How Good Is A Vintage Sheaffer No Nonsense Pen?

[Orca871]

I was originally going to buy a new one, but are the vintage ones any better? I would be using it to write music on manuscript paper. Also what would be a good ink for said vintage sheaffer pen?

[Orca871]

Do you think the nib is suitable for writing music? I'm looking on eBay, and there is one for around $7 including shipping, and then there is one for around $12 that comes with three nibs, but it will probably become a lot more expensive. Should I just go for a new one? And do you think I'll need to buy a new nib to make it suitable for writing music?

[lapis]

In general,yes, very good. An outstanding pen. I have a handful of them. Mostly B, M or Italic. Theyall write better than a lot of other pens. Even than those which still cost 20times as much today.

 

Mike

 

 

[JonSzanto]

I used to use these pens over 30 years ago to do music manuscript, and after using them for a while, ended up using Osmiroid pens and Speedball dip nibs. The nibs on the NN pens, the italic ones that you would use, don't have a fine enough "fine" line compared to the wide line. In other words, you need a crisp italic nib, well ground, to do proper manuscript, and the NN nibs just weren't quite good enough.

 

Then again, I was writing to fairly high standards. These pens are dirt cheap, so you should pick up a couple and see if they perform adequately for your needs. Except for titling, the Broad italic would be too big/wide. You should get both a Fine and Medium italic nib for the NN pens.

 

Good luck!

[hariharan]

Harlequin, a fellow FPN member is offlate meddling a lot with no-nonsense pens.. like converting them to ED>. U may contact him to get some specific insights..

[josiah]

Although as JonSzanto notes the nibs don't give a perfectly sharp fine line, that round quality will come with the benefit of being easier to use: you will be less likely to catch the nib against the page on up-strokes, and your writing angles (pen:paper as well as nib-edge:paper) can be less precise.

 

My biggest issue with the NN is that if you want to use something other than the ink available in Shaeffer cartridges, you'll have to invest in a syringe to refill old cartridges. And since I find cartridge systems without converters to be wasteful, I avoid them If this isn't as big a deal for you as it is for me, the NN is probably a great pen for you.

[Sandy Fry]

Although as JonSzanto notes the nibs don't give a perfectly sharp fine line, that round quality will come with the benefit of being easier to use: you will be less likely to catch the nib against the page on up-strokes, and your writing angles (pen:paper as well as nib-edge:paper) can be less precise.

 

My biggest issue with the NN is that if you want to use something other than the ink available in Shaeffer cartridges, you'll have to invest in a syringe to refill old cartridges. And since I find cartridge systems without converters to be wasteful, I avoid them If this isn't as big a deal for you as it is for me, the NN is probably a great pen for you.

 

 

Not quite true. Peyton Street Pens sells a Sheaffer converter that fits the NNS pens. Supposedly it fits 99% of Sheaffer pens both modern and vintage. I have a converter on order to try it out on my Blue Marble NNS.

 

David

[JonSzanto]

Although as JonSzanto notes the nibs don't give a perfectly sharp fine line, that round quality will come with the benefit of being easier to use: you will be less likely to catch the nib against the page on up-strokes, and your writing angles (pen:paper as well as nib-edge:paper) can be less precise.

While this is true, I was speaking to the intended purpose of the OP: music manuscript. The differentiation between thick and thin lines - the beams and bars of music note groupings, as well as many of the other graphic components of manuscript - makes the quality of the function of the nib more important than ease of use. A rounder-edged nib will make for less clear, sharp, and easy-to-read music, and I can tell you: us musicians don't like fuzzy notes!

[sopa]

While I cannot add anything in terms of the music writing capabilities, but I thought I'll share my experience with the NN.

I've a bunch of about ten NNs from the eighties for regular writing. I've them in F and M nibs. They're fantastic daily writers, each one of them is absolutely reliable. I regularly use them with the Sheaffer converters and have never had any trouble.

[Paddler]

You would probably want the italic nibs for writing music, either the F or M widths. I have newer ones and older ones and can't tell the difference in they way they write. For writing music, they are better than round pointed pens and not as good (not as much line width variation) as a sharp italic nib. If you are just writing for yourself and the rest of the desperadoes in the band, the NN nibs are probably adequate. If the circumstances are more formal, you probably need something sharper.

 

I bought a couple of Manuscript pens, at Michael's, with a handful of nibs that are sharper than the NN. These are very inexpensive and use International cartridges. If you try these, beware the cartridges that come with them; the ink is much too dry.

[2GreyCats]

Although as JonSzanto notes the nibs don't give a perfectly sharp fine line, that round quality will come with the benefit of being easier to use: you will be less likely to catch the nib against the page on up-strokes, and your writing angles (pen:paper as well as nib-edge:paper) can be less precise.

 

My biggest issue with the NN is that if you want to use something other than the ink available in Shaeffer cartridges, you'll have to invest in a syringe to refill old cartridges. And since I find cartridge systems without converters to be wasteful, I avoid them If this isn't as big a deal for you as it is for me, the NN is probably a great pen for you.

 

Not so! You don't have to refill carts if you don't want to. Sheaffer has a perfectly good piston converter that fits NNs just fine--I have several.

 

That being said, though, the cartridges hold more ink than the converter does. That's why I keep cartridges in my red NN grading pen -- a full cartridge will get me through more exams.

[2GreyCats]

Although as JonSzanto notes the nibs don't give a perfectly sharp fine line, that round quality will come with the benefit of being easier to use: you will be less likely to catch the nib against the page on up-strokes, and your writing angles (pen:paper as well as nib-edge:paper) can be less precise.

 

My biggest issue with the NN is that if you want to use something other than the ink available in Shaeffer cartridges, you'll have to invest in a syringe to refill old cartridges. And since I find cartridge systems without converters to be wasteful, I avoid them If this isn't as big a deal for you as it is for me, the NN is probably a great pen for you.

 

 

Not quite true. Peyton Street Pens sells a Sheaffer converter that fits the NNS pens. Supposedly it fits 99% of Sheaffer pens both modern and vintage. I have a converter on order to try it out on my Blue Marble NNS.

 

David

Yes - the only ones I know of that it doesn't fit at all are the so-called "cartridge pens", of all three versions (including Deltagrips as well) which only take cartridges or the much older squeeze converter, which is a very tight fit in the small barrel. I don't know if the piston converter fits a regular Targa or not; it doesn't fit the slim Targa, which has its own converter.

[Orca871]

I've been looking for converters, and they all seem to be quite a bit more expensive than the pen. Would using a syringe be good, or would it be frustrating for a beginner?

[josiah]

Although as JonSzanto notes the nibs don't give a perfectly sharp fine line, that round quality will come with the benefit of being easier to use: you will be less likely to catch the nib against the page on up-strokes, and your writing angles (pen:paper as well as nib-edge:paper) can be less precise.

While this is true, I was speaking to the intended purpose of the OP: music manuscript. The differentiation between thick and thin lines - the beams and bars of music note groupings, as well as many of the other graphic components of manuscript - makes the quality of the function of the nib more important than ease of use. A rounder-edged nib will make for less clear, sharp, and easy-to-read music, and I can tell you: us musicians don't like fuzzy notes!

 

I'm also writing music manuscript, but acknowledging the differences between the needs of a professional copyist whose livelihood depends upon satisfied performers and a composer who is using the pen for quick sketches (that are unlikely to see the light of rehearsal) and who is probably relatively new to using a chisel-pointed pen in this way. A sharper nib can certainly give cleaner results in the hand of a master, and such a master is presumably quite capable of writing very quickly, even with such precision. But in the hand of someone new to the calligraphy and the pen, the sharp edges are a liability: torn paper and ink splatters are worse for legibility (and speed) than a blunt pen's less-crisp edges.

[Orca871]

I wouldn't really be writing with pen for the sake of having other musicians use it, it's more for my sake. It's more for an artistic reason than anything. I'll be putting it all in finale as well.

[Sandy Fry]

I agree with you there 2greycats...I hope Peyton street pens don't mind that I copied the following from their website..

 

The DO NOT fit the following models: Imperial II and III cartridge pens, Lady Sheaffer and Lady Sheaffer Skripsert, Connaisseur, Nostalgia, Intrigue, Legacy 1 and 2.

 

I do have the older "squeeze" converter that Peyton Street had NOS and it seems to fit just fine in the Cartridge pens.

 

David

[2GreyCats]

I've been looking for converters, and they all seem to be quite a bit more expensive than the pen. Would using a syringe be good, or would it be frustrating for a beginner?

 

I use syringes all the time. Takes me about 45 seconds: open ink jar, insert syringe, draw up ink, ~ 1.5 cc, squirt into open end of cartridge, insert cartridge into pen, cap pen, rinse syringe and recap it.

[wastelanded]

The Sheaffer No-Nonsense is a cheap, low-end, utterly wonderful and bombproof pen. I got all the way through school with one back in Medieval times. I would heartily recommend it.

 

Yes, Ms. Teri has a good selection of NOS ones, I'd start there: heartily recommend her as well.

 

Until not so long ago, Sheaffer simply did not make a bad nib. Even their lowest school pen had a nib that would put some high-rollers to shame.

[Harlequin]

Just an added note, there are two other nibs you may be interested in- the XF italic and the SH-4 ("shadow" nib). I would imagine the shadow nib may only be good for doing the bars since it has 3 tine and produces two lines. The catch is, one is thinner than the other one, hence the "shadow" term. But I cannot stress enough that the NNS is almost indestructible and completely reliable- even as an eyedropper.

 

Speaking of ED conversion, it has probably the best feed design for an ED, even Teri at Peyton Street Pens is using the NNS feeds in other pens (Rangas, for example) to make ED conversions since it is SO good at preventing burps. Of course, it's an incredibly easy conversion to boot; just some silicone grease on the threads and you're done. Some people also add a rubber o-ring, but that may or may not be needed to tell you the truth (I'll let others chime in on it's effectiveness and necessity). And the NNS holds something like... 3.6ish ml as an ED (I just did a really quick check on one of mine with a syringe- the NNS held more than the syringe, lol). So you shouldn't ever have to worry about running out of ink.

 

I think you will DEFINITELY be very happy going with the NNS for any reason.

 

Also, just fyi, "Vintage" is actually a model of NNS- it's a blue, red, or green marbled version (and there is also a black version, but not marbled for obvious reasons) with gold trim. The "standard" NNS has chrome/silver clip, cap band, and nib. They are other model lines as well, but I won't go into those unless you really would like me to.

Edited March 29, 2013 by Harlequin

[Trebster]

The Sheaffer No-Nonsense is a cheap, low-end, utterly wonderful and bombproof pen. I got all the way through school with one back in Medieval times. I would heartily recommend it.

 

Yes, Ms. Teri has a good selection of NOS ones, I'd start there: heartily recommend her as well.

 

Until not so long ago, Sheaffer simply did not make a bad nib. Even their lowest school pen had a nib that would put some high-rollers to shame.

 

Yarr. My "vintage" NN has never failed. Mine is continuously inked with washable blue Quink and has never been a hard starter, even if untouched for a week.