...to tell the whole story. At least not enough space here.
I like to write here about repairing pens, in hopes of encouraging some of my readers (assuming there are any) to try some of the techniques for themselves and carry on what I know. But sometimes an article is just too long. That was the case with an article I finished up recently on repairing and replacing Waterman lever boxes. It’s on my regular Web site, in the Repairer’s Corner.
However...
Since I have your attention here, I’ll take the opportunity to share with you some of the cooler pens I’ve acquired recently. The first two came in a collection purchase I made for resale. Will I be reselling them? Not any time soon, that’s for sure. The first one is a Sheaffer Nº 2 Self-Filler, model 29S, better known as an Autograph. I like the pen for itself, and I certainly don’t object to that broad band of solid 14K goodness.
What this pen is all about is, Don’t scorn the lesser models just because it’s fashionable to go after the bigger fish. You can miss some wonderful pens that way.
The second pen is a New Lincoln eyedropper, made c. 1905. The original Lincoln Fountain Pen was made by the Lincoln Fountain Pen Company of New York; but I’ve seen statements to the effect that the New Lincoln was a product of A. A. Waterman. In any case, New Lincoln pens seem to have very nice nibs. This one is a Nº 3, and I managed to weld a base crack without blowing the nib’s temper; it’s still a very good flexie. So is the pen perfectly black? No. The cap is a little brown, and the barrel is worse, a little bit blotchy even. Do I care? Hardly! It’s a beautiful writer. ‘Nuff said.
I don’t yet have solid documentation on the A. A. Waterman assertion, so if you have any definitive information on New Lincoln, I’d appreciate hearing from you.
The third pen is something I’ve managed not to have found until the carton containing it arrived. (This pen, too, was part of a collection purchase, and I had no idea until I opened the carton just how splendid a specimen it is.) It’s a Vacuum-Fil 1946 or ’47 Sheaffer Sentinel Deluxe. Do I need this pen? Well, technically, no. On the other hand, it’s the only postwar Vacuum-Fil Sheaffer I have other than a coupe of Tuckaways -- which, cute as they are, really aren’t big enough for me to use comfortably. Therefore…
Overall, this pen just sparkles: minimal wear anywhere, sweet nib, and a perfectly clean filler cartridge (which you can see where it forms the Visulated part of the section, exposing the tail of the feed and the nose of the plunger). The black dye on the gripping section is also pristine, almost as if the pen had received virtually no use. There was trace ink in the barrel packing felts, however, and I did clean a fair amount of ink out of the cartridge and the nib unit when I had the pen apart to restore the filler, so I do know that it wasn’t entirely ignored by its owner.
I guess my question is, did they make this pen in Carmine???
Next question: did Parker make the “51” Special in the Demi size? If you’ve read the Shepherd book, you know that they did. But knowing that something existed and finding an example of it are two different things — for me, the difference lasted until this Burgundy “51” Special Demi kindly stepped up and asked me to buy it. Which, of course, I promptly did.
Just like its bigger sibling, this pen has a brightly polished cap and a black jewel. It’s just smaller, that’s all.