Paarker '51' Demi Signet Questions

[octatonic]

Hi All-

 

I am writing hoping that the P-'51' experts here can answer a few questions for me, I got a '51' Demi Signet a few months ago and it's a beautiful pen, but I have a couple of things I was wondering about. I have looked around and have the '51' book but couldn't find answers, so I thought I would ask here. Sorry if I missed a place that answers my questions.

 

My Demi Signet was made in 1949. It has the hoop filler-is this correct for this pen?

 

I just saw this one that just sold on 'that' auction site and it's from 1948 and has a hoop filler, so I'm thinking it must be correct for my pen, but just wanted to be sure. Here's the one that just sold:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-parker-51-vacumatic-fountain-pen-rolled-gold-1-10-14k-gold-filled-/261875362455?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cf8fcea97&nma=true&si=sFp8SwCSohMlA6yGzYs0%252BH80WGw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

A couple of other questions are, mine has a plastic breather tube-would that have been originally on my pen from 1949?

 

Last is the nib-I have a few (okay a bunch of demis, as I am addicted to these) and have not seen a nib like this yet. Is this a needlepoint? I tried to take good pictures, but realize they may not be good enough for you to tell, but I thought I would ask...

 

Thanks for reading and for any help!!!

 

 

[Mike 59]

Hi, I don't have much knowledge about your Demi Signet '51', but first impression is that the nib is set far too forward of where it should be, (in my optinion.)

And yes it does look to be finer than a 'fine' nib, there are a couple of options that it could be.

My '51' also has a plastic breather tube, I believe it's a replacement for the original metal one, but other writers on this site will be able to help far more than I can.

[octatonic]

Hi Mike 59-

 

Thanks! and I should have said that I put the nib that way for the photo, hoping that it would make it easier to see in the photo but am not actually using it that way...

 

Thanks again!

[hood]

Ah, that makes more sense! I've got one that looks very much like that but it writes no thinner than a fine point. Yours seems to have a bit of a foot to it from the second photo. But I suppose the key thing is, how does it write?

[octatonic]

Thanks hood!-

 

Mine writes okay, but other '51's' I have are smoother. I prefer fine or XF nibs, but so far I am having a little trouble adjusting to this one. I haven't investigated nibs very much yet, could this be because of the foot? Is there a way for a novice to fix the foot, or is that for a nibmeister?

 

Thanks!-

[hood]

It could be because of the foot - basically when you've got the flat spot flat to the paper then it will skate along, but when you rotate it just slightly then you've in essence lifted the flat surface away from the paper leaving the edge of that surface in contact, and the edge having a certain sharpness will tend to dig in a little and 'catch' the paper, leading to a rough and scratchy feel. But then it could also be due to something else, and a close look at the tip would be needed to tell either way.

 

Removing a foot amounts to smoothing out the edges of the flat area and returning the tip to its original ball shape (assuming it was a round tip). A professional would take it all the way back to the round tip, but a DIYer might just go as far as to 'blunt' the sharp edges of the flat surface and decide that it then feels OK in use - the beauty of working on your own nibs is that you can make a nib exactly as you want it. But of course working on nibs can lead to ruining them if you do it wrong and the general advice to someone starting out is to practice on ones you don't mind losing!

[octatonic]

Thanks again hood, this is very helpful!