What Parkers Have Joined Your Collection Lately?

[pajaro]

Yes, not the easiest to flush, and having that large reservoir of a collector doesn't help. But I wouldn't like to be without my 51s (both vac and aero) or my 61s (all capillaries) so I've decided to compromise.

 

I put the inks that I'm likely to use for a long time in them, taking extra care with the inks for the 61s (although so far, touch wood, I've had no issues with the capillary fillers) and have resurrected my 45s from my school days to assist in widening my experience of inks other than blue.

 

Of course, this has somehow resulted in the 45s multiplying with 7 purchased in the last couple of weeks.

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Some years back some members adapted salad spinners to spin the ink out to clean the ink out.

 

Pinned post by Ron Zorn in repair q&a forum.

Edited May 14, 2020 by pajaro

[corgicoupe]

As much as I don't like the 51's (I can't get past the semi-invisible nib), your set looks beautiful!!

 

Enjoy!

 

alex

You could take a look at the Parker VS, Alex. Then you'd have a P51 where you can see the nib.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1515886642__img_0784s.jpg

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1515886593__img_0783s.jpg

 

The blue one has a gold filled cap and the black one has a Lustraloy cap. They are both dated 1947 on the barrels and on the nibs.

 

Bob

[inkstainedruth]

@ Number Six -- my first 45 has a 14K medium nib on it. Put the right ink in it, and it's like dancing on ice. Boring color (black) but it was a find in an antiques store in NW PA on a weekend trip a number of years ago. Only pen in the box that I could identify the brand, although I had no idea what the model was back then....

@ alexwi -- Parker 45s may be a better value than a Lamy (and most of mine have been way cheaper than a Safari, because most of them were "in the wild" finds), but if I need to do a lot of writing at one sitting (beyond, say, a journal entry) I want something that has a bigger section -- more comfortable for my hand (and I say this as someone who basically used a Parker Vector for journalling for several years before I found my way here, and BPs for most everything else). It did take me a little while to get used to the triangular section, but I'm used to that now.

But I like variety. So today it was the Vibrant Pink al-Star and the new Violet Safari, and the ebonite Noodler's Konrad; yesterday it was the al-Star and a Parker Vector; tomorrow it might be the Parker 75 and one of the 51s or the Pelikan M600. Or (if I didn't already have too many pens inked up, pull out one of the 45s....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[alexwi]

You could take a look at the Parker VS, Alex. Then you'd have a P51 where you can see the nib.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1515886642__img_0784s.jpg

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1515886593__img_0783s.jpg

 

The blue one has a gold filled cap and the black one has a Lustraloy cap. They are both dated 1947 on the barrels and on the nibs.

 

Bob

 

See? Now we're talking. I'll take a look at a few more, until I develop Stockholm syndrome and have to get me hands on one. Not totally crazy about the short clip - part of what I can't stand from some Sheaffers - but thanks to you I learned about a pen I can get to like that's comparable to the 51 that has so much veneration here.

 

Thanks!

 

Alex

[corgicoupe]

You are very welcome. Contact Gary Weimer when you are ready, as he usually has a few available.

 

MidnightPens on etsy.

[pajaro]

You could take a look at the Parker VS, Alex. Then you'd have a P51 where you can see the nib.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1515886642__img_0784s.jpg

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1515886593__img_0783s.jpg

 

The blue one has a gold filled cap and the black one has a Lustraloy cap. They are both dated 1947 on the barrels and on the nibs.

 

Tempting. I might try one.

Bob

[Estycollector]

When I got the gold/dove back from being re-restored by Parker 51, the technician had put in a note to refill the pen on a regular schedule such as every Monday. I know that some of us let the pens run dry before refilling, so this was new information and one that I have followed.

[ScarletWoodland]

A black Parker Victory that has sadly suffered a bent tine at some point in its life. I didn't spot it from the angle of the photos but thankfully it's been re-aligned decently enough at the tip that it writes quite happily. A bit dry for my taste though so I'll have to poke about with it a bit.

 

A black Parker 17 Super Duofold with an open, oblique nib that I'm currently learning how to drive. It's oblique in the right direction for my dominant hand but the writing angle is quite alien for me. Have never been much good with oblique dip nibs either but at least this fella's less sharp.

 

The condition on the 17 is actually much better than I expected, so I overpaid on one, only to underpay on the other. I guess that's break even 😄.

[welch]

Capillary fill Parker 61s. I've had them both for almost 15 years, but put them away. They have now rejoined my user-group and I have gotten to admire the design of the filling system.

 

Perhaps current fountain pen users have more patience than FP users had in the late '50's and early '60's, when pens were a way to write -- not a hobby -- and were competing with that new thing, the ballpoint. Perhaps current buyers have enough patience to appreciate the 61.

 

I would like Parker to release an exact duplicate of the P-61 capillary, rather than a c/c P-51.

[inkstainedruth]

I would like Parker to release an exact duplicate of the P-61 capillary, rather than a c/c P-51.

 

I suspect that's, sadly, unlikely to happen. I have four capillary fill 61s and like mine a lot.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pajaro]

I think they should re-release the VS as aerometric. I already have a perfectly working P61 capillary filler. Great filling experience -- insert the capillary filler in the ink bottle and leave it in the bottle for about 45 minutes. Meanwhile water evaporates from the ink.

[NumberSix]

More of my eBay binge has arrived over the last few days.

 

Parker 51 Special - this one had some ink in it. Flushed right out; the sac even became nearly clear again. Just like my 21, the octanium nib writes with a bit of pencil-like feedback. Might be the Quink Black ink, but I have no intention right now of putting some runnier in it. (for example, I have a bottle of Eel Black on the way)

 

My Vac 51 is also black. But fortunately, it has a gold cap, so I shouldn't have any trouble telling them apart if I keep both inked at once.

 

Parker 15 - lovely little pen in a nice red color. One of my other pens came with a couple of old carts, so I put one in this pen. I don't know how old the cart is, but it writes way more blue than the old carts I already have (which tend to be more greyish blue). Also, this nib is marked "M". But look at the pic - it writes just as broad as my new Broad nib. Might be a good one to fill up with that Noodler's Eel Black for signing things.

 

Parker 45 14k Broad nib unit - I popped this nib onto my olive green 45. I have another gold Medium that writes wet; I thought it was trending towards broad. But it's nowhere near as broad as this one's line. I love it.

 

 

 

 

 

[NumberSix]

I also received a P25 with a fine nib.

 

I was pleased to see that it came with an aerometric converter. I wasn't expecting that. It's not the lovely squeeze converter from the 45s. It's an uglier almost all metal one. But the problem with this pen is that I opened it up this morning to find a bunch of ink has leaked or dribbled out. I write a bunch with it last night with a fresh fill of Quink Blue and didn't see any of those issues. I'll have to look some more. It's a cool machine.

 

If the P25 proves to be a leaker, I am not going to spend a lot of time on it. (it was cheap, and they're easy enough to find) Will this converter come out and fit into something else, like the 15 or else a 45?

 

Still waiting on:

1. P17 "Lady" from the UK - last seen in Los Angeles a week ago.
2. P21 Super and P21 Mark 1/Pencil set - these two 21s are coming from the same seller in Canada.

 

Along with some Shaeffer cartridge pens, I think that catches me up on ebay insanity. I have a bottle of Waterman Inspired Blue on the way from EndlessPens, which I am looking forward to trying probably in one of the new 21s.

[welch]

Hunting around for something else, I discovered a Parker 51 aero in a box of third-tier and cheap Chinese pens I used to take when I sold fountain pens for $5 as a way to draw people into writing with fountain pens. Box was complete with a business card for Art Browns, which closed about the end of July, 2013, so I must not have opened it since then.

 

I flushed the pen with soap&water, and then with plain water. Inked it -- Monteverde Sapphire Blue -- and it wrote perfectly. Not even a start-up delay.

 

Looks like an English Parker 51, the darker "ordinary" burgundy, "rolled gold" cap. The English slightly extended aero feed, or, maybe the English 51s had a hood cut to reveal more of the feed.

 

Now...how did this gem get stuck in a box of pens I had intended to, in effect, give away? Anyway, this is just like buying a new pen.

[Honeybadgers]

added a stainless body 180 X/M to go with my F/B one. not 100% sure which I'm gonna keep, the X/M is a bit dry.

[NumberSix]

added a stainless body 180 X/M to go with my F/B one. not 100% sure which I'm gonna keep, the X/M is a bit dry.

 

The 180's nib and narrow barrel make it look like an Exacto Knife? Is that the one?

 

I'd be scared I would impale myself or someone else.

[alexwi]

added a stainless body 180 X/M to go with my F/B one. not 100% sure which I'm gonna keep, the X/M is a bit dry.

 

My first pen was a 180 f/b. I have several X/M's now and they're not dry at all. I'd give it a good flush and maybe even swap sections.

 

What I found dry was the finer side of these nibs. As a matter of fact, I found the finer sides to be crappy, so I always used the F/B's B side and the X/M's M side.

 

 

The 180's nib and narrow barrel make it look like an Exacto Knife? Is that the one?

 

I'd be scared I would impale myself or someone else.

 

Yup. That's the one. Nothing scary about it, and the nibs are quite resilient - I dropped my first one on concrete nib-first, with the nib ending up pointing almost 90 degrees from the pen. Bending it back was all it took to have it write again as if nothing happened, which makes you write about this pen's impaling features.

 

alex

[NumberSix]

Just ordered the Parker 51 book from Andy's Pens in the UK. Everywhere I have seen it was $100+. Even with the extra overseas shipping, I got it for $75. (I even emailed him first to make sure he had it in stock.)

 

Edited May 19, 2020 by NumberSix

[aimi]

So I'm not familiar with Parker Vacumatics, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me here how much a NOS (or at least very, very clean) gold pearl 1940s major with a flex nib would cost? Someone is offering one to me, but I'm afraid I don't know much about this pen.

[NumberSix]

I recently purchased a cheap "51 Special" on ebay, and it's probably going to need a thorough going-over. Let's assume I cannot do the work myself. If I have a 51 or 51 Special that needs a good cleaning and restoration, is parker51.com the place?

 

If not them, then who?