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Proportion of Balance levers to vacs


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#1 BMG

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Posted 31 December 2013 - 08:21 AM

Well, the subject line says it all: does anyone know the relative proportions of lever-fillers to vac-fillers in the Balance line? Personally, I'm more interested in the latter but see a lot more of the former.



#2 Roger W.

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Posted 31 December 2013 - 08:32 AM

One of those questions that will never be able to be answered with any certainty.  Much as my asking how many of X were ever produced that equal Y to have survived.  That question feeds into your as we have no way of knowing how many vacs were destroyed compared to lever fillers.  I would posit that less vacs survived as they are not easily repairable and my have been tossed in greater numbers but, I've no way of quantifying that.  There is evidence that Sheaffer was really pushing the vac compared to the lever in the late 30's and 40's so, again guessing, that perhaps many more were produced over levers.  So as far as quantifying any proportion of levers to vacs I don't think it generally possible.  There could be information in the archives that will state the in 1937 they made X vacs and Y levers so it may be possible that such information exists.  To date I've not seen any expression of this anywhere though, sometime in the future, this question could be answered in part but, unlikely in whole.

 

Roger W.



#3 PatM

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Posted 31 December 2013 - 02:05 PM

Roger -

 

Have you been successful yet getting access to the archives to be able to see if any production records were kept/archived?  It's hard to believe that a manufacturing company wouldn't maintain detailed production records.

 

Thanks and best,

Pat



#4 rpk1204

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Posted 31 December 2013 - 02:23 PM

Interesting quesiton and yes, I wish the vacs were easier to repair.  I have a backlog of them myself and will either have to learn or send them off.  I've never really thought that lever fillers were particularly attractive compared to the cleaner look of a vac or button filler - but they certainly had their run! 



#5 BMG

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Posted 31 December 2013 - 04:01 PM

Thank you all for your replies. To clarify, I wasn't asking about exact figures (though that could be interesting to know), but rough, relative percentages. The reason for my question is that I have been keeping my eyes open for vac-filling Lifetime Balances and have noticed that there are a great many more lever-fillers, seemingly in a greater range of colors/materials. I had assumed that they must have been made in greater numbers, but as Roger W. points out, it could very well be because less have survived due to they're being more difficult to repair/restore. It's more a matter of curiosity for me than anything else.


Edited by BMG, 31 December 2013 - 04:02 PM.


#6 Roger W.

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Posted 31 December 2013 - 06:33 PM

BMG;

 

That's just the thing - I can't even get ball parky on something like this.

 

Roger W.






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