What Pens Would You Find A Wahl 4 In?

[John54green]

Hello all, recently acquired a Wahl number four nib and am curious what models it would have been in? Nice nib with flex by the by.

[Wahlnut]

#4 size nibs were the "norm" as they were used in all the standard sized pens from 1918 through at least the Skyline era (1947ish) What else besides #4 is on the nib? If it says TEMPOINT it is pre-1921, If it says WAHL it could be from a few different periods when the WAHL name was used intermittently, however the most of those nibs would have been from 1921 to about 1923. If it says WAHL PEN then it was from 1923 to 1927 with some spill over to about 1929. If ir says EVERSHARP it was from after 1929. And Gold Seal...you get the idea. There were many models made during each of these periods, but knowing the word(s) on the #4 nib will help narrow down what the pen candidates to take it might be.

 

Syd

[John54green]

Thank you for the information, it just says Wahl and 4, nothing else. Cheers, John

[Roger W.]

#4 size nibs were the "norm" as they were used in all the standard sized pens from 1918 through at least the Skyline era (1947ish) What else besides #4 is on the nib? If it says TEMPOINT it is pre-1921, If it says WAHL it could be from a few different periods when the WAHL name was used intermittently, however the most of those nibs would have been from 1921 to about 1923. If it says WAHL PEN then it was from 1923 to 1927 with some spill over to about 1929. If ir says EVERSHARP it was from after 1929. And Gold Seal...you get the idea. There were many models made during each of these periods, but knowing the word(s) on the #4 nib will help narrow down what the pen candidates to take it might be.

 

Syd

 

Syd;

 

I don't follow "norm" as it seems to me the #2 would be far more common. I would think of a 4 as a larger pen (maybe not so much to us today but, by 1920's standards).

 

Roger W.

[Wahlnut]

#4 size nibs were the "norm" as they were used in all the standard sized pens from 1918 through at least the Skyline era (1947ish) What else besides #4 is on the nib? If it says TEMPOINT it is pre-1921, If it says WAHL it could be from a few different periods when the WAHL name was used intermittently, however the most of those nibs would have been from 1921 to about 1923. If it says WAHL PEN then it was from 1923 to 1927 with some spill over to about 1929. If ir says EVERSHARP it was from after 1929. And Gold Seal...you get the idea. There were many models made during each of these periods, but knowing the word(s) on the #4 nib will help narrow down what the pen candidates to take it might be.

 

Syd

 

Syd;

 

I don't follow "norm" as it seems to me the #2 would be far more common. I would think of a 4 as a larger pen (maybe not so much to us today but, by 1920's standards).

 

Roger W.

 

Not wanting to chase a red herring here, but your point is well taken, and I really did not think of "norm" as measured back in the day when the vintage pens were made, but "norm" in what I see in pens that have survived. There are surely a large number of #2 that have survived, but it seems to me that what we see today on eBay or on other pens for sale pages, the #4's seem to me to outnumber the #2's. . But I believe there were more #2's sold than #4's (maybe?) Getting back to the question raised by the originator of this thread, there are a lot of #4 candidates for his loose nib to go into.

 

Cheers

Syd

Edited February 15, 2011 by Wahlnut

[Roger W.]

#4 size nibs were the "norm" as they were used in all the standard sized pens from 1918 through at least the Skyline era (1947ish) What else besides #4 is on the nib? If it says TEMPOINT it is pre-1921, If it says WAHL it could be from a few different periods when the WAHL name was used intermittently, however the most of those nibs would have been from 1921 to about 1923. If it says WAHL PEN then it was from 1923 to 1927 with some spill over to about 1929. If ir says EVERSHARP it was from after 1929. And Gold Seal...you get the idea. There were many models made during each of these periods, but knowing the word(s) on the #4 nib will help narrow down what the pen candidates to take it might be.

 

Syd

 

Syd;

 

I don't follow "norm" as it seems to me the #2 would be far more common. I would think of a 4 as a larger pen (maybe not so much to us today but, by 1920's standards).

 

Roger W.

 

Not wanting to chase a red herring here, but your point is well taken, and I really did not think of "norm" as measured back in the day when the vintage pens were made, but "norm" in what I see in pens that have survived. There are surely a large number of #2 that have survived, but it seems to me that what we see today on eBay or on other pens for sale pages, the #4's seem to me to outnumber the #2's. . But I believe there were more #2's sold than #4's (maybe?) Getting back to the question raised by the originator of this thread, there are a lot of #4 candidates for his loose nib to go into.

 

Cheers

Syd

 

Syd;

 

Agreed it is not what the poster was looking for but, it is an interesting topic. Most collectors have blinders on that lead to them only seeing the large pens because that is what collectors usually go after. Part of that is that we seem to like big and these are the rarer fish. My attack on a company is everything and I've noticed that guys know a lot about the big pens but the little ones go unnoticed. I think it is interesting to note that the #2 sized pen as determined in the 10's is what we generally accepted as the standard size pen. This standard was not static as the late 20's see an explosion in a much larger pen. Wahl was gone by the 1980's but, Sheaffer's Targa is almost identical to a #2 of the 10's! Taking this back to Wahls the Console for instance is almost always found in the 2 size. I would hold that if one bought everything they saw on EBay (as it has no show bias towards the large pens) you end up with more 2's than anything else. Rarely do we have anything like this but if we apply this to an earlier pen we do have this data. Of the 151 pens in the Boston database we have 103 2's or 68.2%. I would further speculate that the larger pens probably had a higher survivability rate but, as they cost more new, clearly a vaster number of 2's were sold as they still outnumber the large pens. I'll have to lean on Sheaffer here that there are in the late 20's more 3's than 5's and still fewer 7's (3-25's, 5-30's and 7-30's) though the 8 Lifetimes are very well represented. The 3-25 was a general replacement of the 22 Student Special or a #2 pen. Though I have less experience with Wahl my Tempoints are in greater numbers 2's.

 

Just an observation - I don't think 4's were the "norm" with 2's and even 3's being encountered more often.

 

Roger W.

Edited February 15, 2011 by Roger W.

[Wahlnut]

#4 size nibs were the "norm" as they were used in all the standard sized pens from 1918 through at least the Skyline era (1947ish) What else besides #4 is on the nib? If it says TEMPOINT it is pre-1921, If it says WAHL it could be from a few different periods when the WAHL name was used intermittently, however the most of those nibs would have been from 1921 to about 1923. If it says WAHL PEN then it was from 1923 to 1927 with some spill over to about 1929. If ir says EVERSHARP it was from after 1929. And Gold Seal...you get the idea. There were many models made during each of these periods, but knowing the word(s) on the #4 nib will help narrow down what the pen candidates to take it might be.

 

Syd

 

Syd;

 

I don't follow "norm" as it seems to me the #2 would be far more common. I would think of a 4 as a larger pen (maybe not so much to us today but, by 1920's standards).

 

Roger W.

 

 

Not wanting to chase a red herring here, but your point is well taken, and I really did not think of "norm" as measured back in the day when the vintage pens were made, but "norm" in what I see in pens that have survived. There are surely a large number of #2 that have survived, but it seems to me that what we see today on eBay or on other pens for sale pages, the #4's seem to me to outnumber the #2's. . But I believe there were more #2's sold than #4's (maybe?) Getting back to the question raised by the originator of this thread, there are a lot of #4 candidates for his loose nib to go into.

 

Cheers

Syd

 

Syd;

 

Agreed it is not what the poster was looking for but, it is an interesting topic. Most collectors have blinders on that lead to them only seeing the large pens because that is what collectors usually go after. Part of that is that we seem to like big and these are the rarer fish. My attack on a company is everything and I've noticed that guys know a lot about the big pens but the little ones go unnoticed. I think it is interesting to note that the #2 sized pen as determined in the 10's is what we generally accepted as the standard size pen. This standard was not static as the late 20's see an explosion in a much larger pen. Wahl was gone by the 1980's but, Sheaffer's Targa is almost identical to a #2 of the 10's! Taking this back to Wahls the Console for instance is almost always found in the 2 size. I would hold that if one bought everything they saw on EBay (as it has no show bias towards the large pens) you end up with more 2's than anything else. Rarely do we have anything like this but if we apply this to an earlier pen we do have this data. Of the 151 pens in the Boston database we have 103 2's or 68.2%. I would further speculate that the larger pens probably had a higher survivability rate but, as they cost more new, clearly a vaster number of 2's were sold as they still outnumber the large pens. I'll have to lean on Sheaffer here that there are in the late 20's more 3's than 5's and still fewer 7's (3-25's, 5-30's and 7-30's) though the 8 Lifetimes are very well represented. The 3-25 was a general replacement of the 22 Student Special or a #2 pen. Though I have less experience with Wahl my Tempoints are in greater numbers 2's.

 

Just an observation - I don't think 4's were the "norm" with 2's and even 3's being encountered more often.

 

Roger W.

 

No argument here, Roger. I wish I had not said "norm" in such an unlimited fashion. in the industry as a whole, vintage #2's produced and sold probably far outnumber all the higher number sizes combined. In the "standard size" Wahl Eversharp pens (the number 6 size barrels, for example and many #4 barrels) the number 4 nib was um, er, uh, normal. Since the thread focused on what Wahl -Eversharp pens will fit his number 4 nib, the number of number 2's did not enter my thinking as well it may should have . If my saying in an unqualified manner that the #4 was the "norm" is at issue, I wish I had said the pens that would take his #4 nib were very large in number and that he/she should expect to find many many survivors to put his #4 nib into instead. Last thing I want to cause is an uprising of supporters of undersung #2s. Some of my very best friends are #2 lovers.....If the issue is that I shold not have said Norm for #4 nibs in such an unqualified way...I yield, sir Knight.

 

So I still wonder what words are on the #4 nib in question.

 

 

Syd

[teej47]

 

 

So I still wonder what words are on the #4 nib in question.

 

 

Syd

 

Note the OP's second post (3rd overall in the string)... nib says "Wahl" and "4".

Just trying to help

 

Tim