1941 Golden Brown Sheaffer Balance Defender

People generally refer to these pens as military clip pens. They may be found only in the 1941 Sheaffer catalog. That is the final catalog year of the Balance and the final catalog until well after the end of World War II.

The pen has excellent transparency and the celluloid has no chips or cracks. There are a few small spots of plating loss on the clip. These show the underlying silver base metal that was used instead of brass during wartime. The filler rod has been replaced with one custom made from black oxide coated stainless steel. The original was celluloid covered carbon steel that failed when moisture got under the cover.

The Feather Touch 5 nib is among the best production nibs ever made. They are bouncy enough to provide lovely line variation under normal writing pressure. Yet firm enough to be used for everyday writing even by those of us who are rather heavy handed when jotting rapid notes.

Length
Capped - 129 mm (5”)
Uncapped - 116 mm (4.56”)
Posted - 149 mm (5.85”)
Diameter
Cap - 13.2 mm (0.52”)
Barrel - 11.5 mm (0.45”)

Filler
Vacuum-Fil

Nib
Fine