Parker 51 Vac Knock-Off

[Mech-for-i]

Get one of the fake Hero 616s. They usually say Parker on them. Good copies and they often write better than the real Heros.

 

well if they say Parker, then clearly those cannot be fake 616 any more as 616 always had Hero 616 ( in Chinese ) engraved on the cap. its then a fake Parker instead, and for the fact the 616 had a rather different mechanism vs the P51 despite looking very similar

Edited May 3, 2018 by Mech-for-i

[pajaro]

I received this pen today. At first examination it is beautiful. The cap looks like a Parker cap with a pointy metal jewel. Cap fits good and tight, perfectly. Fit and finish is beautiful. The shell or hood unscrews easily but goes back on more securely than a real 51. Blind cap unscrews easily but fit nicely when screwed in, and the seam almost disappears, fit and finish is so good. The filler rod is metal, rest of filler appears to be plastic. Rod pushes in easily, and I can hear the suction. The nib is tubular, looking like an Octanium nib. The ink window is a nice touch. I am not sure I will ink this pen, it is so nice looking. I will probably take it apart and examine the filler more closely.

[mitto]

well if they say Parker, then clearly those cannot be fake 616 any more as 616 always had Hero 616 ( in Chinese ) engraved on the cap. its then a fake Parker instead, and for the fact the 616 had a rather different mechanism vs the P51 despite looking very similar

 

Good to know. What about the 'Parker Shanghai factory' that was reportedly 'nationalised by the Communist Regime' that later started churning out Parkers lablled as Hero that were reported, by some, to be even better than the real Parkers.

Edited May 7, 2018 by mitto

[Flounder]

Good to know. What about the 'Parker Shanghai factory' that was reportedly 'nationalised by the Communist Regime' that later started churning out Parkers lablled as Hero that were reported, by some, to be even better than the real Parkers.

 

The only context I've read of this opinion - Heros being better than real Parkers - was that unlike 51 flighters, steel barreled Hero 100s had a plastic sleeve inside, the better to reduce dings. And... that's it! Not exactly earth shattering!

[WJM]

well if they say Parker, then clearly those cannot be fake 616 any more as 616 always had Hero 616 ( in Chinese ) engraved on the cap. its then a fake Parker instead, and for the fact the 616 had a rather different mechanism vs the P51 despite looking very similar

I think he meant it as a joke.

[mitto]

Good to know. What about the 'Parker Shanghai factory' that was reportedly 'nationalised by the Communist Regime' that later started churning out Parkers lablled as Hero that were reported, by some, to be even better than the real Parkers.

And this was also a joke.

[surprise123]

I realized that buying from eBay is going to be cheaper than buying it at the shop in China (grandmother checked it out). At the shop, you pay roughly 110 RMB = roughly $17.? USD. Ebay is still cheaper than that, saving me $2. When I get this pen in the mail (ordered the updated version without ink window in suspiciously similar Vista Blue.), I'm going to stick :yikes:my spare Parker Cap on it and grind the nib down to an extremely wide cursive italic. And cut a deeper feed channel into it. And probably find a wrench that fits the filler "knob". By the way, does the filling mechanisms unscrew clockwise or counterclockwise?

[Argee]

unscrews counter clockwise, it uses the same threads as the blind cap.

[pajaro]

I tried the cap on several Parker 51s, and the Chinese cap fit all, and the Parker caps fit the Chinese pen.

[displacermoose]

I got mine a few days ago: grey with ink window and the updated filler. I love it. It writes like a dream, feels good in hand, and meets all the requirements for a good work pen,

[FarmBoy]

I realized that buying from eBay is going to be cheaper than buying it at the shop in China (grandmother checked it out). At the shop, you pay roughly 110 RMB = roughly $17.? USD. Ebay is still cheaper than that, saving me $2. When I get this pen in the mail (ordered the updated version without ink window in suspiciously similar Vista Blue.), I'm going to stick :yikes:my spare Parker Cap on it and grind the nib down to an extremely wide cursive italic. And cut a deeper feed channel into it. And probably find a wrench that fits the filler "knob". By the way, does the filling mechanisms unscrew clockwise or counterclockwise?

You are going to destroy a $17 pen's nib and you are worried about $2?

[pajaro]

Easy come, easy go. It's cheap, destroy the tipping to make a stub. Two dollars is a big percentage savings. Reminds me ofthe 51 nibs, gold, that I replaced because someone ground off the tipping.

 

I might try a 51 nib in this Chinese vac imitation. Maybe the 1.2 mm Minuskin stub, a real stub for ya. Old guy losing his mind.

[WJM]

I don't think 51's nib would fit the Wing Sung.

[wallylynn]

cool. i might have to get one. my hero 616 has become my EDC. I know one day it's gonna break or get lost and this would be a nice replacement.

[pajaro]

I don't think 51's nib would fit the Wing Sung.

 

One can play with the toys. That's what they are for, in my view.

 

cool. i might have to get one. my hero 616 has become my EDC. I know one day it's gonna break or get lost and this would be a nice replacement.

 

I don't know about the service life of the diaphragm, but otherwise it looks quite good.

[surprise123]

You are going to destroy a $17 pen's nib and you are worried about $2?

I thought I made it clear that every penny counts to me. I'm a STUDENT. $2 could be the difference between life and death. For example, tax.

[surprise123]

 

One can play with the toys. That's what they are for, in my view.

 

 

I don't know about the service life of the diaphragm, but otherwise it looks quite good.

Diaphragm no longer, man. The newer versions (check for a pearly cap jewel) have a piston that pumps just like the Vacumatic, but better. It's much more efficient where 3 pumps will fill half the pen, whereas 8 pumps on the classic Vac mechanism will get you the same result. The newer piston probably will have a much longer life expectancy (think TWSBI at this point). The pistons look very similar.

[surprise123]

As you can see, when I switched the caps on my Parker 51 Aero in navy grey with the 601, they both fit. After looking at both caps, they both seem to have similar mechanisms (clutch fingers/rings) to engage the cap to the pen body. When I stick my finger inside the 51 cap, my finger will meet resistance whenever I try to push it in by the clutch fingers. Such is the case in the Wing Sung. I love the way Wing Sung designed the blind cap, makes so much more sense to thread the barrel than the filler. Much more secure. You might notice that I bought the model that omitted the ink window, just because I've never been a fan of them. Plus, the Vacumatic-inspired system just holds a ton of ink. 1.1 ml, by the look of my ink vial. They seem to stop the continuous flow of the design in the pen itself. The one case I do not mind this is in the L2K, which, sadly, I will be selling because of its value. I can't carry around a $120 pen at school, and it doesn't see very much use at home. But the Wing Sung is going to replace the 51 in my day-to-day carry, so I don't end up losing a valuable piece of history. I'm loving this pen already, and it's only been 40 minutes since I walked home from school. Sorry 51, I can't afford to lose you.

 

Apparently, Wing Sung's owner broke his Sheaffer carelessly and decided to do a remake production of them? I wonder what else we could get him to break. Vacumatic, anyone? I'm sure the patterns on the Vac aren't too hard for modern machinery to reproduce. Especially after what I saw with the 601.

[Freddy]

Utterly....Fascinating....Thank you....

Fred

Raising me glass of Chateau Leoville Barton St Julien Grand Cru '10 to me lips....

Doors @ 19:30 Erin McDougald with Rob Block Dean Torrey Cedric Easton and Mark Sherman

Starts @ 20:00 give or take a few ..............................................................................

[FarmBoy]

I thought I made it clear that every penny counts to me. I'm a STUDENT. $2 could be the difference between life and death. For example, tax.

If $2 is the difference between life and death you have no business buying a $17 fountain pen. Certainly you don't want to destroy the $17 pen unless the pen would save your life in the process.

The old math works like this $17 pen. Save $2 by destroying the nib. 17-2=15. So you wasted $15 to save 2. Makes sense now.

 

Hoping Freddy will jump in and help, I'm thinking I made a rounding error some where throwing off my math. 17 is a prime number and that can really mess with you.

 

As a side note, the pen you show has a diaphragm in it. A crappy one if it is the same as the one in the pen Ricky gave me and I took apart. The barrel and blind cap are both threaded. They are threaded in the way they are to make injection molding of the blind cap easier.

 

As to a Vacumatic. Your best option is to find a mid-40s single jewel pen with a non-lifetime nib.