Sheaffer Craftsman Touchdown FP

The Sheaffer Craftsman, made after WWII and mostly popular in the 1950s, came in a lever fill model and this one, the Touchdown--an elongated metal tube that seems to vacuum the ink up into the barrel.



Sturdier that a regular plunger system, but a bit strange looking. When filling with ink, I can actually pump the plunger rather than pull it in one motions.



The Craftsman was an everyday-use fountain pen, made of plastic and measuring 5 1/16" capped. The plastic barrel and cap do retain marks, particularly teeth marks as well as dents from regular use, but this one was in fairly good shape and was brought back to life by The Southern Scribe. This pen, which is black with gold-filled clip and cap band, came with a #33 14kt nib, a fine point that is a bit on the wet side.



Definitely a great vintage pen, if you're thinking of purchasing one you might want to think about one that's not working and having it repaired.

Sheaffer Skrip Blue Ink

I've come to like using Sheaffer Skrip blue ink, it's a brighter blue with quite a bit of purple in it (the above pic is a fairly good capture of the color).

Skrip is easy to find and comes in the standard array of colors (black, blue, red, green), but there is something about this blue that makes it stand out from the rest of my blues. It has a glow to it that I don't see in the J. Herbin Bleu Nuit, which is another "benchmark blue" that I use for color comparison. It also shades and covers well, with a lot more pigment than I expected.

The Skrip blue ink dries very fast, which is another plus. It isn't waterproof, but I've rarely needed that feature in any of my inks (never, actually). It's readily available, and looks good on paper (or fingers, if you slip while filling as I do). There's a lot to like in this ink, definitely give it a try.

Sheaffer Prelude Fountain Pen

Here's a fountain pen I am forever forgetting about, yet it's one of the more distinctive in my collection due to it's color--Sheaffer's Prelude in Radiant Magenta.

The fine nib is made of steel, and it is definitely one of the finest lines in my pen collection and akin I'd say to a Sailor fine nib.

One of the more interesting points is the the grip along the section, with padded areas so your hand doesn't cramp or get overly tired holding it. I haven't had that problem, and I like how the ink flows very smoothly from this nib so that I don't have to press very hard to write. No skipping or false starts, just a nice writing experience.

Sheaffer Slender Balance

This is one of the pens I found on Ron Zorn's website that I really wanted to see in person, along with the military-style Sheaffer (the pen clip is on backwards so that a pocket flap will lie straight over it and not show, per military dress code).


Green striped celluloid with gold accents won out, and I then took it over to Pendleton Brown to have the nib made into a cursive italic.

Per the website, the pen's overall grade is excellent, the metal is perfect and the nib is in excellent condition. It's an extra fine #3 point, and a lever filler. The pen measures 5 3/8 inches capped, and the jeweler's cap band is in perfect condition.

It's a very light, slender pen, and I almost don't feel it in my hand as there's no weight to it relative to some of my other pens. The cursive italic nib gives it some extra kick, although the pen itself just sitting on a table is fantastic all by itself.

What I loved about the pen is the ambered yet clear section, which when you see it next to the green celluloid looks very distinctive. It happens to be among my favorite color combinations, a lucky happenstance that adds to this Sheaffer Slender Balance's overall appeal.