5$ flea market Sheaffer. What do I have here?

[SomethingPhishee]

Picked this up for 5 smackers, did a little digging and haven't found anything about it. 

 

The endcap unscrews and you pull it up, revealing a silver tube for the filling mechanism

 

Hopefully I can get some info from some knowledgeable folks. Thanks in advanced

 

 

 

 

 

[terim]

A full shot of the pen would be helpful, as the cap band is an important identifying feature.  If it has a thin band on the edge of the cap, it's probably a Craftsman. Your filling system is called "touchdown" and it's fairly easy to repair with a new sac and o-ring. 

 

You got a good deal if there are no cracks in the barrel or personalization. We sell these in the $80-$100 range once they have been restored.

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

4 minutes ago, terim said:

We sell these in the $80-$100 range once they have been restored.

and that's still a pretty decent deal when you consider the 14K nib! Go find a NEW pen with a gold nib under 100$! good luck. 

[terim]

1 minute ago, IThinkIHaveAProblem said:

and that's still a pretty decent deal when you consider the 14K nib! Go find a NEW pen with a gold nib under 100$! good luck. 

Only Japanese makers such as Sailor, Platinum and Pilot.

 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

5 minutes ago, terim said:

Only Japanese makers such as Sailor, Platinum and Pilot.

 

Really? wow... I had no idea ANYONE was selling a gold nib pen < $100 

 

But then, again, new pens in general aren't something I shop for very much  

 

Well, I still think the 80-100$ is better spent on a well restored Sheaffer or Parker   

 

YMMV 

[terim]

1 minute ago, IThinkIHaveAProblem said:

Really? wow... I had no idea ANYONE was selling a gold nib pen < $100 

 

But then, again, new pens in general aren't something I shop for very much  

 

Well, I still think the 80-100$ is better spent on a well restored Sheaffer or Parker   

 

YMMV 

 

Agreed!  I don't know how the Japanese do it.

[SomethingPhishee]

1 hour ago, terim said:

A full shot of the pen would be helpful, as the cap band is an important identifying feature.  If it has a thin band on the edge of the cap, it's probably a Craftsman. Your filling system is called "touchdown" and it's fairly easy to repair with a new sac and o-ring. 

 

You got a good deal if there are no cracks in the barrel or personalization. We sell these in the $80-$100 range once they have been restored.

Wow, that's really cool to hear. I've been wanting to try my hand at restoring old pens and working my way up to a Vintage Parker 51 lol. 

 

Also, where would I go to snag the parts to repair vintage pens?  Or is it just a trip to the hardware store to match the o-ring size?

 

Here's a full shot of the pen

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

I buy my supplies from https://fifteenpens.ca/collections/sacs-seals-and-o-rings (full disclosure, I do personally know the owner, although I was a customer first)

There are of course, other sources for these parts, including several sellers on Etsy and 

https://www.indy-pen-dance.com/pen-restoration-supplies/ (no experience, but they are well respected)

I'd link to Teri's stuff too, but I can't seem to find supplies on the Peyton street website, maybe that's something they don't carry.

 

The hardest part of a touchdown is getting the old barrel o-ring out without damaging the barrel.

(it's also the hardest part on a snorkel unless you consider getting the sac out of the sac protector worse, YMMV)

 

here are two great guides to doing a touchdown, I recommend you read and understand both BEFORE starting in on the pen.

http://dirck.delint.ca/beta/?page_id=694

http://www.richardspens.com/ref/repair/touchdown.htm

 

take your time, have patience and if you're unsure, ask. Also, if you think it's beyond your abilities, then either a) wait and do it when you are more confident; or

b) send it out to have it done by someone like Ron 

 

[Paul-in-SF]

2 hours ago, terim said:

If it has a thin band on the edge of the cap, it's probably a Craftsman.

Now that we can see that it has a wide band, I'm curious to know what it is if it's not a Craftsman. Thanks. 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

looks like this to me:

http://dirck.delint.ca/beta/?page_id=3085

 

would need to confirm it by verifying against the description, but that is up to the OP and to others more experienced than I 

 

[inkstainedruth]

I don't enough about Touchdowns to know which model is which (I presume that, like Snorkels, there were different price points depending on details like "white dot" vs. "no white dot", nib materials, style/number of cap bands, etc.).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Bristol24]

This makes me want to start visiting flea markets.  Nice find!

 

Cliff

[joss]

13 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

Now that we can see that it has a wide band, I'm curious to know what it is if it's not a Craftsman. Thanks. 

 

It is a Sheaffer Admiral from the early 1950s (circa 1951-53).

This pen is shown in the 1951 Sheaffer catalog page 11, available in the PCA library.

[SomethingPhishee]

2 hours ago, Bristol24 said:

This makes me want to start visiting flea markets.  Nice find!

 

Cliff

I think you definitely should!  It's one of the highlights of my week lol. I sometimes get to 3 different ones in a week, most times just 1.  But it's like gambling haha, never know if you're gonna hit the jackpot on the day

[SomethingPhishee]

2 hours ago, joss said:

 

It is a Sheaffer Admiral from the early 1950s (circa 1951-53).

This pen is shown in the 1951 Sheaffer catalog page 11, available in the PCA library.

Wow that is awesome, thanks for the ID and the material!  Now I gotta figure out how to clean it up and restore it. 

 

I've never cleaned up an old pen, so it should be an interesting experience. 

[inkstainedruth]

I haven't had a lot of luck at flea markets, but a friend of mine found a Parker 51 for five bucks a number of years ago at one weekly one in the Pittsburgh area.  I do better scoping out estate sales listings, and making the rounds of regional antiques shops and antiques malls.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[terim]

On 6/29/2021 at 1:38 PM, Paul-in-SF said:

Now that we can see that it has a wide band, I'm curious to know what it is if it's not a Craftsman. Thanks. 

Admiral or Cadet .....

[Pablo]

On 7/2/2021 at 8:00 PM, terim said:

Admiral or Cadet .....

 

Erm.... not exactly, and not.

 

A Tip-Dip Cadet has a 14K nib stamped "23" and the feed has the very noticeable tip-dip filling hole, both features clearly not present in this case.

 

On the other side, the pen in the photo would qualify for a textbook example of a Touchdown Admiral, except for the nib: the Admiral had a two-tone "Feather-Touch 5" stamped nib (you can see it at Jim Mamoulides' article on the Thin Model Touchdown pens, https://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Sheaffer/SheafferTMTouchdown.htm). However, this pen has a quite plain and anonymous 14K Sheaffer nib.

 

I would bet for a standard Touchdown Admiral, but with a replacement Sheaffer 14K nib, probably fitted by an official Sheaffer service center (the final "S" at Sheaffer'S - which I can't see clearly at the photo, but seems to be there- dates the nib as pre-1963, which would fit with it being a late open-nib replacement part made by Sheaffer after running out of FeatherTouch nibs).

 

Regards.

 

Pablo