Surprised By Polishing A Balance

[corgicoupe]

Actually, two pens. I noticed that the part of the barrel that is covered by the cap on my brown striped 350 was discolored, most likely with old dry ink. I polished the barrel with Fitz Polish and upon close examination discovered that the section no longer looked black. In fact it had become a translucent orange-brown color, quite nice actually. So I repeated the process on my newly acquired marine green striped 875 military clip pen. Same pleasant result. I may be imagining it, but the striped pattern in both pens seems snappier. Of course the gold trim looks great too.

[Erik Dalton]

Photo please. Would live to see

[Erik Dalton]

Love to see. Sorry

[kirchh]

Actually, two pens. I noticed that the part of the barrel that is covered by the cap on my brown striped 350 was discolored, most likely with old dry ink. I polished the barrel with Fitz Polish and upon close examination discovered that the section no longer looked black. In fact it had become a translucent orange-brown color, quite nice actually. So I repeated the process on my newly acquired marine green striped 875 military clip pen. Same pleasant result. I may be imagining it, but the striped pattern in both pens seems snappier. Of course the gold trim looks great too.

 

You're damaging the sections. They have a layer of black material over the transparent (now ambered) body material, except for a small area next to the barrel threads for ink level visibility. You're polishing off the top layer.

 

--Daniel

P.S. "350' and "875" are not model numbers; they're merely the prices of the pens (in cents) and they do not uniquely identify the models. I discourage the use of prices as model identifiers as it's misleading and it can cause confusion.

[corgicoupe]

You're damaging the sections. They have a layer of black material over the transparent (now ambered) body material, except for a small area next to the barrel threads for ink level visibility. You're polishing off the top layer.

 

--Daniel

P.S. "350' and "875" are not model numbers; they're merely the prices of the pens (in cents) and they do not uniquely identify the models. I discourage the use of prices as model identifiers as it's misleading and it can cause confusion.

That's interesting, Daniel. I just looked again and only about 3/16" adjacent to the threads is translucent amber (much better than orange brown), so I guess I only polished off old ink. Flitz is a gentle polish. Would it have been preferable to say non white dot and white dot to distinguish them? I think both are Balances from the late 1930s, but the military clip is about 1/4" shorter. I hope this means I haven't damaged the sections. Edited November 20, 2015 by corgicoupe

[corgicoupe]

Photo please. Would live to see

Not sure it would be easy to photograph, because it requires back lighting.

[kirchh]

That's interesting, Daniel. I just looked again and only about 3/16" adjacent to the threads is translucent amber (much better than orange brown), so I guess I only polished off old ink. Flitz is a gentle polish. Would it have been preferable to say non white dot and white dot to distinguish them? I think both are Balances from the late 1930s, but the military clip is about 1/4" shorter. I hope this means I haven't damaged the sections.

 

If you ended up just with a well-defined band of transparency, you are OK.

 

The pens will have specific model numbers and probably names as well; if you post some photos, we can ID them for you.

 

--Daniel

[Greenie]

I do not know how the majority of Sheaffer sections were made. But most sections with the transparent portion that I have examined closely have totally transparent section material, and then there is a lining inside the distal 3/4 (or whatever portion - you get my point). In normal light, it looks solid black with a transparent band next to the barrel. Putting it in water changes the refraction and then you can see that the entire section is clear and has a liner. I noticed this cleaning an early Eversharp Skyline with the visualated section.

 

Here are pictures of a Sheaffer Balance with the same features. So at least on some, the outside of the section is not coated. it is actually lined and the refractive properties of the material give the result we see.

 

First is normal picture, and the second one is in water.

 

Edited November 21, 2015 by Greenie

[corgicoupe]

 

If you ended up just with a well-defined band of transparency, you are OK.

 

The pens will have specific model numbers and probably names as well; if you post some photos, we can ID them for you.

 

--Daniel

Greenie has posted an image of what I am seeing through the section, so I won't attempt one. (I hadn't realized the amber section is visible in the closeup of the nib in my 2nd photo.)

 

The Marine Green military clip pen pen is engraved 875. is a bit over 5" capped (5.06") and the girth is just under 7/16" (0.42").

 

The Brown striped Balance in the last image has almost the same girth (0.41") and the capped length is a bit over 5 3/8" (5.41").

Edited November 21, 2015 by corgicoupe

[kirchh]

You have a Vigilant and a Craftsman.

 

--Daniel

[kirchh]

http://icroscope.com/Sheaffer_Coated_Section.jpg

 

--Daniel

[corgicoupe]

You have a Vigilant and a Craftsman.

 

--Daniel

Thank you for the clarification.

 

And for the photo of the black layer on the amber section.

[Greenie]

Interesting. Maybe before polishing sections with the ink view areas we should check to see which manner of construction was used.

 

This almost needs to be restarted as a new thread with a title indicating it is about different construction of these types of sections.

 

Daniel, is that a Sheaffer section? Maybe the different construction is an early vs late feature? This is far from my area of expertise.