1936-42 Sheaffer Balance 500 Vac-fill *SOLD* $175 US

https://youtu.be/WIyStZ_C_44

THIS PEN HAS BEEN SOLD!

Hello there. Welcome to Ink Acquiring Minds. My name is Doug, and I'm back with another Pen Resurrection Sunday video.

Before you are the disassembled parts of a 1936-1942 Sheaffer Balance 500, along with some repair tools. This is a vacuum filler, and they’re notoriously difficult to fix. In comparison, repairing a Parker Vacumatic is a breeze. I’ve fixed one of these before, but that particular pen’s rear seal didn’t need fixing, and it still worked. All I did was replace the plunger seal, clean the nib, and get the pen writing again. However, this one had several issues, including a missing rear seal. The steel rod had absorbed water, rusted, and the ebonite coating split, trapping inside the pen and snapping off at the very end.

THOUGHTS

So, what are my thoughts on this pen resurrection? Well, as you can imagine, I’m incredibly pleased with the outcome.

Not only is it a beautiful fountain pen that’s writing again after being completely broken, but I also learned a new skill. If you’ve been following my work for a while, you’ll know I’m a big fan of Parker Vacumatics. I have the tools and expertise to fix them, and I’m really enjoying the process. However, Sheaffer vacuum fillers are much more challenging to repair. They require specialized tools, and the way these pens were made in the past didn’t lend themselves to easy repairs. The packing seal at the back was designed to fail, but they glued it in, making it difficult to remove.

In contrast, Parkers were designed to be disassembled and repaired, with the latex diaphragm replaced and other parts replaced as needed. However, to extract the rod and replace the piston seal inside on the Sheaffer, you need a special tool to move it in and out of the pen’s back. If this seal fails, which is common with Sheaffer Balance and many vac filler-style Sheaffers like Triumphs, you essentially throw the pen away because accessing the back unit is so difficult.

Fortunately, Pen Tooling has the tools and a system of replacement seals. They include a silicone O-ring and a plastic washer that melts with a little acetone, allowing you to rebuild the unit without removing it from the pen.

I was a bit hesitant to start this repair, unsure of my chances of success. It did throw me a few curveballs, as the piston seal needed wasn’t a standard size. The medium was too small, and the large was too large. So, I had to make some customizations this morning at 2:00 to get it working.

Now, it has a 1.4 ml ink capacity. And that extra-fine nib is writing beautifully now. Thanks again to Lenny Eiger for his wonderful techniques using lapping sheets. I’ve linked his video in the description below, where he demonstrates proper nib tuning.

Now that I have all these tools, including those from Pen Tooling and a custom tool I created for removing Sheaffer feeds, I can purchase more broken Sheaffer vacuum fillers like Balances and Triumphs to further hone my skills in Sheaffer vacuum fillers.

So, here’s the deal: I’m selling this completely rejuvenated 90-year-old Sheaffer Balance 500 for $175 US plus shipping. If you’re interested, please contact me at inkquiringminds@gmail.com with your name and address so I can provide a shipping quote and PayPal payment instructions.

As a reminder, this is a 90-year-old pen, and there’s no guarantee it’ll write for another 20 years. I expect it will, but it’s not guaranteed. Therefore, all sales are final.

If you’re a member of my channel, you’ll receive a 10% discount on the $175 price. If you’re a patron-level member at $5 a month, you’ll get a 20% discount. Additionally, you’ll get to watch this video before everyone else.

If you enjoyed this video, please like and subscribe. Don’t forget to ring the bell for instant notifications whenever a new video is posted. You can join my channel for only 99 cents a month. As a member, you’ll receive cool emojis, badges, sneak peek unboxing videos, and I guarantee I’ll respond to your comments in the comment section. You’ll also get the aforementioned discounts on pen resurrections, just like this one.

And that just leaves it for me to say thank you

for watching.

And that's all she wrote.