Anyone else know anything about this?
Anyone else know anything about this?
Last edited by Empty_of_Clouds; March 14th, 2020 at 03:39 AM.
catbert (December 14th, 2019)
The surface treatment gives some traction for a good grip on the section with less effort. The spiral I suspect, is just the result of the way it was applied - the spiral being in essence a shallow cut screw thread. Cutting a thread is a simple lathe operation that gives rings, evenly spaced, instead of having to disengage the bit and move it over a little at a time for each ring. I imagine that most people don't look close enough to notice that it's a spiral instead of individual rings cut into the material. A taper bar would move the cross feed, allowing the bit to follow the contour of the material instead of the lathe operator having to do it manually. I think that Cross did the same thing on their Classic metal pens.
catbert (December 14th, 2019), Chemyst (December 14th, 2019), Chrissy (December 11th, 2019), Jon Szanto (December 11th, 2019), silverlifter (December 11th, 2019)
I like most of the Sheaffer pneumatic pens (TD or snorkel). The "lowly" Admiral open nib 14k pen is fantastic pen that is easy to find and punches way above its weight. Those Sheaffer #5 nibs are very nice. They have a little spiral *and* have a little flair out at the section. These are especially nice in the hand and I find these pens very very consistent. Big fan of these in M for everyday scribbling.
Sovereigns and Saratogas are also good (the admiral's two tone big brothers) but I have a soft spot for the humble Admiral. Those single tone #5 nibs are often a bit softer and wetter. The Special is a PdAg version of the Admiral. Similar. I prefer the Admiral, even though I LOVE the imprint on the Special that looks like so.
I currently don't have one and am looking. No reason other than I love Sheaffers and those look cool.
I personally like the slightly fatter early Touchdown models or the later snorkels. The TM Touchdowns are a little small. I enjoy how long the Snorkels are. For me that makes up for the thinness of the sections somewhat.
Clippers and Statesmans are PdAg and a little different experience.
Valiant, Sentinel, Crest, Autograph, & Signature are the same but with different caps. Any of those are good for me.
My personal faves are probably the Admiral & the Sentinel. But I am fine with any of the M5 nibs. They are glorious.
Wild Card is the TD open nib Statesman with the slightly insane #8 nib. Sheaffer put a lot of big nibs on small pens. On paper this is the best of the bunch. But I have had 4 of these and none have really worked out for me. The nibs do point down a bit like po nib and like the earlier Balance nibs instead of and upturn so that might be the reason I don't get on with them (though the same thing on the balance bothers me not at all, so it make be luck of the drawn).
Best round nib: probably my 1937(ish) open nib Crest.
My best conical nib is a TD desk pen or the M5 from my Autograph.
The edged nibs are all fantastic.
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