Parker 51 Nibs...

[hcsk8ter]

I read somewhere recently that Parker originally had around 11 or so factory nibs for the 51.

 

Any particular reason why Parker did not stamp their nibs? Just curious.

[OldGriz]

Here are all the nibs Parker offered for the 51...

As for marking them, I would guess there was no room on the nib for additional markings...

 

 

[richardandtracy]

And why mark the nib anyway?

1) You'd never see the marking.

2) all except the arabic nibs can be identified by sight.

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

[OldGriz]

And why mark the nib anyway?

1) You'd never see the marking.

2) all except the arabic nibs can be identified by sight.

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

Actually Richard an arabic nib can be identified a lot easier than a medium or broad stub or a fine or shorthand nib... there is not a lot of size difference between these...

 

An arabic nib looks like an italic spun 90 degrees so that it writes with a broad side line and a thin down line just the opposite of an italic...

 

[richardandtracy]

...An arabic nib looks like an italic spun 90 degrees so that it writes with a broad side line and a thin down line just the opposite of an italic...

Thanks Tom, it means the 'Arabic' nib I saw wasn't - the one I was shown looked like a medium & I though 'So What?' about it. Must have been a medium then. Always nice to learn these things.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

[OldGriz]

...An arabic nib looks like an italic spun 90 degrees so that it writes with a broad side line and a thin down line just the opposite of an italic...

Thanks Tom, it means the 'Arabic' nib I saw wasn't - the one I was shown looked like a medium & I though 'So What?' about it. Must have been a medium then. Always nice to learn these things.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

Richard Binder has a much better description on his site of an arabic nib.... just scroll down to arabic nib on the page

[welch]

Here are all the nibs Parker offered for the 51...

As for marking them, I would guess there was no room on the nib for additional markings...

 

 

I find it a revealing socio/technological statement that there are five variations of Fine, the a Medium and a Broad, and then some specialty points.

 

- So many people must have written with fine point in 1940

 

- a special point for short-hand?

 

- a special point for accountants?

 

By the '60s, I remember that we used either fine or medium points. There was even a sex-differential: where a (male) accountant must have written a "fine hand" in the '30s, boys tended to use the medium points twenty or thirty years later. I did; a fine point showed off my terrible handwriting.

 

 

[hcsk8ter]

And why mark the nib anyway?

1) You'd never see the marking.

2) all except the arabic nibs can be identified by sight.

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

1. You'd see the marking if you removed the nib. 2. Between 13 factory nibs, I'm sure it isn't so easy to determine one from another. Especially, when every company is different when it comes to nib widths.

Edited March 30, 2009 by hcsk8ter

[drifting]

I also find it interesting that Tom's chart pairs nib width with touch: "No fine nibs for you, you heavy handed brute!"

 

It stands to reason that a broader nib can take more pressure, but pressure isn't often part of the equation in nib selection these days, as far as I can glean from our corner of fountain pendom (aside from the general maxim that ballpointesque paper-piercing pressure is a no-no for all fountain pens).

 

Ryan.

[drifting]

And why mark the nib anyway?

2) all except the arabic nibs can be identified by sight.

 

Perhaps, if one had encountered enough "51"s to have internalized Parker's particular take on the EF to B spectrum. Unfortunately, I haven't. But I'm just getting started!

 

Ryan.

 

ps. - I often see listings with for "51"s with line width given as F-M, etc. Would this tend to be a stingy M? A really wet F? The individual performance of a particular pen complicates the issue for me. Sigh. So much to learn!

 

R.