Bleubug

February 20, 2009

A Flexible Sheaffer Snorkel: Future Past

In the optimistic days of the 1950s a race developed to improve simple processes by throwing as much confusing gadgetry at them as possible. With flying cars and home based nuclear reactors around the corner consumers wanted a taste of that future now. Autos got “Hi-Way Hi-Fi” under dash record players, “Autronic Eye” headlight dimmers, and “Torsion-Aire” suspensions. Appliances self-cleaned, self-defrosted, and self-timed. It was only natural that fountain pen technology would embrace the space age as well.

Sheaffer’s Snorkel fountain pen is the premier example of fixing something that isn’t broken. The idea was that dunking the nib and section of a fountain pen into ink to fill it was messy (it was) and a terrible plague on humanity (which it wasn’t). The pen engineers at Sheaffer knew they could combat this terror and took their current stylishly svelte fountain pen called the TM (for “Thin Model”) added some length and a mess of internal parts until it became the famous Snorkel filler. That name was based not on recreational divers but the snorkel technology used by submarines to keep air flowing into diesel engines at shallow depths. In the case of the new pen, however, it didn’t keep liquid out but sucked some in. The procedure for filling it was a bit like using a Rube Goldberg contraption: You first twisted the blind cap at the back end to extend a long tube from under the nib. This tube went into the ink keeping the nib and section squeaky clean (and your fingers as well). The next step was to pull up the blind cap extending another larger tube backwards. Reversing this with a smart push down was the last step and caused high air pressure to collapse a rubber sac in the pen which was suddenly released when the tube traveled far enough to reach an air escape passage. With no more pressure in the barrel the sac expands and sucks up the ink, Q.E.D. It’s no surprise that with a filling system this blingy Snorkels became wildly popular and eventually were made at the Sheaffer plants in Canada, England, and Australia as well as domestically.

Despite the complexity Snorkels are well built pens that are usually problem free and enjoyable to use when restored. There was a myriad of colors and styles to select from and a large range of nib types. Overwhelmingly these pens show up with traditional open or conical Triumph nibs in fine and medium points even though more interesting alternatives were offered including flexibles and italics. That fact makes it all the more satisfying when you come across a unique Snorkel nib.

In order to hunt the rare and little seen nibs the following facts can be helpful: English and Australian built snorkels have a higher chance of having nibs with more flex. It is not true that a Triumph nib cannot be flexible, there were some flex versions made. Oblique italics and stub italic nibs came in all the nib styles and materials. Lastly, on some of the flexible nibs it looks like they were not finished on the normal production line due to some minor discrepancies. These nibs do not have a groove that usually marks the delineation point between the platinum plated front and the gold back possibly because that would be a weak point when flexed. Slightly sloppy masking at the edge of the platinum is also seen. Possibly handwork was needed to complete them due to the low number produced in comparison with the more popular nibs.

Sheaffer had a bewildering array of model names based on the style of nib, nib material, cap material, clip style, and guarantee so not every Snorkel is created equal. The example pen shown here is a Saratoga model with 14k Australian made flexible stub nib. Its shows a good amount of line variation in use due both to the flexibility and the shape of the tip. It always seems that the ink flow in pens from the era where flex was out of style is skimpy creating the “ink on,” “ink off” nightmare of skipping. In this pen I removed the thin hard rubber feed that runs the length of the snorkel tube and increased the depth of the channel in the center. Now the pen has a very good flow and writes quite wet.

So, hopefully this shows that Snorkels don’t have to be dull and stodgy. A good nib makes this a fun pen and the elaborate filling system will give you a different experience than found in one of those old timey fountain pens.

February 19, 2009

Ghost Rider: The Clip

If you want to seem worthwhile being associated with a precious metal never hurts. When you have a golden moment or see the silver lining that’s good. Fool’s gold and golden oldies I’m going to pretend don’t exist for the purpose of this example. So it’s no wonder that it can take only a tenuous link to get something slapped with a mostly incorrect moniker. A cherry bomb isn’t going to taste like it just fell from the tree and a moon pie isn’t going to shine over Miami. So is the case of German Silver, a metal that has nothing much to do with silver and only a little with Germany.

Initially developed in the Far East during the early 18^th century what is also called Nickel Silver is usually an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc. By the time a few German factories developed large scale production techniques many metal items began to be cast in the alloy such as cutlery, musical instruments, jewelry, and watch cases. Silvery trade names abounded for it including Silverine, Silverode, Silveroid, and Silverite in order to give consumers a feeling of value. Odder names such as Brazilian Silver, Afghan Silver, Potosi Silver, and Venetian Silver provided the feeling of exotic locales where they apparently smelted metal as well as doing vaguely romantic foreign things. The commercial names never do really stop for this substance as shown by the ones that begin with the letter A: Albata, Argentan, Alpakka, Alpaka, Argentum, Argentium, etc.

Early in the 20^th century many fountain pens did not have integrated pocket clips and systems of metal pockets (such as Swan made) or friction fit clips became an accessory item. Even then no one wanted an ink filled pen loose in a shirt pocket! The clips came in many varied shapes and materials (often German Silver) to the point that a hobby could be made out of just collecting examples. Eventually writing instrument manufacturers got the idea that putting a permanent clip on the majority of their pens was a good idea and fewer and fewer third party clips were made.

I didn’t see this clip first at an online auction site; it had to be pointed out to me. Once I did see it I knew I had to have it. I’m not sure who the intended market was for this design (Pirates? Evil geniuses? Sorcerers?) but it certainly stands out. Its current home is a Wahl Tempoint eye-dropper filled pen that was bereft of a clip. It’s now the writing instrument of choice for those days when you feel like wearing black and scowling a great deal. Maybe a walking stick with a silver skull handle would be a nice accessory? Of course like the clip the handle would have to be made out of German Silver.

February 18, 2009

Pen, Interrupted: A 1933 Pearl and Black Sheaffer 5-30 Fountain Pen

Sheaffer 5-30 Balance fountain pen in pearl and black.

I’ve always been interested in the life of objects. A pattern of wear, an inscription, or an old picture glued inside a back cover can give clues to the long, winding road a utilitarian object has had over the years. Once something achieves the status of antique you can usually be assured it has passed through different hands, sat in different places, and took part in events of import to the owner. But what if that didn’t occur? What could be the story of an aged item that never quite got out of the starting gate? That’s the question I have about the fountain pen shown here, a 1933 Sheaffer Balance 5-30.

I can tell its had a long but little used existence due to what stands out on the barrel of the pen: a price sticker. On its battered surface the only words still legible are “K5-307C”, “semi-fine”, and a dollar symbol with partial number that began the price. It should have been removed or been worn away long ago with normal use making this a mystery of underutilization. We’ll probably never know the details of who purchased it (or why it was never purchased) and where it sat unused all those long, lonely days but we can talk a bit about its birth.

In 1927 Sheaffer was the first major manufacturer to introduce writing instruments made of a nitrocellulose plastic called Radite. The year this pen was made DuPont was the major supplier of this plastic under their trade name of Pyralin. Made of plant fibers dissolved in sulfuric and nitric acids and then molded with heat and pressure it was lighter, stronger, and more colorful than previous materials like hard vulcanized rubber. The downside of this early plastic was flammability when exposed to an ignition source and discoloration as it aged. The 5-30 in question would have come from plastic rod stock delivered from DuPont to the Sheaffer plant in Fort Madison, Iowa where it would have been lathed into the tapered shape known by the model name “Balance”.

The nib would have been an in-house production. Sheets of 14 karat gold possibly from Alaska, California, or South Dakota (the top gold producing states of that era) would have arrived to Fort Madison and had nib blanks stamped out of them. Then skilled workers would have formed, tipped, slit, and ground these blanks into the final product. Higher priced pens had nibs stamped “lifetime” which reflected Sheaffer’s lofty guarantee of service length. The “5-30” nib on the Sheaffer we’re discussing initially reflected a price of $5 and a guarantee of “only” 30 years.

The rest of the pen assembly would have included fabrication and installation of the metal parts such as the gold filled trim and the lever assembly. This pen has a pin for the lever to pivot on and sometime in late 1930 Sheaffer started replacing these with an internal snap ring that served a similar function. Possibly this barrel was from some old stock being depleted before the newer style would be utilized. The hard rubber parts, such as the section, feed, and inner cap were lathed and cut from rod stock most likely from Akron, Ohio which was the center of the U.S. rubber industry. Adding a rubber sac to the section supplied the rather unavoidable need for an ink reservoir. After that the price sticker we discussed was placed on the barrel and it all was shipped out to a retailer.

So then, what did happen after that? The pen has been used, old ink attests to that, but few lines were ever written with it. It came to me from a seller near Etowah, TN who bought it at some auction or yard sale. If geography is taken into account the 5-30 could have been purchased from a stationer in the nearest city of Cleveland, TN. After that it might not have suited the purchaser and hibernated for 75 years. Was it thrown into an old drawer to hide out the intervening years until a descendant of the first owner found it? Possibly. Was it a demonstrator used to lure customers to purchase a fine pen and when the store closed was chucked into a crawlspace or back room with other dusty items until found today? Could be. We’ll never know why or where the pen sat as the clock ticked and dust settled. The story is probably a dull one but I like to think that it involves robbery, mayhem, and star crossed lovers. One can always hope.

So let’s talk a bit about this pen as it is today sitting next to me on a desk. I originally purchased it because of the label and the pleasantly even cream color the pearl patches had discolored to over the years. The legend “Semi-Fine” led me to have hopes that might indicate it was a semi-flexible fine nib which would be less common than the usual sturdy, unyielding ones that Sheaffers are known for. When I received it I quickly discovered that this was not the case. The nib is a smooth and reliable fine, no semi or flex about it. While not a connoisseur’s nib it is one built for accurate line and long use like the pen itself. After a new sac was installed the old pen wrote fine with no further need of tweaking or adjustment and will for some time to come.

The interruption of purpose for this pen is now over and it is putting down ink as intended. I hope in some future time this old Sheaffer will be able to look back on good service as a pen, finally.