Vacumatic with flat blind cap

[CVR]

How common is it for vacumatics to come with flat blind caps? I've always assumed that non-jeweled blind caps came with rounded ends.

 

This is a lockdown filler with the date code 43, signifying, presumably, the 4th qtr of 1933. (Also, is it common for the date code to be perpendicular to the pen's long axis?)

 

BTW, this is a silver/grey pearl, although the lighting makes it look brown.

 

 

[Carguy]

Almost looks like a Vac “standard” to me. I had one of these with a striped section in gray but it was from 1938.

[CVR]

11 minutes ago, Carguy said:

Almost looks like a Vac “standard” to me. I had one of these with a striped section in gray but it was from 1938.

 

Just so I understand... you mean you had a vacumatic with a flat blind cap?

[Carguy]

Oh I thought I saw the striped jewel, I saw that wrong. Is there no hole for the jewel at all, it’s just solid?

[CVR]

29 minutes ago, Carguy said:

Oh I thought I saw the striped jewel, I saw that wrong. Is there no hole for the jewel at all, it’s just solid?

 

 

 

Yes, this blind cap is just flat across the top. Not a missing jewel.

 

No jewel, no option for jewel, no rounded end.

 

 

 

 

 

[Carguy]

Wow that’s interesting. It literally looks just like my Vac Standard just without the jewel.

 

I was completely useless, I apologize.

[CVR]

1 hour ago, Carguy said:

Wow that’s interesting. It literally looks just like my Vac Standard just without the jewel.

 

I was completely useless, I apologize.

 

Not a problem. My pictures did not show the top of the blind cap, so I share the blame for the misunderstanding.

[inkstainedruth]

@CVR -- You might try contacting Tony Fischier -- the guy who runs the Parkercollector.com website and send the photos to him.  That site is my go-to for all things Parker Pen because the amount of information about the various models Parker has released over the years is STAGGERING.  (I think at one point he was on FPN as well, but don't remember his screen name).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Beechwood]

I have just scoured the pages of the Vacumatic book to see if I could see anything similar, there is a prototype that is similar, not identical.

 

Plenty of stuff in there that I had forgotten or didn't know, the Cadillac range, Sears, Roebuck specials, Segar .

 

Some real oddballs such us a laminated Golden Pearl with a Parker 51 imprint around the barrel, Vacs without cap threads, solid color Vacs in red, purple, greens, herringbone patters etc.

 

Sorry, could not see your particular blind cap.

 

 

[CVR]

Thanks to everyone. I'll try to contact Tony Fischier to see if he's seen anything like this.

[Beechwood]

Incidentally, I also didn't find a date code turned through 90 degrees in the Vac book.

 

I hope that you might find the time to come back and tell us the result of your enquiries

 

 

 

[CVR]

5 minutes ago, Format said:

Incidentally, I also didn't find a date code turned through 90 degrees in the Vac book.

 

I hope that you might find the time to come back and tell us the result of your enquiries

 

 

 

 

Thanks for taking the trouble! Yes, I'll let you know if I find out more.

 

[Ron Z]

Looking at the left side of the blind cap you can see a line with a ring of the darker material of the blind cap, and then possibly a shaved off jewel of a lighter black in the middle.  I wonder if they lost the tassie, secured the jewel in place and faced off the end of the blind cap in a lathe....  or made something to fit and faced it off.  It's something that my grandfather would do in the same time period.  But then again, he might have made a tassie on the lathe too.

[CVR]

3 hours ago, Ron Z said:

Looking at the left side of the blind cap you can see a line with a ring darker material of the blind cap, and then possibly a shaved off jewel of a lighter black in the middle.  I wonder if they lost the tassie, secured the jewel in place and faced off the end of the blind cap in a lathe....  or made something to fit and faced it off.  It's something that my grandfather would do in the same time period.  But then again, he might have made a tassie on the lathe too.

 

Ron, I believe you've nailed it.  Here's what the blind cap looks like from the inside.

 

 

 

 

[Ron Z]

There you go! 

[CVR]

20 hours ago, Ron Z said:

There you go! 

 

The remnants of the jewel are visible on the inside, but the finish on the outside is absolutely perfect. In reflected light that's incident at an angle, one can make out concentric rings, one corresponding to the inner threaded opening for the jewel. However, there's not a trace of the actual edge of the opening, the jewel, etc.

 

Considering that this is a striped end cap, the work is amazingly good!

 

How would they have done it? Using an urushi-like technique?

 

 

[Ron Z]

You can see the edge of the jewel in your picture - and a bit of a gap on the right side of the picture.  Chances are that you'd need a loupe to see it.

[CVR]

In light at the proper angle, I can see the effects of varying reflectivity at the edge of the jewel, but I can't see the actual edge, even with a 10X loupe. To me, it looks mirror-smooth.

 

 

 

[Ron Z]

I can see where the materials meet in the middle picture (very thin line), and of course in the bottom picture, but then again I'm used to looking for things like this.  Sanding and then buffing would make it so that you have to catch the light just right.  Looks like they did a very good job when they did the repair.  "Can't see it" is the point!

[CVR]

13 minutes ago, Ron Z said:

I can see where the materials meet in the middle picture (very thin line), and of course in the bottom picture, but then again I'm used to looking for things like this.  Sanding and then buffing would make it so that you have to catch the light just right.  Looks like they did a very good job when they did the repair.  "Can't see it" is the point!

 

Yes, they do seem to have done a great job!