Do you use a fountain pen?

[ClockworkCupcake]

I'm back home now, so here come the pics.

They're all pretty big, so I have thumbnailed them. Click on a pic to get the full size version.

First the guy's stock. You'll spot two boxed Parker Sonnets there. One was absolutely mint never been filled. I don't recall what the price was - I'm not sure I even asked. None of his pens have price labels on, btw.



You can see the Parker 61 Flighter box set in that pic, but the nib looks wrecked. It's the one I mentioned in a previous post.
You can also see the Targa by Sheaffer box set that I mentioned too.

The rest of his pens are in a 48-pen case. There is a mixture of Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman and others.





There's a collection of Parker 51s there. I asked for one that would write, so he suggested the teal one that had a converter, rather than the Vacumatic to the left of it since that one needed restoration. The one to the left of that is a demi.

So, I went for the teal one, which I thought was quite a nice colour.

Trouble is, having got it home, I can't get it to write. When I fill it, it expels air which means it's not blocked. And when filled, if I give the filler a tiny squeeze then I can get a small droplet of ink to form, but it's dry as a bone when I try to write. It won't even write when dipped.







As you can see, it has the correct filler.



Now the Parker 61 capillary that I bought. I've tried dunking the arse end in ink for 30 seconds as instructed, but I can't get it to write at the moment either.











I've also noticed a crack in the barrel that I failed to spot when I bought it - I need to be much more careful in future when buying. I can't believe that I failed to spot that.

[ClockworkCupcake]

Due to a filling accident with the Parker 51, I seem to be rocking a pink nail varnish and permanent black ink look today.



I thought maybe I could pull the converter out, and flush the pen through. It didn't want to come out with gentle pressure, to I gave it a little twist and it unscrewed (leaving the sac in place), and dumped the entire reservoir all over my fingers and pad. Oops.

I'm guessing that it isn't a converter in that case, and the sac is permanently attached to the section?

[AlexC1981]

Well that's a PITA. Maybe the breather tube is blocked?

Looks like you can't take out the converter in the usual way. As a first step if I were you I would leave both pens in water to soak for a day to soften up any dried ink that might be in it, then disassemble, leave to soak again, then dry out and reassemble.

I'm sure someone will be along in a bit who can help.

[ClockworkCupcake]

Thanks. I'll give that a go later.

I was at an Antiques fair this morning, and one of the sellers had a Parker 45 Flighter, with a matching propelling pencil. It was a late 60's / early 70's one because it had the silver tail cap and dimpled clip screw. The seller is a guy I see regularly and he suggested a stab-in-the-dark price of £20. I gave it serious thought, because it would have meant that I then had 3 generations out of the 4 generations of Parker 45 Flighter. Downside is that I really do not need another Parker 45, and the barrel was engraved. And I don't think I really need a pencil either. So I left it.

However, once I had decided not to buy I did tell him all about it and point out the various aspects of it. He was interested as he didn't even know it was a Parker 45 - it was just "a Parker pen" to him. He also commented that one of the things he loves about fairs is that he meets collectors who increase his knowledge, like I had just done.

I do hope I made the right decision. But I see him quite regularly at fairs, so if he still has it next time I might reconsider.

[C&C]

Prohibiting said:

CandC said:

I've said that's it for now (apart from a snipe bid on a Pelikan in a few days time)!!

What Pelikan are you eyeing up? Last week I watched a mint flagship Pelikan M1000 end on £295. When deciding on my M800, first I was looking at the M200, then the m600, then reading about the size and metal fittings of the M800, I was sold .

I paid £300 for my brand new M800 + £35 for a nib expert to fine tune it for me. Most people would think that £335 is insane to spend on a pen, but personally, considering the equality and the perfect writing experience that it provides, I think that's good value.

It's a 100N so late 1940's. I seem like the older pens (and also trying to keep budget at reasonable levels)

[Robbo 27]

Pics from the Northern pen Show in Lytham St Annes







And I bought - or was given



CC - I will have a look at your pen problems on Monday, the Parker 51 looks like its just plain mucky. It wont do any harm to stand the Parker 51 overnight in a half inch of water which a little detergent in it, a couple of drops of washing up liquid or shampoo.

[ClockworkCupcake]

Robbo 27 said:

Pics from the Northern pen Show in Lytham St Annes

Blimey, that's a lot of pens!

Robbo 27 said:

CC - I will have a look at your pen problems on Monday, the Parker 51 looks like its just plain mucky. It wont do any harm to stand the Parker 51 overnight in a half inch of water which a little detergent in it, a couple of drops of washing up liquid or shampoo.

Thanks Rob. Is that nib down, or fully submerged?

[Robbo 27]

ClockworkCupcake said:

Thanks Rob. Is that nib down, or fully submerged?

Just nib down, half inch of water.

I suggest that we go through a cleaning process, it may take a few days. If it doesnt work then the 51 and the 61 may need to be sent off to a repairer, the cost will be around £30 for both pens, but if it can be fixed with soapy water then perfect, if the nib needs attention then it go simply be sent away. See how we go. The 61 will be more difficult, see if you can find a drinking straw or a plastic tube that will fit over the capillary on the 61, it may come in handy.

I will look at closely at the pics on Monday.

[Robbo 27]

I have had a look at the nibs and the 61 and 51.

The 61 is going to be a problem pen. A new barrel is available and will cost you £16, it cannot be glued or fixed. If it can be made to fill you will have a pen worth 45-50 on ebay. I dont know if you are comfortable about asking the seller to take them back or not?

If you can I would take both pens back, there will be other pens and other deals. I wouldnt beat yourself up about missing the crack when you looked at the pens, I have done the same thing today.

If you are going to keep them then Alex gave some good advice, give the Parker 51 a soak, it looks like there is a lot of dirt under the hood of the pen and there will be more dried up ink inside the pen, it is worth persevering with if you are going to keep it but if you are taking the 61 back then I would hand them both back to the seller and ask for one good Parker 51. Parker 61s are just to fragile, the plastic shrinks and cracks and if you lose that gold dart in the nib section as part of the neccessary cleaning process
(and there is a significant chance that it will) then the value of the pen drops like a stone, I could have bought a handful of Parker 61s today, without their dart, for less than £12 each.

[RizzoTheRat]

Robbo 27 said:

The 25 was a great model for their intended market, well made and schoolboy proof, how Parker can make such a good job of their low priced pens with good design and manufacturing and make such a mess of their high end products is a mystery.

Shame they stopped doing the 25 which I loved but still do the Vector which I never liked as much.

[Robbo 27]

RizzoTheRat said:

Shame they stopped doing the 25 which I loved but still do the Vector which I never liked as much.

Just been to a pen show and I was surprised to see that there was no Parker 25s available for sale, I would have thought there would be some around and not expensive, under £15, but none at all.

[ClockworkCupcake]

Robbo 27 said:

I dont know if you are comfortable about asking the seller to take them back or not?

I'm not sure if I am comfortable with that. He is there every month, so there is the opportunity, but I don't know if I have the nerve to ask for a return.

Robbo 27 said:

If you are going to keep them then Alex gave some good advice, give the Parker 51 a soak, it looks like there is a lot of dirt under the hood of the pen and there will be more dried up ink inside the pen, it is worth persevering with if you are going to keep it

Yes, I will do so. I have spent some time this afternoon researching which Parker 51 I have. So far, I can tell you that it's an Aerometric and it's an early one as it has a plastic end cap on the filler. And also the barrel is tapered rather than squared off. The fact that the filler is marked to squeeze 4 times rather than 6 times says it could be a MkII-B but my research is incomplete.

As for the 61, I'm undecided what to do with it. Having a 61 in my collection would be nice, especially an early capillary, but I think perhaps it was a rash purchase. If I am to keep it then I think it would have to be as a collector piece rather than as a writer. The other option is to either sell it "as is" or take a risk on a new barrel although I could end up out of pocket there. I just don't know.

[AlexC1981]

I might head over to the Eastern Pen show in Cambridge 14th May.

My Baoer 508 arrived Saturday. It gave me a bit of trouble. I flushed it out, sucked out any moisture and dried it best I could, but after I filled it I could only get it to write by twisting the converter to force ink through at intervals. I tried widening the gap between the tines, but the metal appears to be quite poor quality and doesn't spring back like steel should, so I made the gap too wide and it was running too wet! I had to completely disassemble the thing and carefully manipulate the nib back into shape then polish it. It's writing fine now, but the nib's ended up curved down slightly and looks a little beat up when you look closely. I almost lost patience and binned it.

It's an attractively shaped pen and the paint finish is better than I have seen on any Jinhao. The cap clicks on firmly, but you have to position it correctly or it won't go on. It posts nicely too. The cap, barrel and section are all metal construction. The section is nicely shaped so your fingers won't slip. If it wasn't for my initial problems with the nib I would be able to recommend it as being similar to Jinhao quality. The cost was £2.35 delivered from AliExpress.

Looks like this (googled image) and also comes in blue and red fog:



There's a review linked below where the auther also had problems, but had plenty of praise for the nib. Quality control seems to be hit and miss. There's some good photos of the nib in this review, which actually looks pretty good from the side.

http://kencrooker.com/508-review/

Edited by AlexC1981 on Sunday 2nd April 18:45

[Robbo 27]

ClockworkCupcake said:

Yes, I will do so. I have spent some time this afternoon researching which Parker 51 I have. So far, I can tell you that it's an Aerometric and it's an early one as it has a plastic end cap on the filler. And also the barrel is tapered rather than squared off. The fact that the filler is marked to squeeze 4 times rather than 6 times says it could be a MkII-B but my research is incomplete.

As for the 61, I'm undecided what to do with it. Having a 61 in my collection would be nice, especially an early capillary, but I think perhaps it was a rash purchase. If I am to keep it then I think it would have to be as a collector piece rather than as a writer. The other option is to either sell it "as is" or take a risk on a new barrel although I could end up out of pocket there. I just don't know.

See if you can get the 61 working , if the pen fills and writes as it should then either buy a new barrel or look for a donor pen, one with a bad cap and nib section but a good barrel. start with getting the old dried ink out of the barrel, flushing it through.

[Robbo 27]

AlexC1981 said:

I might head over to the Eastern Pen show in Cambridge 14th May.

My Baoer 508 arrived Saturday. It gave me a bit of trouble. I flushed it out, sucked out any moisture and dried it best I could, but after I filled it I could only get it to write by twisting the converter to force ink through at intervals. I tried widening the gap between the tines, but the metal appears to be quite poor quality and doesn't spring back like steel should, so I made the gap too wide and it was running too wet! I had to completely disassemble the thing and carefully manipulate the nib back into shape then polish it. It's writing fine now, but the nib's ended up curved down slightly and looks a little beat up when you look closely. I almost lost patience and binned it.

It's an attractively shaped pen and the paint finish is better than I have seen on any Jinhao. The cap clicks on firmly, but you have to position it correctly or it won't go on. It posts nicely too. The cap, barrel and section are all metal construction. The section is nicely shaped so your fingers won't slip. If it wasn't for my initial problems with the nib I would be able to recommend it as being similar to Jinhao quality. The cost was £2.35 delivered from AliExpress.

Looks like this (googled image) and also comes in blue and red fog:


There's a review linked below where the auther also had problems, but had plenty of praise for the nib. Quality control seems to be hit and miss. There's some good photos of the nib in this review, which actually looks pretty good from the side.

http://kencrooker.com/508-review/

Alex, have you tried a cartridge instead of a converter? There may be too much surface tension inside the converter, cartridges do not usually have that problem.

Some people try to put a tiny ball bearing, or small bead into converter to stop this happening , I have heard of people putting a piece of fuse wire but cannot see how that would work properly.

Even for the first fill of a new pen put a drop of washing up liquid in the ink.

[Robbo 27]

Alex just read that review of your pen , sounds, would definitely suggest a cartridge instead of a converter.

By the way, I dont rate the Jinhao cartridges at all, the ink is very boring and you have no idea how much ink is in the thing.

[AlexC1981]

With regards to the Parker 61, Julian64 had the same problem with his back on page 48.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

If arrowless Parker 61's can be had at pen shows for £12, then it might be worth waiting for a donor pen to come along at the right price. Then might get a fiver back by listing the spare parts on ebay.

Alternatively, if the cracked barrel is worthless, you could look on this as an opportunity for a fun project by filling in the crack with some sort of water resistant hardening putty, sanding it all over and painting it in any colour you want to customise it. A bit of car bumper spray paint and some lacquer might do the trick!

Since your section is black and your cap is silver any colour would work with it. I'm sure a serious collector wouldn't do this, but it's an opportunity to make something unique from a scrap part.

[AlexC1981]

Robbo 27 said:

Alex, have you tried a cartridge instead of a converter? There may be too much surface tension inside the converter, cartridges do not usually have that problem.

Some people try to put a tiny ball bearing, or small bead into converter to stop this happening , I have heard of people putting a piece of fuse wire but cannot see how that would work properly.

Even for the first fill of a new pen put a drop of washing up liquid in the ink.

Thanks, but it's working fine now. I think the tines might have been pushed so closely together initially, that there was no gap at all. I didn't think of trying a cartridge. I'll explore that option next time!

[ClockworkCupcake]

AlexC1981 said:

If arrowless Parker 61's can be had at pen shows for £12, then it might be worth waiting for a donor pen to come along at the right price. Then might get a fiver back by listing the spare parts on ebay.

That certainly sounds like an option. It would also retain the age of the pen too, as a new barrel would have no age or wear (obviously). I'll keep an eye open for one.

Edited by ClockworkCupcake on Sunday 2nd April 20:17

[ClockworkCupcake]

Well, I am pleased to report success!

I gently cleaned the nib of the "51" by running it under the tap, and gently brushing it with a clean disposable mascara brush, and put a tiny bit of ink in it and it actually wrote although unevenly. So I discarded that ink and then stood it in a shot glass of water with a drop of washing up liquid in it. Then after an hour or so I drew that into the filler as you would ink and agitated it, and flushed that out and then flushed through repeatedly with water, and then filled with ink. It writes pretty well although leans out a little. It might improve with use.



You can see it improving just over the course of the page, so my hopes are high for further improvement.

I did similar with the Parker 61 (although only dipped the capillary filler rather than letting it soak) and then drew as much out as possible with kitchen roll. It's clearly had blue ink in it in the past. I then let it fill in black Quink for 10 seconds or so (I didn't want to draw a full load of ink into it in case it needed further flushing) and then tried writing with it. I think we can call this one a success too. Yay!



So, that's a relief.

I'm off to another Antiques fair tomorrow, and possibly Tuesday too, so I will keep my eyes open for sorry-looking 61s that are good for spares.