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My wife has dug out an old Swan Leverless which she says belonged to her grandmother. It has not been used for many decades. I'd like to know hold old it might be, and what model number. The barrel is stamped with a swan logo surrounded by this text: SWAN LEVERLESS PEN MABIE TODD & CO LTD MADE IN ENGLAND TRADE MARK PAT. APP. FOR The clip also bears a swan logo. The section is stamped with: SWAN The nib is engraved with: "SWAN" 4 14 CT MABIE TODD & CO LTD The section is loose in rotation, maybe an eight of a turn. The filler cap also rotates, perhaps a third of a turn, but does not appear to suck up any ink. I want to take it apart for inspection and cleaning, and probable replacement of sac. I've tried warming it up with a hair drier and pulling firmly, but it won't budge. Can anyone confirm that it is definitely a push fit, and suggest why it might turn but not pull out?

Picked up a Mabie Todd L330/60 from the antique market yesterday ($25CAD), as my first dip into vintage pens... From the info gathered searching through this forum, I figured out it's a black rubber leverless model (pre-war) with a #3 gold nib. The nib is in decent shape and buttery soft with some flex; it fits on a Noodler's Charlie, so I've been playing around with that frankenpen for now. So I opened up the L330 from the nib section end; the sac had disintegrated but the pressure bar looks intact and the twist-button mechanism turns smoothly. I'm not sure how to open 'er up from the bottom though... I don't want to break the twist-fill button or anything. And I've searched online for repair videos and there's nothing for this particular model, though there's a lot for other MT leverless pens. Questions: - does anyone have info about this pen? - any tips on cleaning/polishing hard rubber? - anyone disassembled/repaired this one before and can offer tips? - I measured the nipple at 18/64"... so the pen should take a size 18 sac, right? - the pressure bar goes to about the top band on the body... from the repair book photo it doesn't look like it needs an extension... am I right? Any and all info would be greatly appreciated!! I can't wait to rock this pen as an EDC, taking notes at uni all day

Found this at the local antique market today: it may be a little rough, but at $25CAD I couldn't resist it as my first foray into vintage pens From the stamp on the bottom (L330/60), I figured it's a pre-war, black hard rubber, size 3 Mabie Todd Leverless, c.1934. The nib section is stamped with "Swan L3" and the body is stamped with "Patent No. 390585/32". The nib is #3, 14ct gold, and apparently flexible from a quick dip-test with Monteverde Sapphire ink. It's so smooth and wet!! Unfortunately the left tine of the nib looks a little bent... but I'll see if I can massage it back into shape. The rubber sac is totally missing but the pressure bar is present (hard to see from the photo) and the twist button turns well. Anyone know what sac size this would take? Anyone done a sac replacement on this pen? Any help would be much appreciated!!

I regret (in a way) that I was unable to resist this beast. An early large Leverless with No 6 "keyhole" nib. It is difficult to make out the model number but I think that it is L600.60. The feed and section are stamped L6. I assume that this pen dates form 1933/4: it has the screw method (aarrgghh!) of securing the paddle mechanism - found only on the early pens. Rgds Cob

For the L3xx and L4xx series, Mabie Todd used the same barrels. This creates attractive Frankenpen possibilities. Frankly I think that the No 3 nib in this fat barrel looks a little lean. Here's my newly created "L430/63!" The lovely nib came from a a beautiful 1060 sadly with a loose cap band.: [url=https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1519122860__l430_63.jpg][/url Cob

I have just acquired this one. It came with a 1950s Swan nib (witht he Swan wrapped aorund the breather hole). I have installed the correct nib which I was fortunate to possess.. No model number of course. As may be seen, the cap has the late 1930s type clip arrangement with the BHR ring and the little Swan emblem embedded, found on L212/60, L445/60. L645/60, 0160/1060/2060 amongst others, and some of the Snakeskin and Lizard skin models. Rgds Con

Well, I have attend my first pen show, the one in Cologne on April 1st. I was planing to buy one or two pens and at the end decided on Mabie Todd Swan Leverless 205/60 with flex gold nib. Nicely restored, very smooth and wet writer, I love it. Bought it from kind and helpful Sarj Minhas (one man pen show!) on whose table(s) I spent half of my time at the show The other two I bought on eBay: 1940s Bayard Excelsior 560 Standard in excellent condition. Leningrad Soyuz - never saw one of those before - nice wet writer.

I am delighted to have acquired this rather unusual Leverless. Of course I have (and have had) 1930s Leverless Swans with No 3 nibs, but I have never seen a rolled gold one. Note also how the name is stamped - in the style of the New York models. Rgds Cob

Dear community, I recently purchased a Mabie Todd L205/47 which I want to restore. The original nib and feed, which I believe would have been a Swan #2, has been replaced with a #1. These are, of course, too small for the section, so the nib does not sit snugly in the section. Can anyone steer me in the right direction to find a replacement nib and feed? The sac I'll need shouldn't be as tricky to locate, but tips are always welcome! Many thanks in advance, Gwen

Well now, I fancy this brand spanking new forum may explain why I was having to use Google's cached pages to find info on Swan numbering this morning! Not that it did me much good, for here I am hoping for some expert clarification on what I have here. As a picture tells etc etc, on with the pixels: 128mm (5ins) capped, 117mm (4 5/8in) uncapped, maximum barrel diameter of 12.5mm (1/2in) I apologise unreservedly for the dust; my DIY light box has lain dormant for longer than I realised - and apparently in the interim I've forgotten how to focus. But you get the gist, I hope. Somewhere or other I came across the barrel imprint with the Swan on the left as being a "type A" and thus earlier...? Everwhere, bar Marshall and Oldfield in Pen Repair, seem to say I should be looking at a metal button/insert/doodah with a Swan at the top of the cap. So again, earlier? I confess it was the No. 4 Eternal nib I went for - stiff as a board, but broad. Yum. Other possible pertinent facts are "Swan" L4 on the feed (as you can't see...) and on the section, and "Swan" on the cap. No model number anywhere. I have fully gathered that Swan numbering is not an exact science, but have I hit the correctly numbered coconut? Or no cigar? Failing that, how do I go about working out what size necked sac I need if it isn't a 1060...? (I gather a #21 x 2 13/16 is the size if it is) Thank you for your time and any observations, pens and cobs (and cygnets). Cheers, Al

The self-filler is a New York pen from about (I would guess) 1924. It is fitted with a Pat. 1915 clip. The leverless was a bit of a pain; English from about 1933, its internal mechanism had rusted away and the fact that it is thinner than the standard leverless pens of the period (e.g. L200/60) made the repair trickier than it might have been. And of course the nib was bent too. Anyway it works now and as I hope the writing shows, it was worth straightening the nib! The colour difference is interesting I think, the New York pen being quite a bit darker; perhaps there was more "gold in the rolling"? Rgds Cob.