Bought my first Parker 51

[MRusso]

Hello all,

I bought a Parker 51 from a guy who wasn't a collector but accepted as payment from a woman (widow possibly) for a service. I'd say the pen is in very good shape from what I can tell. He mentioned had the pen inspected and I have no reason to doubt since it wrote right away as soon as I inked it without much problems.
I was checking the nib with a 200mm macro lens and noticed the nib is slightly misaligned (as is the hood to the nib it seems). I tried to unscrew but it looks like the shellac wasn't removed from the hood screw (ever?).

So what I'm thinking is, should attempt to alight the tines even though the pen writes well? It is not glass smooth as my Lamy Studio M nib, but it writes well. It just have some hard starts sometimes, like first letter comes with no ink and I have to rewrite. After that the ink flow tend to go alright..
Ah its an Made in England Parker.


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[guyy]

First, if you’re satisfied with how the pen writes, there is no reason to fiddle with it.

Hard starts would bother me, and those English 51 nibs are generally very smooth. I would expect it to write better than a modern Lamy. I would try adjusting the tines.

Apply heat before unscrewing the hood. Sometimes holding it under the hot water tap will do it. Lucite won’t discolor like celluloid, but don’t dunk the pen in hot water. You don’t want hot water in your collector. A hair dryer will work, too.

[MRusso]

First, if you’re satisfied with how the pen writes, there is no reason to fiddle with it.

Hard starts would bother me, and those English 51 nibs are generally very smooth. I would expect it to write better than a modern Lamy. I would try adjusting the tines.

Apply heat before unscrewing the hood. Sometimes holding it under the hot water tap will do it. Lucite won’t discolor like celluloid, but don’t dunk the pen in hot water. You don’t want hot water in your collector. A hair dryer will work, too.

Thanks. I wonder if it is possible to align the tines without taking off the hood?

[guyy]

You are more likely to snap off a tine if you don’t remove the hood. If you’re going to adjust the nib, you should definitely remove it. It’s usually not difficult.

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

Wow. That nib is really outta whack! I’m surprised it writes at all without being insanely scratchy!

As stated above, if your are happy with it, then you can leave it. It’s your pen.

When I’m removing a”51” hood i fill a small bottle with very hot water (165-170F) and submerge the pen up to the clutch ring for a minute or two then try and remove the hood. If it doesn’t budge, dump the water that has now cooled and repeat the process with hot water again. NB this is only considered safe with the lucite of a “51”! Do not do this with other plastics! Including the mk3 51s made of polystyrene!

You should DEFINITELY remove the hood and remove the nib from the pen before attempting to adjust it if you are going to do so

Ps i think the cap jewel may be a pencil cap jewel... seems a little small.
Here is a nice clear pic i found: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5349ba13e4b095a3fb0ba65c/1425644249815-UV52JSPGI610QQIC9O3N/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kDGQCHoOz2u1phAUYiuz5rN7gQa3H7 8H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLf rh8O1z5QHyNOqBUUEtDDsRWrJLTmv1ihXzK27xJYOPbUG3fJTw rfUaYadxC-RDSmy2k2FMnud4HreJ9h1tsejQWNOMXQ/IMG_1181.jpg

[MRusso]

Thanks, I'm not sure if its the Lucite version

Ok, before the responses came I went very gentle with a plastic spatula pushing very slow a little bit and the tines look more aligned now. It writes with a little less feedback indeed. Better check the nib under the hood? I'll have to open anyway at some point to align the nib with the hood I think. I think I'll go with hair dryer to be safe?


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[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

I would say almost certainly yours is lucite. And will be safe with hot water

Good job on the realignment

How bad is the off centering of the nib vs the hood?

[guyy]

Yours is lucite.

[MRusso]

How bad is the off centering of the nib vs the hood?

Thanks, it's not too bad but I can feel the feed is a little twisted and the line between the tines is off center with the very tip of the hood.55063

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

The tines to hood alignment is pretty good but i do see what you mean. And yeah the feed.

It’s easy to fix once the hood is off. A little tedious, but not difficult.

[Barry B. Gabay]

MRusso, Great repair with the spatula. Looks much improved. Glad it's writing better. When you do decide to remove the hood, I agree that dry heat (hair dryer) is the best method. Nice photos.

[Chuck Naill]

Congratulations on your first "51"!! If you are in the US, this is a repair person I highly recommend.
http://parker51.com/index.php/repairs/#:~:text=Parker%20%E2%80%9C51%E2%80%9D%20Fountain% 20Pen%20Repair%20and%20Restoration%20Rates,per%20c ase%20basis%20and%20additional%20charges%20will%20 apply.

[azkid]

Congrats on the 51! They are great pens for their practicality. The design is excellent. And the Aerometrics will last for...well nobody knows how long because loads of examples from 1948 still work perfectly with their original pliglass sacs (like mine).

As to hood alignment, it's easy to warp the plastic of a 51 hood and requires fairly precise heat control because the softening point of shellac and melting point of lucite are fairly close.

The good news is that it is still pretty easy to find NOS hoods (black being very common, other colors not so much) if you did warp it. I've found em for $15 or so. But they can go much higher.

Aligning the nib is nearly impossible without taking the hood off. But that nib needs aligning for a good writing experience.

I tend to be a diy guy and if I hadn't first wrecked several similar Parker 21 hoods (even more prone to warping) for practice before getting the technique down, I wouldn't ever try messing with a 51 and I'd just send it to a 51 guru. :)

I'm not a guru. And I'm sure one of them will suggest a better way. But I use a hot air rework station (for SMD soldering) with digital temp control, rotating the pen under the hot air to slowly heat up the thread area and taking breaks to allow for heat transfer from outside to inside, to check surface temp with a digital non-contact thermometer, and to try unscrewing the hood. That way I'm applying only just enough heat for just long enough to break it loose and get it off.

[Chrissy]

I agree with all of the other members that once you have the hood off you will be able to align the nib more easily and it will be easier to align the nib and feed with the point of the hood. You will also be able to find out if your nib is gold or not and maybe even what year it was made. :)

You could use a hairdryer but you would still need to be careful to not hold the pen too close and keep moving it all of the time.

I once had a Parker 51 and held it under the hot tap for a while before easily removing the hood. Once it had been removed it didn't seem to make any difference to it's performance by not using any shellac to stick it back in place. Many disagreed with that idea, but the pen always wrote without any problems.

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

I’m with Chrissy, hot water and I’ve never had to reseal a pen.

[MRusso]

Thanks guys, I'm currently writing with it daily to empty the sac of ink and attempt to remove the hood. If I lived in U.S I'd happy send to a fountain pen Guru hehe! I paid a bargain for the Parker (around 56 USD, making the conversion), so far can't complain. I was looking into other gold filled Parkers but they had some brassing that would certainly get bad over time because this is a pen I intend to use a lot :)

I was reading other topics about the hood removal and I noticed some people said they would not shellab the hood back in place. Would this cause leak? If so I'd probably prefer to use a PTFE thread seal tape instead.

[guyy]

The hoods can crack if you’re not careful. I definitely wouldn’t go 3x around like people do with pipes.

The advantage of shellac is you can get a seal easily without cranking too hard on the hood.

[Chrissy]

I was reading other topics about the hood removal and I noticed some people said they would not shellab the hood back in place. Would this cause leak? If so I'd probably prefer to use a PTFE thread seal tape instead.
Mine was never shellacked on and it never leaked. You should not use PTFE tape or you are likely to crack your hood. First try it without anything and see if it works without leaking. If it doesn't then that's the time to try it with a tiny amount of shellac.

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

Do NOT use ptfe tape! That is likely to crack the hood

I have opened over a dozen 51s and have not shellacked any back together. NONE of them leak. Not one.
If yours DOES leak (which i doubt) or the hood just feels a little loose (far more likely than a leak, but still not terribly likely) use rosin to seal it back up. It’s much easier to soften it back up if you need to get into the pen again.

[Chrissy]

Do NOT use ptfe tape! That is likely to crack the hood

I have opened over a dozen 51s and have not shellacked any back together. NONE of them leak. Not one.
If yours DOES leak (which i doubt) or the hood just feels a little loose (far more likely than a leak, but still not terribly likely) use rosin to seal it back up. It’s much easier to soften it back up if you need to get into the pen again.
I believe Ron Zorn also recommends rosin for Parker hoods. :)

[MRusso]

Ok, no PTFE tape then. I noticed there is a small rubber ring there so it should keep it sealed.
I used a hair drier and got the hood out. Not that easy but not incredibly difficult. Now the collector , feed and breather tube appear to be more difficult. Here is the step so far.

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I've seen some videos, I don't want to risk the tube to break into the feed and I don't think there is need to go too crazy with cleaning (it was already in pretty good shape) . My goal is to get the pen to write a little better/get it aligned etc.

[Chrissy]

At this stage it doesn't look like you need to think about pulling out the feed or the collector. The collector looks clean. Bear in mind that if you do you will have to realign the nib and feed with the hood when you try screwing the hood back on. At the moment the feed only needs a very small tweak in one direction to make it line up properly. I would leave well alone and concentrate on ensuring the nib tines are level.

If you absolutely have to pull off the feed and collector you will need to be very careful to not damage the very long and delicate breather tube that is usually made of plastic and will come out with either the feed or the collector. Personally, I wouldn't bother.

[MRusso]

At this stage it doesn't look like you need to think about pulling out the feed or the collector. The collector looks clean. Bear in mind that if you do you will have to realign the nib and feed with the hood when you try screwing the hood back on. At the moment the feed only needs a very small tweak in one direction to make it line up properly. I would leave well alone and concentrate on ensuring the nib tines are level.

If you absolutely have to pull off the feed and collector you will need to be very careful to not damage the very long and delicate breather tube that is usually made of plastic and will come out with either the feed or the collector. Personally, I wouldn't bother.

Thanks Chrissy. I'll follow your advice. At this point I re-checked the tines, looks like aligned enough.. not sure I can do better than that.

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About the feed, It won't rotate and I have the feeling more force will snap it.

Not off by much, but still...
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[guyy]

A good overnight soak might help.

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

I agree with guyy. A soaking would help.

If you want to remove the collector and feed the i would:
Soak in warm water
grip the collector and twist and pull at the same time
The feed and breather tube will come out with the collector

If you don’t feel the need to pull them, then don’t. The feed and collector are already almost perfectly aligned to one another
Just reinsert the nib and screw the hood on :)

Good job with the nib. Looks really good.

With an o-ring model like yours you REALLY don’t need to reseal the pen. Like REALLY don’t need to, thats the o-rings job

[MRusso]

Got it, I'll leave in water overnight. I just didn't understood if I can twist the feed without breaking it or if I want to just align them I still need to get the collector and feed out. Time for soaking.. I'll check tomorrow :)

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

Generally i pull the collector out then either gently wiggle the feed out forwards or push it Out from the back. depending on the condition of the breather tube

Be gentle but firm and your should be ok. Take your time

Before pulling the collector out, see if you can gently wiggle/twist the feed to the position you need it to be in. Again be gentle. Take your time

[Chrissy]

Maybe I'm wrong but I think OP wants to ensure that the feed lines up slightly better with the hood point than it originally did before he removed the hood.

If this is the case, once you've soaked the pen overnight in warm water to ensure everything is clean then try screwing on the hood. If the feed isn't perfectly aligned with the point of the hood then you need to check which direction it needs to go, unscrew the hood and tweak the feed in the right direction. You might have to pull it out first, but it might twist enough as it's not far out.

Then I believe that the way you're supposed to ensure you don't cause any damage to the nib is to offer it up to the feed quite loosely, screw on the hood and push the nib fully home with your thumb and forefinger. I've always pushed the nib home then very carefully screwed on the hood while watching it all the time..

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

The way I’ve always done it is:
Align feed and collector
Insert feed to collector all the way
Insert nib into collector, all the way
Fit collector in to connector
Screw on hood

https://archive.org/stream/ParkerPenServiceManuals/Parker%20Service%20Manual%20c1960#page/n49/mode/2up
See page 51.
One note: i have never found it necessary to [press the nib tip straight down on a hard surface] to get it seated in the collector properly

[Chrissy]

The way I’ve always done it is:
Align feed and collector
Insert feed to collector all the way
Insert nib into collector, all the way
Fit collector in to connector
Screw on hood

What happens if they are slightly out of line at this point?

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

if you mean slightly out of alignment with one another (nib to feed): remove the nib, re insert

if you mean the HOOD to the nib/feed, then remove the hood, adjust the collector assembly (collector, nib, feed) as needed by gently twisting the collector, re attach the hood, check again. repeat as needed, usually takes either 1, or no adjustments.

I'm not sure if i answered your question properly...

If i didnt, please let me know

not my video, but this is how i do it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YHdzy4RuYg#t=57m25s

i do not remove the sac protector. If I'm not changing the sac. and i havn't had to change one yet, the plyglass sacs are awesome.

[Chrissy]

if you mean slightly out of alignment with one another (nib to feed): remove the nib, re insert

if you mean the HOOD to the nib/feed, then remove the hood, adjust the collector assembly (collector, nib, feed) as needed by gently twisting the collector, re attach the hood, check again. repeat as needed, usually takes either 1, or no adjustments.

I'm not sure if i answered your question properly...

If i didnt, please let me know

not my video, but this is how i do it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YHdzy4RuYg#t=57m25s

i do not remove the sac protector. If I'm not changing the sac. and i havn't had to change one yet, the plyglass sacs are awesome.
OP's post #6. He wants to align it better with the hood.

[MRusso]

So, overnight soaking, the collector is still very solid there, so is the feed.I did quite a bit of force there and no luck. I'm concerned more strength would damage the feed/collector. At least it softened out some "gunk" there. Not sure if the previous owner used some glue there. What I'm wondering at this point is if there could be ink flow issue if the collector isn't completely aligned with the feed. Otherwise I'd just leave as is and align the nib and the hood. Actually I did a test and the nib is fairly easy to align. The hood might not be difficult after a couple trials...

[guyy]

I would try soaking again.

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

try soaking again, like Guyy suggests.

Try warm / hotter water.

If the collector is not perfectly aligned with the feed and nib? It's not ideal, but based on how little it likely has to be out of alignment if you just tweak the feed and nib (Based on the first couple sets of photos) it would likely be ok.

You can always try it, and if it's not great/bad flow, then just take the hood back off and then work on getting the collector loose again.

[guyy]

The collector can be rotated too, so there’s no need for it to be out of alignment with the feed.

[MRusso]

yay I got the collector and feed out. I noticed in some videos the breather tube comes out easily, sometimes it breaks in the feed. Should I risk it? I tried some force to pull it out, I heard a small "tuc" sound and stopped. Also, the feed still won't rotate but I assume pulling it out would separate it from the tube/break? Plus I noticed some corrosion in the end of the breather tube. Should this be a problem?


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[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

YAY!

That is the beginning of corrosion on the breather tube. IMO at this point, as long as the tube is still clear inside, it will likely work fine.

Replacing it IS an option, you'll have to order parts.

Removing the feed from the collector will not remove the tube from the feed. The tube is directly inserted into the feed.

i don't usually remove the tube from the feed. IMO if it's in, that's good.
Then once the feed is out of the collector, I make sure I can blow in the tube and that the air comes out of the feed and the hole in the tube near the feed like it's supposed to, and then I reassemble.
NOTE: I fix my own pens, not pens for other people, if it was for other people I would likely do the all out cleaning and replacing of parts etc etc etc. But since they are just for me, and i know their condition, "clean and functioning" is good enough for me.


The

[MRusso]

Alright, aligned the nib with the feed and put the hood on. At first I thought the nib was too far out of the hood but looking at other Parkers 51 on the net it doesn't look like, what do you think?

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[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

It looks out about as much as when you got it so that’s good
When you push the nib into the collector, often (but not always) you can feel it sort of click as it hits the back of the collector, then you KNOW it’s all the way in. If you didn’t feel the click that’s OK, as long as it felt ALL the way in. :)
Great job on the alignment!

How does it write now?

[pajaro]

Looks OK. Should do nicely. Nice nib.

[MRusso]

I ran the nib into water on a piece of leather and metal polishing paste and the nib is super smooth now. Here is the writing sample.
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Thanks very much for all the help! :D:bounce:

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

Glad it worked out :) looks great!

just fyi, stropping (polishing compound on leather) is not the recommended way of smoothing a nib.
there are many reasons, but one of them would be getting polishing compound somewhere you can't easily clean, like wedged in the nib, etc.

[Chrissy]

Glad it worked out :) looks great!

just fyi, stropping (polishing compound on leather) is not the recommended way of smoothing a nib.
there are many reasons, but one of them would be getting polishing compound somewhere you can't easily clean, like wedged in the nib, etc.
I never heard of such a thing for fountain pen nibs. :blink: What would stop all of that grot from travelling up the nib slit and affecting the ink flow? Not to mention wearing a flat spot onto the tipping. I'm with you that it definitely should be avoided.
A nib smoothing board is the only thing that I ever use, and I'm very careful how I even use that.

[MRusso]

Ykes, thanks for the info! won't do it again

[INeedAFinancialAdvisor]

you're welcome.

We all do stuff sometimes without looking into it! :P

There are lots of resources online on how to smooth a nib if you feel it needs the work.

[pajaro]

It has been just a little over fifty years since I bought my first Parker 51, a brand new midnight blue, labeled medium. Still using it, never had the hood off. I have used India ink in it, and flushed the pen right away. Used white laundry ink in it, but flushed it out right away. True that I never put it in storage with ink. Always writes and is the best 51 I have ever used.

[Chrissy]

It has been just a little over fifty years since I bought my first Parker 51, a brand new midnight blue, labeled medium. Still using it, never had the hood off. I have used India ink in it, and flushed the pen right away. Used white laundry ink in it, but flushed it out right away. True that I never put it in storage with ink. Always writes and is the best 51 I have ever used.
I'm very happy to read that you not only found a brand new Parker 51 to purchase, but then had no qualms about filling it with ink and using it, and were never tempted to take it apart just for the heck of it. :)

Maybe using India ink and white laundry ink in it could have resulted in a potential problem for others, but in your case you were careful enough to treat it the right way after doing so and that's a sign of someone who knows what he's doing and how to do it properly. :)

The fact that it always writes, even after 50 years of use, and is the best Parker 51 that you have ever used is testament to your care and experience. :)

That's a heartwarming story. :)

[Chuck Naill]

It has been just a little over fifty years since I bought my first Parker 51, a brand new midnight blue, labeled medium. Still using it, never had the hood off. I have used India ink in it, and flushed the pen right away. Used white laundry ink in it, but flushed it out right away. True that I never put it in storage with ink. Always writes and is the best 51 I have ever used.

I've heard you mention your 50 experience with your 51 and never tire of hearing it again. Such a testiment to you and the famous Parker 51.

I find I have one in my shirt pocket for daily use. :)

[Chrissy]

I still don't have a Parker 51 but I like my Parker 100 instead. :)

I was rather put off of the Parker 51 because the only one I've ever written with had an Octanium nib that I never got on with. :(

[Chuck Naill]

I still don't have a Parker 51 but I like my Parker 100 instead. :)

I was rather put off of the Parker 51 because the only one I've ever written with had an Octanium nib that I never got on with. :(

Those 100's have an impressive look.

[Chrissy]

I still don't have a Parker 51 but I like my Parker 100 instead. :)

I was rather put off of the Parker 51 because the only one I've ever written with had an Octanium nib that I never got on with. :(

Those 100's have an impressive look.
They feel thicker and heavier than the 51, for older hands, but they do use a converter. :)