My new (old) Sheaffers!!

[woodwindmaster06]

I stopped by the Avalon Gallery, where Private Reserve ink is made and there is a nice little fountain pen store there too, and got a chance to take a look at several vintage sheaffers. I came home with two both lever fillers, one is a triumph conical nib, and one a normal semi-flex nib. They are great pens and really good for the price, 30 USD and 50 USD. I also saw Pelikans Place de Corda sp? it is as really beautiful pen but still not as good as the Piazza.

 

I was wondering how you tell what type of nib you get? And also is there anything to date these pens by sheaffer.

 

Also these are my first lever fillers and on the normal traditional nib I heard a hissing afterwards which I am told is normal, but on the triumph nib there was no hissing is this normal of the conical nibs to not hiss??

 

Thanks

A Very fun day for me

Tim

[woodwindmaster06]

Anybody: what is wrong if there is no hissing or ink emptying on a triumph nib??? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

Thanks in Advance

Tim

[Chris]

Tim,

I have a couple or three of the Triumph nib pens. One is a snorkel and one is not (it is a Touchdown). In both cases, I unscrew the end of the barrel and pull out the piston. There is usually a quiet phht noise when it gets to the end.

 

I think if you do this with a nearly full pen it might eject a small blob of ink at this point.

 

Then insert into the ink (all the nib with the Touchdown but just the snokel tube with that type) and smoothly but quite quickly push the piston/plunger back in. There should be a burp of bubbles in the ink. Wait (10 to 30 seconds depending on who tells you) then screw up the end again. Wipe clean.

 

If this doesn't work, I think it means that either the ink sac is old and stiff or the seals are not airtight.

 

Don't pull the plunger out with the nib in the ink or you might suck ink into places it is not meant to be.

 

Not quite the answer to your question, but I hope it helps. Nice pens though, aren't they?

 

Chris

[Maja]

Also these are my first lever fillers and on the normal traditional nib I heard a hissing afterwards which I am told is normal, but on the triumph nib there was no hissing is this normal of the conical nibs to not hiss??

Hi Tim,

 

Congratulations on your purchases! I have not heard any hissing from my lever-fillers...only the sounds Chris described when you fill a Touchdown filler or Snorkel...

 

When you are filling the lever-fillers make sure you fully immerse the nib (and a bit of the section, just to make sure the nib is fully soaking in the ink) and leave it in there for about 7 seconds or so (I know...it's hard to wait that long before trying a new pen out! ) so that the sac fully fills with ink.

 

Enjoy!

[woodwindmaster06]

Thanks for the input I am very happy with these purchases and went back today to switch out the triumph, I came back with a larger triumph I think a 1000, it is a lifetime nib and fills up nicely. I just love vintage pens now all I need to do is find a superflexy!

[Maja]

Thanks for the input I am very happy with these purchases and went back today to switch out the triumph, I came back with a larger triumph I think a 1000, it is a lifetime nib and fills up nicely. I just love vintage pens now all I need to do is find a superflexy!

Nice purchase! Good luck finding a superflexy vintage Sheaffer, though!

(but seriously, if you are looking for vintage flexy nibs, look for some vintage Waterman or Swan pens)

[woodwindmaster06]

These are my first set of sheaffers I love em and would love to get some inlaid nibs or snorkels. I was extremely lucky to find a semiflex sheaffer and doubt i will ever come across a superflexxy sheaffer.

 

What models of waterman and swan should I watch for inparticular?

[Maja]

These are my first set of sheaffers I love em and would love to get some inlaid nibs or snorkels.  I was extremely lucky to find a semiflex sheaffer and doubt i will ever come across a superflexxy sheaffer. 

 

What models of waterman and swan should I watch for inparticular?

Congrats on the semiflexy Sheaffer! They aren't common on Sheaffers, that's for sure....

 

There is a nice article by Dyas A. (Anna) Lawson here on her Paperpenalia.com site (edit: corrected spelling of site!) , which talks about pen companies and flexy nibs. I forgot to include Wahl-Eversharp, which made some nice flexy nibs, in addition to Waterman and Swan.

 

To be honest with you, I can't say which models are guaranteed to have flexy nibs on them, but you can generally tell by the appearance of the nib; the flexy nib's tines will be longer and the nib "shoulders" will be narrower. Some companies were kind enough to put the word "Flexible" right on some of their nibs. That tends to help people like me who are not sure

Edited November 12, 2005 by Maja

[Michael Wright]

You can't tell whether a nib is going to be flexy by the model of the pen, because the makers fitted nibs all the way from flexible to manifold (super rigid) to the same pens. You need to either examine the nib in person, or buy from a reliable seller who will tell you the type of nib. I check by resting the nib on the back of my thumbnail and gently pressing down, with about the same pressure you would use when writing. If it's flexy, you'll see the tines separating.

 

That said, a Waterman 52 is a good pen to have. Basic flat top hard rubber lever filler, lots of them around so not expensive, especially if you can come to love dark brown or olive drab hard rubber rather than black, and as likely as any to be fitted with a flex nib. My only problem with early Watermans is that the feeds don't seem to me to be as reliable as the later finned feeds that various companies developed -- a bit more likely to blob as the pen gets close to empty.

 

Mabie Todd made Swans as their top line, but they also made Blackbirds as an economy, but still good, line of pens, which also have good nibs -- including flex.

 

Eversharp Skylines can sometimes be found with flexible or semi-flex nibs, and they're nice, and v. good VFM when found.

 

The Waterman 7 came with a range of nibs, colour-coded by type. I *think*, but may well be wrong, that the Pink nib (the pen is marked with a coloured band, it's not really a pink-coloured nib) is the flex one, and it has a high reputation. I've never used one. I have, OTOH, got super flexy nibs on a Montblanc 3-44 (quite a brassed-out specimen, so it wasn't really expensive) and a Phillips of Oxford nib on an English Swan Leverless that I got from Pens Plus on the High Street in Oxford. No-name Warranted nibs fitted to the pens of less-well-known manufacturers can also be flexible, and v. pleasant to write with.

 

Enjoy the hunt

 

Michael

[woodwindmaster06]

I have always wondered what are warrenteed nibs??

[Maja]

I have always wondered what are warrenteed nibs??

Richard Binder explains it very well on his website's excellent Glossary ("W" glossary entries here)

[woodwindmaster06]

Okay that explains a lot!