How To Refill Parker Vacumatic Pencil?

[ThirdeYe]

Does anyone know how to refill a Parker Vacumatic pencil? I'm guessing you just retract the little metal "piston" all the way into the pencil, and push the lead up into it, but before I try that and potentially mess something up, I thought I would ask here. When I remove the cap to expose the eraser, it says "Use Parker Lead Refill Cartridge" on the metal beneath the eraser.

 

Any helps/tips would be appreciated, really like this little pencil and want to get it working.

 

Derek

[Zenas]

+1 would like to know as well.

[Buzz J]

Derek,

You have it right. Just gently slide a new lead into the nozzle. If it's free of debris, and the mech hasn't been sprung, the lead should be gripped and retract as well as advance.

John

[ThirdeYe]

I finally received my shipment of lead for the pencil. The sticks I received were way too long, so I had to break them down into 3 smaller pieces to get it to fit into the pencil correctly. I also managed to fit 2 of the little pieces into the refill cartridge under the cap, without removing the eraser. The technique of fully twisting the piston back into the pencil and simply pushing the lead up into the pencil fairly firm worked like a charm. The pencil works great!

[homekeys]

what size lead do they take??

[ThirdeYe]

Mine took 1.1mm but some also took 0.9mm, I believe.

[homekeys]

i tried 0.9 in it and it fell straight out. this one is from the 30's i guess it is the 1.1 like yours. Thanks fro the quick reply!

[ThirdeYe]

i tried 0.9 in it and it fell straight out. this one is from the 30's i guess it is the 1.1 like yours. Thanks fro the quick reply!

 

You're welcome and good luck! They sell 1.1mm lead on eBay.

[brettttt]

I read recently over in the Wahl-E forum a post to the effect that old Eversharp leads used imperial measurements which of course do not correspond exactly to "modern" 1.1 or .9mm. There was also a note about the particular leads in question being squared rather than perfectly round--all of which made for a dicey situation if you want to use new replacement leads. Do any of you know the metric/inch situation with vintage Parker pencils? If they originally used imperial measurements, when did they make the switch?

 

Thanks,

Brett

[ThirdeYe]

I read recently over in the Wahl-E forum a post to the effect that old Eversharp leads used imperial measurements which of course do not correspond exactly to "modern" 1.1 or .9mm. There was also a note about the particular leads in question being squared rather than perfectly round--all of which made for a dicey situation if you want to use new replacement leads. Do any of you know the metric/inch situation with vintage Parker pencils? If they originally used imperial measurements, when did they make the switch?

 

Thanks,

Brett

 

Hi Brett, I am not sure if I fully understood your question, but I know that the 1.1mm leads can vary in size due to rounding, all of which tend to round to 1.1mm, perhaps due to the metric/imperial conversion? I do not know if/when they made the switch, however.

 

Derek

[jonveley]

Does anyone know how to refill a Parker Vacumatic pencil? I'm guessing you just retract the little metal "piston" all the way into the pencil, and push the lead up into it, but before I try that and potentially mess something up, I thought I would ask here. When I remove the cap to expose the eraser, it says "Use Parker Lead Refill Cartridge" on the metal beneath the eraser.

 

Any helps/tips would be appreciated, really like this little pencil and want to get it working.

 

Derek

 

Parker Vac pencils (I assume you are talking about the twist ones and not the cap actuated clutch models) are equipped with the propel-repel-expel mechanism that pushes lead out, draws it back in, and also pushes out any last crumbs after the previous lead is used up. So before you put a new lead in the pencil, advance the mechanism all the way until the metal push rod pushes flush with the tip and expels the crumbs. Then retract the mechanism back, insert the lead until it stops, then push the tip of the pencil down onto a hard surface to seat the lead in the mechanism so it will retract for you.

 

If this doesn't work, fixing a stripped mechanism is minor surgery - the most difficult part is finding spare pieces to replace the ones that are stripped inside.

[Namo]

Thank you all for this thread, very informative.

 

.9mm leads do not work great, at least in a OS Vac. pencil. I've ordered 1.1mm (and bought some on the B. too...). Can't wait to see how it works, the pencil is so beautiful!!

[Namo]

I jut want to add a follow up:

 

- 0.9mm leads don't work;

- brefore I found 1.1mm leads, I tried 1.3mm, and they are too big;

- I did find Retro 1951 1.15mm leads, and they are just great;

- and will try 1.1mm soon, but my guess is that it should be no problem at all.

 

Thanks!

[nxn96]

I jut want to add a follow up:

 

- 0.9mm leads don't work;

- brefore I found 1.1mm leads, I tried 1.3mm, and they are too big;

- I did find Retro 1951 1.15mm leads, and they are just great;

- and will try 1.1mm soon, but my guess is that it should be no problem at all.

 

Thanks!

Autopoint still sells the 1.1 leads. Easy to find on eBay or Amazon, or even directly to Autopoint in Janesville Wisconsin.

[Namo]

Thank you, nxn96. My fear was not to be nable to find some 1.1mm leads, but that they wouldn't fit into the pen. I red somewhere here that the original Parker leads for Vac. were slighlty scare, so I was afraid taht rounds ones wouldn't do at all. But it seems to work nice. ANd the pencil is really beautiful!

[ThirdeYe]

Yep, I had to use 1.1mm lead (I used some vintage Scripto lead).

[Namo]

Last (?) follow up:

 

the 1.15 mm leads works fine, but they don't hold that well. It is not a big deal, since pushing the lead back in the pencil is very easy, and that the problem doesn't occure frenquently. But I received my "vintage" (can use that word about leads??) Parker leads, and the result is far better. So, it might be wortht he trouble to go online and fine some old stock Parker leads, at least for the Vac OS pencil.

 

Cheers!

[ThirdeYe]

I haven't had any issues with my lead falling out. I did at first, but it was because I didn't have it pushed in hard enough.

[Tojusi]

So, I now have a Vacumatic pencil, made in Canada. There is one lead in the mechanism, it advances and retracts by twisting action.

 

Reading the above thread, I am not sure whether the pencil is supposed to open somehow. Also, it is unclear to me whether more than the one lead currently in use can be fed into to pencil.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

To throw in a fountain pen reference, I have a matching fountain pen though it is made in the USA.

[pen lady]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Leadheads! Your pencil should unscrew in the middle and if all is well, inside you'll see a metal tube. At the top there should be an eraser. It will probably be ossified, but if you can pry it out, (there may be a small hole in the side of the tube where you can poke a straightened paper clip to assist) with luck there will be some spare sticks of lead inside the tube. For instructions on how to load the lead, check out www.Pendemonium.com, (no affiliation) find the "pen repair supplies" tab on the left, when there, click on "pencil leads" and scroll to the bottom. There you will see some refilling instructions. Good luck. BTW, only ONE lead goes in the pencil at a time.

Edited December 2, 2014 by pen lady