What Parker Are You Using This Day?

[Gerd W]

Parker 75 Flighter GT, B-nib, with Quink BB

[PenFisher]

This is a Parker “51” with a story that starts out sad and ends happy J I bought this pen some time ago for restoration/resale and unfortunately the seller shipped it unprotected in a thin, plastic “bag” envelope. Well, as you can image it was damaged while in transit – the barrel was crushed and the filler housing was bent and distorted in the process (see gruesome photo below).

I contacted the seller and described what had happened and requested a partial refund since I could still use the pen as a parts donor. A fair settlement was arranged with the seller and over time this gallant little “51” offered up its cap and nib to other needy “51”s that were ready to go back into the world. Having fulfilled its mission the remains of the pen lay silently in my parts box – often getting shoved around and being ignored as I searched for other suitable parts for restorations in progress.

Then a big winter storm in the Northeast arrived – a defiant act of Mother Nature to remind us who is really in charge. As usual the weather forecasters hyped the magnitude of the event and many folks stayed home from work – myself included. With a full workday of free time I began poking around for a project and that’s when I decided to see if I could restore our little hero “51” to service. I will not go into the gory details of the surgery and will simply say that the badly crushed filler housing was manipulated and reworked to a point where it functions properly. Then it was polished, although some signs of the accident clearly remain. A new pli-glass ink sac was installed and the original collector, feed, and sterling breather tube were cleaned and reassembled. A bent “51” Octanium nib that had been a previous pull from another donor pen was straightened, reworked, and tweaked before being installed. The original black hood and clutch ring were polished and the original O-ring was soaked in silicone for several hours before reassembly. A nice Midnight Blue barrel from the parts bin seemed appropriate and was used to replace the black barrel that was crushed in the accident. The cap is a refugee from the parts bin as well. It was disassembled, cleaned and reassembled. The jewel stem was broken so the jewel is held in place with epoxy and not threads – you would never know unless you were privy to this part of the tale. There are a few small areas on the cap body near the arrow shaft that show some minor pitting that have been cleaned for the most part and don’t detract IMHO given the nature of the rebuild.

Our stalwart “51” is now back in service -- functioning 100% and standing tall! The pen is a nice writer requiring only a light touch to produce a clean Fine line with smooth and even ink flow.

As homage to the beating this pen took in the mail and a nod to its new color scheme I have dubbed our “51” hero pen the “Black ‘n Blue Beauty”.

Penfisher

Edited March 14, 2017 by PenFisher

[moylek]

What an unlikely end to an unhappy tale. And it's filled with blue-black ink, no less?

[Flippy]

 

 

This. Yep, modern Parkers are still Parkers. . Excuse me for the terrible phone photo.

Edited March 15, 2017 by FlippyThePen

[Otherwise]

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l526/cherenkov-hummingbird/IMG_9053_zpsdfk3ywlo.jpg

 

P51 Demi aerometric, fine nib, currently inked with Diamine Blue Velvet.

[mitto]

This is a Parker “51” with a story that starts out sad and ends happy J[/size] I bought this pen some time ago for restoration/resale and unfortunately the seller shipped it unprotected in a thin, plastic “bag” envelope. Well, as you can image it was damaged while in transit – the barrel was crushed and the filler housing was bent and distorted in the process (see gruesome photo below).

I contacted the seller and described what had happened and requested a partial refund since I could still use the pen as a parts donor. A fair settlement was arranged with the seller and over time this gallant little “51” offered up its cap and nib to other needy “51”s that were ready to go back into the world. Having fulfilled its mission the remains of the pen lay silently in my parts box – often getting shoved around and being ignored as I searched for other suitable parts for restorations in progress.

Then a big winter storm in the Northeast arrived – a defiant act of Mother Nature to remind us who is really in charge. As usual the weather forecasters hyped the magnitude of the event and many folks stayed home from work – myself included. With a full workday of free time I began poking around for a project and that’s when I decided to see if I could restore our little hero “51” to service. I will not go into the gory details of the surgery and will simply say that the badly crushed filler housing was manipulated and reworked to a point where it functions properly. Then it was polished, although some signs of the accident clearly remain. A new pli-glass ink sac was installed and the original collector, feed, and sterling breather tube were cleaned and reassembled. A bent “51” Octanium nib that had been a previous pull from another donor pen was straightened, reworked, and tweaked before being installed. The original black hood and clutch ring were polished and the original O-ring was soaked in silicone for several hours before reassembly. A nice Midnight Blue barrel from the parts bin seemed appropriate and was used to replace the black barrel that was crushed in the accident. The cap is a refugee from the parts bin as well. It was disassembled, cleaned and reassembled. The jewel stem was broken so the jewel is held in place with epoxy and not threads – you would never know unless you were privy to this part of the tale. There are a few small areas on the cap body near the arrow shaft that show some minor pitting that have been cleaned for the most part and don’t detract IMHO given the nature of the rebuild.

Our stalwart “51” is now back in service -- functioning 100% and standing tall! The pen is a nice writer requiring only a light touch to produce a clean Fine line with smooth and even ink flow.

As homage to the beating this pen took in the mail and a nod to its new color scheme I have dubbed our “51” hero pen the “Black ‘n Blue Beauty”.

Penfisher

 

Sad story but entaertaining account of the nice job restoring the black_in_blue beauty.

[eliweisz]

Full metal jackets: Parker 65 Flighter and 75 Cisele, accompanied by Sheaffer Targa 1001

http://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2902/32498848374_66f250dd02_b.jpg

http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/734/33213785951_136d11bfae_b.jpg

http://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3766/32498850224_44a7db9fd3_b.jpg

[mitto]

Full metal jackets: Parker 65 Flighter and 75 Cisele, accompanied by Sheaffer Targa 1001

http://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2902/32498848374_66f250dd02_b.jpg

http://c1.staticflickr.com/1/734/33213785951_136d11bfae_b.jpg

http://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3766/32498850224_44a7db9fd3_b.jpg

Beautuful trio, eliweisz.

 

As a side note, the Targa 1001 with the 14k nib should have gold trim. No CT 1001 came with gold nibs. On the contrary, there was gold trim model with steel nib.

 

Notwithstanding, the pen looks beautiful.

[mallymal1]

 

[eliweisz]

Beautuful trio, eliweisz.

 

As a side note, the Targa 1001 with the 14k nib should have gold trim. No CT 1001 came with gold nibs. On the contrary, there was gold trim model with steel nib.

 

Notwithstanding, the pen looks beautiful.

Thanks!

Maybe my Targa has a wrong nib unit. Writes like a dream, anyway

And this 65 Broad nib is simply fantastic - so smooth and soft.

[mitto]

Only that the wrong nib unit updraded it and made it a better pen.

[eliweisz]

Only that the wrong nib unit updraded it and made it a better pen.

[Gerd W]

Parker Duofold International Onyx, 1996, M-nib.

 

@ MalcolmH & eliweisz: Love your very appealing photos and beautiful pens , thanks!

[mallymal1]

Parker Duofold International Onyx, 1996, M-nib.

 

@ MalcolmH & eliweisz: Love your very appealing photos and beautiful pens , thanks!

 

Hi Gerd.

 

The Duofolds are fabulous pens, aren't they. Around ten years ago, when I first saw the Black and Pearl, I said to myself 'one day I shall have one of those', and now I have. The great thing is...it's even better than I thought it would be.

[mitto]

I am after one of the earliest version black and pearl but couldnt find it as yet. Though I have variuos other models/versions but only in Centennial size. These are great modern Parker pens.

[Gerd W]

 

Hi Gerd.

 

The Duofolds are fabulous pens, aren't they. Around ten years ago, when I first saw the Black and Pearl, I said to myself 'one day I shall have one of those', and now I have. The great thing is...it's even better than I thought it would be.

 

Hi Malcolm,

 

I am glad to 'hear' you're so happy about your Duofolds, not least cause I know that you own so many other brands and beauts! And yes, particularly the Black and Pearl is a gem, a joy to look at and use.

I do write with one of my Duofolds, often the blue marbled, almost every day and it's always a pleasant experience. Enjoy yours furthermore!

 

Best wishes, Gerd

[inerlogic]

a maroon Parker Vector i used in high school back in the 90's

found it in a box in my attic a few months back along with an unused blue cartridge, pen and ink still worked fine after 20-odd years

finished up the ink tonight, cleaned the pen (and cartridge for refilling at some point) and have the pieces drying now, will re-assemble it and put it somewhere safe tomorrow.

I'd use it as a daily driver, but it's a M nib and i like F or EF

my school's colors were maroon and gray, so that's why i have the maroon vector, i also had a black or blue one.... they may have come as a two pen set, or i may have bought the second one because i couldn't find replacement cartridges at one point, so i just bought a second pen that came with ink... the local drug store (CVS) i think sold them and when they stopped carrying the line, i stopped using 'em....

i need to look in more boxes to find that other pen....

[eliweisz]

Parker Duofold International Onyx, 1996, M-nib.

 

@ MalcolmH & eliweisz: Love your very appealing photos and beautiful pens , thanks!

The pleasure is all mine

[mitto]

Parker 51 midnight blue aero with stub nib. Parker 75 flat top cislé # 66 nib. Parker 61 Insignia C/C version with broad nib.

[gweimer1]

Today will be my Parker VS and some use of a Parker 95 I just got.