7 replies to this topic

[david i]

I don't do much directly with restoration, handing that work over to those who know what they are doing, but I do have a respectable parts cache, particularly for pens with which I deal regularly. Learning what can be used as donor material is key. I had not set out to play with Sheaffer Snorkel- great pens but a bit off my usual focus on chunky colorful celluloids- But i did pick up couple collections a few years back, one thing led to another, and now I make a nice market in that pen. I appreciate them quite well and have added some nice examples to my personal collection, though I doubt I'll ever keep more than 15 or so for myself.

So, I had couple pencils with bad internal mechanisms. While it might be possible to fix some elements of broken mechanisms, generally for Snorks, I've found it quite easy to just swap a donor mechanism from another pencil. A plain black Snork pencil is not expensive to find, and using it to get a Periwinkle working is well worth it. Snork pencils easily disassemble and seemingly are interchangeable. The ferrule unscrews, the rest of the externals slip away then from the mechanism.

But, I found recently that the metal-barrel Snorks (only Triumph in all gold-filled, and Masterpiece solid gold) don't quite follow that "rule"

First Image: "Donor" worn blue Snork Pencil and Triumph pencil needing work.

I disassembled readily the blue pencil to do the "usual" guts swap to the Triumph.

Then I opened the Triumph Snork pencil. In fact I had done the complete swap only to find the Triumph (gold-filled) barrel- unlike with every other swap I'd done- was fatally loose. Re-opening the pencil showed the problem, which I guess makes sense. The metal snorkel barrel is thinner than the plastic barrel found on most pens. A plastic spacer (see the red arrow) is present on the Triumph's guts to keep the barrel in place. It covers the knurled metal shown above.

Shown below are the two mechanism variants. This is the only pencil-swap incompatibility I've found so far amongst Snorkel pencils. Below see the two mechanism. The more common plastic-barrel pens lack the spacer.

I have not yet played with the spacer. Perhaps it can simply slide from the metal mechanism to be placed on more typical no-spacer assemblies found with the overwhelmingly more common plastic-barrel mechanism. Perhaps a spacer can be made for those pencils needing one. I don't do repairs. But, I have not seen this parts issue addressed before, so figured it might provoke some useful commentary.

=david

[FarmBoy]

David,

Pencils seem to be gaining status and no longer relegated to the junk boxes. Repairs are often as you state, simply swapping good mechanisms for bad. Internal repairs can be done but can be time consuming. Often the main failure is cracking of the outer sheath. (This can be repaired.) or jamming of lead and debris in the mechanism causing internal damage to the screw or followers.

In this case, I suspect the bushing was simply slipped over the end and held by friction. Removal after xty odd years may be easier said than done. I'd most likely just make a replacement from delrin or styrene, recognizing not everyone would do the same.

Todd

[Hirsch]

The brown staining on the spacer indicates to me that it might have been held in place by an adhesive of some sort, possibly shellac. I'd see if the mechanism appears to work now that it's out of the barrel. The problem could be that whatever the adhesive was, it let go after a few decades. If the mechanism appears to be working, the problem was likely that the mechanism started slipping once it was no longer adhered. Fixing it could be as simple as putting new adhesive (something reversible!) on the mechanism and putting the pencil back together.


If the mechanism is indeed shot and the spacer is not removable, new spacers can be made. Whether or not the project would be economically viable is another question.

[Sam Marshall]

The brown staining on the spacer indicates to me that it might have been held in place by an adhesive of some sort, possibly shellac. I'd see if the mechanism appears to work now that it's out of the barrel. The problem could be that whatever the adhesive was, it let go after a few decades. If the mechanism appears to be working, the problem was likely that the mechanism started slipping once it was no longer adhered. Fixing it could be as simple as putting new adhesive (something reversible!) on the mechanism and putting the pencil back together.


If the mechanism is indeed shot and the spacer is not removable, new spacers can be made. Whether or not the project would be economically viable is another question.

I reviewed a Sheaffer Repair Parts List dated 8/1/1962 and all Snorkel pencil mechanisms have the same replacement cost--$1.25. This leads me to agree with Hirsch.

While not an absolute guarantee, I switched mechanisms between a Triumph and an Admiral Snorkel pencil. Both worked without a problem.

Sam

[david i]

I reviewed a Sheaffer Repair Parts List dated 8/1/1962 and all Snorkel pencil mechanisms have the same replacement cost--$1.25. This leads me to agree with Hirsch.

While not an absolute guarantee, I switched mechanisms between a Triumph and an Admiral Snorkel pencil. Both worked without a problem.

Sam

Hi Sam,

You switched mechanisms without having to deal with the spacer? Was the spacer *in* the Snork Triumph pencil barrel still? As my attempt to switch the Triumph barrel onto any mechanism from a plastic-barrel penled to rattle and looseness, I would expect there needs to be something either adherent to the barrel or to the mechanism to fit a metal barrel onto generic mechanism. Indeed all three Triumph barrels (pencil) I explored at home showed the plastic spacer on the mechanism.

regards

David

[Jason]

David- Looking at your pictures of the 2 internal mechanisms, it looks like the metal body internals have a slightly larger diameter, and a different profile at the step from the tip mechanism to the long barrel section. Is this just an optical illusion, or are they truly different?

Jason Sankar

[david i]

David- Looking at your pictures of the 2 internal mechanisms, it looks like the metal body internals have a slightly larger diameter, and a different profile at the step from the tip mechanism to the long barrel section. Is this just an optical illusion, or are they truly different?

Jason Sankar

Jason,

Save for that spacer, i believe the mechs are the same. Might be perspective/foreshortening (?) from the camera angle. But, now, when I have a chance, I shall have to double check

-d

[matt]

David,

I just disassembled a TM Touchdown Triumph pencil and found the same yellow spacer with the same brown shellac residue. Looking at the end of the mechanism with a 10X hand lens, the spacer is simply jammed on over the knurled section. Before you switch the yellow spacer to a donor mechanism, grab it between two fingers and twist the pencil mechanism to determine whether or not it propels/repels/expels. If it works, then just apply some fresh shellac to the spacer and reassemble your pencil. But if the spacer is spinning on the knurled section (squeeze harder to see if it grabs) you could try a big drop of shellac at the end of the spacer and let it dry upright.

Matt