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Dinkhart
May 23rd, 2018, 06:51 PM
Just got a new (to me) Balance in ebonized pearl with well-preserved serpentine barrel transparency. I know that plenty of these have lost their transparency over the years. Maybe this is a silly question, but do I run the risk of ambering/weakening the barrel transparency by inking the pen? Are there certain inks I should use to preserve the transparency? Thanks.

Jon Szanto
May 23rd, 2018, 07:07 PM
Just got a new (to me) Balance in ebonized pearl with well-preserved serpentine barrel transparency. I know that plenty of these have lost their transparency over the years. Maybe this is a silly question, but do I run the risk of ambering/weakening the barrel transparency by inking the pen? Are there certain inks I should use to preserve the transparency? Thanks.

You don't mention the filling system but I'm going to assume that it is a plunger-filler that is causing your concern. From what I know, the ambering of the transparent parts of the celluloid have more to do with light exposure and other elemental interactions, not interior staining from inks. That said, there doesn't seem to be any pressing need to have an excessively stain-oriented ink in there. I'd save vibrant and exotic inks for other pens, maybe even cheap Chinese pens. For this, I'd stay safe with Waterman or Sheaffer inks, blues or blacks will probably be the least problematic.

Dinkhart
May 23rd, 2018, 07:41 PM
[/QUOTE]You don't mention the filling system but I'm going to assume that it is a plunger-filler that is causing your concern. From what I know, the ambering of the transparent parts of the celluloid have more to do with light exposure and other elemental interactions, not interior staining from inks. That said, there doesn't seem to be any pressing need to have an excessively stain-oriented ink in there. I'd save vibrant and exotic inks for other pens, maybe even cheap Chinese pens. For this, I'd stay safe with Waterman or Sheaffer inks, blues or blacks will probably be the least problematic.[/QUOTE]

Yes, it's a plunger-filler, forgot to mention that. Thanks for your advice. Now I can rest easy giving this one a test write.

kirchh
May 24th, 2018, 01:42 PM
It's not completely known how ink factors into celluloid ambering, so I too would stick with safe inks made by pen companies.

--Daniel
P.S. With Sheaffer, only the plunger fillers have the helical barrel transparency.

Jon Szanto
May 24th, 2018, 02:55 PM
It's not completely known how ink factors into celluloid ambering, so I too would stick with safe inks made by pen companies.

--Daniel
P.S. With Sheaffer, only the plunger fillers have the helical barrel transparency.

Thanks, Daniel, I will always bow to your knowledge. I certainly had been given the impression, if nothing else, that the common wisdom was that the ink was not a major factor. That said, always easier to play it safe. Good to know about the helical stuff, too!

jar
May 24th, 2018, 03:44 PM
http://www.fototime.com/7B20DDE5F05AEB0/large.jpg


Remember the lever fillers have a big ink sac and press bar inside that would make transparency pointless anyway. They do have an ink-view window though.



http://www.fototime.com/B89ABB3EF75EC39/large.jpg

FredRydr
May 24th, 2018, 04:01 PM
Remember the lever fillers have a big ink sac and press bar inside that would make transparency pointless anyway. They do have an ink-view window though.
Well, some do. Mine doesn't. When did it change, or were only certain sizes eligible for the window?

jar
May 24th, 2018, 05:20 PM
Remember the lever fillers have a big ink sac and press bar inside that would make transparency pointless anyway. They do have an ink-view window though.
Well, some do. Mine doesn't. When did it change, or were only certain sizes eligible for the window?

Don't know the answer to that. Is yours a White Dot (of course caps are about the easiest thing to change)? What is your price code?

FredRydr
May 24th, 2018, 06:14 PM
Mine is a white dot oversize with no code. It bears a slightly humped clip and flat ball making it ca. 1935. Oh, and no ink window.

jar
May 24th, 2018, 06:34 PM
Mine is a white dot oversize with no code. It bears a slightly humped clip and flat ball making it ca. 1935. Oh, and no ink window.

Interesting. Somewhat limited sample size but so far every OS Balance I've seen or owned had an ink window. So yet another wonderful mystery.

You do know that there was an office on the third floor near the tracks whose sole purpose was thinking up things that would leave us scratching our heads today. Sheaffer called it "Fun & Giggles".

Jon Szanto
May 24th, 2018, 06:39 PM
Interesting. Somewhat limited sample size but so far every OS Balance I've seen or owned had an ink window. So yet another wonderful mystery.

I just checked. Out of 3 OS/WD Balances I own, precisely zero of them has an ink window.

jar
May 24th, 2018, 07:18 PM
One of my OS Balances:


http://www.fototime.com/F7F4DD8FEEB19E0/large.jpg

kirchh
May 25th, 2018, 10:39 PM
Ink window, one half of the "Visulated" feature set, starts in 1936.

--Daniel

FredRydr
May 31st, 2018, 05:15 AM
Ink window, one half of the "Visulated" feature set, starts in 1936.
What's the other half?

kirchh
May 31st, 2018, 08:45 AM
Ink window, one half of the "Visulated" feature set, starts in 1936.
What's the other half?
The insulated nature of the reservoir--in other words, the fact that there's a sac within the barrel providing some insulation from exterior temperature changes (I know, don't all pens with a sac have that? Yes.).

Visible ink supply + insulated reservoir = Visulated. Note that this means it's not strictly correct to refer to these pens having Visulated sections. The pen as a whole is Visulated; the section is just transparent.

--Daniel

FredRydr
May 31st, 2018, 01:11 PM
Visible ink supply + insulated reservoir = Visulated....
I learn something new, every day. Thanks, Daniel.