31 replies to this topic

[John Danza]

Were those black-band Vacumatic filling units threaded?

Good thought David. However, those filling units were threaded. Here's a thread about them.

I've been trying to think outside the box, to see if there's something else that could have gone back there. Something like a telephone dialer, a company insignia, etc, but I keep coming back to it needing to be filler related because there's no other easy way to get at the sac.

[John Jenkins]

Were those black-band Vacumatic filling units threaded?

Yes they were (and still are ).
John

[David Nishimura]

Sorry to show up late to the party.

I've seen and owned quite a few chased black celluloid streamlined Parkers similar to this. I think it most likely that the hole in the end is where the barrel was plugged: many Parker celluloid button-fillers were made from tube stock with cemented-in end plugs. Much more efficient than hogging out the entire barrel from solid stock.

[david i]

Sorry to show up late to the party.

I've seen and owned quite a few chased black celluloid streamlined Parkers similar to this. I think it most likely that the hole in the end is where the barrel was plugged: many Parker celluloid button-fillers were made from tube stock with cemented-in end plugs. Much more efficient than hogging out the entire barrel from solid stock.

And here all those guys wuz giving me so much grief for suggesting the possibility... Sigh

-d

[John Danza]

And here all those guys wuz giving me so much grief for suggesting the possibility... Sigh

Sometimes that can be half the fun!

[John Danza]

Sorry to show up late to the party.

I've seen and owned quite a few chased black celluloid streamlined Parkers similar to this. I think it most likely that the hole in the end is where the barrel was plugged: many Parker celluloid button-fillers were made from tube stock with cemented-in end plugs. Much more efficient than hogging out the entire barrel from solid stock.

Hi David,

Thanks much for the info on this. Your comment gives the impression that these are fairly common, yet a lot of us on the thread have never seen one. Any thoughts on their relative scarcity or commonality?

Thanks!

[david i]

Sorry to show up late to the party.

I've seen and owned quite a few chased black celluloid streamlined Parkers similar to this. I think it most likely that the hole in the end is where the barrel was plugged: many Parker celluloid button-fillers were made from tube stock with cemented-in end plugs. Much more efficient than hogging out the entire barrel from solid stock.

Hi David,

Thanks much for the info on this. Your comment gives the impression that these are fairly common, yet a lot of us on the thread have never seen one. Any thoughts on their relative scarcity or commonality?

Thanks!

Hi John,

Recognizing that pendom-context terms such as "rare", "common", etc-- in both the absolute and relative senses-- are a bit ill defined, and recognizing that exposure to various series, models and variants varies amongst individuals, I don't find these to be common.

For context... clearly I had not noticed in the 1932 catalogue I've seen and in fact own (original, yet) the chased streamlined "Thrift" style pen we discuss. My bad. Caused a fair degree of wheel-spinning here. But, since finding my first Canadian pen of this sort about three years ago (and "concluding" the pen was an interesting Canada-only variant, with that chasing), I've been... hunting them. Recognizing too that one can browse but miss things-- easier for a little black pens than for big colorful pens-- I have not seen another at pen show or on ebay. The Combo I showed was the second chased streamlined Parker I've seen, and that too was Canadian. I've seen more Vac-band Vacs, Vac Demos, Parker Combos, heck more Aztecs the last three years than I have the wee critter we discuss today. Yeah, I know, selection bias might be in play...

I'm more than happy to hear contrary experience but there you go. In fact, I'd be happy to score a USA-made chased Parker "Thrift" pen, for my collection, as currently I have a nice mini-collection (strange how that keeps happening) of those 1929-1932 raven black and gold pens.

As an aside, I'm guessing the chasing process was applied to the tube after it was formed (chasing was done to earlier HR pens in the round, too), as we don't see seams in the chasing on the plastic pens.

regards

David (I)

[David Nishimura]

I'm afraid this is one of those cases where relative scarcity is hard to assess. With some other obscure models I've actively gone on the hunt, so have now some idea of exactly how uncommon they are (Parker-made Diamond Medals, for example, which I started seeking out and putting away back in the '90s). Chased black celluloid Parkers were just something I noted existed, without ever seeing any real need to put them on my hunting list. They might be quite scarce, like chased black celluloid Conklin crescent-fillers, but it could be that it is more a matter of them being too humble to be noticed.

Note that Parker (and other companies) did sneak in black celluloid components where HR was traditionally used. Experienced repairmen can tell you about the unpleasant surprises resulting when subjecting a part to HR-appropriate temperatures only to find out it wasn't HR after all. Some of these date to the early years of WW2, but many were tried out in the 1930s or even earlier.

[David Nishimura]

As an aside, I'm guessing the chasing process was applied to the tube after it was formed (chasing was done to earlier HR pens in the round, too), as we don't see seams in the chasing on the plastic pens.

There is no way any sort of surface treatment could be applied before a tube was formed, whether it was extruded or wrapped. After forming, a celluloid tube still has to go through extensive curing before the material is dimensionally stable.

[cjabbott]

Hello All,

I thought this picture of a two-band Duofold Sr. that I found a few months ago might prove useful.

[BrianMcQueen]

Hello All,

I thought this picture of a two-band Duofold Sr. that I found a few months ago might prove useful.

Thank you very much! Quite a smoking gun and proof of David N's comments.

I'm over whelmed by the response on this thread! We got some really good discussion out of it, and though i'm sad I might not be able to make this pen whole again in an easy or or cost effectivel manner, I'm glad I picked it up if not simply for the learning experience I've gotten from asking about it.

I guess the hypotheses we had earlier in the thread about a press fit or cemented-in piece not being likely do have some sort of merit. Obviously this was not the sturdiest design, as can be witnessed with my pen. I'd say a little too much torque was applied to the blind cap in one direction or another and the whole back end popped out.

Edited by RobertNFrappuls, 02 January 2012 - 08:34 PM.

[John Danza]

I'm over whelmed by the response on this thread! We got some really good discussion out of it, and though i'm sad I might not be able to make this pen whole again in an easy or or cost effectivel manner, I'm glad I picked it up if not simply for the learning experience I've gotten from asking about it.

Hi Robert,

I think you could get that part made fairly inexpensively or at least easily by some of the more prominent pen repair folks in our hobby. I would ping a few of them, with a link to this thread for a more full explanation, and I would guess you'll find some that can help.