Inherited fountain pens
 

So I inherited a Parker duofold and a W.A. Sheaffer & co “white dot”. Don’t know what model the Sheaffer is beyond it has the “white dot”. I do a decent amount of writing a day, probably a page or two a day that are viewed by many eyes and I sign quite a few things. Ive always wanted a fountain pen, do you think either or both of these would make good daily pens to use? https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3265eb73ad.jpg


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Absolutely!

If you write a few pages a day then one of those would be handy.

The rubber sacs that hold the the ink are probably dried out and need replaced, before use.
They are over 60 years old and probably have never been replaced.

Call The Fountain Pen Hospital. Seriously.

The cost will not be worth it financially, but it will give you joy every time you pick one up.

Thanks!! I spent an hour going through their website, never knew a place like that existed.

As for the money, it is what it is. I think my grandfather would appreciate his pens being used again. He passed away before I was born so I yearn for a connection to him.


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I’m sure they are. Is it just the sac I’d have to replace and clean the nib or is there a lot more to these than that? I’d prefer to keep them as close to when he used them as possible.


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Neither of those are good user repair candidates. The Parker is a pump vacuum filler and might need a diaphragm. The Sheaffer is a plunger filler. Neither uses a sac.

BUT, contact Danny Fudge at The Write Pen. He is good folk and a person you can trust to advise you wisely.

Both of them fill only from a bottle and are also truly great everyday pens. In fact lately I've been using the shorter Sheaffer Tuckaway that has the same filling system as your Sheaffer. Mine was made in 1945.

In the image below it is second from the left and the second from the right is like yours and also given to me by my Grandfather when I was about ten or eleven years old.

Forgot to add some pictures of some Parker 'Duovacs'. The vertical stripe was after the horizontal rings Vacumatics and Parker returned to using the 'Duofold' name that was introduced in the early flat top parkers. The 'black' stripes are actually transparent and allowed the user to see how much ink was still available.

Thank you for the abundance of knowledge!! I played with them a little this morning and realized they both have some sort of “plunger” system. Exactly as you stated. They don’t look incredibly used and were in a drawer in a climate controlled house for probably the last 60 yrs at least. Would it hurt anything to buy some ink and see if they work? If it won’t or when they get repaired, what ink should I get? I use blue at the office so originals are distinguished from copies.

I notice your Sheaffer has gold trim, mine has silver. Does that do anything for dating it? Are the nibs replaceable on these fairly easy or do they need a professional to change them out?


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Start with water and if you don't get a leak at the butt end after a day or three then try ink.

They fill differently. The parker as you mention is a plunger pump. You put the whole nib under the liquid level and pump the plunger five or six times pausing a long three count between strokes. I'd guess there is a 50% chance the Parker will fill BUT I will also point out that diaphragm failure is sudden and gives no warning.

The Sheaffer fills with a single downstroke. Again the nib and feed should be submerged and with the Sheaffer let it sit in the liquid for a long ten count.

The striped Duofolds were made from 1940 until 1948. More info here.

The Sheffer Plunger Fillers were introduced in 1935. The style of clip (rather than color) is a good way to get an estimated age and you can see the evolution of the clips here.

Sheaffer nibs were amazing but again, not really user swappable.


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Thanks again!! Any ink better than others? I’d prefer something that dries fairly fast.


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I tend to avoid any of the boutique inks like Noodler's and stick to the long established ink makers. I generally find Waterman inks to be fairly reliable, relatively inexpensive, generally available and moderately fast drying. Remember though that the paper will be a major factor in how fast any ink dries.

I'd start by trying Waterman (relatively wet ink), Pelikan 4001 (a somewhat dry ink) and something from either Diamine or J Herbin. Experiment until you find what works for you. Compared to skiing, golf, sports cars, fine watches and boating, inks are a cheap secret pleasure.

Sounds great!! I’m fascinated by all the different variables that go into this hobby.

Going to be a substantial difference from my usual pilot g2 0.7mm. Lol


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