Hello everyone and welcome to Inkquiring Minds. My name is Doug, and I’m back with another Inquisitive Minds pen resurrection video today. We have a pen and pencil set from 1939 on the slab. It’s a Parker Vacumatic pen and pencil set, but this particular Vacumatic is unique in the vertical stack Celluloid called Shadow Wave instead of the usual horizontal stripes. These striations run vertically through the pen. It’s a beautiful matching set.
Another interesting thing about this Vacumatic is that it’s a Speedline filler. This was the second generation of the Parker Vacumatic assembly. The first generation had an aluminum shaft that turned and locked, hence the name “lockdown filler.” It had a shorter blind cap because the pump retracted and locked into place. However, they decided this was a bit too difficult to manufacture and possibly had problems with them. So, they redesigned it so it doesn’t lock into place anymore. Instead, it pumps back out to its full length. They also increased the length of the cap. The first generation was the “lockdown” filler, the second generation was called “The Speed Line filler,” and the third generation was when the war broke out, and they needed all their brass and aluminum for the war effort. They changed it to a plastic pump.
This is a third-generation Parker Vacumatic, but I’ve put a modern Vacumatic pump in here that’s completely brass.
So, what are my thoughts on this Resurrection?
What I’ve learned from restoring this fountain pen is that things don’t always go as planned. This pen appeared to be in perfect condition, all it needed was a polish and a new diaphragm. But as soon as I thought about it, things started to go wrong.
This pen was a bit of a challenge compared to the debutant I restored last week. That pump filler mechanism was glued in, and I thought I might have to drill it out.
After a couple of days of struggling with this one, my hands were still sore from trying to remove the pump. It finally gave up, but I still can’t figure out if it was glued in. I can’t find any remnants of glue on the threads. I think it might have been that desiccated diaphragm that was inside the barrel, which had petrified over the years and solidified against the threads at the bottom of the pump. The more I soaked it and heated it, the more it finally released.
I was really afraid that I was going to either break it or have to drill through the bottom of that Speedline pump filler. That’s a shame because the Speedline pump filler itself is in great shape and works extremely well. They’re a bit of history, as they were only made for a couple of years before they were replaced by the celluloid rod pump. The United States had to reduce its usage of aluminum brass for the war effort. This pump can be replaced with a third-generation model, but it would be a shame to do so.
I also learned that these shadow wave pens were only made for a couple of years. I’ve now seen them in green, blue, and some grey and they all have this solid black blind cap. I think it’s an interesting design choice. Maybe it was a manufacturing choice, or perhaps milling this celluloid in the vertical pattern was expensive, and milling a blind cap like this was a simpler option.
I’ve been curious about the black colour of the blind cap on the Shadow Wave. I’m wondering if some of you Parker officials and enthusiasts out there might know the reason behind it. It doesn’t matter much, as they’re still beautiful pens. They’re translucent, so you can see your ink levels. The hardware on both the pencil and fountain pen came up gleaming. Some people prefer the vertical shadow wave Celluloid over the horizontally stacked one that’s usually seen in these Parker vacuum attics. In the end, I’m pleased that both writing instruments turned out to look so beautiful and are also very functional. The nib on the fountain pen is incredibly fine. I’d call it a "feather- touch" if that’s not too sacrilegious. It writes with no pressure at all and produces a very fine line that has some variation and bounce to it.
THIS PEN HAS BEEN SOLD
This is a standard-size Vacumatic pen. I know someone will enjoy writing with this pen and pencil set. I’m offering it for sale for $230 US plus shipping. If you’re interested in purchasing it, send me an email at inkquiringminds@gmail.com with your name and address, and I’ll send you a shipping quote. Shipping to North America is currently around $10 US.
And there you have it! That just leaves it for me to say...
thank you for watching!
And that's all she wrote
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