Packard Pen

[von Fraker]

I recently picked this guy up in the wild (Antique Store) at what I feel was a great price. It looked unique so I picked it up. I can not seem to find anything out there that looks like this or information on the maker.

 

I have been picking up fountain pens (Esterbrook J, LJ,SJ and German Piston fillers)for just over a year now and still have much to learn. This is the first pen I have picked up with this type of filling mechanisim.

 

The photos are not the best. The pen looked dull but with a little semichrome polish it really looks nice now. It is fitted with a nice looking "Warranted Duraplate 14 K Gold Plate 8" nib.

 

The plunger is stuck in the forward position.

 

Ok, here are the questions:

 

Any suggestions on a safe way to make it operational?

 

Model or possible date made?

 

Information on the Maker?

 

Any ideas on the value of this one?

 

Thank you,

 

Rob Fraker

[penmanila]

i think this was known as a syringe filler. i have one of these on a monitor, a wahl sub-brand:

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7245/7340852712_b55d9d7a49_z.jpg

 

packard was a second- or third-tier brand, and now and then they made some really nice pens, like wearever. i wouldn't put too much of a monetary value on it, but i'd keep the pen (like i kept my monitor) as an example of an unusual filling system. mine still works, by the way. i'm not sure why your plunger seems stuck but could be old ink has gunked up the barrel.

Edited July 10, 2012 by penmanila

[Roger W.]

I have a Packard hard rubber pen so they were around for some time no doubt profiting by an association with the car. This looks to be a syringe filler as you would simply pull up the plunger and leave it in the fully expended position (the blind cap suggests that possibility). I'd date it to the late 1930's. It is likely that Packard didn't survive the war years not too unlike the car which packed it in, in the 1950's.

 

Roger W.

[rwilsonedn]

Yep, it's a second-third-tier pen with a syringe-filler. I have a few Packards, and they can be really nice pens. I also have a particular fondness for syringe fillers, which are close cousins to bulb fillers.

Restoration can be really easy if you are lucky. The challenge is generally the soft piston ring that seals the end of the piston. It gets encrusted with ink and dries up. If you are lucky, you can simply soak the pen for a while--maybe a few days at worst--in water to loosen the piston up, and then everything will work fine. Once the piston moves freely, you can use it to flush the pen and then, if it's not leaking, try some ink.

If you're not lucky, the piston will not seal. Either it won't draw in water, or water will leak past the piston into the top of the cylinder. Sometimes you can unscrew the cylinder assembly from the section and remove the piston that way to work on it, but sometimes the cylinder is glued to the section and needs heat/patience/something-I've-not-discovered to get it loose. Once you get the piston out you can remove the old seal and replace it with some appropriate new material.

In any case, be gentle with the pen, especially before soaking and if you have to remove the section. And do try restoring it. I think you'll be really pleased with the results.

ron

[OakIris]

That looks like a pretty neat pen! Hope you can get it to work for you.

 

In the first photo it looks as if it is a relatively small (short) pen. Is it, or is that just an optical illusion due to the angle the photo was taken?

 

Holly

[Ernst Bitterman]

The problem with this style of thing (mine is a Remington; my Packard is a bulb-filler) is that the section is sometimes pretty permanently cemented into the section. Some release easily, some refuse bluntly, and the only way to tell which way it will fall is to try it, with a bit of the old soak/heat cycling to help things along.

 

...which in looking up the thread is just what Ron said. I'll also echo the urging to give it a go; they're not GREAT, but for the period equivalent of a Hero 616 they're rather pleasant and definitely decorative.

[von Fraker]

That looks like a pretty neat pen! Hope you can get it to work for you.

 

In the first photo it looks as if it is a relatively small (short) pen. Is it, or is that just an optical illusion due to the angle the photo was taken?

 

Holly

 

 

It is actually larger in person. It is a bit larger than an Esterbrook J.

[von Fraker]

Thanks guys. I will start moving forward on soaking it in cool water.

 

Question though....should the whole mid portion be soaked in a container or just the nib portion, I wouldn't want to damage anything.

 

I look forward to seeing if I can repair it.

[Ernst Bitterman]

It shouldn't do any lasting harm to heave the whole thing in. The worst outcome will be some water on the "dry" side of the piston, and that might help to get it running.

[rwilsonedn]

It shouldn't do any lasting harm to heave the whole thing in. The worst outcome will be some water on the "dry" side of the piston, and that might help to get it running.

+1. What Ernst said (as always.)

ron

[georges zaslavsky]

pretty interesting pen, thanks for sharing

[von Fraker]

Well, I just arrived home from the office and checked on the soak and it still seemed frozen in time. I started barely wiggleing the stem (that I thought would just pull back like a syringe)as I did this I noticed it seemed to move a bit. So I started twisting it slowly back and forth then it happened...it moved. Come to find out it doesn't pull back....it twists like a piston filler. Who would have thought. I have been able to fill it completely with water. Now to see if it will hold it.

 

:clap1:

 

 

Thanks guys for the suggestions,

 

Rob

Edited July 11, 2012 by von Fraker

[Uncle Red]

That's great.

[von Fraker]

"Come to find out it doesn't pull back....it twists like a piston filler"

 

I must correct this statement.....it was still too stiff. I soaked it again last night and this morning....it easily just pulls back like a syringe. I filled it with water, put it in a dixie cup (nib down) and when I arrived home tonight...no leaks. I will fill it with with ink next to see how it performs.

 

And to think, this may be a pen from the late 30s early 40s. One of the reasons I am enjoying this hobby more with each new (old) pen I find.