Is this a Wahl pen?

[InkyProf]

(At @shalitha33's suggestion, I'm posting this here, too, edited and with a little additional information).

 

I picked up this red ripple hard rubber pen yesterday at a vintage store with an eye toward building up my repair skills on something non-precious and inexpensive (about the price of a bottle of ink). I'm now wondering whether it might be a Wahl. Here's why:

 

1. It looks an awful lot like the right-hand "rosewood rubber" pen on p. 40 of the 1928 Wahl catalog, especially given the shape of the section, placement of the clip slot, and the size and placement of the cap bands. The bottom cap band, of course, is single not double, and it's at the edge of the cap lip. But that in itself suggests that the cap might have been cut short at some point, presumably due to cracking, since it would have been weird (wouldn't it?) in this era to put a cap band right at the bottom edge of the cap where it could more easily be pulled off. Indeed, there's a little chipping and unevenness under that remaining cap band, though no cracks extending past the band. And -- the big tell -- if you look at the barrel under a loupe, there is a pattern of very light wear around the circumference of the barrel extending about 5mm below the bottom of the existing cap and then ending, as would have been made by screwing and unscrewing a cap.

 

2. The shape of the recess for the end of the lever looks distinctive to me -- a straight-sided recess that than balloons out into a round recess for the lever tab -- and identical to, for example, the one on this Wahl. But I'm not an expert on hard rubber pens of the 20s so have no idea how common this shape might actually be.

 

Further information: it's 130mm capped, barrel 10mm and cap 12mm diameter. There are no traces of an imprints that I can see on the barrel or ends. It doesn't have a Wahl nib; instead, it has a generic-looking "WARRANTED [arched sans serif] / 14K [serif] / No 3" nib, with a flat comb feed and heart-shaped breather hole. If it's a Wahl I suppose this was a later replacement.

 

My assumption had been that it's a third tier maker I've never heard of, but now I'm not so sure. If it really looks like a Wahl, I might see if I can find a Wahl z clip rather than a plain one. Given the brittleness of the material (there's also a chip in the top bit of the cap threads on the barrel, though the pen still caps and uncaps smoothly) it might not survive my "repair" attempts in any case, but I'd love to know what the Wahl experts think about what it is!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PPPR]

Not having seen one in person, there are only the catalogue images as my reference. In the 1928 catalogue, the three-banded-cap FPs had slightly domed/conical tops instead of a traditional flattop. No one can tell what type of top your FP has in your photo. That could be another clue to the FP's origin.

[PPPR]

Details matter.

[InkyProf]

Thank you for drawing my attention to the cap top. It is slightly domed.

 

 

I suppose the key detail might be the nature of the lever-pressure bar system, once I get it open!

[InkyProf]

Luckily, the pen opened easily, and I can now report that the barrel is metal-lined (which, I gather, makes it all the more surprising that the section came out without much drama), and the pen does have what appears to be the Wahl pressure bar -- though I'm only halfway done chipping out the old sac, so I can't see the anchor yet.

[Scriptitans]

Hi Inkyprof,
I bought a Wahl a few months ago from a second-hand website. I'm posting the link on my blog for comparison. The barrel looks the same, but the cap seems different, more like a new one on your pen.
Personally, I bought it for the nib (Waterman Idéal Reg US Pat of 2) that was mounted on it and which I was able to easily extract.
I was never able to open the barrel, and since I wasn't feeling destructive, I left it as is, with its cap, in the garage...
If that helps.

 

https://scriptitans.blogspot.com/2025/06/rehabilitation-plume-centenaire-sur.html

[InkyProf]

Thank you, @Scriptitans, that's helpful! I'm glad you were able to use the nib elsewhere. (That had been my backup plan, too, since the nib on my pen appears to be in excellent condition.) The other significant difference is that yours has a band at the bottom of the barrel, while mine doesn't, and mine might also be slightly more tapered at the bottom of the barrel, too. One major disadvantage of the catalogues from this period is that they show all the pens posted, obscuring the barrel end!

[InkyProf]

With the sac remnants out, I can confirm that this has a Wahl lever/pressure bar/retaining bracket system, and (hallelujah) it's dirty but not corroded. With that information, I think I have sourced a replacement Wahl clip, and my tentative plan is to fill the small chips at the cap lip, visible only on the underside of the cap, thanks to the remaining cap band, with a tiny amount of  Loctite 480 for stability, although I haven't used that product before and will experiment with it first before making a decision. Looks like it'll take a no. 15 or 16 sac. I'll post a photo if and when I get it up and writing. Thanks, all.

[InkyProf]

Went slowly and had to wait for parts and tools to arrive, but here's pen, now with a new clip, a new no. 15 sac, a little stabilization of chipped areas on the inside of the cap rim and the barrel threads, and a light polish. As far as I can tell, it's a rosewood hard rubber pen from the late 1920s whose cap had been cut flush with the upper band in a prior repair. I was able to get it to draw about half a ml of ink, which isn't great, but it's functional. The no. 3 nib is dryish (so far) and moderately flexible but writes smoothly and easily. The replacement clip cost as much as the pen, and the inner cap puller cost more than both combined -- so I'm pretty pleased with this result! Thanks to everybody here and over at "Repair Q & A > What is on your bench?" who helped me figure this out and get it writing again.

 

 

 

 

 

[Scriptitans]

On 7/25/2025 at 7:55 PM, InkyProf said:

Went slowly and had to wait for parts and tools to arrive, but here's pen, now with a new clip, a new no.

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful restoration and fountain pen. Sorry for getting back to this so late.

[InkyProf]

7 hours ago, Scriptitans said:

Beautiful restoration and fountain pen. Sorry for getting back to this so late.

 

Thank you, and no apologies necessary, I appreciate the followup at any date!

 

Ithaca has been kind to me when it comes to red hard rubber; later in the summer I found a Waterman red ripple 52 1/2 V at a flea market...

[joss]

I had not seen this thread until now, but the elongated section, the spoon-type lever and the oddly shaped recess of the barrel under the lever are all indeed correct for a Wahl Rosewood. So yes, the bottom of the cap was likely chopped off. On most, if not all, Wahl Rosewood pens, an imprint can be found on the top of the cap and in the circular direction. The problem is that the imprint easily wears and it can be gone completely, but traces of it may still be visible under a magnifying glass. The original imprint read "Wahl-Eversharp Made in Chicago USA" or just "Made in USA".

[InkyProf]

Yeah, I looked hard for the cap imprint with a loupe, but saw no trace of it! The real giveaway, though, was the very specific lever/pressure bar mechanism, so once I had it open, I was confident that the Wahl replacement clip would be the right one (and it’s a perfect fit, down to the tiny worn spot in the hard rubber where the clip ball sits). Very glad Five Star had the clip available!