How’d I do?

[Whisky]

I won these at a local estate auction for $86. I believe it to be a Sheaffer Imperial Sterling Silver from the early 70s and a matching mechanical pencil. It has a “touchdown” fill system that appears to be working, but I haven’t tried to ink it yet. 14k nib but no other marking I can find to ascertain the nibs grade but I’m leaning toward medium just from eyeballing it.

 

[silverlifter]

Wow: great score! Those Sheaffer nibs are generally fantastic. And the silver guilloché is such a beautiful finish. You did great!

 

[blethenstrom]

Very nice looking pens! Great find!

 

[dojpros]

Well done!!! If you decide they need a bit of love, there is always Danny Fudge.

 

[Whisky]

I like the patina on them, but since it’s not “my” patina would a polishing cloth work just to clean them up a little? I’m going to try to ink the pen this weekend.

 

[silverlifter]

Yep, a jewellers cloth will bring them back to new.

I can't read the manual, but it looks to be a Legacy, which allows for pneumatic or cartridge filling. Is the sac protector removable?

 

[Whisky]

Yep, a jewellers cloth will bring them back to new.

I can't read the manual, but it looks to be a Legacy, which allows for pneumatic or cartridge filling. Is the sac protector removable?

Thanks. The manual actually lists all the different types of filling mechanisms as well as how to load the mechanical pencils. As far as I can tell, and the research I’ve found online, it appears to be pneumatic touchdown fill system. Pull out the sac protector, dip nib in ink, and push in sack protector causing the sac to fill. Haven’t tried it yet.

 

[silverlifter]

There's a good breakdown of the three generations of touchdown filters here:

PenHero.com - PenGallery - Sheaffer Touchdown Filling System

 

[JCinPA]

Nice find!

Since my attempt to improve my penmanship a few years back failed miserably, I settled on Lamy pens figuring my skills didn’t warrant nice pens. But these are highly prized!

 

[nemo]

I like the patina on them, but since it’s not “my” patina would a polishing cloth work just to clean them up a little?

I wouldn't mess with it, I've seen Parker 75 Sterling Cisele pens suffer after a polish. Be careful.
You don't want to remove the black from the grid lines.

 

[Whisky]

I wouldn't mess with it, I've seen Parker 75 Sterling Cisele pens suffer after a polish. Be careful.
You don't want to remove the black from the grid lines.

I've read you can get jewelers enamel and fill the gaps then polish it off, not that I'm going to try it. I may try on the pencil first, I won't feel as bad if I screw it up. I'm not trying to get sterling silverware bright, maybe just a little shine.

 

[Hercule]

Do some research before taking a polishing cloth to them. That finish seems awfully uniform to be patina.