New, Old Pens

[DSiemens]

A friend of mine from the ship modeling club I'm in told me she had some fountain pens from an old friend that had passed away and seeing that I write a lot with my Pilot Metro she thought I would get some good use out of these old pens, which is what her friend would have wanted. My pen collection went from four to over ten in a single day. I'm slowly figuring them out and some are not in great shape. What I'm enjoying the most is writing with true vintage pens for the first time. I can finally say I understand the hype. I've never written with pens so smooth and consistent.

 

I have a Parker Duofold Lucky Curve which I think is from around the 1920's. It has an arrow on the nib. It's missing the converter but I tried dipping it and it writes very consistently and beautifully. I like the girth on it as well. Any one know where I can get a converter for this? I'll post a picture later.

 

I also have an old Parker Castell. I haven't been able to find anything online that matches what I have the inscription says 5564 F. Very similar to the one in the forum below except it's an F instead of an M. It seems to be semi flex and has better flex than I got out of my Noodlers Ahab. Maybe not as good as my Ahab Zebra G combo but it doesn't leak all over like that combo does and the flex is very soft. It really doesn't take much effort at all. I'm having a lot of fun with this pen.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/315542-faber-castell-14k-fountain-pen-more-info-please/

 

I got another that's very similar to the Parker Castell but it says Partner on it. It's more of medium nib and doesn't flex but still writes nicely.

 

Also got a Platignum Silverline with a really broad italic nib. I never hadn't ever used this style before but I've had a lot of fun writing Old English font with it.

 

I'll have to post some pictures. I have a few other's I haven't researched or gotten working because I don't understand them. Some of them have nibs that go up into the pen when you twist the end and they look very old. I've never seen that before. I can't figure out how they get filled and I'm a little afraid to mess with them since it's hard to get anything to move on them.

 

Any way I'm having a ton of fun. Thought I'd share. Pictures to come.

 

 

 

 

[DSiemens]

Here's one with the nib that goes in. It says ultra flex and Germany on it.

 

 

[DSiemens]

This one says Waterman on it. Its lives up to the flex legend I've hears of Watermans but I don't know how to fill it or if it can be filled.

 

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

New is new, and are you a lucky guy.

What grand pens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

"""I have a Parker Duofold Lucky Curve which I think is from around the 1920's. It has an arrow on the nib. It's missing the converter"""

 

You need that to be sacked or it may be a eye dropper. 1912 Sheaffer came in with the lever.

 

I don't know....but converters came in in the '80's or 90's. Cartridges for normal folks in the mid '50's....early 60's hit the lower schools...........in lever was suddenly too old fashioned for stylish 7th graders.

[Arkanabar]

A Parker Duofold Lucky Curve doesn't have a converter. It has a little rubber sac to hold the ink that is squeezed by pushing a button hidden under a blind cap on the end of the barrel.

The one with the nib that retracts is called a "safety pen." Once the nib is retracted, you fill it with an eye dropper.

The Waterman, in black chased hard rubber (BCHR) is almost certainly a lever filler. Like the Parker, it holds the ink in a little rubber sac, that is squeezed by working a lever on the side. Unfortunately, on a lot of those old Watermans, the lever is absurdly delicate and/or broken down.

You should look up Richard Binder's site, richardspens.com for information on safety pens, and button and lever fillers. Then see if you can find a reputable repair dude, like Ron Zorn. I'm sure there are others, but I can't tell you who they'd be.

[OMASsimo]

The ones with retractable nibs are safety fillers, the standard before more advanced filling systems were developed like the "lever filler" that is mentioned above. You need a pipette or syringe to fill the barrel of the pen while the nib is retracted. If you engage the nob in the back to extend the nib to writing position, the barrel is sealed and you can write. Once finished, you retract the nib while the pen is held vertical and nib up and to screw on the cap. That seals the barrel of the pen as well and you can carry the pen without making a mess. Hope that explains it sufficiently well. And you are very lucky that you got those pens!

 

I'd recommend to post detailed pictures about the other pens so that you can be helped. You might have a lever or button filler and think it's like a modern cartridge/converter pen. But that's easy to pinpoint with decent pictures.

[DSiemens]

Thank you so much for every ones help. Heres some more info.

 

 

It appears the Lucky Curve should have the sack fill. It has a button on the top that flexes a metal bar.

 

 

 

The Waterman doesn't have any levers. It doesn't seem to have any twist nobs or anything else. Thw pen itself doesn't have any writing. It only sats Waterman 2 on the nib.

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by DSiemens

[OMASsimo]

Your Parker Lucky Curve is a button filler but due to it's internal design I strongly recommend to get it restored by an expert. Otherwise, the change of destroying the curved breather tube inside is quite high.

 

The Waterman seems to be an eye dropper, the standard pens before safety pens. The nib unit must be unscrewed to fill the pen with a pipette (eye dropper). It's quite a mess and the reason why the safety filler was invented. You've gotten some very rare pens obviously!

[sidthecat]

You’ve inherited quite the menagerie of rare beasties. I hope you find them enjoyable.

[Wahl]

Great pens, for those of us who like vintage ones !

 

They should be looked over by a competent professional.

[Honeybadgers]

my oldest NOS pen was a wahl eversharp 707 with an amazing semiflex medium nib.

 

The pen must have been stored somewhere hot and dry because the barrel split irreparably the first week it was inked.

[DSiemens]

Is there a professional I could send some of these into? I'd love to get the Lucky Curve up and running and wouldn't mind having the others looked over.

[peterg]

No one seems to have mentioned that you need to check the safety pens before filling them with ink. They have seals that generally dry out.

 

The nib on the Duofold is from a Vacumatic. When Duofold nibs were replaced on the 1930's it was generally with the equivilent Vac nib which was the production pen at the time.

[Bo Bo Olson]

The eye droppers from that era are cork gasket seals.

 

I don't know stateside repairmen other than Ron Zorn, who shows up on the com to give great advice often.

 

Cork should be fitted, and boiled in paraffin,( a thicker mineral oil and bees wax).....could then be slathered with silicon grease. If used regularly, should last 70 or more years............do not go O ring.

I don't think O rings will last 50 years much less longer. I've read of pens bulging because of use of O rings.

Certain pens like a Sheaffer Snorkel do use O rings, but from the get go as part of the complicated filling design from '50. (Many have Ahab and Twsbi...modern pens with O rings, but no one is thinking about passing them along in 50-70 years.)

 

Being in Germany, I use Francis Goossens/Fountainbel on the com, but he's in Belgium and he does re-cork properly.

 

Rubber sac's use to have a life of 30-40 years, now only about 10 years.........what every you do, do not use supersaturated inks in a sac pen.......many of our reputable repairmen state those inks can ruin a rubber sac inside of a week or two.

That other users say they don't have that problem....is their problem coming. The repair men see very many pens.

There are many other types of filling systems that can use supersaturated inks.....so why court disaster?

 

Yes, such grand pens need professional repair...........one don't have to have them all done at once, but don't cheap out.

Those pens have lasted a couple of lifetimes, and with proper care can outlast you.