What is on your bench?

[VacNut]

Vacumatics will always be my favorite but I started expanding the collection in a different path.

I always like The Vacumatic Oversize Pens, so I will never stop collecting them.

A Silver, Green, and Black OS that were collecting dust in my bench. The Silver OS has a 44’date code so the nib and section are likely original. The Green OS actually has a better barrel color match than suggested by the photos. The Canadian Black OS has the more flexible nib than the American-made pens. It actually puts down a very characteristic line.

The Marbled Green Italian Celluloid Pen just has a wonderful pattern. Push button filler with I think a replacement nib.

The snake skin pattern National Security Pen is just cool. It is a typical lever filler, but except for the slight staining on the barrel, the pen looks little used. I was attracted to it for its similarities with the Vacumatics, but the pattern is really striking, and can stand on its own merits. It has BHR jewels on the wash end.

The Sager Sackless Transparo Pen has an ebonite rod filler and a transparent barrel. This is my first attempt that “restoring” a piston type filler. It was more work than I anticipated, as there is little in the way of guidelines on restoring the filler. I have a soft spot for the Sager Pens, as they remind me of the Vac Demonstrators and Crystal Pens. The pen fills on the down stroke which sets it apart from the vacs. You run the risk of breaking the long filler rod, if you force a stuck filler.

The National Security BHR Pennis near mint condition. Great imprints with crisp relief patterns on the cap and barrel. I did not try to take this pen apart as I did it want to risk damaging the twisting end cap filler. It has a removable button on the top of the cap that allows you to score or imprint the paper over your signature to prevent forgeries. I have only researched the concept briefly, so I am not sure how the concept really works. It is still a really a great pen.

[Nethermark]

Great Pens!

 

The Sager is really interesting. Could you say a bit more on how the filling system works?

[VacNut]

I have Sager Pens with 3 different type is fillers. This older pen is the most simple. I will post more pics

[VacNut]

A few uncommon Vacumatics this week. 

A Brown OS Vacumatic with a split filler sleeve. I fused the aluminum plunger from the inside and rebuilt the filler. One word of caution is to be careful removing the brass cap and the small alum retainer strip that fits inside the collar. It is very easy to lose the small strip the spring will fly across the room if you are not careful.

A Silver OS Vac rebuilt from a barrel and cap. I put in a nice two-tone nib and stripped section. The most difficult part is the end cap, striped jewel, and the tassie. It is a difficult to find an end cap that matches the diameter of the barrel. I don’t believe in tapering the cap to match the diameter of the barrel. The ambered barrel is a common feature.

 

An Emerald Vac with a Wide 9CT Band. A standard size pen the typical ambered barrel. The wide band may have been an upgrade, but the pen looks better the three narrow bands.

 

An Emerald Vac with a 51 Vac Hood, Nib, and slip-on cap.

Parker experimented with this combination, but I suspect this pen was converted from a standard Vac. I did not make the conversion. The cap threads have been removed on the section and the cap. A 51 hood, section, and feed has been fitted onto the barrel. There is a 51 clutch inside the cap. It resembles the hooded Italian pens of the same period. Is it an improvement? Meh…it is a novelty. I only cleaned the ink out of the pen, which is more work than the typical vac with the 51 modifications.

 

A Burgundy Vacuum Filler in a standard Vac Size with worn imprints. The lamination are burgundy and black, rather than clear. Vacuum Fillers tend to be smaller pens. The standard size pen is uncommon. The nib is the wrong era. The pen was just cleaned.

 

A solid Black Vac with the date code worn away. The pen is an earlier Vac model after the vacuum fillers. The barrel is solid black celluloid instead of the typical laminated celluloid. The pen was simply cleaned.

 

A Burgundy Vac Dinkie with a Vacumatic imprint. The pen is only 4-1/4” long. The laminated celluloid is burgundy and black like the vacuum filler, but with the Vac Imprint.  The nib is from another era. I only cleaned the pen.

 

Great pens to add to the collection. It isn’t always about large pens - although they are really cool!

 

 

 

[da vinci]

Nice photos thanks. The Vac/P51 Frankenpen is an interesting thing. Does the cap fit well? And do you think some kind of inner cap like on the 51 was fitted to the vac cap? 

[VacNut]

The 51 vac mod was fitted with the typical 51 clutch. They must have lathed the inner threads in the cap to make it smooth. Odd thing is the end of a 51 cap is slightly swaged after the clutch is installed to keep it in place. I don’t know how they did that with a celluloid cap.

one of the photos shows the inner clutch.

[VacNut]

Funny thing. I thought a Vac with a 51 hood would be a really cool combination, but in the end it isn’t as eye catching as I hoped. Maybe it would look better with a striped celluloid hood, or if they had modified a maxima. The pen needs more presence.

[da vinci]

Thanks for your replies. I look forward to hearing how it performs when you use it. 

[VacNut]

It is one of several in my collection. It is essentially a 51. I use a 51 as my daily user, so this pen does see much use. They did a much better job designing the Imperial Vacumatic pen.

[cat74]

Nothing crazy..only my 3rd pen to repair. Nice and easy Esterbrook M2 , add new sac and use a donor metal sleeve to replace the old one

 

 

[VacNut]

I am not familiar with this pen. Is it celluloid or lucite? It uses a latex sack? The design is nice and streamline to match the era.
You used a donor pen. Does this mean the sleeves are often deteriorated? Do you have more donor parts than pens, now? 

[cat74]

I'm not sure what type of plastic this is..from the 60s I believe. This is the first one I've had where the insides were rusted and the old sac was brittle. I have a few donors for the M2 where I have a barrel and nib section but no caps so this was a perfect use for one of them.

[es9]

Nice pen. Those things are built like tanks. I’ve never come across one with a corroded sac protector either. 

[FarmBoy]

Injection molded. Likely ABS of some sort. 

[VacNut]

I don’t know how many examples of the same pen are enough, but sometimes it is all about the fun of seeing the pens together in a display tray.

 

I got several black nondescript Vacumatics this month. They are not eye-catching until the dirt and grime are removed.

 

The first pen is a Canadian Reticulated Vac. It is a contemporary of the Brown Vacumatic or the more recently named Golden Web Pen. The barrel pattern is a little difficult to see through the ambered barrel, but it is a great pattern. The Canadian nib has a little more flex than the typical American pen. It came with the 3-band cap, but should likely have a 2-band cap. It is a “Canadian” pen so you can never be too sure if they followed Parker standards.

 

The second pen is a Vacumatic Crystal Pen. It has the typical ambered barrel, but this photo thread has an example of a clear celluloid barrel. Good imprints but one side of the nib is slightly bent. It is an example of the larger size.

 

Third Pen is a smaller example of the Vacumatic Reticulated Pen. Another Canadian Pen with a nice flexible nib. Strong imprints with a proper nib. A little small for my hand but it is still a great pen. Someday I will find an un-ambered reticulated barrel.

 

[eckiethump]

An interesting bunch of prototype P51's from a well known pen author for serviceing. 

[eckiethump]

A better picture of the pens on my work bench

[eckiethump]

20 hours ago, eckiethump said:

An interesting bunch of prototype P51's from a well known pen author for serviceing. 

The pen on the far right is very unusual and with David Shepherds permission, I'll be writing an article for the WES Journal on it. 

[lionelc]

wow rare - have never seen these 51s before

[ralfstc]

That is so cool, Eric! You get some great jobs! What work do you have to do on them?

 

Cheers,

 

Ralf