Aside from Pilot, cartridge converters don't limit the pen. Sheaffer did make a few models which took a unique converter but most take any Sheaffer and a few take International Standard. One can use a cartridge and just refill it and voila, no moving parts. To my mind the Targa is close to perfect. Of course if you studied design that's fine, but what folks think of an object is far too complex a subject to be reduced to simple rules. I believe that the US company Sheaffer was a most innovative pen maker, and that most of their pens have withstood the test of time.
I was so glad to see your review of the Sheaffer Targa. I have this exact pen -- though I think mine may be the slim version. I bought it waaayyy back when I was in college. It was a big splurge for me at the time, especially the gold nib. I kept it just for letter writing because I was afraid I'd lose it if I carried it to class. As letters were replaced with emails, it ended up in a drawer and I forgot about it for years. A few months ago I started getting interested in fountain pens again and bought a couple of beginner pens (Platinum Preppy, Pilot Kakuno, Twsbi Go, Jinhao shark) to see if I liked writing with them, what size nib I liked, etc. I vaguely remembered that I had owned a fountain pen, and found it in a box of miscelaneous desk stuff. I'd forgotten how beautiful the inlaid nib is. I cleaned it out and now I have a like-new vintage pen. I like the weight and balance. It feels very elegant. My only concern has been the converter. It's a squeeze type, and it had languished for about 50 years with dried-up blue ink in it. I was concerned that the bladder part might be fragile. I thought I might have to buy a box of cartridges and re-fill them, which is what I do with my little Preppy and Kakuno. It''s nice to know that I can get a converter to replace the old one if I need it. Thank you again. This just made my day!
Great story! These do seem pretty resilient as long as you take care of the nib. I found the converter I used pretty easily online. As I mentioned it works well but has room for improvement.
I like this classic lacquered black and gold model more than my Gold electroplated model.. yours seems to have a modern converter while mine has aerometric converter. I’ve an Imperial too which is my favorite when it comes to looks.. BTW, Sheaffer is now owned by ‘William Penn’ whose headquarters is just a few miles from where I live (in Bengaluru, India )
I have six Targas: various colours, various nibs, and they are among the most prized in my collection. Interesting how the Sheaffer brand keeps changing hands. So maybe the next generation of pens will no longer be made in China and we can expect a revival / an improvement in quality. It would be wonderful if Penn would revive the Targa and Imperial series.
@@robertzydenbos2277 I don’t think there’ll be a revival of their Vintage models like Targa and Imperial.. William Penn is not a Pen maker, but a big retailer of stationary items with fancy showrooms in major Indian cities. I have a few of Sheaffer’s current models which haven’t disappointed me..
I dug through my accessories and found the original aerometric converter. Personally I prefer piston converters as I don't have to worry about replacing ink sacs and can keep an eye on the ink level.
There are various Sheaffer converters that fit the Targa (I have three different ones). And apart from the proprietary Sheaffer cartridges, I've found that 'standard international' cartridges (of the Pelikan etc. type) also fit in mine. So one isn't dependent on that one type of converter which you showed in the video.
Are the converters you have new ones, or are they from other vintage Sheaffer pens? Mine has a squeeze-type, and I'm concerned that it will eventually leak because the plastic is now 50 yrs old. I generally like piston fillers because I feel like I have the most control.
@@IreneFaivre The ones I use are absolutely brand-new, the type with a spindle you have to turn to operate the piston. I also have the squeeze-type converter, and it works well, but like you I have my doubts about its durability. Not that any squeeze-type converter has ever caused staining catastrophes, but somehow i don't want to push my luck.
Thank you for this video! I have the same pen, but not the box it came in, so I wondered which Sheaffer model it was. I bought mine in the early 1980s paying $50. which was a fair amount at the time. (I think I was also celebrating a good new job. :) Mine came with a squeeze converter which still works, though I much prefer piston converters or even refilling cartridges. I bought mine because it had a stub nib -- probably a medium or broad stub. At the time, my other pens were Montblanc 220 and 320 models which I bought with stub nibs. They cost about $50 in the late '70s. Those pens are amazing, they are the smoothest writers! And the stub nibs give a bit of calligraphic flair to your handwriting. My Targa with its stub nib always had too much feedback for my liking. Now with all the amazing videos on TH-cam and Goulet Pens website, I have smoothed the Targa nib and it writes beautifully. Back in the day, I bought fountain pens necause I liked writing with them. Mine have stood the test of time and are treasured -- along with the more modern Twisbis, Pilots and Kawecos that have become favorites as well. Hooray for Internet pen companies now that the retail pen stores are few and far between!
What a great story! I have a 220 myself, and did a video about it. The nib is pretty incredible. If you want to search for the model, I’ve found sheaffertarga.com to be a great resource. Just a warning it looks like they let the site expire so most browsers flag it as “not private”
I have one I bought in- 1983. I had finished medical school and was about to begin my residency in obgyn at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. It was exactly like yours. It was in a time where there were NO electronic records and everything was hand written. I used it through all this and 4 years in service. I used waterman’s black ink for the very reason that you could get every drop. And it was available at Maison Blanche- 2 blocks away. Occasional I used Quink, which had a side pocket. The pens tend to be finer in width but juicy. Mine was smooth years ago. And still functions perfectly. It, along with my silver Parker 75, given to me on high school graduation by grandfather and used through college and medical school are the never part with parts of my collection. Concerning the converter- that was not the original. They were a squeezable aerometric type converter. And so- no viz at all. I filled mine each morning and wiped the nib with the tissue with which I had cleaned my glasses. And wound my Bulova. The converters have been made in various parts of the world and the Sheaffer patents are now held by a company in India. So if you need converters- you might want to grab what you can. My converter was purchased 10 years ago when the rubber on the others cracked. I am not sure what compelled your disassembly attempts. Mine has functioned perfectly without that. When it is sluggish- it spends the night in tap water. “Wenn es nicht kaputt ist, versuchen Sie nicht, es zu reparieren.” Excellent review of a classic pen. Thank you.
Yep, a great pen. A real eye-catcher too, if you like that kind of thing. I managed to find a used one in remarkably good condition on E-Bay. Agree 100% about the converter - a real handicap. I use Shaffer Cartridges and refill with a syringe. They are no better than the converter in that they are so opaque that it is impossible to see the ink level even with a blinding LED flashlight, but at least they hold a good deal of ink. Your disassembly was amusing with its four parts. Pretty laughable considering most pens today have a host of bits and pieces, but oh well, less bits to lose I suppose.
One of the supermodels made by Sheaffers.Sheaffers inlaid nibs are absolutely world class. Sadly, the factory at Fort Madison, Iowa, is shut. Very sad ending to this iconic brand.
I wanted to note I’m using a modern converter that was purchased separately. The pen originally came with a squeeze style aerometric converter.
Sheaffer nibs are mostly amazing in their smoothness and the ink flow cum wetness . Haven't been disappointed thus far .
Aside from Pilot, cartridge converters don't limit the pen. Sheaffer did make a few models which took a unique converter but most take any Sheaffer and a few take International Standard. One can use a cartridge and just refill it and voila, no moving parts. To my mind the Targa is close to perfect. Of course if you studied design that's fine, but what folks think of an object is far too complex a subject to be reduced to simple rules. I believe that the US company Sheaffer was a most innovative pen maker, and that most of their pens have withstood the test of time.
I agree, it’s a greatly designed pen! I may try to eyedropper a cartridge instead of getting a replacement converter
I have a pen like this. Is there anyone who can buy this pen? It is good to use.
I was so glad to see your review of the Sheaffer Targa. I have this exact pen -- though I think mine may be the slim version. I bought it waaayyy back when I was in college. It was a big splurge for me at the time, especially the gold nib. I kept it just for letter writing because I was afraid I'd lose it if I carried it to class. As letters were replaced with emails, it ended up in a drawer and I forgot about it for years. A few months ago I started getting interested in fountain pens again and bought a couple of beginner pens (Platinum Preppy, Pilot Kakuno, Twsbi Go, Jinhao shark) to see if I liked writing with them, what size nib I liked, etc. I vaguely remembered that I had owned a fountain pen, and found it in a box of miscelaneous desk stuff. I'd forgotten how beautiful the inlaid nib is. I cleaned it out and now I have a like-new vintage pen. I like the weight and balance. It feels very elegant. My only concern has been the converter. It's a squeeze type, and it had languished for about 50 years with dried-up blue ink in it. I was concerned that the bladder part might be fragile. I thought I might have to buy a box of cartridges and re-fill them, which is what I do with my little Preppy and Kakuno. It''s nice to know that I can get a converter to replace the old one if I need it. Thank you again. This just made my day!
Great story! These do seem pretty resilient as long as you take care of the nib. I found the converter I used pretty easily online. As I mentioned it works well but has room for improvement.
The bladder can be replaced
or you can get modern piston-style Sheaffer converter
@@donnaellis3314 My pen reservoire ink sack (bladder) is leaking, and pt I dip the pen! how can I replace the bladder?
Of the dozen pens in my collection, the Targa is the smoothest
It’s one of my favorite nibs
I like this classic lacquered black and gold model more than my Gold electroplated model.. yours seems to have a modern converter while mine has aerometric converter.
I’ve an Imperial too which is my favorite when it comes to looks..
BTW, Sheaffer is now owned by ‘William Penn’ whose headquarters is just a few miles from where I live (in Bengaluru, India )
I have six Targas: various colours, various nibs, and they are among the most prized in my collection. Interesting how the Sheaffer brand keeps changing hands. So maybe the next generation of pens will no longer be made in China and we can expect a revival / an improvement in quality. It would be wonderful if Penn would revive the Targa and Imperial series.
@@robertzydenbos2277 I don’t think there’ll be a revival of their Vintage models like Targa and Imperial.. William Penn is not a Pen maker, but a big retailer of stationary items with fancy showrooms in major Indian cities.
I have a few of Sheaffer’s current models which haven’t disappointed me..
Love this pen. Together with the Triumph Imperial.
A basically semi-flex inlaid nib post 70's waterman is crazy. I dont beleive all targas are this flexible
It is a fantastic nib. This is the only Targa I have (so far). Perhaps I’m lucky?
I have a pen like this. Is there anyone who can buy this pen? It is good to use.
I have the very same pen. The original converter was not a piston. It came with a squeeze bar converter. But either type of converter does the job.
I dug through my accessories and found the original aerometric converter. Personally I prefer piston converters as I don't have to worry about replacing ink sacs and can keep an eye on the ink level.
There are various Sheaffer converters that fit the Targa (I have three different ones). And apart from the proprietary Sheaffer cartridges, I've found that 'standard international' cartridges (of the Pelikan etc. type) also fit in mine. So one isn't dependent on that one type of converter which you showed in the video.
Good to know! I may try a few other types of converters to see if I have one that works
Are the converters you have new ones, or are they from other vintage Sheaffer pens? Mine has a squeeze-type, and I'm concerned that it will eventually leak because the plastic is now 50 yrs old. I generally like piston fillers because I feel like I have the most control.
@@IreneFaivre The ones I use are absolutely brand-new, the type with a spindle you have to turn to operate the piston. I also have the squeeze-type converter, and it works well, but like you I have my doubts about its durability. Not that any squeeze-type converter has ever caused staining catastrophes, but somehow i don't want to push my luck.
Thank you for this video! I have the same pen, but not the box it came in, so I wondered which Sheaffer model it was. I bought mine in the early 1980s paying $50. which was a fair amount at the time. (I think I was also celebrating a good new job. :)
Mine came with a squeeze converter which still works, though I much prefer piston converters or even refilling cartridges.
I bought mine because it had a stub nib -- probably a medium or broad stub. At the time, my other pens were Montblanc 220 and 320 models which I bought with stub nibs. They cost about $50 in the late '70s. Those pens are amazing, they are the smoothest writers! And the stub nibs give a bit of calligraphic flair to your handwriting.
My Targa with its stub nib always had too much feedback for my liking. Now with all the amazing videos on TH-cam and Goulet Pens website, I have smoothed the Targa nib and it writes beautifully.
Back in the day, I bought fountain pens necause I liked writing with them. Mine have stood the test of time and are treasured -- along with the more modern Twisbis, Pilots and Kawecos that have become favorites as well. Hooray for Internet pen companies now that the retail pen stores are few and far between!
What a great story! I have a 220 myself, and did a video about it. The nib is pretty incredible. If you want to search for the model, I’ve found sheaffertarga.com to be a great resource. Just a warning it looks like they let the site expire so most browsers flag it as “not private”
I enjoyed the video about the Montblanc 220 too. Thank you!
Really great pen and great nib.
I agree, it’s clear why this model was produced for 20+ years
I have one I bought in- 1983. I had finished medical school and was about to begin my residency in obgyn at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. It was exactly like yours. It was in a time where there were NO electronic records and everything was hand written. I used it through all this and 4 years in service. I used waterman’s black ink for the very reason that you could get every drop. And it was available at Maison Blanche- 2 blocks away. Occasional I used Quink, which had a side pocket.
The pens tend to be finer in width but juicy. Mine was smooth years ago. And still functions perfectly.
It, along with my silver Parker 75, given to me on high school graduation by grandfather and used through college and medical school are the never part with parts of my collection.
Concerning the converter- that was not the original. They were a squeezable aerometric type converter. And so- no viz at all. I filled mine each morning and wiped the nib with the tissue with which I had cleaned my glasses. And wound my Bulova.
The converters have been made in various parts of the world and the Sheaffer patents are now held by a company in India. So if you need converters- you might want to grab what you can. My converter was purchased 10 years ago when the rubber on the others cracked. I am not sure what compelled your disassembly attempts. Mine has functioned perfectly without that. When it is sluggish- it spends the night in tap water.
“Wenn es nicht kaputt ist, versuchen Sie nicht, es zu reparieren.”
Excellent review of a classic pen.
Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words and great back story! I may try to hunt down an aerometric converter to bring it back to the original configuration.
Yep, a great pen. A real eye-catcher too, if you like that kind of thing. I managed to find a used one in remarkably good condition on E-Bay. Agree 100% about the converter - a real handicap. I use Shaffer Cartridges and refill with a syringe. They are no better than the converter in that they are so opaque that it is impossible to see the ink level even with a blinding LED flashlight, but at least they hold a good deal of ink.
Your disassembly was amusing with its four parts. Pretty laughable considering most pens today have a host of bits and pieces, but oh well, less bits to lose I suppose.
@@ForTheLoveOfPens th-cam.com/video/B4yi6pjqbFY/w-d-xo.html
One of the supermodels made by Sheaffers.Sheaffers inlaid nibs are absolutely world class. Sadly, the factory at Fort Madison, Iowa, is shut. Very sad ending to this iconic brand.
It is a shame they don’t make this nib anymore.
New coverter works well with this vintage pen model?
New Sheaffer ball pen refils do not works well with vintage models--Imperial--.
It does work well! Unfortunately there isn’t an easy way to disassemble.
@@ForTheLoveOfPens Do you utilize new ball refils at vintage Shaffer ball pens?
@@antoniosaiz2102 Unfortunately I don't have any Sheaffer ballpoint pens.
Lifetime warranty means nothing as i found out !🤬
That’s disappointing, maybe because the company has been sold?
@@ForTheLoveOfPens :: No because the pen lasts longer than you live ... ;-)