Jazzed....

...several of the pens that were advertised as not working, are indeed working.
One of the ones I had not really wanted, not only is working, but is likely worth what I paid for the lot it was in, all by itself. Two of the lot that would have been difficult for me to do myself are working without trouble, 2 others will be easy fixes, another that would have been an easy fix doesn't need it. All in all, well worth the money for that lot.

Oh, and one is likely from the late teens or early 20's. Pictures to follow later.

Oh no, it's another pen post....

So, I finally cracked into things Sunday morning. I had been itching to pull apart the big Sheaffer orange red 46 special for weeks. Above are the 5 pens that were repaired this weekend. All 5 are lever fills and 4 of the 5 are Sheaffers. The unmitigated crap that I found inside a couple of these pens was most interesting. It took some cleaning out - amen, for dental tools!


Left to right are a green and black marbled 350 from the mid 30's, the 46 special from the mid to late 20's, a lever fill Sheaffer Crest Deluxe (circa'47-48)with the circular gold triumph nib and platinum mask, the unmarked gold fill lever fill from I suspect the 20's, and a black Sheaffer Craftsman from the mid to late 40's. All the Sheaffers are wonderful writers. I think I will likely try to find a replacement nib for the gold fill pen. I'm not thrilled with it's current one.




These are the Sheaffers from the of cache of pens that arrived this morning. Left to Right: a chased hard black rubber with a 22 student special nib which puts it 1925 or earlier, a steel capped touchdown filler from the early 50's, a black Valiant Snorkel ('52-59), a golden brown striated Craftsman from the mid 40's with a matching pencil, a marbled black junior balance from the 30's and another snorkel, this one a maroon Admiral from the 50's. The three to the left all work perfectly, while the Craftsman and the Junior should be easy fixes. The maroon snorkel is a bit beyond my abilities, at least for the time being. I'm immensely pleased with this group and feel quite lucky to have gotten them far what I did. They were $100 for the lot. Given that I've seen the Valiant go on eBay for almost that all by it's lonesome, and there's a similar 22 student listed on eBay currently for $90, I'd say I did fairly well.

Now to get on with fixing the Esterbooks and getting them listed for sale.