Are Parker "51" Collectors Supposed To Look Like This?

[Ernst Bitterman]

There doesn't appear to be room on that connector (the black bit with the threads on) for an o-ring; yours probably didn't have one, and as long as you seal the hood with shellac it's not going to be an issue. It's there to help keep ink inside, not direct it to the point.

[kudzu]

Thanks, Ernst Bitterman. I'll reassemble the pen forthwith (well, after I finish waxing some of my 100+ year-old floors) without the O-ring.

 

AND, I checked out your blog -- I'll definitely be a regular reader. Very entertaining -- both thought-provoking and very well written.

 

 

[edited to get my dashes right]

Edited July 30, 2010 by kudzu

[kudzu]

Well, I did play around and get everything reassembled (without shellacking the hood on yet). Writing is still erratic. Take a look. Any other suggestions for improving the ink flow? Thanks.

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4850997321_40ceedbfdf_b.jpg

 

Up close:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/4851091305_b6b351d6a6_b.jpg

[dcwaites]

Clean the slit in the feed and the nib slit by inserting the corner of a piece of paper and sliding down the slit. There may be some little pieces of insoluble crud in there, blocking the free passage of ink.

[FarmBoy]

My guess is the hood (or feed) is pressing to tight against the nib or the nib is pinched a bit tight.

 

Todd

[donwinn]

When I first saw the heading "Are Parker '51' Collectors Supposed to Look Like This? I immediately thought you would have a photo of Old Griz, or Richard Binder, as they are two notable Parker 51 Collectors. :embarrassed_smile:

 

Donnie

[psfred]

Make sure there is a tiny bit of hard rubber rod or a melted spot at the rear of the collector inside the narrow slit. This is the ink feed, and if it gets squeezed shut because that bit of hard rubber or melted spot is not there, ink will not flow to the nib correctly.

 

Too narrow a nib slit is also likely, as is collected crud in the nib slit or feed slit.

 

I always line the slit in the feed up with the slit in the nib, whether or not the slanted cut on the end of the feed lines up properly -- I feel having the feed slit in the correct position is more important that the exposed bit of feed "looking" right is.

 

I also usually run a bit of plastic film through the ink feed slit in the collector and down the slit in the feed -- a bit of crud in either can give you fits.

 

As noted above, make sure the hood is not pressing down on the nib as well -- if it does, ink feed can be somewhat erratic, and this will be very noticeable in a stub, since it requires more ink during use than finer nibs do.

 

I usually sonicate the nib, feed, and collector of any "51" I have apart -- always makes them work better.

 

Peter

[tactilex]

Ok, update us!

Edited October 4, 2010 by tactilex

[OldGriz]

When I first saw the heading "Are Parker '51' Collectors Supposed to Look Like This? I immediately thought you would have a photo of Old Griz, or Richard Binder, as they are two notable Parker 51 Collectors. :embarrassed_smile:

 

Donnie

 

You are right Donnie, this is what Parker 51 Collectors look like...

 

http://www.myfavoritepen.com/Tom.jpg http://www.ohiopenshow.com/2007/show08richardbinderatwork.jpg

[Johnny Appleseed]

And I was expecting to see a Parker 51 collector all gummed up with dried Superchrome ink.

 

To which I would reply - yep, that is how they look. Get an old toothbrush and start scrubbing.

 

John

[kudzu]

Ok, update us!

 

Flow is still very erratic. I've tried a couple of different vintage inks. Looks like this pen will go to my favorite pen repairer after all.

[Silvermink]

When I first saw the heading "Are Parker '51' Collectors Supposed to Look Like This? I immediately thought you would have a photo of Old Griz, or Richard Binder, as they are two notable Parker 51 Collectors. :embarrassed_smile:

 

And I was expecting to see a Parker 51 collector all gummed up with dried Superchrome ink. ing.

 

My tired brain put these two concepts together and the results were a bit worrying.

[dcwaites]

Ok, update us!

 

Flow is still very erratic. I've tried a couple of different vintage inks. Looks like this pen will go to my favorite pen repairer after all.

 

Assuming that you have physically cleaned the slit in the nib and feed, you might want to see if you can find some old stock Parker Quink with Solv-X. I have used it successfully in a few pens that otherwise wrote like yours, and it cleaned them up within a few days of writing.

 

Look for bottles on eBay that are 1) unopened and 2) not much over $15 including postage.

[esterbex]

Ok, update us!

 

Flow is still very erratic. I've tried a couple of different vintage inks. Looks like this pen will go to my favorite pen repairer after all.

 

Assuming that you have physically cleaned the slit in the nib and feed, you might want to see if you can find some old stock Parker Quink with Solv-X. I have used it successfully in a few pens that otherwise wrote like yours, and it cleaned them up within a few days of writing.

 

Look for bottles on eBay that are 1) unopened and 2) not much over $15 including postage.

 

+1! To this I can also testify....

[kudzu]

Great suggestion. And I just happen to have a bottle, too!

 

My link

 

[Edited to add: It's not pretty, but at least I finally got the photo to upload....]

Edited October 28, 2010 by kudzu

[kudzu]

FarmBoy worked his magic & fixed my pen. Now my English burgandy P51 with the big B nib writes beautifully. Turns out the feed had problems, as did the breather tube. Neither were immediately obvious, and FarmBoy had to tinker with the pen to figure the different issues out. Mega thanks, Todd.

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5480415996_34c7fc8b82_z.jpg

Parker "51" is fixed! by kudzu99, on Flickr

[ADKaid]

FarmBoy worked his magic & fixed my pen. Now my English burgandy P51 with the big B nib writes beautifully. Turns out the feed had problems, as did the breather tube. Neither were immediately obvious, and FarmBoy had to tinker with the pen to figure the different issues out. Mega thanks, Todd.

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5480415996_34c7fc8b82_z.jpg

Parker "51" is fixed! by kudzu99, on Flickr

 

Cool thread. As a 51 noob, with his first two coming in the mail (as I post) this info may come in mighty handy.

[Aysedasi]

Perhaps FarmBoy could confirm what he did - to help out the novices? (That includes me! )

[kudzu]

I asked FarmBoy to stop by this thread to add his comments, clarifying more what he needed to do to get this pen to write well. Yo! FarmBoy! where are you?

[FarmBoy]

I asked FarmBoy to stop by this thread to add his comments, clarifying more what he needed to do to get this pen to write well. Yo! FarmBoy! where are you?

Glad to hear the pen meets your expectations. I must say it is a nice nib as far as 51s go and it is an English bloody burgundy too.

 

If you look closely at the feed shown here you may see it just doesn't look right.

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4829262233_6eacc7c7a4.jpg

 

There is no optical illusion, the feed is actually bent slightly and the feed channel is actually pinched. The hole? isn't so much a hole but more a pin (bleep) that was by no means correct and the breather tube was not long enough.

 

The repair was to replace the feed and breather tube and properly set the nib.

 

Nice pen to be sure.

 

EDIT: I see I've been bleeped. Bleep = what happens when you are poked with a pin.

Edited March 2, 2011 by FarmBoy