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I have a few Parker 51 pens that I've taken apart, cleaned out, and now it's time to replace their sacs, so I thoroughly removed any gunk and residue from the sac nipple, then shellac'd the new sac and left it to dry for a day or so. The result: after the shellac dries, it seems that it doesn't provide a good air seal. There seem to be "bubbles" under the sac between the "ridges" of the sac nipple, and as I apply some pressure on the sac, it starts to separate from the sac nipple very easily. For this reason, I'm too afraid to put this in a pen, because even though it sold of holds, I'm afraid it would come loose and start to leak soon. It also seems that the shellac is weak, if I apply very little force the sac comes off easily. I've now repeated the process 3 times, tried 2 different kinds of shellac, each time cleaning out the gunk and residue from the previous attempt carefully. But I always get the same result. What am I doing wrong? Is there a trick that I'm missing here? This feels very silly because I was able to do this successfully in the past but for some reason I can't get it right this time.

I've disassembled a couple of Parker 51s for cleaning and tuning. On one of these pens, the sac came off even though I didn't really want to take it off. I assume when I heated it up in order to take off the hood, it must've also destroyed whatever was holding this sac in place. The sac itself is somewhat discolored but it doesn't seem torn or damaged in any way. Is it okay to reuse this old sac by shellacing it back to the connector when I reassemble the pen? Or is this something that I shouldn't do?

Hey guys, During my vacation in Greece, my bag was stolen and with it my trusty Parker 51. So I started to search for a replacement on ebay and a few other sites, and I just realized that they are now selling for like 2-3x the price I got mine back in 2018. It was a British burgundy 51 with a rolled silver cap, and I got it for about 60 bucks or so in 2018. But now, I can't find the same model anywhere below 180~200. Hell, I can't even find a decent one with a lustraloy cap below 100~120. What gives?

On the left side, there is the usual Parker 51 cap shape that I was already familiar with. On the right, it's a cap that came with a Parker 51 that I recently got from ebay. It has the 51 printed on it along with "1/10 12K GF" then "Made in USA". However it's suspicious to me that it has a somewhat slimmer apperance, a smaller jewel and a longer arrow clip. Can the cap on the right side of the picture be legit for the pen it came with? The pen is an otherwise ordinary looking aerometric 51 with the filler that has the black plastic bit at the top and the "To fill press ribbed bar firmly 4 times..." imprint and a barrel that says "Made in England". I think the fact that the barrel comes from England and the cap from the USA is quite suspicious. However, I'm pretty sure I've read about some early aerometric 51s that have a longer clip, so maybe this is just one of those? What do you guys think?

In reading the Parker 51 book, I am finding a color I didnt know they made in a MKIII 51 - Turquoise Blue. Very similar to that color 61 which is my favorite color in that range. Do any of the big collectors have a 51 in Turquoise Blue that they can share a picture of? Id also like to see Rage Red for reference. I picked up a red Argentina model but its not as bright as I expected it to be. Any one willing to share would be greatly appreciated. Mike

I haven't ventured much into the world of vintage Parker pens, but after hearing endless good things about the 51, I am thinking of getting one. I am curious to know where you would recommend looking for one (best online stores) and what prices to look for. So far it looks like I could potentially get one for around $80 or so (looking for a regular sized vacumatic P51) but I want to make sure it is restored and in decent condition (I am looking on Ebay, but I have had some bad pen experiences on Ebay and I would want to make sure it is a good seller). So, what price should I look for with a P51 Vacumatic, and where should I look? (I have also been scanning classifieds but I don't see many there). Thank you for any info Edit: Likely doesn't matter, but I am okay if it doesn't have a nib in it - just might give a few more options

Or not ~~ interesting, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. This custom "51" features the following: Four “quick change” threaded cap top jewels: 1) a Solid Gold Crown – ideal to have on the pen in your pocket when going to see the dentist – this one is also of course known as the Crown Jewel; 2) .45 solid lead – ideal for high caliber meetings; 3) 9mm Brass Jacket suitable for lower caliber meetings or casual writing; 4) 146/9 Mont Blanc White Star - ideal for highly pretentious meetings with status conscious individuals or groups… etc. The stainless steel cap has been bead blasted and strongly resembles titanium. The war time Vermeil Blue Diamond clip is bent in such a fashion that it would hard if not impossible to duplicate – it is definitely crooked… but, I have not ever found it to be dishonest in any respect. The hood or shell is dark blue and the barrel is black – reminiscent of two-tone cars in the ‘50s & 60’s. The filling unit and blind cap are oversized slightly. The longer than standard ink pump rod is brass and is housed in one excellent red anodized bushing. The added vacuum pressure sort of supercharges the filling system. The end of the rod contains a silver disc with the Parker Halo encased in translucent red plastic from the Parker Model Shop – the same exact red plastic used to make the Parker T-1 red jewels – it took way too long to make but that’s just hindsight. The nib is an 18k 61 nib which was made in the UK. Don’t know the reason why but 51 and 61 nibs made in the UK are just better writers and smoother than those made in the US – just a fact. Like it – Love it – or Hate it – you’ve got to at least agree it’s interesting…? Life’s too short to always take Pens too seriously. ralph prather

Or not ~~ interesting, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. This custom "51" features the following: Four “quick change” threaded cap top jewels: 1) a Solid Gold Crown – ideal to have on the pen in your pocket when going to see the dentist – this one is also of course known as the Crown Jewel; 2) .45 solid lead – ideal for high caliber meetings; 3) 9mm Brass Jacket suitable for lower caliber meetings or casual writing; 4) 146/9 Mont Blanc White Star - ideal for highly pretentious meetings with status conscious individuals or groups… etc. The stainless steel cap has been bead blasted and strongly resembles titanium. The war time Vermeil Blue Diamond clip is bent in such a fashion that it would hard if not impossible to duplicate – it is definitely crooked… but, I have not ever found it to be dishonest in any respect. The hood or shell is dark blue and the barrel is black – reminiscent of two-tone cars in the ‘50s & 60’s. The filling unit and blind cap are oversized slightly. The longer than standard ink pump rod is brass and is housed in one excellent red anodized bushing. The added vacuum pressure sort of supercharges the filling system. The end of the rod contains a silver disc with the Parker Halo encased in translucent red plastic from the Parker Model Shop – the same exact red plastic used to make the Parker T-1 red jewels – it took way too long to make but that’s just hindsight. The nib is an 18k 61 nib which was made in the UK. Don’t know the reason why but 51 and 61 nibs made in the UK are just better writers and smoother than those made in the US – just a fact. Like it – Love it – or Hate it – you’ve got to at least agree it’s interesting…? Life’s too short to always take Pens too seriously. ralph prather

Okay, so sometime back i bought these 2 parker 51 lookalike pens to try out hooded nibs(which I really liked). Now, one of them has developed skipping an hard starting issues, because I'm a lefty and many paper fibres and gunk are stuch in the grip section. I would really like to open it and give it a thorough clean, and it would satisfy me very much so. Since it is a very cheap pen (<$1), I did not hesitate to carry out repairs myself. I watched a few tutorials and realized that the feed can be accessed by rotating the grip section on its threads. Now, I tried this, with the result that it worked magnificently on one pen (the good one) and god help me but for the life of me i can NOT open the other one. I have tried everything, every largest amount of force I can muster, but I can't do it. Now, I as it is a relatively modern pen, I don't think the threads are covered in shellac, but in some kind of glue. Again, I could not find any traces of anything on the threads of the other one(they are the same in every way). What should I do?? Please guide me.

Dear all, I am restoring my 51. I do not have access to any shellac to fix the hood. What common household items will suffice? Clear nail polish maybe? Also, please the photo and tell what will the best method to remove the scratch on the hood, and the grit sizes. I have bought Micromesh grits. Regards, Joarder

So, what is it that a Parker 51 does that no other pen does? There is a lot of eulogising about this pen on these forums, and I'm just wondering what this (vintage) pen offers that modern pens do not? I enjoy my Parson's Essential and the modern pens I have, and having been slightly disappointed in the vintage typewriter market (they are never as described on e-bay). I'm just wondering if anyone could share their enthusiasm for this pen. Why is it such a (supposed) classic? Why pay £30-£100 for a Parker 51, which may or may not work, when a brand new Pelikan.,or Mr Pen, (or whatever) can be had for the same price?

I purchased a pen at a car boot sale it has Parkers with an s and 51 under it, the cap has a parker arrow clip and the nib is a bankers nib Any ideas?

Greetings enthusiastic FP network community! I am new here, began collecting from around 3-4 years ago. Ever since I didn't really put much thought into taking my hobby up a notch until now. I recently just got a Parker 51 vacumatic from an antiques store for the equivalent of about $70. But what really weirded me out was me not being able to identify it's variant, as I couldn't find any similar pen to it on google so far. I thought maybe someone can help me out and give me more information about it and if I had a good deal? Information about the FP : It's vacumatic, 14K gold filled, and has ".7." written on the barrel. I am not sure which colour it's in, but I am assuming it's either Mustard, Yellowstone or Buckskin beige.

I'm new here and have only been collecting for about a year. I have recently got into 51s and was wondering if a 51 would fit into a 21 desk set or vice-versa? Sorry if this is common knowledge but I gave it a couple googles and couldn't find any good information. Thanks in advance.

Dear all, Boring backstory... I've got a Parker 51 that works wonderfully. It's an heirloom pen and as it writes so wonderfully I no longer take it out and about. As such I'm in the market for a new 51 copy, a pen that I won't be fussed about loosing, breaking, nib down dropping, loaning... you get the picture Question: Can you wonderful folks list any 51 copies, and your experiences with them for me? If so I'd really appreciate it! I've heard the Hero 100 is a good imitation, one comment on fpn even suggested that the Hero 100 is a "slight improvement" on the 51. Could this be so! And if so how? Many thanks for your help, Badger

I recently purchased a serviced Parker 51. However it skips terribly, and starts hard. Backstory: So I asserted that the seller had maybe mislead me about servicing it. So I decided to take it apart and fix it myself. The filler unit works well, so I didn't bother to take that apart. I took off the hood, but realized that the seller didn't lie about it, the collector and feed were completely clean. I re-aligned the nib and feed with the collector carefully, so that the wide air gap on the collector is now precisely over the top of the nib. Then I pushed the nib and feed into the collector as far as they go, and screwed the hood back on. The result: Flow has improved a little bit (possibly because I aligned the nib + feed in relation to the collector better), but the pen still hard starts and skips and like hell. There is a very tight sweet spot, ie. I can hold it in a way in which it skips much less, and of course it doesn't skip when I apply considerable pressure, but... it is not pleasurable to write with it this way. How can I fix this? What am I missing?

I just got a Parker 51 today. I have a question about how it writes. I would say that it's an EF and wet only if I hold the pen a specific way. Just picking the pen up and writing it's dry and skips. I have a to move the pen around to find a sweet spot. I did buy it from a reputable seller. I would call him and see if something can be done but I don't want to bug him if that's normal. Thanks for any suggestion. Burt

Hello guys , I have recently playing around with a new parker 51 pencil that I received (rotary) , and I can't for the life of me get it back together and working properly. The pieces to the puzzle that I have are a small gold ring , a metal washher-like piece , a small spring , the mechanism , and the rubber section for the back . As well as the body of course. Could anyone give me some guidence in to how to reassemble the pencil properly please? Thanks

I think some of you are aware of my quest to find my first 14k gold - nibbed pen. I have boiled down to two choices: the 2000 or 51. My intentions are to: - Have a purdy pen. - A good suit pen - A writer's pen - A fine nib - An EDC pen. - It needs to also be durable. ("Drawing" done by a green Wearever Pennant - Ink is Noodler's Polar Eel Black) Thanks in Advance, Al.

I finally got my 51(yay!) However, the pen was damaged during transist and there was a deep scratch on barrel which I removed using 1500 grit wet sand paper (read from a forum here) and now I have to remove microscratches from barrel and small scratch|es on cap.Can simichrome be used? And from where can I find replacements (s.s or lustraloy) caps? Thanks

Hi! Straight to the point: what pump-filler pens do you know of? I know of Edison's Pump-Filler but the price is more than what I can afford ($350 for a steel nib and $450 for the gold nib besides international shipping...) so I'm looking at a "51" Vac which is about a fifth of the price. Do you guys have any other suggestions at this lower price point? I'm also aware of the Pilot 823 and TWSBI Vac700 which have a plunger of some sort. Open to those kinds too that are not variations of a lever filler. Thanks!

When I disassemble Parker "51" aerometric pens, I find two kinds of breather tubes. Sometimes, the tube is metal (silver or stainless steel). The tube is pretty long, going pretty far into the sac, and there is a tiny little hole in the side of the tube, close to where it enters the feed. The other kind is a short, plastic tube, which makes a little "comma" shape as it comes out the back of the feed. These do not have the tiny little hole in the side. So, I was wondering two questions, which I was hoping someone more knowledgeable than I am about the "51" could answer. I gather from the vintagepens.com site that these two kinds of breather tube are specific to the feed. On the page listing parts for sale, the entry for the Teflon tubing describes the tubing as being for "later 51s with plastic breather tubes." Does this mean that you cannot use metal breathing tubes with these later "51" models? If so, which ones? Because I have seen plastic tubes in Mark I pens. But maybe these were refurbs -- I don't know. It seems to me that the plastic breathing tube is inferior, for two reasons. First, whenever I see it used in a "51," the tubing is always significantly shorter than the metal breathing tube -- it doesn't go as far back into the sac as the metal tube. This would limit the fill capacity of the pen by a lot, it seems to me -- after you have ink in the sac up to the level of the tube-end, further pressing on the squeeze bar would just push ink in and out of the sac. It's the cascading/fountaining over the end of the tube that implements the one-way "rectifier" effect that fills the pen. I suppose you could cut the tubes longer, but they aren't very straight, and perhaps they would curve over and impinge on the side of the sac? I am theorising here; what I observe is that the plastic tubes are short. Second, these tubes don't have the tiny little air hole in the side of the tube. But this is what makes an "aerometric filler" aerometric! It's the little inovation that lets sea-level air bleed out of a nib-up pen when cabin pressure on an airplane drops. So… what the heck? Did Parker just decide at some point to stop making their aerometric pens aerometric? OK, as long as I'm asking questions, here's one more for the "51" historians: why silver? Why did Parker make the breathing tubes out of silver instead of stainless steel or some cheaper material? I mean, sure, the silver tubes are prettier, but somehow I don't think that was the reason…E. K.

I need to replace the hood on a "51." I prefer to use hoods that work with o-rings: I don't have to screw them down hard (stressing the plastic) or use shellac to seal them against leaks. I have the option of buying a shell with a fully-recessed indent for the o-ring, or a half-recessed indent. I have no idea what the trade-offs are here. Could someone clue me in? The half-recessed shells look a little more robust around the lip, for obvious reasons. But I am no expert. Do they completely hide the o-ring? How do the two kinds of shell work out? E. K.

In the world of fountain pens, there are forgettable pens and famous pens…. and then there are the icons. Those are the pens that have a wide appeal and a cult like following. You may love them or not, but there is no denying their impact and the passion they generate amongst devotees. One of these icons is the Parker “51”. There is an abundance of information about these great pens, and I will make no attempt to repeat all the details. I will simply point out that there are two primary filling systems used in the life of the pen – the vacuumatic plunger filler and the aerometric filler. The vac filler was the first system used and I draw this distinction because the pen I am reviewing uses this method. Sometimes iconic pens inspire tributes or fantasy versions where people create a pen they want to see, but it never came from the factory. When this is done with the intention to add character or widen the scope of a pen, I think it has the potential to be a thing of beauty. (When it is done to deceive or to make a pen that is represented as a rare factory original, I find this despicable and blight on our hobby.) There are many folks who have created so called fantasy “51” pens including Ariel Kullock, Paul Rossi, Ralph Prather, and Brad Torelli. Each has their strengths and their products cover a wide range of prices, depending on materials, hours invested, and parts used. While I admire the work or all four men, the pens that appeal the most to me in general are those by Brad Torelli. Although he is a master of many pen skills, plastics are the area of expertise he focused on for this pen. He essentially took standard “51” vac parts and crafted a new barrel, hood and blind cap. In addition, he put new jewels on the top and bottom of the pen to make is a “double jewel” or DJ version of the pen. This particular pen is a demonstrator in a lovely transparent brown, almost the color of a refreshing root beer. I find the color pairs well with the gold cap. The transparency also gives one a real appreciation for the mechanics of these pens. Manually creating a vacuum to pull ink through the collector and breather tube in order to fill the ink chamber – simple but effective. One of the best things about Brad’s pens is the warranty. He likes to say he offers a lifetime guarantee on his work and his materials. The part that always amuses me is that he means his lifetime. I have no desire to publicly share his current age, but he has joked that he probably has 20 good years ahead and then maybe another 5 or 10 so so years (so get that warranty work done!). In all seriousness, I have personal experience with him standing behind his work and going above and beyond what any large manufacturer would do in support of their pens. Besides the giant pain in the rear it is to clean a “51” vac, the other issue for me personally is the limited range of nib widths available. To remedy this I turned to a custom retipped nib from Greg Minuskin. Greg sells a lot of “51” nibs that he retips and stubs in various widths. The one I picked was a fairly broad 1.3MM tip and Brad mounted in into his pen for me. Now I have a demo pen with a tip that is wide enough to suit my preferences. I’ll close by saying that if, like me, you found the Parker “51” a little lacking from the factory the good news is there are artists who can make your desires a reality. I have a soft spot for demo pens, wide stubs, and pens hand made by artisans. This pen met all these criteria in one slim, iconic form factor.

I'm still learning about fountain pens (even two years into the hobby), and I wondered about this picture. The tipping seems to be a bit meager on this Parker 51. From advertising pictures and from most pictures I find online, Parker 51s generally come with nice round ball-shaped tipping. What do you guys think? Does this nib look normal?