What is your latest pen acquisition?

[carlc]

Another Swan SF2, fine nib this time.

I couldn't resist the cap on this one.

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[Cob]

Another Swan SF2, fine nib this time.

I couldn't resist the cap on this one.

Yes a real classic Carl. It's a 230/60 by the look of it rather than a SF2..

Rgds

Cob

[carlc]

The section has 'sf2' on it and I got it from Laurence Oldfield who identified it as such.

Frankenpen?

[butchhe]

My first Pelikan. It's a model 120 (M&K) all black with a medium oblique nib.

[carlc]

Interestingly compared to the sf2 I acquired from you there are differences.

Your pen has a longer lever and shorter section but more threads on the barrel.

The cap for Laurence's pen is longer but the same diameter.

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[Cob]

The section has 'sf2' on it and I got it from Laurence Oldfield who identified it as such.

Frankenpen?

Ah well I'd be the last to dispute with Dr Oldfield!

I have had a few of these with feeds stamped SF2, and I should say that it's perfectly possible that such a section might have been fitted originally. The SF2 is a plainer pen in black hard rubber - like your gold banded recent acquisition! The pen pictured is clearly in black celluloid numbered 60 by Mabie Todd (or Xylonite as MT I believe referred to it. Normally one will find 230 underlined with 60 beneath on the end of the barrel.

They did these in other sizes too - I have a double banded 230B/60 stamped on the end. I also have some slimmer ones - with the bands on which I cannot make out the numbers but I believe that they are 130Cs. (the 1 refers to the nib size).

The earlier pens that look like yours (i.e. with golden bands on the barrel and the MHR top screw) but in black hard rubber, are usually stamped SF230 on the side of the cap.

Rgds

Cob

[carlc]

Thanks Cob

Apart from sf2 on the section it is only identified as a self filler on the barrel.

Looking at Deb's blog I can see where you are coming from - it's entirely possible it's a Frankenpen 230/60 with an sf2 section. The more I look the more I can see differences. For instance the cap of the new pen is more chamfered to the lip than the other pen.

For all we know the Frankenpen aspects may be by the MT repair department!

By the way you're correct about the material - the section smells but the barrel doesn't! All the more evidence towards your identification.

The nib isn't as nice as your pen by a country mile but I do like the pen all the same.

[Cob]

Thanks Cob

Apart from sf2 on the section it is only identified as a self filler on the barrel.

Looking at Deb's blog I can see where you are coming from - it's entirely possible it's a Frankenpen 230/60 with an sf2 section. The more I look the more I can see differences. For instance the cap of the new pen is more chamfered to the lip than the other pen.

For all we know the Frankenpen aspects may be by the MT repair department!

By the way you're correct about the material - the section smells but the barrel doesn't! All the more evidence towards your identification.

The nib isn't as nice as your pen by a country mile but I do like the pen all the same.

I just wrote on another thread in another forum that it is dangerous to be dogmatic about ancient fountain pens - a lot can (and usually has) happen(ed) to a fountain pen in 90 years or so.

I just sent back a pen that clearly had an incorrect cap - the fact that it didn't screw on was another factor...

Those 1920s Swans were so elegant; Mabie Todd beat all the others hands down in my opinion. I have had some with the long lever that indicates the elegant Swan lever system - reintroduced after the war on some pens, and the short lever (j-bar) I have them with both wide and narrow golden bands on the barrel; again I have no idea why there were all these variations. How Mabie Todd survived so long making so many different models without going bust is mysterious to me.

Cob

[carlc]

Cob

I'll save my money for the next London meet that I can make - I'm hooked on those early Swans now!

[Cob]

Well they have certainly hooked me! I find them endlessly fascinating - and so many patterns that are hard to find - someone on another forum has posted pictures of a L247/62 leverless. The 62 material . red, silver and green marble is unbelievably gorgeous and unaccountably rare. Why didn't more people buy these pretty pens?

Cob

[Cob]

A fair bit of "traffic" hereabouts lately. Amongst it, these four Mabie Todd Swans: a 2060, two 1060s (the one with the discoloured bits is an Eternal) and lying athwart them what I suppose is a SF2. This one has an amazing broad stub nib, and a rather strange imprint which I have illustrated below: note it reads Mabie Todd London and Made in U.S.A.. Sorry about the usual rubbish photos; if you want to take pictures of pens do NOT buy an old Ricoh camera.

Cob

Four Swans 2060 etc s.jpgUnusual MT Imprint S.jpg

[carlc]

Broad, stub..... Oooh.

[Scrawler]

SF2 with amazing broad stub? Snap



BTW the clip on mine is an after market item rather amateurishly riveted on.

[Cob]

SF2 with amazing broad stub? Snap



BTW the clip on mine is an after market item rather amateurishly riveted on.

Huh - and yours has got fancy gold bands! (=sniff= =sob=). Given the imprint I would guess mine dates from about 1918.
SF2 Broad Stub.jpg

Cob

[Scrawler]

Huh - and yours has got fancy gold bands! (=sniff= =sob=). Given the imprint I would guess mine dates from about 1918.

Cob

Sorry about the gold bands. If it makes you feel any better there is a small crack in my cap, and you seem to have a monopoly on the pens I like. Yes it would date to about 1918. They took their manufacturing to the US in 1917 because of WWI. I will be using this for some of my letters this weekend. These flex stubs are just superb. I believe they were made for signatures. There was a time when a handwriting expert could identify a writer by the 3 dimensional movements their hand made, with variances in pressure translated to spreading of the tines and the movement across the page translated into the curvature of the line itself.

[Cob]

Huh - and yours has got fancy gold bands! (=sniff= =sob=). Given the imprint I would guess mine dates from about 1918.

Cob

Sorry about the gold bands. If it makes you feel any better there is a small crack in my cap, and you seem to have a monopoly on the pens I like. Yes it would date to about 1918. They took their manufacturing to the US in 1917 because of WWI. I will be using this for some of my letters this weekend. These flex stubs are just superb. I believe they were made for signatures. There was a time when a handwriting expert could identify a writer by the 3 dimensional movements their hand made, with variances in pressure translated to spreading of the tines and the movement across the page translated into the curvature of the line itself.

Ha ha! Seriously sorry about the cap; I have been working frantically to solve the problem of cracks in BHR; the problem of course is matching the colour, so far I have concentrated only on those that happily have stayed black; but there are many shades of black...

Certainly a broad stub would make for a bold signature, and what is nice about the nib I have is that it is so smooth as well as being excellent in other respects.

Cob

[oldstoat]

Just to break up the happy flock of Swans, I have just received this very nice Sheaffer Lifetime from Tandaina. Lovely looking pen with a fine firm nib. It feels very good in the hand

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[tandaina]

My very first Raden pen. I've wanted one for years but most are so expensive.... At $300 this VP is incredibly priced and the raden is every bit as pretty as I had thought it would be! Will post a review later in the week.

[lowjax]

I know a few people have been getting these lately, but I had to have one too.

And yes, it is wonderful to look at and to write with.



A Platinum Century 3776 with a Helm and an Artus Rekord below.

[akapulko2020]

My very first Raden pen. I've wanted one for years but most are so expensive.... At $300 this VP is incredibly priced and the raden is every bit as pretty as I had thought it would be! Will post a review later in the week.

What a stunning looking pen! Enjoy it :-)