What Parkers Have Joined Your Collection Lately?

[Carguy]

Charleston is just too far from those. Thankfully, I can do any repair needed on a 51. The only one I didn’t was on the Nassau Green I just bought because if I’d have broken it, I would have had a stroke!

[PAKMAN]

This beast in my latest Parker, 1928 Parker Flat top Duofold in Mandarin Yellow, near mint condition.

 

 

[cjabbott]

That’s a beauty!  Congratulations!

[jchch1950]

A yellow Duofold in what looks like excellent condition after almost a century years old. To find one is quite an achievement, congratulations. Photos of the nib will be appreciated.

[ArchiMark]

These two landed in my collection recently......

 

Mark

 

 

[Sheptonian]

On 9/30/2024 at 4:56 PM, PAKMAN said:

This beast in my latest Parker, 1928 Parker Flat top Duofold in Mandarin Yellow, near mint condition.

 

 

Oh. Wow!

[inkstainedruth]

@ArchiMark -- OOOOOH!  Nice!  I keep running across "True Blue" pens at pen shows and the price of them always holds me back.  

What's the other pen in the photo?  I'm not familiar with that one.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[ArchiMark]

2 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

@ArchiMark -- OOOOOH!  Nice!  I keep running across "True Blue" pens at pen shows and the price of them always holds me back.  

What's the other pen in the photo?  I'm not familiar with that one.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

@inkstainedruth  Thanks! Yeah, the True Blue tends be up there....I did manage to snag a pretty good price on this one....got lucky I guess....

 

The other one is a 'Duofold Senior Striped LE' pen made for the Asian market. Unfortunately, my photo doesn't really do the pen justice, it has several different color stripes on it, browns, light grays,very handsome in person.....there's also two other color versions; blues, grays, and reds, grays. Unfortunately, they're pretty hard to find.

[ArchiMark]

On 9/30/2024 at 8:56 AM, PAKMAN said:

This beast in my latest Parker, 1928 Parker Flat top Duofold in Mandarin Yellow, near mint condition.

 

 

 

Gorgeous example of a pen that's rare to see in this condition.....lucky you!

[inkstainedruth]

On 10/1/2024 at 5:48 PM, ArchiMark said:

 

The other one is a 'Duofold Senior Striped LE' pen made for the Asian market. 

Ah -- that explains it.  I was looking at it going, "Well, it looks sort of like a Duovac/striped Duofold... but also sort of not..." because of the breaks in the stripes in places in the barrel (in addition to where the blind cap would be).

Thanks!  

I'm always amazed at the stuff I learn on FPN. 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[donnweinberg]

New addition to my Parker collection -- a Dark Grey Ariel Kullock Parker 51 Vacumatic.  Here’s the quick story:  I purchased from *everything (Buenos Aires) on Ebay just the jeweled blind cap, empty body, and empty section, all in unfinished, unpolished dark grey.  Of course, the original Parker 51 Vacs offered a Dove Grey, the original Parker 51 Aerometrics offered a Navy Grey.  This grey is different and darker.  It was up to me to polish the pen and to install the working parts — the vac filler with sac on one end, and the collector, feed, plastic tube, and nib on the other end.  

 

I had no difficulty polishing the pen using recommended products.  I didn’t polish to the ultimate degree, but enough to eliminate most of the unfinished surface appearance.  I can work on better polishing at a later date.

 

Ultimately, I was able to assemble a working pen, but there was one serious hitch; my 51 Vac filling unit (one of the newer black anodized after-market ones obtained from Pentooling) would not screw in all the way it is supposed to screw in (hereafter, “all the way”).  This statement takes into account that the thinner portion of the filling unit’s screw (closest to the outer pump) is supposed to remain outside to accommodate the blind cap.  I also tried a few of the original Parker 51 filling units with the same result.  The reason it wouldn’t screw in all the way?  Beyond a certain point, there was a pinkish glue-like ring (hereafter, “pink glue”) that effectively prevented the filling unit from screwing in.  Here’s a photo of that inner ring of pink glue, which goes entirely around the inside of a portion of the interior at the inner screws:

 

 

I tried a few times soaking overnight the body’s interior in warm-hot water and then Pen Flush mixed with water, and I then tried careful application of 150-degree dry air from a COT-W841 blower.  I also tried careful scraping with a variety of dental pick devices.  Nothing even began to remove the pink glue.  

 

I placed an appropriate sac on the filler unit, as is done with this type of pen.  I spread some diaphragm lubricant on both ends of the sac in the usual manner so that the unit with the sac would go in.  It did go in beyond the pink glue.  I decided finally to screw in my filling unit to the body’s limit and just leave a gap between the blind cap and body.  Here are the completed project’s photos that I took:

 

 

 

I also had some difficulty finding among my collection of 51 collectors just the right one that would fit; most were too tight, and one was too small, but I found one that fit snugly.  That problem is not unique to this particular Kullock body, and I have had similar issues with other full-sized 51s (and this takes into account the difference between full-sized and Demi versions).

 

Bottom Line:  The pen fills well and writes very smoothly with the fine-to-medium nib that I used.  I wish I could have screwed in the blind cap all the way.

 

I informed Michelle at *everything of the challenges, and she was very understanding.  I recommended that her team check the other customized 51 Vac body-only offerings (that are not fully-working pens), at least to avoid complaints and negative feedback.  I have purchased many, many items from her over the years (*everything and penpartsstore) without issues.

 

I share all this with you for a variety of reasons, none of which is to advertise for anyone (as some of our colleagues sometimes are inclined legitimately to infer).  This is a customized color for the 51 Vac, which is now added to my Parker collection — the theme of this thread.  But, to be helpful to you all, if anyone is inclined to purchase a customized set of Parker 51 Vac body parts with the same end-goal as mine, then be aware that you should ask about this potential problem before you bid or purchase.

[Carguy]

I bought this exact pen body, but I have not screwed a filler unit in yet. I, too, had every intent of using a Pentooling one as well, so hopefully mine will not have the pink glue problem. Aside from a few issues with the collectors being too small, I have enjoyed all of my purchases from Michelle.

 

As a side note, what may I ask, did you use to polish the dull gray?

[donnweinberg]

14 hours ago, Carguy said:

I bought this exact pen body, but I have not screwed a filler unit in yet. I, too, had every intent of using a Pentooling one as well, so hopefully mine will not have the pink glue problem. Aside from a few issues with the collectors being too small, I have enjoyed all of my purchases from Michelle.

 

As a side note, what may I ask, did you use to polish the dull gray?

 

I used “Step # 1” and “Step # 2” of the 3-step process that I purchased on eBay from a (or the) seller that offers three separate small plastic bottles for that process.  Step # 0 is “Scratch Remover (Abrasive).  Step # 1 is “Non-Abrasive Resin Cleaner & Polish.  Step # 2 is “High Gloss Resin Glaze.”  All three are in liquid form and are usable immediately with their included brushes (in each bottle).  Instructions are included.  

 

PenSacs.com also sells a similar 3-step process, which I have but haven’t used for years and which have hardened and now require quite a bit of scraping and mixing with water to be usable.

[GlenV]

This picture is deceiving ** The sterling parker 14 is real as far as the barrel section feed is original, the nib is in bad shape so put in a warranted nib.  I made the cap out of paper for now

although thinking of trying to make a sterling overlay.  The box is one I made. But it's a Parker 14 with Heath overlay so....

  

[senzen]

Parker 85 silver plated Florence, medium.

 

 

Vs 75.

 

 

 

First impressions: a few extra mm makes it feel like a bigger pen. Capping feels very solid, I wonder if it will dry as quickly as the 75. The nib seems to be exactly the same, not a bad thing.

 

Excuse: small price.

[thx1138]

Among many pen arrivals, two notable ones are a couple of Parker 100 fountain pens. Both medium and both very nice writers.

[Mr Gutsy]

On 10/11/2024 at 5:26 AM, thx1138 said:

Among many pen arrivals, two notable ones are a couple of Parker 100 fountain pens. Both medium and both very nice writers.

 

 

How do you find the weight of the 100? I've agree that they're lovely writers but the weight of the pen makes it cumbersome for any lengthy correspondence and make more a 'signature' pen.

[thx1138]

I find them very comfortable for any amount of writing. 

[TheRedBeard]

On 10/11/2024 at 5:26 AM, thx1138 said:

Among many pen arrivals, two notable ones are a couple of Parker 100 fountain pens. Both medium and both very nice writers.

Is that Parker 100 in Blue with a Blue Cap??

 

[TheRedBeard]

2 hours ago, Mr Gutsy said:

 

 

How do you find the weight of the 100? I've agree that they're lovely writers but the weight of the pen makes it cumbersome for any lengthy correspondence and make more a 'signature' pen.

Parker 100 is a great pen -  I use it on daily basis

It is nicely heavy