Sheaffer Valor Fountain Pen Review -- Fine Nib, Blue/Rhodium Trim

Here is a small review of one of my favorite fountain pens, a Sheaffer Valor with a fine nib that I received for Christmas. I can't seem to put it down, so I thought I'd review it.

Please note that the Skrip Blue looks nothing like it does in the scan. It's much lighter and brighter than it appears. I also apologize that my camera isn't the greatest, but hopefully one can get the gist of the look of the pen from these pictures.

Normal lighting, no flash.

With flash, to bring out the blue shimmer detail of the amazing looking acrylic.

Questions/Comments Welcome!

To purchase the Sheaffer Valor from Amazon: Click Here

-Derek (ThirdeYe)

Sheaffer 300 Fountain Pen Review

I've been looking at the Sheaffer 300 fountain pen since it was announced a while ago, but it was very difficult to find at first. I could find the pencil/ballpoint, but the fountain pen was almost non-existent. I saw that it was finally more available so I decided to buy one on Amazon for around $35 shipped. The price seems to have changed as of the time of writing this, but I would still pay up to $50 for it, IMO.

The first thing I noticed about the pen was how heavy it was. It is very likely my heaviest pen that I own. It appears to be made of steel with a black lacquer coating. The cap clicks on smoothly and effortlessly. I like that in a pen, as I can remove the cap quickly if I need to jot down some notes quickly. The pen is also quite large, something that isn't really noticeable in pictures. I took a picture comparing it to some of my other pens so that you can get a better idea of the size of this pen.

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Pictured from top to bottom: Esterbrook Dollar Pen, Parker "51", Waterman Phileas, Lamy Safari, Sheaffer 300, TWSBI Diamond 530. As you can see, it is about the same size as the TWSBI Diamond 530, which is already a very large pen. However, it is a little more slim than the 530.

I was initially turned off by the fact that it was built in China. All of my other Sheaffer pens were made in Fort Madison, IA. Being that I got it for such as reasonable price, I decided to take a risk and give it a shot. The pictures don't really do the pen justice, it's quite a looker IMO.

The clip has the traditional white dot, and the word "Sheaffer" is etched into the steel band on the cap. It comes in a nice gift box with 2 cartridges (one blue, one black) and a twist-converter. For a pen this price, I was pleasantly surprised that it came with a converter I once spent over $10 on.

The nib is one of the best parts of the pen. It is one of the smoothest nibs I own, and has never given me an issue of hard-starting or skipping. It writes fairly broad for being a medium nib, but I like it anyways. The pen is comfortable to hold, but it gets a little heavy for longer writing sessions and tends to fatigue my hand a little bit after a few paragraphs. That might just be due to the way I hold my pens, however.

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I do not normally post my pens so I do not have an in-depth analysis of the weighting of it posted vs. non-posted, but it does make the pen feel even heavier yet when posted. It clicks onto the end of the barrel with a nice click, so you know it isn't destroying the lacquer barrel by simply slipping onto the end of the barrel and scratching it up.

In conclusion, this is one of the better modern pens I've used, and for the price I highly recommend it. If you like larger, weightier pens this will be right up your alley. Smooth and reliable, don't let the fact that it is made in China deter you like it originally did me, as I do not regret buying it at all. A pleasure to use.

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To purchase the Sheaffer 300 fountain pen: Sheaffer Gift Collection 2 (300) Fountain Pen, Chrome Trim, Glossy Black (SH/9312-0)

-Derek (ThirdeYe)


Note: Coming soon, I'm going to be making a post about the pens I use at work on a daily basis. I always like seeing what people actually use from day-to-day, so I thought it would be somewhat entertaining. :)

Sheaffer Sentinel Ballpoint Pen Review

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

I finally found a job, which is why my posting has slowed down as of late. This time it's not so much the lack of funds, it's now the lack of time. :) But while on vacation, I bought some pens and reviewed one of them while staying in the cabin.

The paper used was a Moleskine Sketchbook. The pen isn't actually purple as the picture may suggest. My battery died in my digital camera so I had to use my cell phone to take the picture of the pen, which kind of screws up the colors.

Enjoy!

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-Derek (ThirdeYe)

To purchase the Sentinel, click here: Sheaffer Sentinel Ball Pen, Blue Resin Barrel with Chrome Cap (SH/321-2BE)

Sheaffer Skrip Blue-Black Review

Here is a nice, underrated and often unnoticed ink that I just purchased on sale from Goulet Pens on sale (no affiliation). If you notice in the scan, there isn't a lot of blue to the ink, it's more of a gray/black with a hint of blue, but I love it. Has a great vintage feel to it, and doesn't seem to fade to teal like Quink Blue-Black does. I really enjoy the stuff, but if you're looking for something with a lot of blue in it, this probably isn't for you.

Update 9-16-14: This is still one of my favorite inks to use and I still highly recommend it. Amazon also carries it, and if interested it can be purchased for under $10 as of my time of writing this. As much as I use it, I'm still on my first bottle! Amazon: Sheaffer Skrip Blue-Black

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-Derek (ThirdeYe)

Sheaffer Skrip Green Fountain Pen Ink Review

I haven't seen many reviews of Skrip Green so I thought I would take it upon myself to provide one. I used two types of paper, standard 20lb. copy paper and Rhodia ruled paper.

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Note: For the water test, I ran it under a faucet for about 30 seconds.

Amazon sells this ink for a little less than what I paid: Sheaffer Skrip 2oz Bottle Green Ink

-Derek (ThirdeYe)

Antique Store Finds -- Esterbrooks, a Sheaffer's and a Parker

The first two pens I bought a little under a week ago were two Esterbrooks from a local antique store. I ended up paying $15 each for them. Both were functional from the start with pliable sacs. They passed the water test with flying colors, but I have yet to actually ink them. I'm trying to wait until I get some new colors to match the barrels. One is a blue "J" with a 9550 nib. The nib, cap & threads were stained with old ink so after some cleaning, soaking and flushing, it looks good as new. The other is a red "LJ" with a 2668 nib and looked to be cleaned before the previous owner stored it. That one did not require any cleaning, and the water I put in it for the test came out clear. Why can't all fountain pen owners be this courteous when they retire their pens? :) I have to say, I am impressed that the sacs are still pliable after over 50 years. Great pens. Here are some pictures of them (please note that these were taken before cleaning, so you will see the ink stains on the blue J):

Red LJ

Red LJ; 2668 Nib

Blue J

Blue J; 9550 Nib (before cleaning)

For the 2nd half of my post, I'll refer to my Sheaffer's Balance and Parker Depression Era pens that I bought while out of town at another antique store. I also bought two vintage ink bottles. One is from a Rexall pharmacy (Rexall Graph Blue-Black), the other is an old bottle of Blue-Black Sheaffer's Skrip.

The Balance has a Jade Green barrel from 1929-1932, which is slightly discolored and has a few small cracks that don't appear to affect the functionality of the pen. It has a Feather Touch 5 nib, which I do not believe is original to the pen and probably from the mid 30s. It also has the wrong cap, one from a 1930-1935 Marine Green Balance. I also purchased an empty bottle of Skrip Blue-Black from the same store. The ink has crystallized inside the bottle to create quite a work of art. It looks like bubbles and ice with some precipitates.

Sheaffer's Balance with an old bottle of Skrip ink

Sheaffer's "Feather Touch" 5; two-tone nib

The second pen is a Parker Depression Era pen with a black/green barrel and cap. The clip has considerable scratches and brassing to it, as do the three rings on the cap. Other than that, it appears to be in fine condition. The nib appears to be gold, and there is no indication anywhere on the pen as to what the actual model name is. The part that throws me off is the little rubber/plastic piece on the end of the barrel where the button filler is. I do not know if it came like that, or someone added it? I've never seen another one with that on there. I love the pen regardless, and can't wait to get it working.

Parker "Depression Era" cap with scratched/brassed clip & rings

Parker "Depression Era" pen

Parker "Depression Era" pen, uncapped.

I have to say that I love the color of the Parker, it really depends what angle you look at it for the marbling to pop out at you. If anyone has any further information on it, as to an actual model name and what the little rubber/plastic cap at the end is, I would greatly appreciate the information. Also, if anyone has information about getting a Jade Green cap to match the Sheaffer's, that would also be most helpful!

Edit 12/21/10 - I found out that the Parker is most likely a Challenger De Luxe from the 4th quarter of 1935 (date code on the nib/barrel is "45"). The little rubber cap on the end is likely a replacement fix for a missing blind cap. 

Edit 1/5/10 - Both the Parker and Sheaffer are restored. I'm using Quink Blue-Black in the Challenger and I will ink the Sheaffer with either Skrip Green or PR DC Supershow Green. The restorer (Phil Munson of Munson Pen Restoration) actually hooked me up with a new blind cap for it too, so it looks like it originally did. The 3 rings on the cap cleaned up nicely, and the only flaw with the pen now is just the scratching on the clip.

-Derek (ThirdeYe)

Dumpster Dive Finds

Found these in a dumpster in front of a house where someone apparently passed away. They threw all of their stuff out, and there were a lot of nice things in there, but I was mainly interested in these. I'm sure there were a lot more things in there but I could not get to them under the countless amounts of stuff.

From top to bottom:
-Carter's Marks-A-Lot (not working)
-Red Bic Cristal Made in U.S.A. (not working)
-Vintage Sheaffer's Twist/Screw-style Pencil (not working, does anyone know how to fix it?) c.1940-1964
-Bixby Easy-Rite Pencil
-Sanford Saga Retractable Pen (missing refill, will order some soon)