Parker 51 Special Aerometric writes very dry after filling

[Udo]

3 hours ago, Ron Z said:

 

 I disagree.  Pelikan Royal Blue is  all that I use, and is my standard ink for testing all pens, and all that I've used for well  over a decade.  I buy it by the liter.  Parker black is however often suspect, and both Richard Binder and  I have had issues with  it in many  pens while any other ink works just fine.  I finally abandoned Quink blue/black after I had issues in some pens.

 

I would look at the set of the hood against the nib if the pen were in my hands.  That is part of the flow regulation in a 51.  A slight increase in the gap between nib and hood often gives a satisfactory flow when writing.   Also check the feed itself.  There should be a slight upturn at the very end of the feed.

I also use Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue very happily in several fountain pens. This ink flows really well, but the 4001 Blue-Black is actually known to flow a little “drier”.

[Udo]

18 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

@Udo Another thing I thought of, while reading this thread, is that I'm wondering if the nib needs a little tweaking.  I have a 51 Vacumatic with an EF nib, and it was a little scratchy to write with when I had the pen repaired.  I had taken it to FPN's RonZ at a pen show to get the pen checked out and see if the sac needed to be replaced, and then after he did that I tried writing with it and he ended up opening up the tines a smidge.  Now?  If I need to do a bunch of research and take copious notes?  That's the pen that gets inked up.  The pen holds a lot of ink, and the nicely tuned EF nib is (while still stingy as far as how much ink comes out of it, compared to some wider nib) it is a lovely writer.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I have a 51 with an F-nib, which I fill with Parker Quink Blue ink. This fountain pen puts a thin but nice wet line on the paper. I started with this 51 and have been a big fan of Parker as a whole ever since. For me, the 51 is an absolute precision instrument. Thank you for your suggestion.

[Udo]

26 minutes ago, Claes said:

Udo: I presently have five Parker 51s inked, and have no problems with either of these inks (which are just examples -- there are hundreds of inks that will work just fine):

• Taccia / Benitsuchi
• Waterman / Serenity blue
• Diamine / Schwarzwaldtinte
• Diamine / Green black
• Diamine / Bilberry

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

Many thanks for the recommendations.

 

I did some research on the Internet to find out what “Diamine” inks are all about. Shame on me, I didn't know this venerable English brand until now.

 

So far it has been Pelikan, Sailor and Pilot inks. I find the variety of colors of the inks particularly fascinating.

 

I'm going to order one of the “Diamine” inks in the color “Blue-Black”. It certainly won't be my last order 😉

 

Thank you Claes!

[Paul80]

6 hours ago, Ron Z said:

 

 I disagree. 

What a surprise 

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

5 hours ago, Udo said:

First of all, thank you very much for the tips and advice. 

 

I was able to solve the problem - by switching to Parker Quink ink. 

I would not have thought that the writing flow could change so much with a different ink. 

 

One more question: As Parker Quink is unfortunately not available in many colors, I would like to know what alternatives you can recommend.  

 

Thanks again for any suggestions and tips.

 

Udo
 

 

If you like the color of the Pelikan ink you can add a lubricating agent to the ink to make it flow a little wetter.

 

I think the easiest "homebrew" solution is dipping the tip of a toothpick in a touch of basic unscented dish soap detergent and mixing that with ink. It's recommended to do this in small batches (like a small ink sample bottle or ink miser inkwell) and not the full bottle.

 

You really need very little, just the tip of a toothpick's worth of soap will make the ink write much wetter. I think it's worth a shot, just don't add it directly to the ink bottle (in case you end up adding too much).

[Glenn-SC]

On 9/21/2024 at 5:02 PM, Paul80 said:

What a surprise 

What?

[Mercian]

On 9/21/2024 at 6:45 PM, Udo said:

One more question: As Parker Quink is unfortunately not available in many colors, I would like to know what alternatives you can recommend.  

 

Thanks again for any suggestions and tips.

 

Udo

 

My own Parker "51"s run well on Rohrer & Klingner Salix.
It is an iron-gall blue-black that stays a paler shade of blue-grey than Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black does, and does NOT turn teal (unlike Quink 'Blue and Black').
It has good water-resistance, and it shades beautifully, but its low iron content means that is not very light-fast 😔

It is fine inside documents/notebooks, but I wouldn't use it e.g. to write labels that will be displayed in light for any length of time.

 

I have also used Noodler's Black in them to great effect, and no unpleasant consequences.

 

Your "51" should cope admirably with most dye-based inks, but the "51" can be an absolute bear to clean out, so I would not run pigment-based inks (or heavy iron-gall inks such as Diamine Registrars or ESSRI) through it.

 

Slàinte,
M.

[thx1138]

I can recommend Diamine inks. Most of the ink i use is Diamine. It is trouble free and with colours like sapphire,  sapphire, and sapphire available it has a great range of colours.

[Glenn-SC]

5 hours ago, thx1138 said:

I can recommend Diamine inks. Most of the ink i use is Diamine. It is trouble free and with colours like sapphire,  sapphire, and sapphire available it has a great range of colours.

Amen!

[uemuraw]

On 9/21/2024 at 4:02 PM, Paul80 said:

What a surprise 

 

The data backs Ron Z. Compared to 800 other inks, Pelikan Königsblau runs slightly wetter than average. (See bell curve below with Königsblau at roughly μ + 0.5σ.). An Ink Guy on YouTube has a lot of great data on more than a thousand different inks. He's applied a consistent technique for several years. Impressive for a hobbyist. He's even performed a test over two years to confirm or deny the claims of the Platinum Slip-and-Seal cap.

 

[OCArt]

Just thought others might like a link to An Ink Guy's videos too.

[mitto]

I failed to find any mention of the hood tip and nib tip adjustment. In my experience this adjustment would make the question of dry and wet inks irrelevant. As after this adjustment a 51 would write as it should even with relatively dry ink such as Pelikan (ink).