Styles Of Sheaffer School/cartridge Pens

[2GreyCats]

Sheaffer student vintage fountain pen

 

I recently purchased one of these pens and it is now in transit. It is one of the ones with the silver cap, colored barrel and flattish end. 1960s. Never used. What type of cartridges do I need to get for this old pen? Will the Modern-Day Sheaffer "universal" cartridges work in these old student pens? And if not where do I find some that do fit it? Also, do any converters fit it? Thanks, Breck

Sheaffer cartridges, both new and old, fit it as far as I know.

 

Sheaffer piston/twist converters DO NOT fit it, as I just found out this morning! I have a vague memory that I once had a squeeze-fill Sheaffer converter, years and years ago. One of those *might* fit the school/Catridge/"People's Pen" body, or it might not.

[2GreyCats]

I've called it a Skripsert school pen with a Stylpoint section, and you'll note I've capitalized only the copyrighted portions. I imagine if one were to find the right catalogue, a model number might appear.

 

Yay! Thank you! :clap1: I just got one of these, in the opaque bluish green color, from a local antique-mall, and had no idea what it was.

 

I figured it was just one of the basic school ones until I popped the cap off -- "what on earth is THIS?" With the beveled cap, I'd never seen a Sheaffer cartridge pen that looked like that, so I had to snap it up--of course. Thanks for solving my little green mystery.

[2GreyCats]

... Then I set pen to paper and oh my goodness! I was transported back to 1968. And my Sheaffer Student back then was...yes, yellow. And this one is, by the way, new and totally unused. Amazing. A never used 40+ year old pen that is exactly the kind I had and was looking to get, expecting to buy some old used thing. You gotta love the internet!!!

 

Anyhoo, happy camper in excelsis today. I hope all have as much satisfaction with their Sheaffer School Cartridge Pens as I. It's the little things in Life, eh?

Indeed it is. Yes, I love these silly little pens too -- they're the Energizer Bunny of fountain pens, IMHO. They never fail to write, and they basically never die. Enjoy! I never was keen on the yellow ones, but I sure remember a lot of them in my college bookstore, Woolworths, etc.

[Mags]

I love these pens they are awesome. I have one with a clear barrel on my desk at work.

[andru]

Do the new Sheaffer cartridges have the little glass bead? I have some old Sheaffer carts which have a little glass bead sealing the end -- you pop the bead into the cart when inserting it for the first time. These are excellent; the bead keeps the ink flowing nicely, otherwise at least some inks will tend to adhere to the sides of cartridges.

[pencils+pens]

I have a vague memory that I once had a squeeze-fill Sheaffer converter, years and years ago. One of those *might* fit the school/Cartridge/"People's Pen" body, or it might not.

 

After returning from vacation yesterday, I went to the post office today to pick-up my held mail. In it were 9 pen packages containing 10 pens - 9 Sheaffer's and 1 Parker 45. One of the Sheaffer's was described as a Sheaffer Fashion pen but I have not verified this. It is metal, thin and heavier then the School/Cartridge pens so that may fit the bill for a thin pen. Even better it had a detachable 'aerometric' style converter. I pulled the converter and inserted it into one of my Sheaffer cartridge pens and it fit. So that may be the solution to the converter issue with the school/cartridge pens.

[Saintpaulia]

I've been ruminating on the possibility of finding a cartridge converter for my Sheaffer Student (flat top and bottom) so I am following this latter thread closely. I found a twist-tpe converter on I Sell Pens (Todd Nussbaum's site) for Sheaffers but he does not know if it will fit the Student-types and referred me on to Pendemonium.

 

On another tack, could you tell me what type of Sheaffer cartridge pen this is? (see my attachment) I have never seen one like it. All looks pretty usual and average, even like my little Student in the sense of the flat bottoms and flat caps, but that clip is new to me. The little ball on the end of the clip and the clip itself being narrower and looking a bit more upscale than the flat clip students, etc.

 

Going back to the earliest posters on this thread, if you are still reading, do you have a classification for this little white one (actually it might not be little)> Seller says it's 5 inches long - I assume he means capped.

 

Thanks, Breck

 

P.S. Is this a No-Nonesense maybe?

Edited July 22, 2012 by Saintpaulia

[jd50ae]

It is a Sheaffer NoNonsense.

[ac12]

I recently ran into a variation of the ver2, with what appears to be a fiber tip, like a Papermate Flair.

I think Parker had a similar pen in the Parker 45 line that used a fiber tip.

[ac12]

Anyone know if the Kaweco squeeze converter might fit the school pen?

http://www.jetpens.com/Kaweco-Squeeze-Fountain-Pen-Converter-for-Sport-Series/pd/10586

I understand that it fits the slim Targas, so the nipple size might be similar.

[jar]

I recently ran into a variation of the ver2, with what appears to be a fiber tip, like a Papermate Flair.

I think Parker had a similar pen in the Parker 45 line that used a fiber tip.

 

Yup, they gave that a try. I even had a few of them. Total failure though.

[ac12]

Add one I just got:

Ver 3 (flat ends), clear

[ac12]

 

 

Yup, they gave that a try. I even had a few of them. Total failure though.

 

What was the reason for the failure of the fiber tip?

- market acceptance?

- how the pen wrote?

- ?

[jar]

 

 

What was the reason for the failure of the fiber tip?

- market acceptance?

- how the pen wrote?

- ?

 

All of the above but also that the tip where the fill came out had four little prongs to orient it and keep it stable that broke off almost immediately.

[mitto]

Sheaffer type ball clip.JPGI've been ruminating on the possibility of finding a cartridge converter for my Sheaffer Student (flat top and bottom) so I am following this latter thread closely. I found a twist-tpe converter on I Sell Pens (Todd Nussbaum's site) for Sheaffers but he does not know if it will fit the Student-types and referred me on to Pendemonium.

 

On another tack, could you tell me what type of Sheaffer cartridge pen this is? (see my attachment) I have never seen one like it. All looks pretty usual and average, even like my little Student in the sense of the flat bottoms and flat caps, but that clip is new to me. The little ball on the end of the clip and the clip itself being narrower and looking a bit more upscale than the flat clip students, etc.

 

Going back to the earliest posters on this thread, if you are still reading, do you have a classification for this little white one (actually it might not be little)> Seller says it's 5 inches long - I assume he means capped.

 

Thanks, Breck

 

P.S. Is this a No-Nonesense maybe?

 

Both the modern Sheaffer piston converter and the classic Sheaffer squeeze converter would fit in this pen provided you pull out the cartridge stopper spring fitted in the end the barrel. I have several of these and I am using both these types of converters in them. For pulling out the spring I use straightened paper clip after giving a slight turn to one its end.

[Plumette]

Do the new Sheaffer cartridges have the little glass bead? I have some old Sheaffer carts which have a little glass bead sealing the end -- you pop the bead into the cart when inserting it for the first time. These are excellent; the bead keeps the ink flowing nicely, otherwise at least some inks will tend to adhere to the sides of cartridges.

 

I remember those cartridges! I always wondered what the bead was for, and I didn't know it was glass.

[Plumette]

rcarlisle, my first fountain pen too was a translucent red V2, bought in 1964 for fifth grade. Like you, I wish I could find one again for sentimental reasons! I don't even know what to call these things when I search for them, other than "Sheaffer school pens."

 

I have two of the black Skripserts, if that's what we're cautiously calling them, from a lot of vintage fountain pens my mother gave me a l-o-o-n-g time ago. She was a world-class garage sale shopper. I'm gradually working my way through these to see what I have and what kind of repairs it needs. I gently washed one of the Skripserts and fitted with an old Sheaffer cartridge I had refilled with a syringe, and (so far) it writes like a champ!

 

I also have a strange little orange pen I'd like to ask for help with. It looks exactly like the flat-top translucent school pens I remember from my youth, except for three things:

1. It's translucent orange. Is that a legit Sheaffer school pen color?
2. It takes a universal cartridge. There's a little wall halfway down the translucent barrel, and only one of these short cartridges will fit in there.
3. The cap, which clearly says Sheaffer down the clip, looks like it's made of aluminum. Certainly not chrome.

Here's a photo -- not a very good one, I apologize in advance for the quality.

 

[bob_hayden]

I am not an official expert but I lived through this history and I (think I) remember it;-)

I believe there are three pen lines here. One began with what I think was initially called the Dollar Pen and sold for $1. Sheaffer was not the only company trying to meet this price point. But that was an age of inflation and they could not hold it for long, and then these pens just were described generically as Sheaffer Cartridge Fountain Pens. It was such a cheap pen it did not even come with a model name/number!-) I am not aware of Sheaffer ever calling any of their pens "school pens" in the US of A. In fact, I am not sure if any of the three lines involved here had model names or numbers. The V1-V3 of the OP are three generations of a single line that began with the Dollar Pen.

A second very short line consists of the soft plastic pens with a nib that was hooded in the sense that a bit of plastic protruded over the nib, the protrusion longest at the nib center line. I did not even know about these until fairly recently when one showed up in a lot of miscellaneous fountain pens I bought on eBay. For that one the plastic was pretty well chewed up and the nib seemed inferior to the nibs on any of the other pens discussed here. My guess is that this was an early attempt at a cheap cartridge pen that was not successful and was quickly discontinued.

The third line has nibs that I think are a reference to the inlaid nibs on more expensive Sheaffers, both having a sort of diamond shape. Here the plastic extends out farthest at the edges of the nib rather than the center. I bought one of these new in about 1960, Sheaffer advertised these heavily to high school and college students. The nibs were less flexible than those on the Dollar Pens and came in more widths, tending to the fine side. Most of my haphazardly gathered examples are finer than the nibs marked "F" on the Dollar and its descendants, and at least one is much finer. There is one minor variation that I know of in this line. Some are flat across the top and others are slanted. These sold for $2.95 back then and were certainly intended as a step up from the Dollar Pen. Some people call this model the 295 but I do not recall Sheaffer calling it that.

"Skripsert" was the brand name for the Sheaffer cartridge. I don't think there is a Skripsert pen. The name in a pen ad was just a way of saying it took cartridges rather than bottled ink. (Sheaffer told me back then that they did not make converters because another company held the patent on those, so their pens were at the time either bottle-only or cartridge-only. One consequence of that is that they made no effort to maintain clearance for a yet-non-existent converter, so it is a matter of trial and error fitting converters into these. My experience has been that if you have a bunch of old converters you can always find at least one that fits.)

All these pens used the original Sheaffer cartridges that have a uniform thickness and are flat on both ends. Today cartridges that fit are made in Slovenia and sold under the Sheaffer brand name. A very few Sheaffer pens made after they abandoned Iowa use standard short international cartridges which have a tapered body with a nipple on one end and are flat on the other end. When those came out they were available in many colors but I think it's just black and blue now if you can find them at all. Practically speaking, 99% of cartridges labeled "Sheaffer" will work in these pens, and 0% of cartridges not labeled "Sheaffer" will work as intended. (With a little help from Rube Goldberg you might be able to get 303 Enfield cartridges into these pens;-)

The Made in USA Sheaffer cartridges were identical on their two ends. In fact, Sheaffer advertised this as a feature because most of their competitor's cartridges had to be inserted right way 'round, and it was often not obvious which way was right. The Slovenian cartridges cannot be inserted both ways and work. One end can be punctured by the pen while the other is made to be puncture proof so you can carry an unpunctured cartridge in your pen -- presumably while flying to that important business meeting for which you do not want to show up with a big ink stain on your shirt pocket.

I am doubtful about the Kaweco converters working. They may be slim enough to fit inside the pen, but the Sheaffer cartridges do not have a nipple. I think your best bet would be real Sheaffer converters with metal exteriors that work by squeezing. These tend to be slimmer than the plastic ones that work by twisting.

On the subject of slim pens, there are limits to how thin the pen can be and still take available cartridges. There are some very skinny Chinese pens that use only bottled ink. A stainless Vector might be the most practical solution. Targa is a Sheaffer line, not a Parker line. Sheaffers described as "slim" may take yet another cartridge, this one rare to begin with and long discontinued. If you can find them they are probably dried out by now, but could be refilled with a syringe.

The No Nonsense pens seem to have replaced the two flavors of hooded nib pens as the step up from the Dollar Pen and its descendants. The first generation was made of opaque plastic. A later generation that differed only in using translucent plastic like many Dollar Pens was called the Viewpoint. Both were considerably fatter than the Dollar Pens. These were also available with various calligraphy nibs and in calligraphy sets of various sizes. I think there is a successor today for calligraphy but I don't think any parts interchange with the Made in USA pens.

Plumette's pen is called a Reaktor. It has a crimped nib that I find far inferior to the other pens discussed here. OTOH, I find the cap more attractive than any of the three generations of Dollar Pen caps, and fortunately it is the only part interchangeable with those pens. So I have used these to dress up my old pens for formal gatherings;-)

These cheap Sheaffer pens rather ruined me for more expensive pens, too many of which do not write as well! However, they are no match for the Sheaffer I bought for $25 back when the Dollar Pens cost a dollar.

[virgilio]

If you are not an expert, nobody is!

 

I have an old sheaffer aerometric bladder I picked up somehwere. I use if in one of my old Sheaffer cartridge pens. It also fits the so-called Skripsert Stylpoint (semi-hooded) or 295 pens. However, its a very TIGHT fit in either, and you've got to be careful inserting it; it broke off the end of one of my old feeds, probably because the plastic was brittle.

[pajaro]

I have a blue pen I think is a Skripsert, with the semi hooded nib and flat ends, and I am using the Sheaffer push button converter in it. The converter is NOS, but with its age failure might occur at any time.

 

I have a black Stylpoint with the slanted cap top and bullseye at the barrel tip, gold tone cap, semi hooded nib. I had a push button converter in it, but the sac failed. Trying to fix the converter, the press bar broke, so I shellacked a sac to the black end piece with the hole in it and pushed that onto the end of the section. Now I can squeeze the sac and fill it. Sac replacements will be easier in the future.

 

In two school pens with translucent ends I have used a clear converter bought from ebay seller Street Fair. The converter was a loose fit, so I used heat to semi melt the end of the converter with the hole, and let it cool. Now it is a tight fit on the section end, and the converter fits into the barrel of the round ended school pens.