1949 Sheaffer Valiant Touchdowns “The Big Ones”

In 1949 and 1950 Sheaffer produced a Valiant Touchdown that predates the Thin Model (TM) touchdowns that were developed for sale in 1951. I much prefer this earlier model, produced only for a short time. The Valiant Touchdown differs from other touchdown fillers of this time in that the cap and barrel are the same color and, of course, the nib is a wrap around triumph nib. Also produced were a standard nib Statesman, Silver and Gold nib Deluxe, and Gold Capped Crest. Colors were Black, Brown, Burgundy, Blue, and Green.

Here is a picture of the pen prior to restoration.

The first good thing about this repair is evident from the picture above. I will not have to scrape the inside of the sac protector (upper right) as the old sac has come out in one piece. This is usually the most time consuming part of repairing a touchdown or snorkel. A dose of pure talc to the new sac will be all that is needed when it is inserted back into the sac protector.

There were no surprises with this restoration. The old “O” ring came out without a problem and a new one (larger size that TM and snorkel) was inserted. I then secured the blind cap to the end of the barrel by using a long screwdriver. The old sac remnants were scraped off the end of the section and the entire section and nib were cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner. A new sac was secured to the section after it dried, measuring it to make sure it was just large enough to reach the end of the sac protector. I covered the sac with pure talc and secured the sac protector over the sac and to the section. The entire nib/section/sac/ sac protector was then inserted into the barrel and I tested the filler by pulling out the touchdown tube and inserting the pen in water. Then, pushing down on the filler with the nib assembly in the water. This filled the sac up with water and the restoration was complete, except for general clean up of the gold and black plastic parts. The gold was polished gently with Simichrome and q-tips and the black plastic was polished and preserved.

The end result is below.

The triumph nib, a medium, is pictured here.

Finally, here is a comparison of this pen on top, comparing it to a TM (thin model) Touchdown, which began production in 1951. I prefer the older, fatter touchdown to the TMs as they fit my hand better, and hold more ink. The thinner model must have been very well accepted, as the snorkel, which appeared next, held this thin size.

Advertisement