1945 Parker Vacumatic Eyedropper Conversion

https://youtu.be/LhingNULnv4

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

I take great pride in reviving pens that are completely dead and bringing them back to life for writing. However, this particular pen is truly beyond repair. It’s in pieces, and none of the pieces are complete. I haven’t even gathered all the necessary parts for this pen. This week’s challenge is to resurrect a Parker Vacumatic from 1941, a junior model in Azure Blue Pearl. If it were complete, it would be a beautiful pen. What makes it unique is that it’s a double-jewelled pen.

I acquired this pen on an eBay auction where it was listed as being for parts due to missing components. However, upon closer inspection of the photos, I noticed that the missing part was the pump at the end of the pen, or perhaps the pump itself was broken, or the rod had been broken off. The pump housing is still intact.

I decided to purchase the pen because I have spare parts for this specific model. I planned to remove the old pump and replace it with a new one. When I received the pen last week, I was eager to see if I could remove the old pump and install a new one. I used heat and my vacuum extraction tool to try and dislodge the pump, but it proved to be a difficult task. I spent three days trying to remove the pump from the barrel. I’m still unsure whether it was a speed line filler or the third-generation pump, but all the internal components are missing. It was solid when I started, but now it’s completely broken. I drilled out the piece, hoping to collapse the aluminum part and detach it from the barrel, but that didn’t work.

One reason this pen is in such poor condition is that someone restored it at some point and glued it in place with a strong adhesive like crazy glue or resin. When the rod broke, there was nothing that could be done to fix it. I also noticed that the nib is beautiful and could be saved for another pen. It appears to be a fine nib in excellent condition. The cap is also in decent shape, though it needs cleaning. The Azure Blue Pearl colour is stunning. And there’s that double-jewelled blind cap right there. With this beautiful gold nib, it’s a shame this pen can’t write again. However, I saw someone on Facebook who had converted one of these Vacumatics into an eyropper. I thought, “Well, that’s a good idea.”

Let’s take the blind cap, which still screws on the end, and seal it on. Glue it on really well because the inside of that blind cap is solid—there’s no hole. As long as we seal it closed permanently, and we get this section to move on and off easily, which it does, and we can grease it up, this could be a really nice eyropping fountain pen. Well, not Vacumatic anymore. At least it would bring it back to the land of the living and writing. Oh boy, is this great!

So, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to convert this into an eyedropper fountain pen. That probably will take about 3 ml of ink, something like that. It’s about twice the capacity of what it would be as a Vacumatic. As a Vacumatic, it would hold 1.4 to 1.5 millilitres of ink.

THOUGHTS

So, what are my thoughts on this fountain pen resurrection? In my mind, the whole point of resurrections is to bring a dead fountain pen back to life, making it useful again. This pen was truly dead—in pieces, considered a parts pen. Now, it’s a writer, even a daily one, taking 3.5 millilitres of ink and writing effortlessly, even smoothly. While purists might argue it’s no longer a Vacumatic without the pump, it’s a gorgeous 1941 double-jewelled azure blue pearl Parker Vacumatic with a 14-karat gold semi-flexible nib.

Would you prefer an authentic Parker Vacumatic in pieces or one that writes and impresses? This one’s a bit of a head-scratcher. How do you price a non-authentic Parker Vacumatic, a Parker Vacumatic eyropper, or whatever you want to call it? Since it’s not authentic, it’s not an authentic Parker Vacumatic for collectors. I’ve been writing with it for a few days, contemplating its value. I can’t ask full price because it’s not genuine, but it’s still a beautiful fountain pen. So, I’m torn. I might keep it and pair it with my genuine Parker Vacumatic.

Purists wouldn’t even call this one a genuine Vacumatic because I replaced the genuine Vacumatic pump with a modern brass version. Of course, this is my 1945 Parker Vacumatic that I restored, cut into a beautiful stub, reshaped the section, and kept. I love the blue colour. This one’s a major, this one’s a junior, but they make a great pair.

So, I might keep both pens and write with them for a while before deciding whether to sell them. However, I thought, “Why not let you decide?” What would you pay for this beautifully writing eyedropper Vacumatic? Make me an offer. Send me an email at inkquiringminds@gmail.com with your price for this unique Parker Vacumatic.

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 also join my channel for just 99 cents a month. I guarantee I’ll respond to your comments. Members will receive cool emojis, badges, sneak peek unboxing videos, and instant access to my videos as soon as I post them. Basic members get 10% off resurrected pen purchases, while patron-level members at $5 a month get 20% off pens like this one.

Thanks for watching!

And that's all she wrote.