What Parker Are You Using This Day?

[inkstainedruth]

I've got three Parkers in my jacket pocket today, somewhat unusually ...

 

 

... with three very different nibs, too ...

 

 

What's that fourth pen (the uncapped one on the left)? It looks as if there's a Parker 61 hood arrow on it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[moylek]

What's that fourth pen (the uncapped one on the left)? It looks as if there's a Parker 61 hood arrow on it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Good eye: it's a Parker which I am *not* using today. The skippy text next to it reads "& my skippy new Parker 61". It's gorgeous and I dearly love the look and feel of it but I can't get it to write fluidly :/

[Mercian]

A Parker Urban in 'Night Sky Blue' and chrome trim, with its juicy and smooth medium nib.

The ink is Diamine 'Chocolate Brown'.

 

Delicious! ;-)

[ptrcwikla]

Parker 51 of course

[Penman222]

Parker "51" Special in Burgundy.

[AGxM]

My new P51 and a Vacumatic.....are all Parkers as juicy as these in terms of ink flow - can someone recommend a less juicy ink range to use? Currently have Robert Oster School Blue and Mont Blanc Forest Green in these and the flow is pretty heavy to start

 

[mitto]

Let them flow as they please. I love writing with juicy flowing pens.

[Mercian]

...can someone recommend a less juicy ink range to use? Currently have Robert Oster School Blue and Mont Blanc Forest Green in these and the flow is pretty heavy to start

 

Pelikan 4001 inks are generally thought to be a bit 'dry'. They are designed for use with Pelikan's pens, which are designed to have heavy flow.

Edit to add: Pelikan 'Edelstein' inks contain a lubricating agent for the piston mechanisms of Pelikan pens. They may, therefore, not be as 'dry' as inks from the 'Pelikan 4001' range.

 

Iron-gall inks will also 'tame' pens that are on the 'heavy flow' side.

I use Rohrer & Klingner 'Salix' iron-gall blue-black very happily in my own "51" (which has a UK 'fine' nib).

I have found that R&K's 'Scabiosa' iron-gall purple-grey *felt* TOO dry for my liking in that pen.

It worked without any issues, but I did not enjoy the feel of writing with it. Scabiosa is the 'driest' ink that I know of, and can 'tame' even the most 'gushy' pen that I own.

 

Iron-gall inks are mildly acidic, and they need their users to take more care with maintenance than dye-based inks do*, but iron-gall inks were very, very common when the Vacumatic and "51" were introduced; these pens were *designed* with iron-gall inks in mind.

Which may be why they seem to put out a bit too much ink when used with modern dye-based inks.

 

Iron-gall inks are water-resistant, they do not 'feather', they do not spread out into the paper but run true to the width of the nib, and the two R&K ones I mentioned show *exquisite* shading, even from fine nibs (especially on smooth papers like Rhoda or Oxford Optik).

 

* Maintenance:

you must NEVER let an i-g ink dry out in a pen (and especially not a "51", because they are so tricky to flush out fully. I found *that* out the hard way)

 

To be on the safe side, the pen should also be cleaned out every month or so, as follows:

First flush it with clean cold water;

then flush with a dilute solution of white vinegar (to re-dissolve any iron that has precipitated out inside the pen);

then flush again with clean water.

 

If your pen has just had iron-gall ink in it, you must NOT use a pen-flush that contains ammonia - it will react with the acidic residue of the i-g ink and all manner of chemistry will happen inside of your pen, precipitating iron salts out inside your feed/collector :-(

If you have already flushed with water and then vinegar and then water again, you will be safe to use ammonia-based cleaner. Just remember to flush it out again afterwards with clean water before you put more i-g ink in to it.

 

If you are using the pen non-stop you may not need to do a vinegar flush so often, but I would rather remember to do that once a month than try to deal with a pen whose feed is gunked-up with dried i-g ink!

Edited February 3, 2017 by Mercian

[mitto]

A midnight blue lustraloy cap aero 51 and a black gold cap aero 51. I completely restored them including tuning and tweeking the nibs. Both are USA made fine and extra fine nibs. Inked the midnight with waterman serenity blue and the black one with Pelikan 4001 black. Turned out buttury smooth writers.

 

The black pen give me great headach as I spent too much time on the nib tuning, straightening the tines and aligning them. The previous owner had twisted the nib tines to one side and the pen wrote only when you kept the nib touching the paper only on the left side.

Edited February 3, 2017 by mitto

[inkstainedruth]

Good eye: it's a Parker which I am *not* using today. The skippy text next to it reads "& my skippy new Parker 61". It's gorgeous and I dearly love the look and feel of it but I can't get it to write fluidly :/

 

That's too bad. I have a couple of 61s (both with the original capillary filler) and I like them a lot -- easy peasy to fill.

I found that the trick to flushing them is to flush just enough distilled water through them from the back until the ink starts flowing. Write with it, repeat when it goes dry. I ran my first one for four months -- just doing that repeatedly -- before the ink got so diluted as to be illegible on the page.... Then I flushed it out really well. Oh, and don't use a super saturated ink in them because of the capillary system. I suppose you should also have the nib checked out for stuff like alignment issues.

I should put one or both of them back into rotation. Last year the black 61 ran Eclat de Saphir, just refilling as needed, for a good long time. The other one (turquoise) ran De Atramentis Apple Blossom, until I got bored with the color.

 

Back on topic: So far today it's been the black Vector with the modified stub nib, and diluted Diamine Passion Red. But not much pen use overall because I slept in. A lot....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[RonLyke]

P51 gold filled 1950 date. MB Black

[moylek]

 

I found that the trick to flushing them is to flush just enough distilled water through them from the back until the ink starts flowing. Write with it, repeat when it goes dry. I ran my first one for four months -- just doing that repeatedly -- before the ink got so diluted as to be illegible on the page.... Then I flushed it out really well. Oh, and don't use a super saturated ink in them because of the capillary system. I suppose you should also have the nib checked out for stuff like alignment issues.

I should put one or both of them back into rotation. Last year the black 61 ran Eclat de Saphir, just refilling as needed, for a good long time. The other one (turquoise) ran De Atramentis Apple Blossom, until I got bored with the color.

 

Back on topic: So far today it's been the black Vector with the modified stub nib, and diluted Diamine Passion Red. But not much pen use overall because I slept in. A lot....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Thanks for the advice - I may start again with a water flush, though it's had a really good one already. And I've only used Waterman Florida Blue. Maybe I'll try flushing it with WFB

 

My other Parker 61 is a little soldier - it carries lots of ink and puts down a soft, wet line. Though like all Parker 61s, it needs a little lick of the nib to get it going if it's been neglected for a day or five.

[pkotrcka]

Today is the Parker 17 day in my usage circle.

 

[Cyqa]

My newest Parker, and my only new and not "pre-loved" Parker: this Parker IM, otherwise known as 파카 아이엠 here in Korea.

 

I really love it. i find it to be a wet writer, and it glides across the page. Really satisfying to write with!

 

 

[Penntellr]

My new old Parker 51 (1947) ~ Having just been fully restored....

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/Rnbguitars/Parker%2051-%201957%203_zpsommgyiod.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/Rnbguitars/Parker%2051-%201957%202_zpsi4pdiv36.jpg

Edited February 11, 2017 by Penntellr

[AL01]

Are those metal filler threads?

[mitto]

My new old Parker 51 (1957) ! Having just been fully restored....

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/Rnbguitars/Parker%2051-%201957%203_zpsommgyiod.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v420/Rnbguitars/Parker%2051-%201957%202_zpsi4pdiv36.jpg

Beutiful pen, penntellr. You may have mistakenly typed the year of production as 1957 instead of 1947.

[Penntellr]

Beutiful pen, penntellr. You may have mistakenly typed the year of production as 1957 instead of 1947.

 

Right you are. Silly me ~ thx & fixed. 47's my birth year & one reason why I bought it...

 

Are those metal filler threads?

 

Yes they are...Don't ask me how I know this...?

Because I near wrecked the threads on another 51 trying to unscrew the filler the other nite.

Edited February 11, 2017 by Penntellr

[AL01]

That's interestin'. I don't remember ever seeing a P51 vac with metal filler threads. Post this if you want to get info on it...

[mitto]

That's interestin'. I don't remember ever seeing a P51 vac with metal filler threads. Post this if you want to get info on it...

 

All my vac 51s have metal (aluminium?) filler threads with thick black paint on them.