balance was NOS and I felt it was the best way to get it working w/o doing too much to the pen. If I want to "put it back" all I have to do is pull the packing gasket out. Besides, the gasket was only 1/16" thick, so it doesn't take up much room and isn't visible.

 

HTH :)

Optimists are always disapointed when things don't work out. Pesimists never are since they expected it. That's why pesimists are happier.

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so here is the dumb question...

 

in reading frank's book, he doesn't talk specifically about the Sheaffer but instead tries to discuss vac-fill repair in a variety of pens. I get confused easily by his uh... use of the English language. :-) so i'm having trouble feeling confident in taking the plunger out. Too many "well, you may have to do this or you may have to do that" statements with drawings that are not terribly good. I haven't looked. I have some of the parts needed though no idea what the packing even looks like at this point because the most I've pull the section.

 

The touchdown and lever-filler i received for repair are in good shape and will have those done today - God willin' and the creek don't rise.

 

I mean that - it's been raining here for 3 days...

 

yes, Leslie, I did take before pics and some "during" pics. so I'll have those to show at some point.

 

thanks everyone for the help.

 

once i can actually disassemble the pen (vac fill) I will be better able to assess if it's something I should try or something I should leave to the experts.

KCat
Save animal lives - support your local animal shelter

My personal blog https://kcdockalscribbling.com

My nature blog https://kcbeachscribbles.com
Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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I don't know if this will help but here is a pic of my Balance field stripped. If you pull the plunger out & look up inside the blind cap you'll see the small round "nut" that screws onto the end of the rod. This acts like a stop for the blind cap. Some use a spanner of sorts to hold this while unscrewing the blind cap from the shaft. I gripped the rod close to the cap with some padded pliers and unscrewed the cap. Then I unscrewed the section and pushed the rod out through the end of the barrel. The cone at the washer end also unscrews. When I put everything back together I coated the rod, inside of the barrel and the washer w/ silicone. Be sure to run the rod through the new packing before you put the packing in the barrel to make it a little easier to do when the packing is in the barrel.

 

Be brave & jump right in!! :ph34r:

 

HTH

 

 

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v155/mr_inky/DSC01166.jpg

Optimists are always disapointed when things don't work out. Pesimists never are since they expected it. That's why pesimists are happier.

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I don't know if this will help but here is a pic of my Balance field stripped.

Thanks Much Mr. Inky!

 

I got it apart although the packing unit looks inpenetrable. It's missing the washer on the plunger which may be really all it needs to function properly. We'll see. First I have to find a washer. :P Hoping Victor still has all the parts. Plus, I thought I had several of the small o-rings for touchdowns and snorks - but can only find the "PFM" sizes. arrggg!

 

fortunately, all this is fun and therapeutic and I can't do data entry on weekends anyway.

 

except for the possible problems with the packing unit - I'm yet to see how difficult this is to repair? the hardest part was getting the *(#$&*($ nut off the plunger. BTB, those little bits of rubber trimmed from sacs? Work great to cushion pliers around that silly little nut. :) of course - my view could change considerably when I go to put it all back together again.

 

thanks again.

k

Edited by KCat

KCat
Save animal lives - support your local animal shelter

My personal blog https://kcdockalscribbling.com

My nature blog https://kcbeachscribbles.com
Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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Wow, this is great info, KCat and mr_inky---thanks!

I am still trying to attempt Touchdown filler and Snorkel repairs, with the help of Dennis' repair DVD :P

 

Maybe this is a stupid question, but if the section is threaded (as opposed to friction-fitted), couldn't a person just fill the barrel with ink like an eyedropper filler?

I know that it would be great to fill the pen the way it was intended, but if the repair doesn't work, it would be nice to still be able to use the pen (other than as a dip pen, of course!)

 

Hey, where is our repair Q & A guy, Dennis Lively, and our other "guru" Keith With a Capital K? :unsure:

 

Good luck, KCat!

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I considered getting into vac-fill repairs. I spoke to Richard Binder and he talked me out of it.  He doesn't do them. He said that the washers and other parts are not at all standard and you would need a huge inventory of different sizes to do it. I think there were other reasons, but I can't remember.  Why not post a question on Pentrace about it - I'll bet he'll answer.

Better still, why not invite him over and let him answer here! It is not like he does not post elswhere besides PT. He has done so on Penlovers, acp-p and zoss.

 

BTW, that is a nice pic mr_inky ;)

Edited by Free Citizen

T-H Lim

Life is short, so make the best of it while we still have it.

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I think the big thing on vac repairs is that to do it "factory" you have to remove the packing unit, which is probably not easy. The common way to repair one is to push the new (rubber) seal / packing down the barrel which is what I did. The repair is not visible and is reversible. Somewhere down the road if I need to replace it I'll do it the right way and pull the seal out before putting the new one in.

 

I've heard that converting vacs to an eyedropper is easy. All you need to do is to seal the blind cap end so nothing can leak out. Then filling is simply a matter of unscrewing the section. I believe that Dennis has done this a number of times.

 

Kcat, If you want to test the packing seal, just use the "mr_inky vac test". Place the section end of the barrel against your tongue and quickly pull the plunger rod back to form a vaccuum. If you can walk around the house with the barrel hanging from your tongue the packing's still good. Great fun at parties too! :lol:

 

BTW: I cut my plunger washer from a piece of bicycle inner tube. Took a while to get the size right but is works great.

 

BTW, that is a nice pic mr_inky

 

Thanks for the complement!

Optimists are always disapointed when things don't work out. Pesimists never are since they expected it. That's why pesimists are happier.

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Maybe this is a stupid question, but if the section is threaded (as opposed to friction-fitted), couldn't a person just fill the barrel with ink like an eyedropper filler?

Eye dropper convrsion is a cinch. I did one yesterday. Dennis recommends using an O ring between the blind cap and barrel and cementing ther two together. Frankly, I wanted reversible so I just used silicone grease on the blind cap threads. It hasn't leaked (so far!).

Ther are 10 types of people in the world; those who understand binary and those who don't

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Maybe this is a stupid question, but if the section is threaded (as opposed to friction-fitted), couldn't a person just fill the barrel with ink like an eyedropper filler?

Good luck, KCat!

 

certainly looks like a straight-forward conversion.

 

but...

 

this isn't my pen and while I may keep one of the 4 I am working on as payment, I'm not sure i will. Since it might be sold by the owner I think the repair should be as close to "true" as possible. Probably the best thing would be to put in a new packing unit without removing the old. If i knew I was going to keep it and couldn't get it to function as intended, then I'd have no problem with making it an eyedropper should the need arise.

 

sure is pretty/

 

so is the no-name burgundy mbl celluloid I cleaned up. wow it's shines! most of the dullness was dirt that had been embedded in the pen. i was able to wash some of it off but had to lightly polish the rest of it. I look forward to posting before and after pics. I was so impressed with the color of that one. unfortunately, the nib is crud. :P

Edited by KCat

KCat
Save animal lives - support your local animal shelter

My personal blog https://kcdockalscribbling.com

My nature blog https://kcbeachscribbles.com
Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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Hi all,

 

sorry for my extended absence. I've been down with a dental emergency for the past week, 2 broken teeth and LOTS of pain meds, and prior to that I was MAJOR league busy. I'll be up and around more later this week.

 

 

Good luck on the repair Kcat. Those seals are a major PITA to either make or find. Let me know how it comes out.

 

Best to all

Dennis

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi KCat, how is the repair going? Yesterday I found a black/gray strieted Sheaffer Vac Fill (the tag says 1959) in a local antique mall, and it does not fill. Being a novice and have no tools or enough knowledge, I am sending it out for a repair. It was really exiciting to find the pen, but cost of repair will be more than what I paid for the pen itself :ph34r:

Edited by Taki
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Hello all,

I bought parts from Victor, very reasonable prices. I also for $2.00 bought Fr Terry's pamphlet on repair of vac fillers, also very worthwhile. I repaired 2 vac fillers this weekend, it maybe took 15 minutes each. Both are working well. I used 2 fills of ink per pen and no leaks. The hardest part is getting the parts apart without damage. I had to make a hooked screw driver to get the threaded washer out of the cap. I made it out of sheet metal, about 12 guage in about 20 minutes, works like a charm. Victor also sells a screwdriver that has been adapted for I think $2-3.00.

My experience is obviously limited, but I didn't find things to be a big deal. By the way, the gaskets for the packing washer replacement come in only three sizes, I used the smallest size for the thin-rod vac fillers and they fit perfectly for 50 cents apiece.

Rob

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Victor Chen (who took over from Fr. Terry) used to stock the pieces parts for vacs (& snorks too). I got the bits from him to repair my Balance.

 

BTW: The plunger gasket that goes on the end of the rod can be made from a piece of bicycle innertube.  The packing gasket was from VC. Did have to work on it to make it fit inside the barrel just right but I think that was because I got the wrong size.

 

Some frown on putting a replacement packing on the inside of the barrel but my Balance was NOS and I felt it was the best way to get it working w/o doing too much to the pen. If I want to "put it back" all I have to do is pull the packing gasket out. Besides, the gasket was only 1/16" thick, so it doesn't take up much room and isn't visible.

 

HTH  :)

Victor still does. Just recently got his reprint of the Fr. Terry catalog - I would suggest that you email him and ask for a catalog too, should you wish to order parts.

 

vwchen@pacbell.net

 

If you'd like me to look anything up in the catalogue I'd be pleased to do so...

 

Gerry

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Victor Chen does stock the parts and Fr. Terry's manual... in addition to that they also carry a tool for cutting washers in a variety of sizes.

 

One of these days I'll get around to stocking enough parts to make these part of my regular services as the procedure itself isn't too difficult... I believe Nathan said it took him eight minutes to refurb the filler on one of these which is even faster than I can do a touchdown or Snorkel.

 

I also like the concept of turning these into eyedropper fillers as long as the work done is reversible... vac cement is an excellent non permanent sealant to use at both ends and once the pen is filled you'll have enough ink there to write for ages.

Edited by Keith with a capital K

Please visit http://members.shaw.ca/feynn/

Please direct repair inquiries to capitalpen@shaw.ca

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Hi Taki.

 

well, after 2 failed attempts to get in touch with Victor Chen for parts, someone let me know that his penopolgy email was rarely answered. I had an older email addy and that got an immediate response from Victor. He is sending the missing bits I need to finish the repair. I would have gone the bycicle rubber route for the plunger gasket except i can't seem to find time to go look for such an item. and don't have neighbours with old flat tires lying around. :)

 

so... as soon as I get the parts I'll tackle the rest of the job. I may do what others suggest and leave the original packing unit in (if indeed it is there, I can't see anything in there) and just put in the new. I'm told this usually works and doesn't steal that much space from the pen.

 

shoot - i didn't see the cutting tool in the "catalog" - if I had, i'd probably have bought one. oh well.. i'll irritate V in a few weeks or months with another small parts request.

KCat
Save animal lives - support your local animal shelter

My personal blog https://kcdockalscribbling.com

My nature blog https://kcbeachscribbles.com
Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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This is a great thread; thanks for all the info, everyone! :)

 

I have a few Sheaffer vac-fillers and am interested in learning how to repair them, as Sheaffer fp's have become my main focus in the last six months.....I have sent off an e-mail to Victor asking for more info on parts, manuals, etc.... Good to know that this type of fp repair is still "doable" by amateurs, albeit with some training and the proper parts!

 

I did get a bit worried when I saw that Richard Binder didn't offer this particular repair service, as I know he is very knowledgeable.

When Sherrell Tyree of ink-pen.com (a well-known Sheaffer restorer) gave a seminar on Sheaffer history at the Portland Pen Show, she said that she would never attempt to fix a vac-fill with a cracked barrel; there was too great a chance of it breaking, even after gluing, etc. Something to keep in mind, I guess....

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