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Thread: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

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    Default Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Just received this gorgeous red Parkette. When I went to load some Quink Blue Black, I think I may have been aggressive with the lever. It’s now a little bit floppy and will fall forward when gravity allows (as seen in photo).

    Writes great and seems to have taken a good fill. So is this something I should just live with? Or is it busted?


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    Senior Member Sailor Kenshin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Based on my VERY limited experience, the J-bar probably popped loose. You may be able to wiggle it back, but I was told not to be too aggressive lever-wise.

    I hope you can get it working again.
    Last edited by Sailor Kenshin; November 13th, 2020 at 02:25 PM.
    My other pen is a Montblanc.

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Well, that's what I thought. I emailed Danny Fudge to see what he thought, as I might have another pen to send him soon for work anyway. His prices are good enough that it'd be worth it for an 80 yr old pen to just have everything serviced and make certain it has a new sac.

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    What a nice pen, great colours.

    Some observations.

    Your inner bar has lost some of its tension ( spring ) against the filler sac

    Your pen will only fill about 60 – 70 %

    The only way to correct it is to fit another one.

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    NumberSix (November 13th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Quote Originally Posted by proteus View Post
    What a nice pen, great colours.
    Thanks! This pic doesn't do the color a bit of justice. It's really a mix of dark red and a light red that leans almost pink in the right light. It's possibly the prettiest pen I have ever owned. (I had an Edison Pearlette at one point with a gold/yellow similar pattern that was also beautiful, but I prefer this color mix.)

    Quote Originally Posted by proteus View Post
    Your inner bar has lost some of its tension ( spring ) against the filler sac

    Your pen will only fill about 60 – 70 %

    The only way to correct it is to fit another one.
    Thanks for the observations. I feel a little better now about whether I should rush out and get it fixed. It's a fine nib and won't blow through ink too quickly I suspect.
    Last edited by NumberSix; November 13th, 2020 at 12:41 PM. Reason: I broke the COLOR tags, so I removed them.

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Oh, and that IS really pretty!
    My other pen is a Montblanc.

    And my other blog is a tumblr!


    And my latest ebook, for spooky wintery reading:

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CM2NGSSD

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Quote Originally Posted by NumberSix View Post
    Well, that's what I thought. I emailed Danny Fudge to see what he thought, as I might have another pen to send him soon for work anyway. His prices are good enough that it'd be worth it for an 80 yr old pen to just have everything serviced and make certain it has a new sac.
    If you bought a vintage lever filler without the seller *assuring* you that the ink sac is new, you may want to replace it anyway.

    And Danny would be a good restorer to send it to.

    In my restorations, I extremely dislike floppy lever fillers, even if they work.
    - Will
    Unique and restored vintage pens: Redeem Pens

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    NumberSix (November 13th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Quote Originally Posted by penwash View Post
    In my restorations, I extremely dislike floppy lever fillers, even if they work.
    It's amazing how such a little thing makes a difference, isn't it? The lever rattles when picking up the pen or capping/uncapping.

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Beautiful pen. I would send it to Danny Fudge to be looked at. He is really good. That pen deserves to be at its best so it will please you. I love that pattern.

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    NumberSix (November 13th, 2020)

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Quote Originally Posted by pajaro View Post
    Beautiful pen. I would send it to Danny Fudge to be looked at. He is really good. That pen deserves to be at its best so it will please you. I love that pattern.
    I have already corresponded with him today about it, and he confirms everything y'all have been saying.

    I'll be sending it to him next week along with a dirt cheap Wearever I've got coming from eBay. Thanks to the lessons I am learning today, I won't even try to ink that Wearever! (Not that I expected it to work anyway when I clicked Buy It Now.) He already has a Vacumatic of mine right now.

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Sounds like a J-bar issue. Sometimes they corrode and either lose temper (collapse), or break, such that the expanding sac is the only thing putting compression on the lever to keep it closed. A third possibility is that some left-behind debris became wedged between the bar and the barrel wall, or that a replaced J-bar was poorly fitted. Both of theses scenarios can result in a pen which will function, but not keep the lever taught. Pretty likely, if the pen has just been worked on. Learning how to diagnose can be the difference between shaking out some crap and using you pen or, spending a bunch of money for someone else to do it.

    BTW, if the bar is not springing back far enough to hold the lever in place, it is also not allowing the sac to expand fully, thus limiting ink capacity.

    With Parkettes, good color, trim, and nib are hard to find in one pen. So many of these are beat up. Yours looks like a good candidate for a once-over, especially if you like the way it writes.

    Bob
    Last edited by Seattleite; November 19th, 2020 at 07:15 AM.

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Checking in.

    I finally sent the pen out for repair and got it back a few weeks ago. Tonight I inked it up with Perle Noire - it's a very Fine nib, so I wanted a more flowy ink.

    It's writing great. The lever is still a little wiggly, but nothing like it was before. And when pulling the lever to fill, it's obvious it's nice and solid now.

    I am pleased.

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    I can't quite tell from your photo, is the pen similar to this one?

    parkette_1.jpg
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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Close. The color is the same, despite my poor lighting. (I think this pink/red with black tips is a standard color, based on https://parkerpens.net/parco.html#parkette).

    Mine has rounded ends and a different clip than yours. It's about 4 3/4" capped.

    The nearest match I can find on the parkerpens site is the 1938 Junior, but the clip is different. None of the clips/caps matches mine exactly on that site. Maybe in the last 80 years, the clip was switched out at some point.




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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    There are various ways of ensuring that a lever doesn't flop around loosely. The Parkette depends entirely on a well-sprung j-bar. Lever fillers weren't Parker's strong point.

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Quote Originally Posted by eachan View Post
    There are various ways of ensuring that a lever doesn't flop around loosely. The Parkette depends entirely on a well-sprung j-bar. Lever fillers weren't Parker's strong point.
    There was a question at the London Pen Club christmas quiz a couple of years ago, what was the last lever filled Parker?

    I haven't thought about it but perhaps the next question could be what was the first lever filled Parker pen branded as a Parker.

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Not well up on my US Parkers these days. Were they one and the same?

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    Quote Originally Posted by eachan View Post
    Not well up on my US Parkers these days. Were they one and the same?
    Nor am I, so you could be right, I cannot even remember if the lever filled pen that I was thinking of had Parker on the clip, (I passed on the club quiz question too).

    Someone will know

    eta, I am not sure that Parker pens Penography will help you too much.
    Last edited by RobJohnson; December 19th, 2020 at 01:27 PM.

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    The thrift-time Parkers get confusing. There are some variations that Penography doesn't have. All great pens in glorious patterns.

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    Default Re: Parker Parkette - did I break my beautiful new pen?

    THIS is why lever fillers scare me. I have more than a handful of them and I simply don't use them because they are so easy to spring. It might be a different story if I had the means and inclination to work on them myself, but I don't. The only ones iI do use are my Esties, which I usually pull the nib and fill with a pipette. But more often they're sidelined.
    Sent from my constipated POS computer at work.

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