When did Sheaffer make these ballpoints and how do I fix them?

[3rdlakerobert]

Two questions:

 

1. When exactly in the 50s were these made? I think these were Sheaffer's first retractable ballpoints called "Clickers" and I believe they were introduced sometime in the 1950s. Sheaffer did make an earlier ballpoint called the Stratowriter, but it wasn't a retractable. A while ago I think there was an original magazine advertisement for sale on eBay showing a Snorkel "Triple" or maybe "Trio" that included a Snorkel fountain pen, pencil, and one of these. These ballpoints (in these photos) are trimmed just like a Snorkel pen or pencil: the metal cap version matches the Snorkel Sentinel and the plastic cap version matches the Valiant. The colors are all Snorkel colors. I think they were sold as stand-alone ballpoints as well as part of a Snorkel ensemble.

 

2. How do I fix them? Because I collect Snorkel fountain pens I have maybe a twenty of these ballpoints and six are inoperable because the mechanism is "frozen." I think the ink leaked from the refills, resulting in the internal parts sticking together There is absolutely no give to the green one--it's frozen with the button out. The burgundy one, frozen with the button in, will move 1/16" but no more.

 

There seems no way to disassemble the clicker mechanism.

 

I've tried soaking in naphtha, alcohol, water, and Koh-in-noor Rapid-eze, including cycling them in these solvent in an ultrasonic cleaner. Nothing worked.

 

Any ideas?

 

[redpillow]

Could be that they have rusted inside, the soaking you have tried should have cleared dried ink or anything that could have leaked in through the top.

 

Perhaps the green one was left for decades with the button out and the red one vice versa.

 

 

[redpillow]

You seem to have fitted the red one with a G2 (Parker style)refill judging from the tip of it...

 

[3rdlakerobert]

28 minutes ago, redpillow said:

You seem to have fitted the red one with a G2 (Parker style)refill judging from the tip of it...

 

Very perceptive! Yes, these G2s work in them if I grind down the back end about 1/8".