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Cleaning Ink From Parker 51 Hood


acsc100

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When my grandfather died almost twenty years ago, three of his pens came to me. One is a 1960's Parker 51, made in England. It has sat in a box until two weeks ago when I decided to put some ink in it. And, remarkably, it works beautifully.

 

Now I am trying to clean it up. There are ink stains on the hood. Can anyone tell me how I might get these off without disassembling the pen? I am not sure that I am competent enough to risk that!

 

Many thanks.

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Try soaking in water at least overnight (something like a shot glass is a good container to use for that. You may also try using a flushing solution like JB Pen Flush.

 

Also, do a search on FPN for P-51 cleaning method. OcalaFlGuy posted a detailed one June 19 2012

Moshe ben David

 

"Behold, He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps!"

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Also, do a search on FPN for P-51 cleaning method. OcalaFlGuy posted a detailed one June 19 2012

Pinned at the beginning of the Parker sub-forum.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

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Thank you, Bruce. I found your post. Apologies for not locating it before.

I had read elsewhere that it was unwise to soak a pen overnight in an ammonia solution. It seems that this would be just fine for a Parker 51. Correct?

Alister

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10% Ammonia water will not adversely affect a Parker 51 for soaking.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, I performed the prolonged ammonia soak, but the end of the hood is still discoloured--perhaps even more so. Any other ideas? Or has the material simply corroded over time?

Thanks.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think the ammonia solution is used for flushing, not soaking.

 

I wouldn't soak any of my pens in an ammonia solution.

Okay, I have done some research. I was wrong about this.

 

The statements I have read vary a bit.

 

My understanding now is that a 10% solution is okay.

 

I have a bottle of household ammonia that is already a 10% solution as bought, so I needn't dilute this, correct?

 

Is it safe for vintage pens such as Waterman 52?

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Yes you would dilute the 10% household ammonia 5 or 10 to 1. But, some of us believe there is an embrittlement of the 14K gold parts (nib, clip, etc) that are in prolonged contact with ammonia solutions most likely due to leaching of the copper (or other non-gold metal) in the alloy.

San Francisco International Pen Show - The next “Funnest Pen Show” is on schedule for August 23-24-25, 2024.  Watch the show website for registration details. 
 

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