Parker 61 Help

[cstephens]

Hello. Today I picked up a capillary fill Parker 61. It looked decent at the store, but when I tried to adjust the nib to my liking, the iridium (or what was left of it) broke off of the nib. What are my options and what should I expect regrading cost?

 

If it needs a new nib, I've been reading about removing the 61 nib. I've sen lots of warnings regarding the difficulty of removing the hood and the necessity of heat in its removal. Anyone want to offer words of advice?

Thanks,

Chris

[Sasha Royale]

It has not gone unnoticed that you asked for advice AFTER you broke the pen.

 

You are an intrepid soul. Despite your obvious experience and skills with the

Parker 61, I suggest that you get a good name from FPN membership, and send

your pen to someone for repair.

[cstephens]

Gee, what a lovely welcome to FPN...

[Ernst Bitterman]

The initial reaction is, I'm afraid, dismay. However, here's some actual assistance (although I will agree that a 61 is not a good first-attempt candidate). Heat and soaking are both a good idea. Soaking in room temperature water will loosen any ink that's gotten into the threads, while heat will release adhesives. The heat, which is usually generated by a hair-dryer, should be such that you can hold the pen in it with an unprotected hand and not feel like you're practicing to resist torture. When it comes loose, the only thing that will turn is the connector; the capillary unit is firmly attached to the collector, and the collector does not rotate in the shell. Once the connector is free of the shell, it will try to strip teflon from the capillary casing, so go very slow and careful taking it off. The shell should slide off fairly easily once the collar is out; if not, more soaking is the answer. Pull the point straight out once the shell is off, and don't try to get the feed out with it; if it's unwilling, more soaking will help, and you might even use warm water to help the metal expand away from the feed (warm, though-- not hot).

 

Also, be wary of the clutch ring wandering on the connector during removal and rebuilding. Measure the amount of connector visible behind it when you start, and make sure that's the same when you're done.

http://dirck.delint.ca/beta/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Antomy-61.jpg

Edited December 30, 2012 by Ernst Bitterman

[sherbie]

Welcome to FPN.

 

One word of warning on the P61. If you have the arrow still attached on the section - a rare event - too much warmth in the water or ultrasound can shake this loose.

 

The plastic on the P61 was not Parkers finest hour, and many P61's that I,ve picked up have had had sections badly transformed out of shape.

 

Best of luck, Paul

[cstephens]

Welcome to FPN.

 

One word of warning on the P61. If you have the arrow still attached on the section - a rare event - too much warmth in the water or ultrasound can shake this loose.

 

The plastic on the P61 was not Parkers finest hour, and many P61's that I,ve picked up have had had sections badly transformed out of shape.

 

Best of luck, Paul

Thanks, Paul. It does still have the arrow, and it is in nice shape overall. The only problem (apart from the iridium) is some scarring to the Teflon from opening/closing the barrel.

Chris

[welch]

If you are in the US, get a new nib and send the pen to Ron Zorn. Don't ry to swap nibs on your own until you have replaced nibs in P51s, and then several P61s. My favorite Parker restorer won't mess with P61 nibs. Richard Binder is out of the repair business. John Mottishaw has about a 6 month waiting list.

 

Ron Z replaced a P61 nib for me. During repair the feed cracked, and Ron Z searched high and low for another feed. I told him that the feed had probably been weakened when a previous owner jamed the nib in sort of upside down. I had showed it to Richard at a show, and even Richard was amazed. "No, this wasn't done by accident...you have to work hard to do this kind of damage". Richard pulled the nib, unfolded it, put it back.

 

In spite of the possible previous damage, Ron looked around for a feed, finally cut a capillary feed down to C/C size.

 

Ron will do the job.

 

(I think David Nishimura has P61 nibs.)

[cstephens]

If you are in the US, get a new nib and send the pen to Ron Zorn. Don't ry to swap nibs on your own until you have replaced nibs in P51s, and then several P61s. My favorite Parker restorer won't mess with P61 nibs. Richard Binder is out of the repair business. John Mottishaw has about a 6 month waiting list.

 

Ron Z replaced a P61 nib for me. During repair the feed cracked, and Ron Z searched high and low for another feed. I told him that the feed had probably been weakened when a previous owner jamed the nib in sort of upside down. I had showed it to Richard at a show, and even Richard was amazed. "No, this wasn't done by accident...you have to work hard to do this kind of damage". Richard pulled the nib, unfolded it, put it back.

 

In spite of the possible previous damage, Ron looked around for a feed, finally cut a capillary feed down to C/C size.

 

Ron will do the job.

 

(I think David Nishimura has P61 nibs.)

Thanks for the helpful advice. Actually, this is the decision I settled on a few days ago. And, yesterday, I found the nibs on David's site.