"a" Marking On Vacumatic Feed

[mori45]

I bought my first Parker Vac a few days ago and I know absolutely nothing about Parkers, so forgive me if this is a dumb question. The feed on the pen is marked "A"--do any fellow forum members know what the mark signifies? The seller said it was an accountant's nib, but I'm not sure if that was just speculation.

 

[icardoth]

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/112149-vacumatic-feeds/

[PAKMAN]

The 'A' does stand for Account on the feed, usually accompanied by a firm fine to extra fine nib for making those tiny numbers on the old accountant ledgers.

[mori45]

Thanks icardoth and Perry--wonder why I wasn't able to find that earlier post.

[Penne Stilografiche]

Thanks icardoth and Perry--wonder why I wasn't able to find that earlier post.

Maybe because that newer FPN search bar is semi-useless and annoying to use?

[Paul80]

Hi

 

One of my Vacumatics had a D on the feed, what's that one denote.

 

Paul

[inkstainedruth]

Now I'm going to have to go look at both of my Vacs to see it there is any sort of feed markings. Is there a definitive list someplace (i.e., besides what's in the link to the old thread)? And would other Parkers (such as 51s) have similar types of markings?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstaineduth

[jaxxon]

I have 2 vacs that have the letter "T" stamped on the bottom of the feed, Any ideas?

[Paul80]

I wonder if the D on mine is because its a Débutante.

 

Paul

[Ron Z]

Other than anecdotal evidence (though reasonable) that the "A" stands for accountant for very fine nibs, to my knowledge we don't have any Parker documents that tell us what the other letters were for. I am quite willing to be proven wrong with scans of the documents. If someone has the time they could take a look at the Parker stuff in the PCA library. There are 228 files of Parker stuff, 33 relating to the Vacumatic.

[icardoth]

If someone has the time they could take a look at the Parker stuff in the PCA library. There are 228 files of Parker stuff, 33 relating to the Vacumatic.

 

Couldn't find a way to download them. Is membership required?

Edited October 3, 2013 by icardoth

[ac12]

I don't know why, but it seems that an odd proportion of the vacs that I look at have A nibs.

Both of mine are A nibs, and I was about to bid on one, and it too has an A nib.

[Florida Blue]

I don't know why, but it seems that an odd proportion of the vacs that I look at have A nibs.

Both of mine are A nibs, and I was about to bid on one, and it too has an A nib.

I could be wrong, but I believe the letter had more to do with the feed than the nib that was in front of it.

 

The vast majority of Vacumatics had fine nibs. Either fine, extra fine or accountant fine. The "A" feeds didn't necessarily have an accountant nib, but it had at least a fine nib. The feed had a thinner channel to accommodate the flow of ink.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, I did a cursory check of both the Vac Major and the Debutante I own, and neither of them appear to have *any* obvious markings on the feed. How disappointedly conventional and boring. This has been an interesting thread, and I had been hoping to see something that I hadn't previously noticed.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[kirchh]

Other than anecdotal evidence (though reasonable) that the "A" stands for accountant for very fine nibs, to my knowledge we don't have any Parker documents that tell us what the other letters were for. I am quite willing to be proven wrong with scans of the documents.

 

Parker Service Manual 5115 does mention that 'W' indicates a wide feed, which would be matched to broad/stub/oblique nibs styles.

 

--Daniel

[Paul80]

Just been through my small collection of vacumatics and the feeds are marked thus

 

Débutante W

 

Débutante D

 

Duovac A

 

Not total sure the Débutantes are Débutantes as the sizes do not match any size listing I have been able to find

 

Paul

[Ron Z]

 

Couldn't find a way to download them. Is membership required?

It is, which is reasonable.

[Mastersmith043]

I have 2 vacs that have the letter "T" stamped on the bottom of the feed, Any ideas?

Is it "Toronto" possibly? Is the pen Canadian?