My Second Snorkel (Burgundy) this time with a Fine Nib

**KBeezie** · September 7th, 2014, 12:44 AM

I was in the market for a Snorkel with a Fine nib since the Black Admiral I currently have has a M2/Medium nib that's pretty wet.

So I picked up this Burgundy Snorkel listed with a Fine nib and Sac and Seals replaced for $27 shipped, but stated that the nib runs dry and is a hard starter at times.

Turns out it's fine, the nib was simply sprung, which caused the nib to sit a little further away from the feed which contributed to the drying and hard-starting issues, and most people would just keep pressing to get ink flow going which would over time spring it more.

Plus whatever blue ink was used before really stained or clinged to the bottom of the nib, almost that shimmer you get when you burn a piece of metal over a lighter, so got that cleaned up with a good scrub, and soaked the feed to get that cleaned up good.

I took apart the pen to make sure everything seemed right (section wasn't even on with either shellac or silicone grease, guess felt he didn't need it, nor did the plunger seem like it was greased). Inside was nice and clean and sac looked good (just had to be sure), I put it back together again, greased it where needed and made sure to line up the feed/nib to the snorkel slit.

A little bit of work on the nib and it's a nice comfortable fine, wet but not too wet, and really smooth now.

And a close shot of the impression I took right when I got the pen:

**mhosea** · September 7th, 2014, 11:08 AM

That's the first Snorkel Admiral I've seen with the section being the same color as the barrel. The Triumph-nibbed ones come in both flavors (a year of production thing?), so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the open-nibbed ones show the same.

**KBeezie** · September 7th, 2014, 11:18 AM

Originally Posted by mhosea

That's the first Snorkel Admiral I've seen with the section being the same color as the barrel. The Triumph-nibbed ones come in both flavors (a year of production thing?), so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the open-nibbed ones show the same.

I was curious about that as well, so did some searching and seen pictures of the admiral like that, but not sure if it was specific to a year.

Course both my admirals have the same section color as the barrel... one of the pens being black so that's obvious

.

**HughC** · September 7th, 2014, 03:52 PM

The same colour section is latter production from when the new colours such as Peacock, Fiesta red etc where introduced in 1956. The burgundy is also a slightly different shade to the first.

Regards
Hugh

**Jon Szanto** · September 7th, 2014, 06:21 PM

I can't remember your collection, KB (hell, I can't remember most of mine sometimes...), but if you don't have any of the Triumph (conical) nibs, you really have to make that your next set of ventures. With rare exceptions, they are nails, but oh man, what great nails they can be. Great, great pens for writing.

**KBeezie** · September 8th, 2014, 02:58 AM

Originally Posted by Jon Szanto

I can't remember your collection, KB (hell, I can't remember most of mine sometimes...), but if you don't have any of the Triumph (conical) nibs, you really have to make that your next set of ventures. With rare exceptions, they are nails, but oh man, what great nails they can be. Great, great pens for writing.

I don't have any triumph nibbed ones, a while back I setup a trade offer for my fully restored black snorkel admiral (w/ warranty) for another snorkel with a triumph nib since I knew they were commonly available in fine nibs (where as the opened nibs seem to be common with medium), as I didn't care for the thickness or wetness of the M2 on my admiral (especially with black eel which was part of the wetness problem).

I planned to get a WD eventually mainly for the fine nib and as you said they're nails, but I'd imagine they have a decent feel to them.

Mainly snagged this burgundy snorkel because it was $27 shipped and I just needed to do the nib/feed work to get it good the rest of the way (since it was already restored with a new sac and seals, which as I mentioned I took all apart to verify).

Currently my Sheaffer collection in order of acquisition is :

Sheaffer Snorkel Admiral (Black) fully restored w/ 14K medium nib (restorer figured it to be a '53)
Sheaffer Craftsman lever filler, Persian Blue w/ #33 which seems like a extra-fine, restored by seller
Sheaffer Touchdown Admiral, Evergreen Green, fully restored w/ warranty (same one for black snorkel) with a Feathertouch Accounting nib

Sheaffer MiLady, Striated Carmine, ~Fine Feathertouch Nib
Initially labeled as a Lady Balance, but did some research to find it's specifically a MiLady, a lady-sized version of the Admiral configuration.
Figured it to be '39 to '42 based on it's color.

Sheaffer Touchdown Statesman, Persian Blue, self-restored and polished, 14K Monotone ~Fine nib

And then now the second Snorkel.

**HughC** · September 8th, 2014, 05:22 AM

Attachment 13932

It's surprising what you'll find if you just keep your eyes open, all these off ebay and none where expensive. While these are stubs the same applies to flex nibs ( as long as you know how to pick a flex triumph nib... which doesn't have the indented line on the nib). I've been watching a snorkel with a damaged cap and a decent looking broad stub do the rounds ( at least twice) with an asking price of $70, the nib's worth at least $150. As an aside most Australian made triumph nibs are softer than their US cousins. As Karl mentioned fine appears to be the most common triumph nib followed by medium. Getting a nice little group together as well !!

Regards
Hugh

**KBeezie** · September 8th, 2014, 05:25 AM