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Hello FPNers, I recently bought an ebonite flattop Duofold Senior (see attached photo). The blind cap is a bit darker than the rest of the pen, indicating that it probably isn't the one that originally came with the pen. Is it possible that the blind cap is made of Permanite rather than ebonite? How can I tell the difference? If it is made of ebonite, what's the best way to make it fade so that it matches the rest of the pen? I look forward to your feedback. Thanks. Best, John

Hello FPNers, I recently bought an ebonite flattop Duofold Senior (see attached photo). The blind cap is a bit darker than the rest of the pen, indicating that it probably isn't the one that originally came with the pen. Is it possible that the blind cap is made of Permanite rather than ebonite? How can I tell the difference? If it is made of ebonite, what's the best way to make it fade so that it matches the rest of the pen? I look forward to your feedback. Thanks. Best, John

Hello Everyone, This is my first post on the FPN forums. I've been referencing them a lot; and I am happy to finally be posting something. I recently acquired a Parker Duofold in an online auction. I purchased a pen lot because one of the pens looked an awful lot like a Duofold. I am a novice when it comes to pen collecting, but I knew enough to take a chance for 22$. First I will give you the imprints - although they are shown in the attached pictures (I am sorry for the poor lighting) The Nib is imprinted with the following lines, across the its width: Parker Duofold Pen Canada A The Barrel is imprinted with the following lines along its length: Geo.S.Parker DUOFOLD Fountain Pen Toronto - Lucky Curve - Canada Here are dimensions that I took using a Mitutoyo calipers in inches [mm] Barrel Length from the section opening to the base of the blind cap threads: 3.224" [82.88mm]Blind-cap thread length: 0.126" [3.2mm]Total Length from the section opening to the tip of the blind threads = 3.35" [85.1mm]Tip of the nib to barrel (nib + section): 1.259" [35mm]Outer Diameter of Barrel Cap threads: Tapered from 0.496" [12.6mm] to 0.488" [12.4mm]Outer Diameter of Barrel at it's Mid-span: 0.5256" [13.35mm]Outer Diameter of Blind-Cap Threads: 0.3669" [9.32mm]Outer Diameter of Barrel edge at the base of the Blind-Cap = 0.484" [12.3mm] - 0.488" [12.4mm]Post Length (with roughly 10mm of overlab between cap and barrel) = 6.653" [169mm]The one dimension I did not measure with the calipers was the length of the pen from the tip of the cap to the end of the blind-cap threads when capped. You can see from the image that this is roughly 5.25" [133.3mm]. What I have found out so far, through contacting Robert at five star pens, is that the cap and section do not match. The cap is a streamlined cap and the section is an earlier version. The question was whether or not this was an incorrect section, or an incorrect cap. What I have learned from reading the Practical Pen Repair guide by Marshall and Oldfield is that the streamlined models did not have threaded sections (if I remember correctly). You can see in the pictures below that the barrel is threaded, and there is very good thread engagement between the section and the barrel. Additionally, Robert suggested that the band around the barrel was likeley used by a merchant as an anchor attachment to keep the pen from walking away. The ring slid off without much effort, and I did not see any signs of a clevis attachment to the ring. I do still have the ring so perhaps I will take some high magnification images of it to be sure. Finally, a few observations. There is some discoloration in the barrel near the section; however its distance matches the distance between the barrel opening and the end of the detached/crumpled sack. This discoloration is also observed on the outer surface of the section itself. The remaining length of the barrel looks consistent in color. It looks free of discoloration but of course I can't tell for sure. The cap is brighter in color, which I gather is not unsurprising - however its marbling does not match that of the pen's, at least not to my eye. The marbling on the pen seems denser than the marbling on the cap. The cap seems to have less color variation then the pen does - again this could just be me. What I am hoping to find out is precisely what model of Duofold this is. Is it a streamline? Is it a "canadian special"? I've combined through the dimensions provided by vintagepens.com and they seem to align closely with the 1927 Senior model - however because the section and cap are mismatched, I am unable to determine the true length of the pen. I'm less concerned about which model it is, and more concerned about making sure it has the right parts. I need to buy a blindcap, but I am not sure which one to buy. I also need to know whether I need to buy a proper section, or the proper cap. Of course don't need to - but it will eat at me unless the pen has its correct parts... If you have any input - I would love to hear it. Hopefully I can at least find the proper blind-cap. Thank you!