Pen Resurrection Sunday Ep 71 - 1947 Parker Vacumatic Debutante

[@ibpopp]

Your Resurrections have become master classes that shine light into the minutiae of restorations. Many thanks, indeed. Vacumatice are rare here in Terror Australis, and I was wondering if you will ever do a show on the series in general and what makes them special for you. As always, hugs and kisses from the Drop Bears.

[@InkquiringMinds]

That’s a good idea! Hug and kisses back (no tongues)!

[@jamesbenton8347]

That’s some serious major surgery, and impressive as all get out.

[@InkquiringMinds]

Thank you, @jamesbenton8347!

[@williamcatalano1762]

Beautiful pen. Congratulations on the restoring and congratulations on who bought it!

[@InkquiringMinds]

It was a leap of faith! :)

[@williamcatalano1762]

@@InkquiringMinds The rubbing compound that you used is that the same Maguires rubbing compound we talked about when I asked you about using on my 1950's Pelikan 400NN?

[@InkquiringMinds]

@williamcatalano1762 yes. Although I now have some Anderson Pens polish and compound.

[@williamcatalano1762]

@@InkquiringMinds I forgot you got some of that now too. I'll have to check that out as well. I don't really need any yet besides my vintage Pelikan, but yeah. Thanks Doug!

[@andykellens7237]

Aaah good to see that dracula is back in your resurrection videos. Thanks for yet another interesting video.

[@InkquiringMinds]

More to come!

[@johnsomers8269]

Love the new tools in your repair arsenal!

[@InkquiringMinds]

I’ll be using them on your pens!

[@knownaigm]

Great video and excellent work! I love tinkering and fixing up vintage things myself, usually pocket knives but I've also done a couple Esterbrooks. This was way more in-depth than any of my pen repairs so I learned a lot for future projects from watching this. Great presentation of the process as well.

[@InkquiringMinds]

Cool, thanks!

[@archivist17]

Beautiful pen! ❤

[@InkquiringMinds]

It really is!

[@bradbeth63]

Nicely done! The debutante has her “coming out”😁. Can’t go wrong with a Stooges clip either

[@InkquiringMinds]

You got that right!

[@oscarmedina1597]

I like Bubbles a lot!

[@zeus52452]

Another nice restoration Doug. The result is beautiful!!

[@InkquiringMinds]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@Copperplate_69]

Thank you very much for this extremely informative video about this gorgeous pen! The resurrections are oftentimes such a microscopic work, for which I admire you! 🥰 And the inspection camera is absolutely fascinating! I'm looking forward to when we get to see the other new tools as well!

[@InkquiringMinds]

Thank you!😊

[@judyjacobs5827]

"Russian disease"! Good one, Doug. Thanks for walking us through this complicated restoration, with some of the fits as well as the starts. Before you reassembled, one of the shots suggested the barrel had warped not just a bit smaller than it had been originally, but a bit triangular in shape, Might that account for the difficulty in getting the whole shebang shebanged? On another topic, someone at a pen show was looking askance at the tool with the removable collet mechanism and the knurling you use, and I butted in (no surprise) and raved about how you use the tool with great success on your famous internationally broadcast pen restoration videos, and he should absolutely buy one for his own use. The inventor/proprietor from Inky Nib appreciated it, showed me his lineup, and gave me (GAVE me!) one of those shellac pens. Your influence is legendary!

[@InkquiringMinds]

That's awesome! You met Scott? Great guy. Yeah, I find the Inky Nib extraction tool very valuable. He's experimenting with keeping the design, but changing much of the solid aluminum "handle" part to 3D printed resin to make it lighter and cheaper.

[@NameLikeNobodyElse]

I love that pattern on the pen! Maybe that's why I felt so invested in this restoration. It had me on the edge of my seat, leaning into my tablet, squinting and trying to see the macro bits, and gasping at the reveals of the shiny barrel from the poof of polishing cloth. Gorgeous restoration, but that filling system seems overly complicated. Phew! Or it's a simple system that's complicated to repair.

[@InkquiringMinds]

It is a simple system that is difficult to repair. They only made them for about 10 years. With modern materials, this is an excellent filling system - see the Wing Sung 601.

[@JohnBarrow1961]

Great job on this pen, Doug! Can you post the make and model of your magnifying visor? I've been looking to upgrade my old one. Thanks.

[@InkquiringMinds]

It is a no-name visor from Amazon... something like this: tinyurl.com/y2x6mrer

[@HistoricGentleman]

R is the factory code as to where the nib was made, i.e N = Newhaven and so forth as parker had multiple nib factories in that era

[@InkquiringMinds]

I read that "R" stood for "replacement". If it is a factory code, where is R?

[@HistoricGentleman]

@@InkquiringMinds P= Parker (Janesville), C = Canada, N= New Haven, D= Denmark, B = Beyer & Hayes, Z= Zanesville, Ohio, R = Rhode Island, Parker replacement nibs are marked with an * or no marking at all

[@HistoricGentleman]

There is also a Y marked one as well, but that has had conflicting manufacturers depending on the era

[@HistoricGentleman]

@@InkquiringMinds this also is similar to the coding on the vacuum attic feeds, A= for an account or extra fine nib, no marking is for a fine or medium nib, W= is for a broad, a stub or an oblique and D when found will be on early debutants. Each of these feeds had fractionally smaller or larger central ink channels to control nib wetness to match nib tipping size.

[@wittwittwer1043]

Doug, do you ever use Simichrome Polish on your pens? I find it does a good job of taking out minor scratches and shining up the cap, barrel, and section of my pens.

[@InkquiringMinds]

Simichrome is incredibly expensive in Canada. I have an equivalent that does just as well at a fraction of the price from Canadian Tire.

[@paulmchugh1430]

What's a Russian disease? Excellent restoration for a difficult pen. How many hours had you worked on this one? It is a beautiful pen.

[@InkquiringMinds]

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