What is on your bench?

[John T]

2 hours ago, LoveBigPensAndCannotLie said:

 

I kept it up in the original thread but I warn you, it really is a very dumb mistake, I can't overstate how stupid it was.

 

 

Yahhh my first pilot pen did that to me. Until it sank into my brain and I had a WTH moment.

[VacNut]

A Vacumatic almost from the “wild”, but definitely a pen that has crossed several international borders.

 

A 1937 made in the USA “Transitional” Vacumatic Maxima. The filler is a later lock-down filler with the Speedline profile and smooth brass cap. The threaded collar is actually the diameter of an oversize filler, rather than the standard Vacumatic diameter on most Maximas (I had to use the larger diameter vac wrench). The threads of the end cap were adjusted accordingly to fit the oversize collar (I don’t even want to think about the thinness of the celluloid at the threaded end of the barrel - it isn’t very much). A striped section similar to the Oversize Vac, rather than the black sections that are common on Maximas, harkens back to the Oversize Vac.

The oversize collar and the end cap are the most uncommon parts of the pen. It is near impossible to find a replacement collar with the “plug” inside the collar that reduces the diameter down to accommodate a Speedline filler. Finding a Maxima End Cap with the larger threads is also near impossible.

Most residual inks can be removed with Rapideze, but the ink in this pen was particularly difficult to remove. The barrel looked opaque. It took quite a bit of work to remove the ink and bring back some transparency to the barrel.

The 1937 Date Code matches the Vacumatic Cap Band.

 

Parker made at least tens of thousands of these pens. It’s interesting to find that the parts weren’t completely standardized and that the assembly people had the skill set to “adjust” the parts to assembly a complete pen.

 

[Beechwood]

2 hours ago, VacNut said:

A Vacumatic almost from the “wild”, but definitely a pen that has crossed several international borders.

 

A 1937 made in the USA “Transitional” Vacumatic Maxima. The filler is a later lock-down filler with the Speedline profile and smooth brass cap. The threaded collar is actually the diameter of an oversize filler, rather than the standard Vacumatic diameter on most Maximas (I had to use the larger diameter vac wrench). The threads of the end cap were adjusted accordingly to fit the oversize collar (I don’t even want to think about the thinness of the celluloid at the threaded end of the barrel - it isn’t very much). A striped section similar to the Oversize Vac, rather than the black sections that are common on Maximas, harkens back to the Oversize Vac.

The oversize collar and the end cap are the most uncommon parts of the pen. It is near impossible to find a replacement collar with the “plug” inside the collar that reduces the diameter down to accommodate a Speedline filler. Finding a Maxima End Cap with the larger threads is also near impossible.

Most residual inks can be removed with Rapideze, but the ink in this pen was particularly difficult to remove. The barrel looked opaque. It took quite a bit of work to remove the ink and bring back some transparency to the barrel.

The 1937 Date Code matches the Vacumatic Cap Band.

 

Parker made at least tens of thousands of these pens. It’s interesting to find that the parts weren’t completely standardized and that the assembly people had the skill set to “adjust” the parts to assembly a complete pen.

 

 

 

I searched for years for a complete pen with a Vacumatic cap band in the days when I only collected Vacumatics, I am  very envious.

 

There is a story that the 1937 pen went into production without Kenneth Parkers sign off, when he saw the cap he hated it and production stopped.

 

[VacNut]

6 hours ago, Beechwood said:

 

 

I searched for years for a complete pen with a Vacumatic cap band in the days when I only collected Vacumatics, I am  very envious.

 

There is a story that the 1937 pen went into production without Kenneth Parkers sign off, when he saw the cap he hated it and production stopped.

 

That is a great story.

I have 37’ Vacumatics with more standard parts. This one is just odd, and it isn’t even Canadian.😂😂😂

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Sigh, I'm having my monthly "am I really enjoying this hobby" existential crisis and I am increasingly getting the impression that no, I am not. I picked up a Waterman Emblem, the slightly crapper later model with a metal cap, not the earlier ones that resembled the Hundred Year pens.

 

Restored it, everything was going ok except the nib looked set a bit far out. It didn't look problematic and I did not want to knock out the nib and feed because the plastic on these pens has a reputation for being brittle.

 

The damn thing will barely write! It lets out ink just fine when I flex the nib but it barely writes under its own weight. I am sure that the last dingus who worked on this pen knocked out the nib and didn't fit it in deep enough (and used shellac on the section for added insult to injury by the way). I don't know what to do now, I do not want to knock out the nib/feed.

 

I see a lot of "fully functional" pens sold on eBay where it's clear that the "restorer" knocked out the nib and feed and haphazardly put them back together. I wish people would stop literally playing "whack-a-mole" (or is it "whack-a-feed"?) with their pens. Some of these people have not met a single nib they didn't want to disassemble.

[cat74]

@LoveBigPensAndCannotLie - I think maybe I'm lucky?? I've not restored many pens but I do not as of yet have or have made my own knock out block so I leave the nib and feed where they are - just a few cycles though the ultrasonic and a bulb to flush things out!! I will need to get a knock out block though - I now have some needing nib replacements (or to convert to stubs?) - but those are future projects!

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Yeah, in my experience a good soak and flush with a bulb syringe is good enough for like 95% of nibs. But then you see people on Youtube who knock out nibs for every single pen they work on and it's like... why. They're opening themselves up to breaking something, and they're also leaving homework for the next person to work on the pen if they don't set the nib/feed back properly. I don't understand it.

[VacNut]

In general the nib should remain in the section, as a sudden release of pressure or the added pressure of re-installing the nib may crack the nib.

Some pen technicians will confirm the owner wants the nib removed as opposed to a flush out and a soak.

[VacNut]

Happy Holidays!!

I have been treating myself to ice cream and pens…

 

An Italian TABO Transparente from the 1930’s.

My affliction and affection for vacumatics will never diminish, but this Italian celluloid pre-war pen is so very, very close to the sublime.

 

I purchased the pen thinking it was a Radius Pen, another worthwhile pre-war pen, but the filler and nib were different.  Upon magnified light, the TABO and the Transparente imprint are legible on the barrel.

The pen post-dates the vacumatics, so has many of the same features, albeit with slight differences. 

To avoid patent infringement on the vac fillers, the twist filler is the end cap which has an aluminum squared off retaining nut. There was a vac-like latex diaphragm inside the barrel than stretches back and forth to create the “vacuum” to draw ink as the end cap is slowly pumped. (I would need to hunt down a special diaphragm, so I left the filler in place unrestored, rather than risk breaking the celluloid). I am guessing the diaphragm sits on a cone-shaped seat underneath the aluminum nut, as there is no pellet in the diaphragm.

 

There is a breather tube and feed in the section identical to a vac.

 

I originally thought the barrel was solid as I couldn’t see through the barrel when I held it up to a light. I was able to return the transparency after a careful, thorough cleaning of the of the barrel. It is ambered similar to used vacumatics. Surprisingly the inside of the barrel was smooth unlike a vacumatic.

 

The barrel and cap are made from flat celluloid sheet that has been rolled into a cylinder. There are celluloid plugs at each end to mimic jewels.

The plugs are shaped into a bullseye pattern, similar to the later vacumatic pressed-in-place tassels and end caps.

The celluloid has a slight green tint to the silver base color. It has better luminosity than the Parker celluloid. The pen really “pops” in the light, similar to Leboeuf celluloid.

 

At 5 1/2” it is slightly longer than an Oversize Vacumatic and larger in diameter.

 

I photographed it next to a Silver Oversize Vacumatic and Williamson Pens. I always thought the Oversize Vac was an early “cigar-type” pen, but the TABO and Williamson are more robust in your hands.

 

I may have to change my focus…TABNut?

 

[VacNut]

8 minutes ago, VacNut said:

Happy Holidays!!

I have been treating myself to ice cream and pens…

 

An Italian TABO Transparente from the 1930’s.

My affliction and affection for vacumatics will never diminish, but this Italian celluloid pre-war pen is so very, very close to the sublime.

 

I purchased the pen thinking it was a Radius Pen, another worthwhile pre-war pen, but the filler and nib were different.  Upon magnified light, the TABO and the Transparente imprint are legible on the barrel.

The pen post-dates the vacumatics, so has many of the same features, albeit with slight differences. 

To avoid patent infringement on the vac fillers, the twist filler is the end cap which has an aluminum squared off retaining nut. There was a vac-like latex diaphragm inside the barrel than stretches back and forth to create the “vacuum” to draw ink as the end cap is slowly pumped. (I would need to hunt down a special diaphragm, so I left the filler in place unrestored, rather than risk breaking the celluloid). I am guessing the diaphragm sits on a cone-shaped seat underneath the aluminum nut, as there is no pellet in the diaphragm.

 

There is a breather tube and feed in the section identical to a vac.

 

I originally thought the barrel was solid as I couldn’t see through the barrel when I held it up to a light. I was able to return the transparency after a careful, thorough cleaning of the of the barrel. It is ambered similar to used vacumatics. Surprisingly the inside of the barrel was smooth unlike a vacumatic.

 

The barrel and cap are made from flat celluloid sheet that has been rolled into a cylinder. There are celluloid plugs at each end to mimic jewels.

The plugs are shaped into a bullseye pattern, similar to the later vacumatic pressed-in-place tassels and end caps.

The celluloid has a slight green tint to the silver base color. It has better luminosity than the Parker celluloid. The pen really “pops” in the light, similar to Leboeuf celluloid.

 

At 5 1/2” it is slightly longer than an Oversize Vacumatic and larger in diameter.

 

I photographed it next to a Silver Oversize Vacumatic and Williamson Pens. I always thought the Oversize Vac was an early “cigar-type” pen, but the TABO and Williamson are more robust in your hands.

 

I may have to change my focus…TABNut?

 

I forgot to mention the pen has a steel nib with incredible flex. Good luck finding a flex nib on a Vacumatic.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

I got the nib to an almost satisfactory place after flossing it a bunch, I am going to leave it alone. Maybe it came out of the factory this way, it feels like the older flex nibs from the 1920's where the tines are way too tight to allow for better hairlines. Great for flex, bad for normal everyday writing. And opening tines on a flexible nib sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

 

Interesting pen by the way, I've never heard of a "TABO" but it looks great, the quality looks not too far off a "real" Vacumatic.

 

 

[VacNut]

I think the Vacumatics are a more robust pen with a better technical design. The Italian pens just have a more stylish look with sleeker proportions. I don’t think they worked as well or will last as long as the Parker’s. I think the Italians may have had more pre-war industrial limitations, that they tried to compensate through better handcrafting.

There are tapered octagonal versions of these pen. I can’t imagine the hand skills necessary to machine those pens.

[FarmBoy]

6 hours ago, LoveBigPensAndCannotLie said:

I got the nib to an almost satisfactory place after flossing it a bunch, I am going to leave it alone. Maybe it came out of the factory this way, it feels like the older flex nibs from the 1920's where the tines are way too tight to allow for better hairlines. Great for flex, bad for normal everyday writing. And opening tines on a flexible nib sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

 

Interesting pen by the way, I've never heard of a "TABO" but it looks great, the quality looks not too far off a "real" Vacumatic.

 

 

Flossing a nib is like flossing your teeth. You are trying to remove debris not create a spitting gap. 

[Nethermark]

On 12/18/2024 at 7:18 AM, VacNut said:

An Italian TABO Transparente from the 1930’s.

That’s a great pen. I didn’t know TABO also used a vacumatic filler system. It would be great to learn a bit more about it. If you ever take out the filler system, could you please show it? I'm curious as to how it differs from Parker's 

[GlenV]

On 12/17/2024 at 10:18 PM, VacNut said:

Happy Holidays!!

I have been treating myself to ice cream and pens…

 

An Italian TABO Transparente from the 1930’s.

My affliction and affection for vacumatics will never diminish, but this Italian celluloid pre-war pen is so very, very close to the sublime.

 

I purchased the pen thinking it was a Radius Pen, another worthwhile pre-war pen, but the filler and nib were different.  Upon magnified light, the TABO and the Transparente imprint are legible on the barrel.

The pen post-dates the vacumatics, so has many of the same features, albeit with slight differences. 

To avoid patent infringement on the vac fillers, the twist filler is the end cap which has an aluminum squared off retaining nut. There was a vac-like latex diaphragm inside the barrel than stretches back and forth to create the “vacuum” to draw ink as the end cap is slowly pumped. (I would need to hunt down a special diaphragm, so I left the filler in place unrestored, rather than risk breaking the celluloid). I am guessing the diaphragm sits on a cone-shaped seat underneath the aluminum nut, as there is no pellet in the diaphragm.

 

There is a breather tube and feed in the section identical to a vac.

 

I originally thought the barrel was solid as I couldn’t see through the barrel when I held it up to a light. I was able to return the transparency after a careful, thorough cleaning of the of the barrel. It is ambered similar to used vacumatics. Surprisingly the inside of the barrel was smooth unlike a vacumatic.

 

The barrel and cap are made from flat celluloid sheet that has been rolled into a cylinder. There are celluloid plugs at each end to mimic jewels.

The plugs are shaped into a bullseye pattern, similar to the later vacumatic pressed-in-place tassels and end caps.

The celluloid has a slight green tint to the silver base color. It has better luminosity than the Parker celluloid. The pen really “pops” in the light, similar to Leboeuf celluloid.

 

At 5 1/2” it is slightly longer than an Oversize Vacumatic and larger in diameter.

 

I photographed it next to a Silver Oversize Vacumatic and Williamson Pens. I always thought the Oversize Vac was an early “cigar-type” pen, but the TABO and Williamson are more robust in your hands.

 

I may have to change my focus…TABNut?

 

Thank you for the holiday greeting! The Williamson pens are also Italian? Pretty blue celluloid. I think Parker produced some of the most beautiful celluloids during the Vac era, at least for US made pens. I have a couple flex vacs but not with original nibs.. since I really like some flex I altered a nib that had a little flex into quite nice flex on a 2 band vac and really changed an eversharp extra fine nib into a flex calligraphy practice nib and put in a chevron siver pearl, it's a really fun pen to write with, although Parker did make some flexy vacs.

[VacNut]

There were two Williamson companies. One was based in New York and the other in Italy (around Turin?).

These celluloid pens are Italian with a button filler. There is a sack inside the barrel. Some pens are translucent because of the selected celluloid, but the sack prevents seeing the ink.

The celluloid tends to be more vibrant and the color more intense  than the Parker  celluloid.

 

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

I need your guys' professional opinions here, somewhat urgent. I bought a pen on an auction recently and for the life of me I cannot tell if it has tipping or not. I'll be able to tell easier if I clean it up but then I won't be able to return it.

 

 

From the top it looks like it has a sliver of tipping left (bit of silvery material near the very tip), from the bottom I am not so sure. This is a cheaper pen from the 20's and from my experience they had very scant tipping in the first place so it might just be very worn.

 

If there's no tipping I'm going to ask for a refund or to return it but I want to be sure before doing that as I do kind of like the rest of the pen.

[Ron Z]

There's a smidge there, but it'll be gone if when you try to smooth the nib.  The top tine in the second picture also looks like it has damage, so ink may not flow properly.   All in all, a gnarly nib.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

29 minutes ago, Ron Z said:

There's a smidge there, but it'll be gone if when you try to smooth the nib.  The top tine in the second picture also looks like it has damage, so ink may not flow properly.   All in all, a gnarly nib.

 

Ah, that's a bummer. I think I am stuck with it, I can't rightly say there's no tipping if there is. I think the seller takes returns but I'd lose out on shipping, fees, etc. I took a close look at it and I don't see any significant damage other than the minimal tipping, I think it's gunked up ink.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

On second thought, I am tired of getting stuck with unfixable junk. Besides the shoddy nib, the pressure bar is clearly broken, I can hear it rattling around in the barrel. Normally I'd let that go and consider it an acceptable issue with buying as-found but this along with the nib is too much. Contacted the seller for a return or refund.