Triumph-Nibbed Sheaffer...new Obsession. Help.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Oh great...a new pen-session....

 

Last year I bought a lot of five or so pens because they were all Parkers, except for this one Sheaffer with a Triumph nib. I wrote with it a while, then cleaned and put it away...but the full-fledged obsession just hit.

 

Where's the best place to find info on the nibs, the pens that 'wear' them, and the filling systems? This is some form of plunger-fill but I am unsure if it's Touchdown, or what.

 

How do I date and ID this pen? It's an admitted Frankenpen with a non-matching Admiral cap that more or less fits. The nib reads Sheaffer'S, 14k, and is probably a fine. I love it.

 

And...where's the best place to get more?

 

 

Thanks! I appreciate any help you can offer!

[Ron Z]

This is a useful site that will help you to find what pens have the Triumph nib. Richard Binders site will as well.

 

If the pen has a tube when you pull the blind cap out, it's a Touch Down filler, if a rod, plunger filler. There are some lever fillers as well. The last ones were made in the 1950s.

 

Where to buy? Wherever you find vintage pens for sale.

[ink-syringe]

Heh. The problem is there are so many good ones. Plunger fillers, touchdowns, snorkels. It is one of the deepest rabbit holes in pendom but at least you won't be alone. The re-use of names by Sheaffer will make bonkers.

[Sailor Kenshin]

This is a useful site that will help you to find what pens have the Triumph nib. Richard Binders site will as well.

 

If the pen has a tube when you pull the blind cap out, it's a Touch Down filler, if a rod, plunger filler. There are some lever fillers as well. The last ones were made in the 1950s.

 

Where to buy? Wherever you find vintage pens for sale.

 

Thanks! And sorry for the dumb question, but...how do you tell a rod from a tube?

 

And what's a decent price range for a working (but not 'collectible') model?

[Ron Z]

The tube is fat. The rod is, a rod. About 0.082" to be precise.

[Sailor Kenshin]

It's fat! Yayyyy....so, Touchdown.

 

Thanks!

[Pincel]

It's fat! Yayyyy....so, Touchdown.

 

Thanks!

 

Okay, it's fat and definitely a Touchdown. But is it really fat? There's the TD fat version and the TD thin model. Which is fat?

[Manalto]

It's fat! Yayyyy....so, Touchdown.

 

Thanks!

 

For confirmation, here's a place to see the Touchdown and how it works:

http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Sheaffer/SheafferTouchdownGuide.htm

[AAAndrew]

Welcome to the Land of The Triumph!

 

Quick note as you go crazy finding these. The ones with the tubes, the touchdown and even Snorkel fillers are relatively easy to repair. The ones with the rods are vacuum-fillers and require a bit more skills. I find it best to leave those to the experts who know what they're doing. But my favorites are the vacuum fillers as they hold so much ink!

 

So, if you find a bunch in a flea market or antique store, remember the vacuum-fill (rod) will cost a little bit more to repair. But they're also worth it!

 

I have a few and love every one of them, even the poor little tuckaway that I can't write with because it's missing all of the tipping. It still looks nice.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Okay, it's fat and definitely a Touchdown. But is it really fat? There's the TD fat version and the TD thin model. Which is fat?

I don't have calipers, but the pen itself appears to be slightly fatter than a Pilot 78G and slightly less girthy than a Sailor Profit Super Script, both of which are inked today. So probably not a 'fat' model, per se?

 

How's that for subjective?

[redbike]

I don't have calipers, but the pen itself appears to be slightly fatter than a Pilot 78G and slightly less girthy than a Sailor Profit Super Script, both of which are inked today. So probably not a 'fat' model, per se?

 

How's that for subjective?

I have both Thin Model and "fat" Touchdown models. If you are able to measure, the TM is approx 10mm and the fat is 11-12mm.

[AAAndrew]

Pictures!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Soon....and I think I can borrow some calipers.

[Ernst Bitterman]

"Fat" Touchdown (Valiant, with rather ambered section window):

http://dirck.delint.ca/beta/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Sheaffer-0200.jpg

 

Thin Model Touchdown (also a Valiant, with likewise ambered window):

http://dirck.delint.ca/beta/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Sheaffer-0043.jpg

 

Those are to scale, or close enough that the differences show. It's not a HUGE difference by any means, but when you're holding a TM you probably won't mistake it for a fattie.

 

...and thanks for the plug, Ron.

Edited June 12, 2015 by Ernst Bitterman

[Ron Z]

You're welcome Ernst. I look at the site quite often myself. I have Fred Plewa's Pen Clips about snorkels from a Pen World article a couple of decades ago printed out and in a reference notebook because I can't keep the model names straight*. Sheaffers tendency to reuse names for different models in different decades can make your head spin. I never was good at memorizing....

 

 

 

*PCA plug. We've received permission to upload old copies of Pen World onto the PCA website. But you have to be a member to access them. Some stuff is free, but this is for members only.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I have both Thin Model and "fat" Touchdown models. If you are able to measure, the TM is approx 10mm and the fat is 11-12mm.

 

The Master of the Calipers says 0.45 inches....

 

Pics are a little more difficult. Maybe I should try my new lens-attachy-gagety-thingy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry...pictures are pretty bad...arrrghhh!

Edited June 14, 2015 by Sailor Kenshin

[Happy Harry]

A first model TD by the look, although the cap is incorrect regardless. That width cap band with white dot was found on the open nib TD model and without white dot on the TM TD, the wider cap band on the Triumph nib models as per Ernst in post 14 is correct or a metal cap.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks!

 

Yes, the seller was honest in telling me it was a Frankenpen, and thought the cap might be from an Admiral. It fits well enough...the nib itself writes like a dream.

[Happy Harry]

The cap is from a Statesman.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks again! Here I had been calling the pen my ValiantAdmiral's Triumph...