Sheaffer Tip-Dips,

[Johnny Appleseed]

I was trying to put together a list of all the possible styles and variations of Sheaffer Tip-Dips, and wanted to clarify a few points on the colors.

 

First - thank you to Jim Mamoulides (PenHero) for the excellent article, "Sheaffer Tip-Dip Touchdown Pens 1953-c1963", from which this information comes.

 

So there were two basic models of Tip-dip, the Craftsman and the Cadet. Can I presume that the available colors were the same colors as used in the Snorkel series (with a more limited selection)? In other words, was the "Aqua" Blue on a tip-dip the same "Pastel Blue 'Aqua' (Y)" as the snorkel?

 

Cadet - essentially a silver-trim Admiral with a plastic body and cap.

Available colors (and catalog codes from Richard Binder's Snorkel Profile):

Early colors (circa 1954)

Jet Black (L)

Burgundy (N)

Pastel Green (Y)

Pastel Blue (“Aqua”) (V)

Pastel Grey (Q)

 

Late Colors (possibly post 1956, but at least by 1963)

Black (?)

Burgundy (25)

Blue (?)

Sage Green (20)

 

 

Craftsman - plastic body, chrome-plated cap. 1953-sometime before 1963.

Available Colors:

Jet Black (L)

Burgundy (N)

Pastel Green (Y)

Pastel Blue (“Aqua”) (V)

Pastel Grey (Q)

 

 

Cadet "23" - Like the Cadet, but gold-filled trim, 14K "23" nib.

Black (?)

Burgundy (25)

Blue (?)

Sage Green (20)

 

So now the questions -

Do the tip-dip colors match the Snorkel colors, as I have assumed?

Is there any example or evidence of the Craftsman with the later colors?

Does the Burgundy follow the same trend of having two different shades pre-1956 and post-1956 as the Snorkel?

What Blue is used in the later colors? Of the Cadet 23 in the earlier?

 

And one nib question - was there FG1 or SG1 nibs? (I would assume not.)

 

John

Edited December 17, 2009 by Johnny Appleseed

[diplomat]

I was trying to put together a list of all the possible styles and variations of Sheaffer Tip-Dips, and wanted to clarify a few points on the colors.

 

[...]

 

Cadet "23" - Like the Cadet, but gold-filled trim, 14K "23" nib.

Black (?)

Burgundy (25)

Blue (?)

Sage Green (20)

 

[...]

 

Hello, interesting thread.

 

I do have a "23" which is pastel green, I believe. Or at least is the same green than my Snorkel Admiral... but I really believe it's pastel.

 

Here's a pic.

 

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/968/cadet23body.jpg

 

Thanks,

[Ernst Bitterman]

This is a Canadian-made tip-dip, with the 33 point that generally defines a Craftsman. I have one in a more normal Burgandy from a client with the same fittings, too.

 

http://dirck.delint.ca/Sheaffer%20Cadet.jpg

 

For a proper sense of the colour, get a military pilot to show you the lining of his/her jacket.

Edited December 17, 2009 by Ernst Bitterman

[Gran]

Is there a photo of the Snorkels in burgundy here on FPN? I have a burgundy Tip Dip and don't know what shade of burgundy it is in the line up.

[Jimmy James]

Photos don't work well to distinguish the shades of burgundy from what I've seen. One is just a bit darker -- it's just enough to be able to discern it in person in my experience.

 

I believe that the burgundy Tip Dip Craftsman I own is the latter variant, for what it is worth.

[Johnny Appleseed]

Gran,

 

Richard Binder's article - Pen Profile: Sheaffer Snorkel - has the best listing of the colors of the Sheaffer Snorkel. However, you have to take into account the calibration of your monitor, and as Jimmy James said, it's a pretty subtle distinction for any photo. I can only tell them apart when they are side-by-side.

 

Ernst,

 

Wow - is that a Mandarin orange? There was a lot on ebay recently that may have had a Mandarin or Buckskin Tan cadet, but I could not be sure.

 

John

[Ernst Bitterman]

I don't have any other, known Mandarin to compare it to. It's International Safety Orange to me, and I dare not take it out in daylight, for fear of being branded a menace to public retinas.

[Gran]

Johnny Appleseed, thanks for the link. My Tip Dip looks similar to the Burgundy (N) but seems a tad darker and richer than the photograph.

[Hugh200au]

Hi John,

My blue Cadet 23 (Australian made) is the same colour as the snorkle pastel blue. Mine has a smaller cap band than diplomats in post #2 though.

 

Regards

Hugh

[rogerzilla]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but what would "58" on an Autralian 14k nib denote?

 

I've just bought this:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120869723061?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

because Touchdowns are easy to restore, if necessary (I have an Imperial IV cleaned and in bits ready for a new sac and O-ring right now) and it was cheap by eBay standards.

[Happy Harry]

The instruction sheets with your pen refer to it as a "Craftsman 52 "...noting the nib says 52 not 58.

[rogerzilla]

The instruction sheets with your pen refer to it as a "Craftsman 52 "...noting the nib says 52 not 58.

So it does, thanks. Reflections, eh?

[rogerzilla]

The pen arrived and is in fine condition - I'll overhaul the Touchdown mechanism as the plunger is a bit stiff, but it works fine and seems to swallow the right amount of water when tested. I'm not sure it's a Craftsman though, unless Richard Binder's site is incorrect - he says "Touchdown Craftsmans were fitted with gold-filled furniture, and in the TIPdip era all colors had chrome-plated caps."

 

This is definitely a tip-dip but it has a screw-on plastic cap with a fairly wide band. Maybe the Australians did their own thing?

[Ernst Bitterman]

Apparently, in the Commonwealth, we had a different notion of what a Craftsman should look like at the time. I wager yours looks something like this:

http://dirck.delint.ca/beta/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Sheaffer-0037.jpg

...but in a more sensible colour. This one is Canadian made, but in an other thread we established that the Australians look much the same.

 

Edit: this is the same pen referred to several years ago above. I've since moved onto the idea that the colour is "Vermillion".

Edited March 17, 2012 by Ernst Bitterman

[rogerzilla]

That's the one. Very simple and very nice.

[Happy Harry]

The pen arrived and is in fine condition - I'll overhaul the Touchdown mechanism as the plunger is a bit stiff, but it works fine and seems to swallow the right amount of water when tested. I'm not sure it's a Craftsman though, unless Richard Binder's site is incorrect - he says "Touchdown Craftsmans were fitted with gold-filled furniture, and in the TIPdip era all colors had chrome-plated caps."

 

This is definitely a tip-dip but it has a screw-on plastic cap with a fairly wide band. Maybe the Australians did their own thing?

 

In general what Binder says is correct except for the Cadet 23 and the Craftsman 52 (there may be more..Sheaffer being Sheaffer !!), both these seem the same except for the cap band and nib number. Best guess is made in the early '60s as an upmarket school pens. Both should have "screw out" nibs and are less common than most tip dips, the finish is cheap compared to ,say, the early Imperials which would have been only a bit more expensive. To me models which where always going to be poor sellers placed in "no mans land". The Craftsman 52 is less common than the Cadet 23 ( or appears so ), especially in a color such as shown by Ernest !! I've seen numerous examples over the years but that color is a first and I don't recall seeing a US made one (memory being what it is I wouldn't put too much on that as fact).

[Johnny Appleseed]

On 12/17/2009 at 3:44 PM, Gran said:

Is there a photo of the Snorkels in burgundy here on FPN? I have a burgundy Tip Dip and don't know what shade of burgundy it is in the line up.

I know this is serious necro-posting, but with a Tip-Dip, the best way to tell the earlier colors from the later ones is by the section - early colors have black sections, later colors have matching color sections. If a burgundy Tip-dip Touchdown has a matching burgundy section, it is the later burgundy.