What is on your bench?

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

I guess I can't argue with that, I just weighed (finally got a scale to measure capacity) the Parker 51 aero I restored recently where the nib sticks out a bit too much and I got 1.56ml easy. Should probably be 1.6ml but I don't think I got absolutely all the water out when weighing it "dry" since I had been flushing it out.

 

I still like the touchdowns though, they're so easy to use and relatively easy to clean out too (well, the normal ones, snorkels not so much). And I think Sheaffer's medium nibs from the 1950's/1960's are the best stiff nibs ever made IMO. They basically perfected them so it's worth dealing with the lower ink capacity. 

[VacNut]

One of my first pens was a Sheaffer Snorkel desk pen. I was completely astounded by the extending snorkel. I still remember looking at the end of the snorkel and being reminded of a mosquito’s proboscis. The mechanism was a little sticky and I remember promptly dislodging the spiral spring by turning the filler too hard.

It is the only snorkel I’ve ever owned.

[FarmBoy]

A thread about fill capacities would be a great resource.

[tmenyc]

A bunch of pens found me today, including this large pen that I can't identify...what is it? Fully 6" long capped, around 5/8" across justs below the cap edge. No branding at all. The clip has this large pearl (assuming faux) dead center. Interesting knurled section. Unbranded nib. I have no idea what it is! Sorry about the blurred nib shot. 

Many thanks, 

Tim

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

I've never seen that before, but it looks like one of the new-style blank Jowo imprints, so the nib is from the last few 2-3 years at the very least. Not sure if the pen is of the same age or if the nib is a replacement.

 

I just restored a lever filler and now that I have a scale I measured the capacity too. I hope this doesn't become a problem for me as I already get a little paranoid about my restored pens not filling properly. Got 1.06ml on a full fill, I figure that's not bad. I'm tempted to go back and see how much that Doric with the fault filling system holds.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

If anyone's curious I used my fancy new scale to measure the capacity on the fat Touchdown and I'm actually getting around 1.15ml. Maybe round down to 1.1ml since I didn't wipe the water off the feed before weighing. That's not bad at all, I feel a lot better about the restoration now.

[GlenV]

@LoveBigPensAndCannotLie I like those Sheaffers for daily writers, my first vintage pen was a snorkel that I used every day many moons ago in college, I filled it every day just to be sure with my notes and doodling I didn't run out of ink.  I like that upside down the nib is really fine often and a bolder line the regular way, great for note-taking.  The Triumph nibs are pretty to look at while using them.  @VacNut I hadn't ever seen a pretty Vac though at that time...

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

I don't understand why people do the things they do. I just got a Sheaffer Craftsman to restore, easiest pen in the world to restore. The last person to work on this pen sealed the section with something sticky and impossible to clean off. 

 

Worse, they stuck a wad of sac up in to the cap. For what reason, I don't have the addled mind to know. Maybe they weren't happy with how the pen sealed? Maybe they like sticking random things where they don't belong (hope they used flared objects, if you know what I mean). 

 

It took me half an hour to pry the bits of sac out, and I damaged the little plug at the very very top of the cap. I don't know if it will have any effect on the cap seal, hopefully it doesn't interfere with the nib clearance while capping. Also might have introduced some microfractures on the inside of the cap while scraping at it.

 

Why would someone do this? Of all places, a sac definitely does not belong in a cap...

[es9]

3 hours ago, LoveBigPensAndCannotLie said:

The last person to work on this pen sealed the section with something sticky and impossible to clean off. 

Won’t try to speculate re sac in the cap, but could this be rosin-based thread sealant? Sheaffer reused its names, so I wouldn’t be surprised to find this on a pneumatic filler. Or even a lever filler, to be honest, if the section was a little loose. 

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Just now, es9 said:

Won’t try to speculate re sac in the cap, but could this be rosin-based thread sealant? Sheaffer reused its names, so I wouldn’t be surprised to find this on a pneumatic filler. Or even a lever filler, to be honest, if the section was a little loose. 

 

Hmm, it might be. It was a little too sticky to be shellac. Is there any easy way to tell? The section is rather tight and it's a lever filler so I am not sure why it was necessary. Some of it was gumming up the threads as well, had to use a fine pick to get it out completely. 

[VacNut]

I think the thread sealant is necessary to create the air tight seal at the section, like a Vacumatic. The sac in the cap is odd.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

16 minutes ago, VacNut said:

I think the thread sealant is necessary to create the air tight seal at the section, like a Vacumatic. The sac in the cap is odd.

 

Oh yeah, for a touchdown I wouldn't be surprised, I've opened some snorkels that had tacky material in the threads. This one is a lever filler which was strange to me.

[es9]

6 hours ago, LoveBigPensAndCannotLie said:

Oh yeah, for a touchdown I wouldn't be surprised, I've opened some snorkels that had tacky material in the threads. This one is a lever filler which was strange to me.

Thread sealant is tacky stuff. Naphtha will take care of it. I wouldn’t expect it on a lever filler, but it also doesn’t surprise me someone would use it. 
 

7 hours ago, VacNut said:

 

I think the thread sealant is necessary to create the air tight seal at the section, like a Vacumatic.

 

This is a bit of a topic of debate. Consensus seems to be that it’s not *necessary* the way it is for a vac… the tolerances are tight enough to get a good fill without it, and the ink is going into a sac so there aren’t the same leak issues. But Sheaffer appears to have used it and I personally do. 

[VacNut]

I wasn’t familiar with the pen. The images that came up were of piston fillers. As a lever filler, I can see why it may not be needed.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

2 hours ago, es9 said:

Thread sealant is tacky stuff. Naphtha will take care of it. I wouldn’t expect it on a lever filler, but it also doesn’t surprise me someone would use it. 
 

This is a bit of a topic of debate. Consensus seems to be that it’s not *necessary* the way it is for a vac… the tolerances are tight enough to get a good fill without it, and the ink is going into a sac so there aren’t the same leak issues. But Sheaffer appears to have used it and I personally do. 

 

I do something I'm not supposed to do, I put a little bit of silicone grease on the threads for Sheaffer touchdown-type pens to stop any extra air from getting through and I do find that it sometimes makes it fill better. I know it's not really recommended but I don't overtighten the threads and I find it helps a bit.

 

I've also unfortunately discovered why the previous owner stuck a bunch of sac in the cap, the pen dried out a bit overnight. Or I damaged the inside of the cap while trying to get the sac out, either one.

 

The nib is nice at least, tuning it was a struggle. It was a bit misaligned but I couldn't align it easily and the edges of the one of the tines were kind of sharp. Ended up cutting my finger and bleeding over the nib and feed a bit. Hopefully I scrubbed all of it off. At least no one can I say I don't put blood and tears into my hobbies!

[Ron Z]

Sheaffer did use their thread sealant on Snorkel sections, and so it would make sense in a touchdown filled pen since both are pneumatic fillers and have screw in sections.  They were still using it when I was in the service center back in 2008.

 

The snorkel and TD pens have a flat rubber seal between the blind cap and plunger  (TD) tube to insure that you don't have a leak at the back end, helping to insure maximum pressure then the tube is pushed down.   You do want a seal there. I have a bag of them that came out of the service center that I am working my way through.   Nobody makes them, but you can take a piece of inner tube or scrap of a new sac, poke a hole in the center, and then trim so that it's about the same diameter as the end of the plunger tube.

 

Yes, thread sealant can be cleaned off with naphtha.  ...and no, silicone grease is not a sealant.  You'd be better with a little bit of wax from a toilet bowl ring if you aren't using thread sealant.  One ring from the hardware store will give you a lifetime supply.  ...or bees wax.  That works too, though not as good as thread sealant.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Why is the silicone grease a bad choice for stopping excess air from getting in? I thought it was generally recommended for modern eyedropper pens and such. I know there's a concern with overtightening but I try not to do that. 

 

I've had issues with figuring out if the washer in the blind cap is there. Sometimes it's pretty clear when it falls out broken, and in that case I've made improvised replacements with leftover sac material. Other times I really can't tell if it's not there or not because sometimes it's pressed so hard into the blind cap that it doesn't come out. Did the fat Touchdown pens always have them? In my experience these are the ones where I am unsure. In the thin one and snorkels the washer usually comes out, maybe they used thicker ones for those?

 

The fat Touchdown I mentioned a page or two I could not tell if the washer was there but I think it might have been? I didn't create a makeshift one but it's filling well from my measurements, around what I would expect from a size 17 sac. 

[Ron Z]

Fat touchdowns had the rubber seal on the inside of the plunger tube, and a lock washer on the outside.  I find that the rubber seal inside is usually degraded, and that the lock washer  between blind cap and plunger tube isn't really necessary so put the replacement seal on the outside.

 

A piece of bicycle inner tube is thicker than a bit of sac, so you are better off making the seal out of that.  It's made out of a rubber that won't degrade like a latex sac will.  One inner tube will give you a lifetime supply.

 

People are welcome to use what they want on their pens.  Based on experience, I do not recommend using silicone grease as a sealant.  It is a lubricant,  and unlike other things like thread sealant and wax, does not fill the thread the threads.  Any "sealing" is simply the hydrophobic property of silicone grease coming into play.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Is the concern just that it won't fill optimally (rather than damage)? Truthfully I use a little silicone grease for both touchdowns/snorkels and vacumatics and I have never had an issue with fill capacity or leakage (fingers crossed) on those. I do use shellac for vacumatic Parker 51s, I find those are prone to leaking at the hood without proper sealant.

 

Is it okay to use on old eyedroppers? I find that the seal on those is never very good, whenever I use one it leaks profusely at the joint. I supposed that I could tighten it stronger but I feel uncomfortable doing that with century old (and in some cases quite thin) hard rubber. Especially on those tiny little Peter Pan ones.

 

Re: the fat Touchdowns, that's interesting. It would explain why I haven't found the traditional washer in those.

[Ron Z]

I don't use a sealant on the barrel threads on snorkels and touchdowns.  I know that Sheaffer did, but if I immerse the pen past the barrel edge and don't see any bubbles, it 'aint leaking air.  Vac and 51 threads, and section threads on the Sheaffer plunger fillers (aka wire pens) are another matter.  Same with piston fillers.  That joint has to be sealed well.

 

I would use a wax on eyedroppers.  Thread sealant is too messy, and silicone grease isn't enough.   Rubber cement goes into the circular file cabinet of Frank Dubiels bad ideas.  I have never had it work, and think it's a terrible idea.