Ink stain on Parker 51 barrel

[Fountainbass]

Forgive me if something like this has been discussed before. I did several searches, but I never found too much information. My Parker 51 has a dark ink stain on the barrel between the clutch ring & the nib. It's a small stain & it's not very noticeable, but it still tends to bother me a little. I'm not sure how long the stain has been on it. If I caused it, it would have been on there for less than a week & the ink would be Waterman black. Anyway, are there any reliable methods to getting an ink stain off a barrel, specifically a Parker 51 barrel? I've tried a few things (water, spit, soap, Windex, ammonia), but nothing worked. Is this thing on my barrel for good?

 

I'd appreciate any help!

[Oxonian]

Hi Bill,

 

There are a couple of questions that come to mind here and a picture, if possible might help.

Is the surface still glossy?

When the pen was made the surface of the pen would have been just about stain proof as it would have in theory at least no pores for any thing to lodge in to cause a stain, the material is an opaque version of Lucite, the same stuff as used to make canopies, gun turrets and transparent panels in the aircraft of the day. Micromesh was originally designed to removed tiny scratches from lucite etc so if the stain is a surface blemish then Micromesh should shift it.

 

Are there tiny cracks or scratches on the hood?

Look at it through a glass that has at least 10x magnification, 30x would be better if you have one,if there are tiny hairlines it could be that the stain has come up through the material from the inside via a mesh of cracks caused by the pen being dropped or damaged in the past. This is unlikely and would likely result in wet, inky fingers when you use the pen but I have seen it. If this is the case you'll need a new hood.

 

Parker quality control wasn't always 100%, I have seeen a dark blue 51 with a darker patch in the material of the pen itself again in the hood, where something hadn't gone quite right in the production and the colour wasn't even all through.

 

The above is just my take on things and is in no way definitive, others might well think differently.

 

Cheers, John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fountainbel]

Forgive me if something like this has been discussed before. I did several searches, but I never found too much information. My Parker 51 has a dark ink stain on the barrel between the clutch ring & the nib. It's a small stain & it's not very noticeable, but it still tends to bother me a little. I'm not sure how long the stain has been on it. If I caused it, it would have been on there for less than a week & the ink would be Waterman black. Anyway, are there any reliable methods to getting an ink stain off a barrel, specifically a Parker 51 barrel? I've tried a few things (water, spit, soap, Windex, ammonia), but nothing worked. Is this thing on my barrel for good?

 

I'd appreciate any help!

 

I have the identical problem, on the same place on a dove grey Parker 51.

Tried everything , even removing some material with extra fine sanding paper followed by polishing.

The stain remains.

I'll try to live with it, looks to me the ink is penetrated in the material of the nib hood.

Sorry for the bad news !

[Fountainbass]

Thanks for the replies! This 51 is restored, so the barrel is nice & smooth...almost new looking. I don't have anything other than a simple magnifying glass, so I doubt I'll be able to see any kind of micro-cracks on the surface, but I doubt this is the cause since my fingers don't turn inky after using the pen. I might just have to live with it like fountainbel does! As I said, it's a very, very minor blemish...not even noticeable in most light. I could try to get a photo of it, but I doubt it'll show up!

 

 

[Beechwood]

Here is a thread pulled back from the dead, it even has contributions from Oxonian and Fountainbel, two of the titans of the fountain pen world.

 

Given that we all learn a little more each day does it remain a fact that ink stains on a Parker 51 are there for good.

 

I have a cedar blue 51 with an ink stain one inch from the filler that I would like to be gone.

 

Any ideas please?

[inkstainedruth]

I had a 1950s era Pelikan 400 a while back that had stains on the barrel binde (apparently ink had gotten into the cap at some point before I got the pen, so it was a ring of blue around the point where the cap would have been posted. I didn't want to soak it (IIRC it was maybe celluloid). So as it turned out, it needed a lot of repeated application of dips of q-tips in diluted ammonia solution applied *just to the ring of ink, to dissolve the old ink -- and a LOT of elbow grease....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[MercianScribe]

What Ruth just said is exactly what I did to remove most of a stain around the finial and clip top on my Swan (it had soaked in to the material of the cap, it wasn't just on the surface). It took three and a half hours to work away maybe 90% of a maybe 3mm stain. I finished it off with very gentle application of a melamine sponge for half an hour. There's a wee thread basically saying the same thing in the Swan forum.

 

I should just say, I've tried melamine sponges on 70s plastic too, and it dulls the surface considerably (Imperial brand, Sheaffer No-Nonsense etc), but it really didn't affect the original smooth surface of my Swan (c1953, celluloid?).

[brownargus]

The Parker Service Manual for the 51 (dated 1947) says:

 

"TO REMOVE STAINS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BARREL

 

Moisten a piece of tissue paper and put some good quality toothpaste on it. Rub the soiled part and the stain will be easily removed."

 

I assume this would also apply to the section. I haven't tried it but it sounds too good to be true. I assume the toothpaste would have in it some very fine "grinding" material which would grind away the mark without affecting the material.

[Beechwood]

The Parker Service Manual for the 51 (dated 1947) says:

 

"TO REMOVE STAINS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BARREL

 

Moisten a piece of tissue paper and put some good quality toothpaste on it. Rub the soiled part and the stain will be easily removed."

 

I assume this would also apply to the section. I haven't tried it but it sounds too good to be true. I assume the toothpaste would have in it some very fine "grinding" material which would grind away the mark without affecting the material.

 

 

I have tried simichrome as an abrasive and the stain is more than skin deep.