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Looking for your 2 cents. I came across a George W Heath fountain pen and got it for next to nothing ($15). Pen looked real good for 90+ years old. There was just a little dicoloration (see before picture) and the pen is chased so I had no interest in applying any kind of sandpaper to it. Here is my problem. I got it wet! I wanted to take the section off and now the barrel is a way different color. To me the seller applied oil or something to reduce the discoloration. What do you think my options are? Thanks, Danny

Saw this pen recently and was intrigued. Imprint read: "Aug.28-08, Dec.10-12 Patents Pending" "Sheaffer's" was all in caps; same size font, had an oval directly over the middle that said "Self-Filling" And the bottom line was "Ft. Madison Fountain Pen Iowa, USA" The bottom of the pen was stamped "2M". Does this mean the pen was from before the Sheaffer patents actually took effect? How rare was this pen? I really couldn't find much info at all. The body and cap were both in pretty good condition. Good dark black color. No cracks, etc. But the nib just said "Warranted 3 14K", and was cracked. I figured the nib was a replacement, and didn't know the value of the pen, so I passed on it. Any Sheaffer sleuths have any input on this?

I picked up a BHR eyedropper with an overlay, very cheap because it is a no name in somewhat battered condition. It's brassed in several places, dented here and there, something indescribable happened to the metal in one or two spots - if ever there was a potential Century old Gold Filled Embossed Overlay Eyedropper knocking around pen, this one is it. It cleaned up pretty nice for what I paid and I am sure I have one or more nibs that will fit it hanging around here somewhere - but first I have to get the section out of/off the barrel. Other than the standard "Patience - heat carefully with hot air, fingers in airflow if it's too hot for them it is too hot for pen, try to open, if it does not work try again, patience, patience, it can take time" is there anything I should know about doing this? Can BHR be soaked in cool water? Is there a certain way to hold my mouth or incantation I should be muttering? Thanks in advance for reading and advice.

Hello there, I have had a bit of bad luck lately with a couple of antiqe waterman's that I recently acquired. Both pens have started leaking inside the cap to the point that ink gets everywhere and even down onto the section. On close inspection I can see that the inner cap on both pens is distorted. So the inner cap is no longer round and doesn't seal properly and on both pens I can see a spot where the inner cap has pulled away from the wall of the outer pen cap. Both pens are BHR from the 1920s does anyone have any experience with this problem and ways of fixing it? Thanks. scribe16

Hello FPN people, I have had a bit of bad luck lately with a couple of antiqe waterman's that I recently acquired. Both pens have started leaking inside the cap to the point that ink gets everywhere and even down onto the section. On close inspection I can see that the inner cap on both pens is distorted. So the inner cap is no longer round and doesn't seal properly and on both pens I can see a spot where the inner cap has pulled away from the wall of the outer pen cap. Both pens are BHR from the 1920s does anyone have any experience with this problem and ways of fixing it? Thanks. scribe16

Hey all, any idea what this pen could be? Got it cheap on the Bay because its nib was crunched at the tip so I experimented and got it to basically a stub nib and it writes! No markings on it at all, and the nib just says "warranted" and then beneath that "1st" and that is all that is visible. I'm just curious if anyone has any guesses. Thanks!

Hi Everyone, I just picked up a Carter's black hard rubber fountain pen at a local auction. It's moderately oxidized, and has a fair amount of wear, with significant brassing of the (single) barrel ring, clip, and lever. The sac, of course, is nothing more than crunchy bits. Nib seems to be a generous semi-flex, and lacks the "INX" stamp of (earlier? later?) pens. I understand that Carter's was in the pen manufacturing business for only six years, 1928 to 1932-ish; I'm guessing that would make them fairly rare? Most of the online examples I've seen are fairly attractive pens, in a number of colors/patterns; this is a plain-Jane, just smooth, black rubber, with a red stripe just below the end of the cap. I have run across all kinds of references to numbers on the end of the barrel, yet this one seems to have no numbers at all; not the slightest hint of numbers; either they were deliberately removed, or it never had any, so I can't accurately identify the pen model. Can this fact be used to date this pen? And on a more practical note: how difficult are these pens to break down? I'd like to re-sac it, and do a thorough cleaning of the feed, but this is possibly the tightest-fitting section and nib/feed I've yet encountered. I believe the section is a friction-fit; can anybody correct me here? Any information or pointers on this pen would be appreciated Here are links to some pics: http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y429/kharrisma/Carters/PC090xxx_zpsef7a9e18.jpg http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y429/kharrisma/Carters/PC090019_zps19638911.jpg http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y429/kharrisma/Carters/PC090012_zpsefd46fc4.jpg http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y429/kharrisma/Carters/PC090005_zps98a468f6.jpg http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y429/kharrisma/Carters/PC090004_zps92e22677.jpg http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y429/kharrisma/Carters/PC090001_zps8222c679.jpg

For your enjoyment... used Instagram's contrast (or whatever the last button on the right does, LOL) feature and it brought out the imprint nicely but it is not this green in real life. The BHR is a nice vintage brown now. http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2840/10041957585_a72fc5e996_o.jpg