Mystery (To Me) Sheaffer Pen

February 3, 2013

Hello! Apologies in advance for ignorance and for the so-so photography...

I was given this Sheaffer recently by a friend - I can't find any information or images in my trawling. It has an M nib and writes well. But something about the peculiar clip styling seems 80's to me?

It has a black jewell on the cap, and the same blob on the clip. It uses cartridges. 'Sheaffer' and 'Japan' are inscribed on the cap, as are three decorative rings.

I gather it was an in expensive model, but am curious if anyone knows anymore about this pen? Many thanks for your help!

February 3, 2013

That's one of the Sheaffer/Sailor pens and was just known by the F-4 nib stamp IIRC. There is also the Sheaffer/Sailor Sentinel that is slightly different. I may well be wrong but I seem to remember that your pen uses the Sailor cartridge/converters instead of the Sheaffer ones.

February 3, 2013

I have a 1985 catalog that shows that pen as a model LJ-1 named LAZER.

February 3, 2013

Sheaffer made a Slim cartridge of their own that fitted these. I think a Lamy cartridge will fit it.

February 4, 2013

Aha! I knew there would be answers forthcoming on this forum!

Thank you so much! I've picked up a couple more references to it now I know what I'm looking for.

I had no idea there was a Sheaffer / Sailor connection. Was it aimed at the student market?

It had a short international cartridge in it. A friend who knows I love fountain pens luckily saved it from the rubbish when her friend was having a clear- out.

It's grown on me a little, it's reliable if kind of daggy.

I appreciate knowing a little more of the history, thanks again.

February 4, 2013

It's actually a pretty cool looking pen, but all I kept thinking was "Geez, is this their 'Anti-White-Dot' model?"

February 4, 2013

Yes! More like 'black blob' than 'white dot'.......

I've been rummaging about and found an ancient Skrip slim cart - looks like it should fit, and also my Sailor Reglus convertor - which also seems to fit, just not totally confident about leakage!

February 8, 2013

Seeing your pen and picture, got me to digging out one of my Sheaffer/Japan pens. One of mine is a plastic pen, but plastic as in Montblanc/Pelikan quality.

It will take a short International cartridge if you cant find a Sheaffer one. They also made a slim converter for them. (I'm using and old used Pelikan one in mine)

They are typical of Sheaffer in that they write well.

They later used the same nib and feed in their Fashion pens but modified them to take the standard Sheaffer cartridge.

The Sheaffer boffs should be able to give more information, but there was a period when Sheaffer marked their pens with just a plain 'S'.

I'll try and get you some pictures posted of mine.

August 16, 2013

I have a pen very similar to the one that started this thread, differing only in the clip. I bought this pen new during the 1980s here in South Africa. It was branded Sheaffer and definitely took the Sheaffer Skrip II slim cartridges. Since I can no longer get those I've been using Pelikan 4001 short international cartridges as those are quite easily obtainable here. I usually refill them with a syringe and only buy new cartridges very infrequently. As mentioned above the nib is indeed stamped with "F-4" beneath "SHEAFFER" and then "F" just above the section. It writes very smoothly for such a fine nib.

This was my favourite pen for many years and as the photos show it is quite beaten up. The corrosion around the band at the front of the section seems to be partly from mechanical friction with the cap but also from ink that leaked inside the cap. Fortunately it is not as pronounced as the images make it seem.

Edited August 17, 2013 by strandloper

August 16, 2013

Here is the 1985 catalog page for this pen:

http://bulk-share.slickpic.com/album/share/NQOOMuNiwUGTg1/5591974.0/org/p/Page+17+%28Lazer%29++from+1985+Sheaffer+Writing+Instruments+Catalog.jpg

August 17, 2013

I have a BP/MP combo of this series in a sort of ribbed chrome finish.

November 13, 2022

As some of the photos in these threads are no longer available, here is the Sheaffer Lazer LJ-1 Cartridge pen (along with ballpoints and pencils from the Lazer and Sentinel product lines). Yes, the asymmetric clip is cool, but also bothers me.