Parker 51 Nib Hood Alignment

[cwnidog]

I have a 1950 aerometric Parker 51whose nib hood and nib point are slightly out of alignment. Now, I note with a Parker 21 that I have I can unscrew the nib hood and screw it back on to align them. When I try to do it with my 51 (bare hand, no tools) it doesn't budge. I certainly don't want to force it.

 

It's not a huge misalignment, just a few degrees - the kind that would be caused by years of use by a right-handed person. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks.

-john

[FarmBoy]

Rinse and empty the pen. Heat the food using dry heat to soften the sealant and unscrew the hood. Adjust the position by rotating the collector and replace the hood. Depending on whom you listen to seal the hood with something or not. Fill write and enjoy.

[sloegin]

Rinse and empty the pen. Heat the food using dry heat to soften the sealant and unscrew the hood. Adjust the position by rotating the collector and replace the hood. Depending on whom you listen to seal the hood with something or not. Fill write and enjoy.

 

Food?

[FarmBoy]

Rinse and empty the pen. Heat the food using dry heat to soften the sealant and unscrew the hood. Adjust the position by rotating the collector and replace the hood. Depending on whom you listen to seal the hood with something or not. Fill write and enjoy.

 

Food?

I use iSpell buy iPhone...

[cwnidog]

Thanks all - the possible presence of sealant goes a long way to explain things.

 

-john

Edited February 23, 2013 by cwnidog

[penrivers]

To align or not to align that is the question on the P51, I suffered a lot

screwing and unscrewing maybe 20 times in an hour. The phlosophical solution lol

is not to thight until the end of the screw, just to unscrew a milimetrical bit

alignin in a straight line point of the Hood and nib

[Mike 59]

Hi, I had the same problem with mine, I thought it was 'superglued' on.

I tried hot water, and rubber bands to help with grip, but I was afraid of breaking the hood.

After many attempts, what worked for me was some WD-40 at the point where the alloy band is, left it to stand for a day, then added a few drops more, and it started to move, very slightly, but enough for me to undo it.

I think it had been 'shellac-ed' on, and hot air, is the correct way to unseal it, I have read, but I don't have a heat gun.

Once apart, the collector can turned to any position, and by trial and error, it can be set to the correct place for the point on the hood to line up with the centre of the nib.

[RalphP]

I think it had been 'shellac-ed' on, and hot air, is the correct way to unseal it, I have read, but I don't have a heat gun.

 

Once apart, the collector can turned to any position, and by trial and error, it can be set to the correct place for the point on the hood to line up with the centre of the nib.

 

A heat gun can be rather risky... they generally put out way too much heat - can warp the shell.

 

A small hair dryer works nicely - you can control the heat to something around 150 to 160 degrees. When the shell is no longer comfortable to hold - you've applied about the right amount of heat. Sometimes you have to administer the heat several times to let it "soak in" and work.

 

Just a thought...

[risingsun]

The lucite used in the 51's can take wet heat, so if you heat up some water to 160F or so, dunk the hood in the water just past the clutch ring for 30 seconds or so, and try that, you may have good success. This takes a few repetitions for me on occasion. A 3/4" long piece of rubber fuel hose cut longitudinally down the side makes a great gripper as well, IMHO.

 

I check water temp with my digital meat thermometer.

 

Do not try this with other celluloid pens!

[wekiva98]

Here's a low-tech suggestion for loosening the hood without using a heat gun -- try a heating pad. Fold it in half, put the end of the pen in the fold, and let things warm up for a few minutes. I put the pad on a wooden chair and then place a nice thick magazine on top to hold in the heat. You don't want to let it get too hot -- it only takes about 140 degrees or so to soften shellac -- so don't set the control on high and then forget it. I have one of those inexpensive heat blowers that crafters use, but I find the heating pad works perfectly fine for loosening a lot of things that are shellacked, such as Vacumatic sections and 51 hoods.

[Effin1]

Grandmia has a really neat tip for aligning nib to hood on one of his P51 videos. I think it's the 1 about servicing.

[psfred]

The trick to aligning the nib and hood on a "51" is to remember that when you put shellac on the threads (or section sealant for that matter), the lubrication of the wet shellac will allow the hood to turn just a bit more than it will dry with the same pressure. Adjust the hood to center over the right hand tine of the nib, add shellac to the threads, and it should end up exactly centered.

 

Later models with rubber o-ring seals will not require shellac if the 0-ring is good, but who believes a 50 year old o-ring will seal properly?

 

Minor misalignment will not affect the operation of the pen, neither will having the slit in the collectors not aligned to the nib, at least according to the factory. I still match them up and find them to work better than when I took the pen apart, but they are also always filled with Superchrome residue when they don't write well, so it's hard to tell.

 

Peter

[lavie]

I just tried using this method. Unfortunately, after replacing the hood, whenever I dot my "i"s or write a period with even a little bit of force, some ink gets sprayed on the page.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Lavie

[southshorecarol]

Yesterday I used hot tap water on my lovely Navy Grey. It worked. Thank you all.