Dolphins

I recently came across this nice little Sheaffer 800 in Grey. In an earlier post, I pictured a black version of the same pen. These were made during the 1962-64 period and available in either a touchdown or cartridge version. This one is a touchdown filler and the usual problems were discovered when I took it apart. I will cover those in a moment. First, why this pen along with the 500 and 1000 versions are also called “dolphins”. As you can see, the nib and section resemble a the head of a bottle nose dolphin.

When, I opened this one up, I discovered that, as usual with touchdowns, the sac had hardened and the “O” ring had hardened and needed to be replaced. Both were replaced, silicone grease was applied to the ring area and lightly to the touchdown tube. I also cleaned the outside of the pen with pen polish to remove some sticky grime and it looks great. It always nice to hear the fresh air-sucking sound of a newly restored pneumatic touchdown filler.

The nib on this one is a medium. These were produced with extra fine, fine, medium, broad and stub nibs. The pens came in black, blue, grey (pictured), burgundy and green.

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