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Hello, I've always been careful with my 61, putting some tame blue or black into it while my other pens enjoy my 'fancier' inks. It's kind of a shame since my 61's nib is really smooth and wet, and I'd love to put a high-sheen Noodler's ink or the rest of my Emerald of Chivor in there, but I was always leery of the capillary filler's sensitivity, especially with pigment or gold particulates. Has anyone had the bravery to put a nastier ink in their capillary 61's, and what has been the success rate of such an endeavor? Regards!

Hi Parker afficciondos! I have a riddle for your collective pondering. I own a Parker 61 capillary that I purchased off the bay for $5. I cleaned, rinsed, flushed, etc more times than I care to recount. I have never been able to get it to write with the exception of this... Thoughts? Do I need to send out for repair? If so, who is an expert at these? Thank you in advance. John

A friend, a fountain pen newbie, is getting a Parker 61 (I tried to convince him to go with a 51 to no avail). What ink should I recommend? I personally use Sheaffer Washable blue or Waterman Serenity Blue in my 61s, but he wants black, or blue-black. Besides Waterman Intense Black, what would you suggest? I don't want him to get acquainted with the use of ear bulbs for a while yet. I take heed of the late Susan Wirth's advice to use ink that was around when the particular pen was introduced, but...

Few weeks ago, I won an EBay auction for my second Parker 61 capillary. On receiving the pen, I proceeded with a normal P61 "as many days as it takes" flushing program. However, after a week or so, when removing the flushing bulb from the filler, the filler unit separated from the section. And inside the filler I found this: Clearly some previous owner wanted to "fix" (or refill???) the pen, using pliers with enough force to remove the filler tube without uncrimping it. That's why there were plier marks on the filler unit! And when trying to get out the foil, he torn the part which was glued to the feed. Finally, he must have also removed the felt from the filler, for there was none when I disassembled it. I have to say I was not much pleased. But then, when disassembling the pen further, I got lucky The pen looks otherwise pristine, and I had no troubles unscrewing the hood! As you can see below, it looks almost new and has a very nice arrow. Selling it separately would, together with the nib and cap (which also look great) more than recoup the price I paid. Now I cannot decide how to proceed. I guess selling the parts separately would get me enough money to buy a new, working Parker 61 - that would be the easy and straightforward option. But I still wonder whether I could somehow fix this pen instead of selling it for parts. Getting a new filler is of course a possibility, but that would cost me almost as much as I originally paid for the pen. I wonder if there is some more cost-effective solution to make the pen work? Any ideas?

Hi I am new on here and am mainly interested in Parker 61's. Can anyone help with advice on converting a capillary filler to cartridge filler? Thanks in advance Allan