What's Up At Christof's

[christof]

As you may be know, I am very fond of the Parker 61. Although my main collection is about the "51", I have great interest in the 61 and find its design fantastic. I already have posted here about my collection so I want to let you know the last steps I did in collecting only.

1. I finally was able to complete the series of rainbow caps. I now have all three of them:

Heritage cap; silver and yellow gold

Legacy cap; nickel and silver

Heirloom cap; rose gold and yellow gold

2. And I was able to catch an example of a first edition pen from 1956:

(.. of course, the box is not correct to this pen since the "Halo"-logo was introduced in 1958 only)

3. Lately, I was thinking about the (strange) Parker 61 Mk III, made in Argentina. I always was wondering what the commonality with the U.S. and English made Parker 61 might be. But when I got a Parker "51" Mk III, this question was answered.

I think that this pictures are proof enough to show that the Parker 61 Mk III is in fact a Parker 51 Mk III. I am still curious why they called it 61 in Argentina...

That's all for now, but let's see what is next.

C.

Edited January 31, 2018 by christof

[drrusso]

Dear Christof!

Nice pictures with history.

Glamorous pens, as usual

Regards,

Arvind.

[christof]

Recently, I was able to buy a small collection of vintage and unrestored fountain pens. The collection belonged to an acquaintance from the local fleamarket. We knew each other for years and met once or twice a year at the fleamarket, mostly early in the morning, hunting for pens. At some point, we became friends, although we were looking for the same stuff. The years went by and my friend became older (me too of course). When he got retired, he stopped collecting. We didn't see each other for a couple of years until he decided to leave me his collection.

 

I'm still sorting and sifting, but I wanted to show you some pictures of some interesting examples. Later I will come eback with more pics and informations.

 

National and Mondial, same company (formerly Angloamer from Munich, Germany)

 

huge Mondial

 

with strange piston activated vacumatic filling system. (can't believe it ever worked properly...)

 

some Pelikan (not all of them came in that lot)

 

Wahl red rubber pen with greek key guilloche and tulip clip

 

In the next weeks, I will come back with more pics and informations. Have a nice week end.

C.

Edited February 23, 2018 by christof

[piscov]

Very nice Christof!

I love the Mondial. Is it a vacuum filler type pen isn't it?

[piscov]

I was so blind by the pictures that I only noticed you reply to my question in the OP Sorry!

[christof]

No problem Vasco.

...still, it's hard to believe that this pen is really ink tight. Don't you think? I will not test it

[piscov]

Hi Christof

 

Actually one of the first pens I've made for myself used a similar system, but with orings as a seal and a spring to help the button to return up to position again. It was inspired by the vacumatic filling system but with no sac.

The system actually works very well and never fails, and I have done the pen 5 or 6 years ago. If the inner walls where the seal must travel are in good shape, and if you are able to replace that seal, I believe the pen will work well and will take a huge amount of ink.

 

If your thread wasn´t full of great pens, exquisite pictures and masterpiece drawings I would dare to show it here

 

Best regards,

 

Vasco

Edited February 23, 2018 by piscov

[christof]

If your thread wasn´t full of great pens, exquisite pictures and masterpiece drawings I would dare to show it here

oh!

please do. don't hesitate. any information is welcome.

c.

[piscov]

....here it goes ... Proceed with care and put some eye protection, please

 

 

 

I believe that system works in a very similar way. I do not see any spring in the picture, but I bet it used one to allow the button to come up again.

Edited February 23, 2018 by piscov

[LanceSaintPaul]

This continues as one of the premier threads @ FPN. It also suggests I may need to fabricate myself a light tent....

[mana]

Wow...

 

some Pelikan (not all of them came in that lot)

 

Wahl red rubber pen with greek key guilloche and tulip clip.

[christof]

Thanks for the compliments.

 

And thanks to Vasco for the illustrating pictures. I made a quick sketch of the Mondial Vac-Filler unit:

 

 

I see several main differences to Vascos filler, which makes me sceptical that the Mondial did ever work properly.

 

1. The seal moves into the filler housing and not into the barrel.

2. Cause of this, there is no proper seal between the filler unit and the barrel.

3. There is no spring in the whole mechanism. The friction of the seal in the rough HR filler housing is too strong for a spring. You have to pull and push manually!

3. The seal lip is very fragile and paper thin. This may work to produce a vacuum (like Sheaffer's Vacuum-Fillers), but not to seal a pen with a full load of ink in the barrel (which is done separately on Sheaffers.)

 

That's why I have no doubt that Vascos pen works flawlessly, but the Mondial, I would not trust. For this, Iwill leave this pen as a museum piece for the moment. Still, I find it interesting to see and study. Thanks to Vasco again.

 

C.

[piscov]

Indeed, I agree with you Christof!

For me, the biggest problem is the one you raise on point 4. The seal needs to be robust and that one clearly is not. Also not having a spring makes the mechanism not practical to use at all.

 

Just a pity that a pen with such lovely ink window does not return to active duty.

[fountainbel]

Hi Christof,

Allow me to react on the problematic points you’ve mentioned

1. The seal moves into the filler housing and not into the barrel.

This is not a real problem in my opinion, Tibaldi made there pump filler the same way...

2. Cause of this, there is no proper seal between the filler unit and the barrel.

This could be a problem, but if you would seal the filler unit threads in the barrel with shellack the pen will not leak.

And - given the wall thickness of the pump housing is at least 1.3 mm - one could install a 1mm section O ring sealing in the barrel bore, as shown on “1"

When not, one could install an O ring in the barrel wall as shown on “2”

Or even make a chamfer on the barrel bore and install a thin section Oring between the barrel and the filler unit collar as shown on “3"

3. There is no spring in the whole mechanism. The friction of the seal in the rough HR filler housing is too strong for a spring. You have to pull and push manually!

"Edison pens" is actually an identical design without problems in the same "push & pull” manner.

The inner pump housing bore could easily be polished obtaining lower friction

3. The seal lip is very fragile and paper thin. This may work to produce a vacuum (like Sheaffer's Vacuum-Fillers), but not to seal a pen with a full load of ink in the barrel (which is done separately on Sheaffers.)

Using the original parts and only replacing the front piston nut by a stepped O ring seat (which screws on the existing shaft) you will get a dependable filler

Christof, I surely respect your viewpoint on leaving the pen with its original filler, but just as Vasco I think it is a pity to leave such a nice pen unusable .

The attached sketch shows this repair approach alternative.

Benefit being all parts - except the seal enclose nut - remain original., so retro fitting to its original state remains possible at all times !

Best regards,

Francis

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h89/fountainbel/Repair%20suggestions%20to%20forum/2018-02-272020.19.05-2.jpg

[a m a r g o]

 

Got a new pencil. Doesn't look spectacular, but is, at least for me. Maybe, some of you are familiar with the Fixpencil by Caran d'Ache? It's a family of leadholders, developped for technical drawings. Here a picture of my humble collection:

picture most probably already shown here

But here comes a picture of the very first (!) of Caran d'Aches Fixpencil from 1930:

As already said: doesn't look too fancy, but in fact, these are incredible rare. Not many existing examples are known. One is in the permanent exhibiton of the Museum of Desing Zurich:

http://www.emuseum.ch/objects/80144/fixpencil-nr-77

...and this one on my desk!

C.

PS: I know, only collectors can understand my excitement about a boring black leadholder....which is a piece of history!

 

 

These are gorgeous!

 

The push buttons in aluminum, color coded and with those groves, look fantastic...

 

What's the story behind the little brother?!

[christof]

Guess there's no surprising story behind, just a pocket, purse or whatever version of the Fixpencil. Nothing exciting.....except that it is extremely rare

c.

 

ps: the #23 is no longer mine. it's part of the permanent exhibition of the museum of desing zurich now.

Edited February 28, 2018 by christof

[christof]

 

Hi Christof,

Allow me to react on the problematic points you’ve mentioned

1. The seal moves into the filler housing and not into the barrel.

This is not a real problem in my opinion, Tibaldi made there pump filler the same way...

2. Cause of this, there is no proper seal between the filler unit and the barrel.

This could be a problem, but if you would seal the filler unit threads in the barrel with shellack the pen will not leak.

And - given the wall thickness of the pump housing is at least 1.3 mm - one could install a 1mm section O ring sealing in the barrel bore, as shown on “1"

When not, one could install an O ring in the barrel wall as shown on “2”

Or even make a chamfer on the barrel bore and install a thin section Oring between the barrel and the filler unit collar as shown on “3"

3. There is no spring in the whole mechanism. The friction of the seal in the rough HR filler housing is too strong for a spring. You have to pull and push manually!

"Edison pens" is actually an identical design without problems in the same "push & pull” manner.

The inner pump housing bore could easily be polished obtaining lower friction

3. The seal lip is very fragile and paper thin. This may work to produce a vacuum (like Sheaffer's Vacuum-Fillers), but not to seal a pen with a full load of ink in the barrel (which is done separately on Sheaffers.)

Using the original parts and only replacing the front piston nut by a stepped O ring seat (which screws on the existing shaft) you will get a dependable filler

Christof, I surely respect your viewpoint on leaving the pen with its original filler, but just as Vasco I think it is a pity to leave such a nice pen unusable .

The attached sketch shows this repair approach alternative.

Benefit being all parts - except the seal enclose nut - remain original., so retro fitting to its original state remains possible at all times !

Best regards,

Francis

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h89/fountainbel/Repair%20suggestions%20to%20forum/2018-02-272020.19.05-2.jpg

 

 

Francis

thanks a lot for this contribution. Your suggestion for improvement shows to me that you also had designed this filler differently. I am sure that there are different ways to bring the pen back to use, but since I am not convinced that it will stay with me, I prefer to keep it as it is for the moment. If I decide to sell, I surely will let the new owner know about your suggestions.

Actually, my first intention was to convert the pen to a pushknob filler with a transparent ink sac. This could be another way to bring it back to use.

Thanks again for your help which is much appreciated.

C.

 

PS: thanks also for your ingenious restoration of the Soennecken Rheingold. I really am happy with this:

 

Sorry for not having shown it earlier. Francis did such a fantatsic job on this.

Edited February 28, 2018 by christof

[a m a r g o]

Guess there's no surprising story behind, just a pocket, purse or whatever version of the Fixpencil. Nothing exciting.....except that it is extremely rare

c.

 

ps: the #23 is no longer mine. it's part of the permanent exhibition of the museum of desing zurich now.

 

Unselfish man!

 

[MYU]

A wonderful showcase of truly beautiful writing instruments and also some intriguing insights on pen design/repair.

 

Christof, what is your personal impression of the newer Pelikan M101N compared to the vintage 101N?

[christof]

well...the M101N is a modern pen and completely different made as the vintage ones. Only the shape is (almost) identical. And as you know, I don't care a lot about modern pens. But this says nothing about the M101N which is probably a quite good pen.

c.