Vacumatic Shadow Wave

[algabatz]

A recent FPN topic made me take out my old Vacumatic Shadow Waves.

Really great pens and beautiful colours. Sorry for the dusty scanner...

 

/Tony

 

 

Edited January 30, 2010 by algabatz

[NABodie]

Tony your pic is not showing up, at least for me. Great pens, I still need to find a burgandy and a silver. Here are some of mine.http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3388/3643151307_ff5c5fb2d0_o.jpg

[OldGriz]

I still need to find a burgandy and a silver. Here are some of mine.

 

You mean like these....

 

 

 

 

 

And this is my green one

 

 

[NABodie]

Yes Tom, like those!

 

But where is your brown one like mine?

Edited January 30, 2010 by NABodie

[OldGriz]

Yes Tom, like those!

 

But where is your brown one like mine?

 

Someplace on eBay :roflmho:

[NABodie]

Someplace on eBay :roflmho:

LOL! Same place as my burgandy and silver. :roflmho:

 

 

ok now your pic is showing Tony.

 

Edited January 30, 2010 by NABodie

[georges zaslavsky]

very nice pens

[dannzeman]

A recent FPN topic made me take out my old Vacumatic Shadow Waves.

Really great pens and beautiful colours. Sorry for the dusty scanner...

 

/Tony

 

Very nice! My goal for 2010 is to complete my Shadow Wave collection.

One question, where are your transitional Shadow Waves?

[Rabbit]

Perfect timing! I have been meaning to ask about a Shadow Wave I have. I don't know much about them. This one reminds me of one of Old Griz's pens above. Mine has a barrel date code of 2--I'm pretty sure. Unfortunately, the closer you get to the end of the pen, the weaker the imprint gets; you need a really bright light and a loupe to see the date code, but I'm fairly certain that it is a 2. I can't decide if there are any dots though because it's pretty faint. I think there might be at least one dot, but my eyes are getting tired of looking! The capped length is roughly 4 and 5/8". I forgot to photograph the filler, but it's a clear plastic filler. You can see that the cap band has lines--this is called a "stacked coin" band, right? The cap band also has a little rectangle area where I guess you could engrave your initials or something.

 

This pen is unrestored right now and I have not attempted to take it apart. The filler is completely stuck so I know the diaphragm is either ossified or clogged with dried ink. I cannot see any transparency at all--should this particular Shadow Wave have transparency? I'm guessing that there might be a lot of dried ink in the barrel. I noticed that the barrel is pretty dark in places making it difficult to see the pretty stripe pattern. The cap is better, but it too has some dark spots. Is that normal or is that a sign of age for these pens? The other photos in this thread seem to show that too to some degree. Maybe it will improve when the inside of the barrel gets cleaned...

 

I'm in the learning phase of Vac restoration, so I'll probably have a professional restore this one since it's my most unusual vac.

 

I'd love to know any information you all have about this particular one!

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4316525633_a8b3e1f8f2_o.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2708/4316525761_7d2264a400_o.jpg

 

--Stephen

[dannzeman]

Perfect timing! I have been meaning to ask about a Shadow Wave I have. I don't know much about them. This one reminds me of one of Old Griz's pens above. Mine has a barrel date code of 2--I'm pretty sure. Unfortunately, the closer you get to the end of the pen, the weaker the imprint gets; you need a really bright light and a loupe to see the date code, but I'm fairly certain that it is a 2. I can't decide if there are any dots though because it's pretty faint. I think there might be at least one dot, but my eyes are getting tired of looking! The capped length is roughly 4 and 5/8". I forgot to photograph the filler, but it's a clear plastic filler. You can see that the cap band has lines--this is called a "stacked coin" band, right? The cap band also has a little rectangle area where I guess you could engrave your initials or something.

 

This pen is unrestored right now and I have not attempted to take it apart. The filler is completely stuck so I know the diaphragm is either ossified or clogged with dried ink. I cannot see any transparency at all--should this particular Shadow Wave have transparency? I'm guessing that there might be a lot of dried ink in the barrel. I noticed that the barrel is pretty dark in places making it difficult to see the pretty stripe pattern. The cap is better, but it too has some dark spots. Is that normal or is that a sign of age for these pens? The other photos in this thread seem to show that too to some degree. Maybe it will improve when the inside of the barrel gets cleaned...

 

I'm in the learning phase of Vac restoration, so I'll probably have a professional restore this one since it's my most unusual vac.

 

I'd love to know any information you all have about this particular one!

 

--Stephen

You covered everything pretty well. It's a 1942 transitional Shadow Wave. Dried ink inside the barrel could contribute to lack of barrel clarity. I've had several where the barrel clarity improved once I cleaned it out. As far as the dark spots, that's probably just how the celluloid was made. I have shadow waves where one side is very bright and colorful while the other side is nearly black. I also have some where the whole pen is nice and colorful with almost no dark spots.

[Rabbit]

 

You covered everything pretty well. It's a 1942 transitional Shadow Wave. Dried ink inside the barrel could contribute to lack of barrel clarity. I've had several where the barrel clarity improved once I cleaned it out. As far as the dark spots, that's probably just how the celluloid was made. I have shadow waves where one side is very bright and colorful while the other side is nearly black. I also have some where the whole pen is nice and colorful with almost no dark spots.

Thanks for the clarification! I am really starting to like Vacumatics, and I love the appearance of this one. I think I'll move it to the top of my list of pens that need to be sent off for restoration!

 

--Stephen

[Mauricio]

algabatz ... Wow, you have an impressive collection of Shadow Waves!

 

And for those of you looking for some nice ones, I listed four Shadow Wave pens this morning: Burgundy, silver, brown, green ... FPN post or Full Info & Pictures

[Ryanlim]

Impressive collection of Shadow Wave....green with envy here....am looking into getting my very first.....;-)

Thanks for the overview

 

 

A recent FPN topic made me take out my old Vacumatic Shadow Waves.
Really great pens and beautiful colours. Sorry for the dusty scanner...

/Tony