What Sheaffers Have Joined Your Collection Lately?

[silverlifter]

Odd. The inlaid nibs on the Targas (and PFMs) are exceptionally robust.

[Estycollector]

  On 8/11/2020 at 8:48 PM, NumberSix said:

I received the two vintage Sheaffers I ordered, a Snorkel and a Targa (I guess the Targa isn't "vintage"). They wrote beautifully -- both mediums.

 

However, I did not like how fragile the nibs felt, especially on the Targa. In both pens, I kept feeling like I was going to bend them or even break them. And I am not a hard writer.

 

So I hated to do it, but I decided to send them back. They were too expensive to instantly become pens I never use.

 

 

I guess I have been spoiled by those bulletproof Parker hooded nibs.

 

You've become more discriminating, a good thing!! Knowing what you prefer and sending back a highly sought after couple of pens is a big deal.

[NumberSix]

  On 8/12/2020 at 10:17 AM, Estycollector said:

 

You've become more discriminating, a good thing!! Knowing what you prefer and sending back a highly sought after couple of pens is a big deal.

 

That's a lovely way of looking at it!

[NumberSix]

I decided to give the Targa another go, after seeing some pages I wrote with the one I bought and returned a couple months back because "I didn't like it". (or maybe one month? who can recall these days?)

 

I can't help it. I like the looks of them too much. So I ordered one just now from Peyton Street, along with a bottle of Skrip Blue. We'll see how it goes.

[ENewton]

I am waiting for the arrival of a Tuckaway Deluxe, also ordered from Peyton Street Pens.

 

My only other Shaeffer is a Viewpoints calligraphy pen, from a set given to my daughter as a gift when she was ten.

[corgicoupe]

The Targa is a steady friend. I've had two from the early 1980s and still ink them up. I did buy one that I thought was sterling, but discovered it was plated and returned it to the seller for a full refund. He even [surprisingly] reimbursed me for the cost of mailing it back to him. I replaced it with a Parker Sonnet [genuine] because the original purchase was mad to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. An important date, and we are only days away from the 26th!!!

[pajaro]

  On 9/23/2020 at 1:03 AM, corgicoupe said:

The Targa is a steady friend. I've had two from the early 1980s and still ink them up. I did buy one that I thought was sterling, but discovered it was plated and returned it to the seller for a full refund. He even [surprisingly] reimbursed me for the cost of mailing it back to him. I replaced it with a Parker Sonnet [genuine] because the original purchase was mad to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. An important date, and we are only days away from the 26th!!!

 

Congratulations!

[corgicoupe]

Thanks, Paul.

[NumberSix]

Beautiful new arrival today:

 

Sheaffer Connaisseur

811 BURGUNDY STANDARD RESIN FOUNTAIN PEN, 18k Medium nib

 

I thought I was buying a black one, but I am thrilled to realize it was burgundy. (not that you can tell from this picture)

 

I was expecting the Diamine Registrar's to act just like ESSRI. (some people think they're the same ink). And it mostly does, going down dark blue and turning black before your eyes. But I think it might be a little smoother. Of course, it could just be this lovely nib.

 

 

Edited September 29, 2020 by NumberSix

[linkoiram]

Picked up several sheaffer locally recently.

Sheaffer balance (I believe full size, little over 5 inches long) which cleaned up and writes really nicely, although the nib looks a tiny bit bent down at the tip, doesn't affect writing.

 

Sheaffer Craftsman TD, writes pretty well but the nib is a bit loose. Easy restoration.

 

Sheaffer Admiral green pearl striated. Crack on the threads which is a shame because out of those 3 I paid the most for this, but it writes well but also has a loose nib like the Craftsman. Is this by design perhaps?

[HappySadFace]

I recently added a babyblue Sheaffer TRZ, a brushed gold Lady Sheaffer with Stylpoint nib and red section (what a beaut), a celluloid Sheaffer desk pen (w marble stand), a Matte Black Slim Targa and a broad Medici Targa to my collection!

The last 3 I'm still waiting on to arrive and I'm vibrating with anticipation!

[FredRydr]

I'm just testing the new FPN, so I'll add that this Sheaffer 3-25 is en route:

 

Photo courtesy of https://mainstreetpens.com/index.htm

 

 

[Estycollector]

Wish I could find another Sheaffer of interest. The lever fill Crest with conical nib more than suffice. :)

[twigletzone]

My first Prelude That lovely gunmetal finish that's about at the moment.  Haven't inked it yet (too busy running in my blacker-than-black Parker IM) but looking forward to the trip!

 

I'm also hoping for a Pop for Christmas, I got the ballpoint and I love the chunky feel of it.

[inkstainedruth]

  On 8/8/2020 at 10:41 PM, pajaro said:

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks. I now believe in estate sale finds

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I didn't used to.  A number of years ago (probably 20 or so) I was at something that was held at a campground with cabin camping.  On Sunday morning, I was talking to a friend of mine in the cabin she and her husband had been in, along with a couple of friends from NYC.  The NYC couple were packing up some director's chairs that they'd gotten at an estate sale.  And my friend said "Does this ever happen to you?  Because it doesn't to me -- yet Debbie can go to an estate sale and find 'Grandma's sewing basket' with real silk thread in it...."  And at the time, I was going "Nope.... NEVER happens to me either...."  Then about 12 or 15 years ago my husband and I went to an estate sale halfway across town.  We got there about ten after eight in the morning, and the line was already out the door.  We looked at each other and were going "Oh, we won't be able to find ANYTHING...."  And yet ended up with a nice looking glass-front sideboard that I now use in my sewing room, and what turned out to be a three year old Cuisinart!  The base and bowl were in the kitchen, and the box of discs were in the hall and nobody noticed but us!  So $30 US (when a new one cost about $300 at the time) -- $20 for the base and bowl, and $10 for the discs.  Plus $50 for the sideboard (which we had to come back for later because it didn't fit in our smaller car...).

So when I fell down the vintage pen rabbit hole, I started going to antiques shops and scoping out estate sales.  There's now a website that lists all the ones in the Pittsburgh area every weekend, and most of the sellers either include photos or have links to their websites or FB pages.  That's how I found that $20 Forest Green 51 Aero -- one of the listings had a photo with what looked like a wooden cigar box that had some pens in it, and I was going "Hey -- those look like Parkers!"  So I stumbled out of my house at a quarter to 6 that Saturday morning -- it was still dark, and as I headed north and east I was seeing the sun come up -- following Google Maps on my phone to get to the thing (which was in a town I'd never heard of, and I've lived in southwestern PA on and off for over 3 decades).  

Sometimes the photos are bad.  Sometimes the listing say "And there's a lot more we haven't unpacked yet!"  One company which NEVER posts photos?  I've never yet seen anything worth buying -- but I skim over the list anyway -- just in case.  The estate sale a few blocks from my house where I got the Osmiroid "India ink" pen for a buck (complete with instructions on how to remove the nib/feed for thorough cleaning with the included little gadget?)  Just luck -- the estate was for someone who had been an artist and illustrator and I figured that there might be some art supplies I might want -- the pen was just a bonus (and it turned out that I didn't buy any of the other art supplies after all that.  Go figure....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[inkstainedruth]

It didn't happen during the time that FPN was down (a couple of weeks before that) but I picked up a green Sheaffer Touchdown for around $13 US at an antiques mall in southeastern Ohio.  I had been to the place once before and had seen a whole lot of nothing that time.  This time, a couple of booths had pens, but mostly junkers or things that were priced at more than I wanted to pay for what they were -- I think I remember seeing a few Wearevers, for instance.  The Touchdown is I think an Admiral.  No clue if it's working.

But I really need to stop buying vintage pens until the world has opened up enough to have pen shows again.  I have too many that need to be checked out/repaired and they tend to be way ones that are beyond my "repairs" skill set.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth 

[linkoiram]

  On 12/7/2020 at 12:18 AM, inkstainedruth said:

It didn't happen during the time that FPN was down (a couple of weeks before that) but I picked up a green Sheaffer Touchdown for around $13 US at an antiques mall in southeastern Ohio.  I had been to the place once before and had seen a whole lot of nothing that time.  This time, a couple of booths had pens, but mostly junkers or things that were priced at more than I wanted to pay for what they were -- I think I remember seeing a few Wearevers, for instance.  The Touchdown is I think an Admiral.  No clue if it's working.

But I really need to stop buying vintage pens until the world has opened up enough to have pen shows again.  I have too many that need to be checked out/repaired and they tend to be way ones that are beyond my "repairs" skill set.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth 

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I picked up a sheaffer craftsman touchdown in black for about the same price about a month ago and repaired it. Wasn't too difficult.

 

Also picked up a burgundy snorkel (non-triumph nib) for less than 10 dollars at an antique mall driving home for Thanksgiving. It was nice because I had a faulty cap spring on my other burgundy snorkel so I swapped the caps and think I will send this one with the swapped cap to a restorer so both the pen and the cap from the other pen can get fixed and it is a win-win. Looking for a black snorkel and a PFM for a not too unreasonable price. I found a local store that had a blue PFM (III I think) for 175 but it looks like the nib is either an XF or F and the blind cap had a white mark that could be a crack on it. Not a huge fan of XF/F nibs on Sheaffer pens.

 

Same antique mall had what looked to be a NOS Targa with gold nib for 75 USD, worth it? May pick it up in a couple of weeks if it is still there.

[AoKiu]

Sheaffer Legacy II Linear.

And because I don't like ink sacks I converted it from touch down filler to piston converter 

[stacyhills]

1936 grey pearl Balance A47W

[BT-7274]

 

Sort of recent (didn't post about it all year, but certainly a highlight for this year): Demo legacy section on a fantasy barrel from Jim Rouse 🙂