Parker 51 Fountain Pen

I just bought one of these, as I hear it is a highly regarded vintage pen. Here is the auction link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...MEWN:IT&viewitem=&item=230141711393&rd=1&rd=1
I'm thinking I probably paid too much, but oh well!
I'm a FP newbie, just a Pelikano on my desk, so I would appreciate any tips or comments. Like, are there any inks I should avoid? And, how do you fill it? Any little tricks or techniques? Should I buy pens as if they were razors, and I have to try all of them?

Norm

norman931 said:

I just bought one of these, as I hear it is a highly regarded vintage pen. Here is the auction link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...MEWN:IT&viewitem=&item=230141711393&rd=1&rd=1
I'm thinking I probably paid too much, but oh well!
I'm a FP newbie, just a Pelikano on my desk, so I would appreciate any tips or comments. Like, are there any inks I should avoid? And, how do you fill it? Any little tricks or techniques? Should I buy pens as if they were razors, and I have to try all of them?

Norm

Click to expand...

I suggest a visit to Fountainpennetwork.com. Use water base inks, Noodlers and Private Reserve are about the best. I am a Sheaffer person but I believe this is vaccum filled pen. The sac is depressed either by hand or a button at the end of the barrel. The end of the barrel unscrews to give access to this button. I think I am not sure. While the sac is squeezed dip the tip in the ink bottle and release the button. Hold nib in ink for about 10 seconds. The action of releasing the sac will "vaccum" ink into the sac. Maybe a Parker aficionado will chime in and correct if I am wrong. Nice pen!!

Raf

Even more informative would be a trip to www.richardspens.com and go to the reference section, where you can learn about the Vacumatic Filling System, which is what this pen is fitted with. You would no doubt have paid less for a Parker 51 with an Aerometric Filling System (both systems work just fine).
If you have any specific questions you can email or PM me directly and I will help if I am able.
Ken

Also check out www.parker51.com which, as you might expect, has a lot of info on the 51. The 51 is on everyone's short list of great fountain pens.

I dont think you got that bad a deal. 80 bucks for a restored vac isnt unreasonable, they definitely go for more than that on the retail sites, assuming that the refit was done well.

Avoid any non-water soluble inks, like india ink. Noodles and a few others have waterproof inks that are water soluble, if youre worried about that (like for writing checks and such). What that means is theyre water soluble till theyre used to write on paper, then they bond with the paper.

When you get the pen youll see a oval opening under the nib. Make sure thats submerged and press the plunger under the cap on the back of the pen 12-14 times, I think (it may be 10-12). Vacs load up with alot of ink, and with a fine tip, youll be able to get alot of writing done before youll need to refill it.

Theyre great pens. I recently got my first and had to get a second right after that (w/ an XF nib). Theyre tough too. You can use them with carbon paper. You should be very happy with it.

Nice looking pen! You may also want to consider the Waterman inks, which are recommended by Richard Binder (of the richardspens site above) for "51"s. Enjoy it!

Enjoy your new pen. It's a classic!
+1 on www.richardspens.com and www.parker51.com.
I think I'd stay away from heavily pigmented inks.
You DO want to use fountain pen ink.

I appreciate all of the comments, guys! I'll let you know how it goes in a few days!

Norm

Norm,

You can also try this site- they may help and also add to your FPAD

http://www.pendemonium.com/

You didn't overpay, especially for a restored jewel clip. That is one of the first 51's, made prior to 1947. I use a 1960's gold-filled 51 Signet daily, and I love it.

+1 on richardspens. I sold him a ton of sheaffer parts my Grandfather had, and he built me a Sentinel Deluxe from some of them, so I have a 3 year old vintage pen!

I got my wife a restored Parker 51 "flighter" (stainless steel barrel and cap) for Christmas. I found one in my parent's desk when I was a kid, and used it throughout high school. They're great pens; if I did enough handwriting nowadays I'd get another one for myself in a heartbeat.