My First 45!

[Cryptos]

Well, I've got the converter out, given everything a good clean - even took the nib bits out - and filled it with some Lamy Black (my expendable ink) and it writes like a dream! I am really quite impressed with how smooth this thing is. And I am equally impressed with how springy the nib feels. I actually get line variation with hardly any pressure. FTW!

 

 

EDIT: It appears this is one of the early versions. Inverse conical cap, fat converter, gold nib, grey colour.

Edited January 5, 2015 by Cryptos

[SockAddict]

Okay, a couple days in, and I am really loving this pen. I want more. This could be bad … or expensive, anyway!

 

I think I may be becoming a Parker girl. Or, becoming again, actually. My first 'nice' pen was a Parker Classic ballpoint, in Denim blue. I had it for several years before it disappeared one day, and I was heartbroken. My first 'nice' fountain pen was a Sonnet, engraved with my name, that my husband gave me for my birthday ten years ago. (Luckily, I seem to have gotten one of the good ones.) And now, I just keep looking at all the other Parker models.

 

I have a couple Sheaffers and an Esterbrook, and I love them all, but Parkers seem to be getting that special spot in my heart!

 

I have a Parker Vacumatic arriving in the mail sometime soon … I have mentioned I'm not good at waiting ...

[OcalaFlGuy]

Sock, the icing on the 45 cake is to teach them to do tricks.

 

 

 

I have 5 45s with ground gold nibs where the grind cost more than the pen.

 

Worth every single penny.

 

A custom ground, 14k gold nib, SOLID pen for $50-60 total?

 

That's a no brainer right there. Plus you get the nib flow tuned when you get the grind.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[bsenn]

Okay, a couple days in, and I am really loving this pen. I want more. This could be bad … or expensive, anyway!

 

I think I may be becoming a Parker girl.

 

I have a Parker Vacumatic arriving in the mail sometime soon … I have mentioned I'm not good at waiting ...

 

Careful, 45's and Vacs are like potato chips... Can't have just one!

 

 

 

Brian

[Cryptos]

Hmmm, not meaning to be critical here but I do not see exactly how the custom grind is showing on your writing Bruce. Could be that it's a combination of looking at a screen and the grind being quite small. I dunno.

 

I'll try and do a writing sample with the one that arrived yesterday (when I get home), see if there's much difference. I don't think mine has a custom nib (in fact I would doubt it quite frankly), but I get quite a lot of variation if I push the nib a little bit - something like 0.2 - 0.6 mm. Of course that may be normal variation for a gold nib, I'm not sure.

[Sasha Royale]

Yup. You will likely feel the same way about your tenth Parker 45. Don't let a Parker 45

get you "pepper-sprayed". Here is a quick flush I use on my cartridge pens.

 

 

Trim the snout in small increments to fit over the section. Force clean, room-temp water through

the section in both directions. Repeat with air only. Wick dry with nib in contact with dry paper

for 30 minutes. (You'll be lucky to make it through 20 minutes.) Ink.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Sasha Royale

[SockAddict]

Sock, the icing on the 45 cake is to teach them to do tricks.

 

 

 

Ooh … I want a nice CI nib. I hadn't thought of having it done to a 45. Oooh ...

[Cryptos]

I have an eBay listing that may be of particular interest to Bruce. It's not something that I am looking for, however, I am blocked from sending a PM and I am not posting a link on a public forum*. Dilemma.

 

 

 

 

 

*not looking for gratitude either, this is simply something I saw and he is the only person I know that may appreciate it. 1+1=2.

[SockAddict]

 

Careful, 45's and Vacs are like potato chips... Can't have just one!

 

 

 

 

Brian, I want to be you when I grow up. Or at least, have your toys … I can see a frightening degree of temptation here. I'm already looking for the next hit.

[SockAddict]

 

 

(You'll be lucky to make it through 20 minutes.) Ink.

 

I'll be lucky to make it 10!

 

Thank you. That looks very handy. I've had good success so far with an ear bulb.

[SockAddict]

Okay, so I went wandering around the house and gathered all the Parkers I could find. I came up with:

 

Debutante Vacumatic, Azure Pearl (It came today! Whee!)

Jotter ballpont, greenish, seriously chewed point (not me, my puppy)

turquoise 45 Classic

Classic ballpoint, CT Flghter

transparent red Vector

Sonnet, Matte Black

2 Reflexes, blue and black

 

I'd'a sworn there was a reddish Jotter around here somewhere, too. Hrm.

 

Might have to take a family picture! I mean, they get together so rarely, and all.

[SockAddict]

The Tuning Kit from Goulet Pens arrived! Can't wait to get at my 45 and finish that smoothing job. This time I will take it all apart to align the tines properly, too. I also got a converter, since I didn't get one with the pen. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll have time before this evening. Wanna play now!

[OcalaFlGuy]

Nib work.

 

Little baby steps (tis better to mess up less each try than more).

 

At least at first, don't push it past Good Enough.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[SockAddict]

Still haven't had a chance to go after this. When I do, I promise to be very, very careful. I am comforted, however, by the idea that there are still plenty of replacement nibs out there!

[SockAddict]

I took the nib apart again last night, cleaned it up, and took another good look at it. The spots that I thought were just spots from having old ink sitting on it were pitting.

 

For the moment, I've put that nib aside and put the nib from my second 45 in this one (I like them both, but this is the favorite of the two). It is writing nicely, but a tad dry. I haven't tried to do anything about that yet.

 

I have a cursive italic nib (custom grind) on order from Pendemonium, so I will, when that arrives, have two pens and two nibs. No problems there. I do expect my 45 collection will grow, though, so I'd like to know if the pitted nib is worth saving? It seemed like it would write well once I got the nib properly aligned. Any advice?

 

Also, this second 45 (a blue Arrow) is in pretty decent shape, but it looks like it lived in a desk drawer and got a bit banged up over the years. It could use some basic polishing. What works well for that?

 

Thank you all!

[Cryptos]

Did you send Pendemonium a nib to grind, or are you getting one from their own stock? If you sent your own did you send it in a pen?

[SockAddict]

I am getting one from their own stock. Because it is a semi-hooded nib, they'd be taking it out of the pen to grind anyway, so I decided this was easier and less anxiety-causing than sending a pen to them. For me, it costs a little more than the postage involved, but I know postage is expensive for you, so it would probably work out to less money. Probably a time-saver, too.

 

Are you still enjoying your new 45s?

[Cryptos]

Not sure really. The standard version I have - an early 45 - writes a thicker line than the more recent Kullock Centennial version, even thought thye are marked the same width (M). I'll give it a week or two and see how I get on. Overall I am a little uninspired by them, so watch this space!

[inkstainedruth]

Not sure really. The standard version I have - an early 45 - writes a thicker line than the more recent Kullock Centennial version, even thought thye are marked the same width (M). I'll give it a week or two and see how I get on. Overall I am a little uninspired by them, so watch this space!

Hmmm. Mine is an M and I love it. Nice and wet and smooth, and the 14K gives it just a tiny bit of spring (not as much as on my Pelikan M400, mind, but a tiny bit -- but then we're talking a vast difference in price as well).

I got lucky yesterday -- I was having to order some stuff, and comparing prices and what was available I ended up putting in an order to isellpens.com [standard disclaimers, yadda yadda, other than being a happy repeat customer). And while scoping out various pages to figure out what I desperately needed to order -- as opposed to the OOH SHINY! WANT! MUST HAVE! -- I happened onto the "Accessories" page and found a NOS converter (the old style Parker squeeze converter). A quick email off to Todd to make sure that the thing fit 45s as well as 180s and 75s, and when I got an affirmative response into the shopping cart it went! And for less than I've seen them listed for on the Bay of Evil. Yes, it was more expensive than my 45 was. No, I don't care -- it was still cheaper than most of the ones I'd been putting on my watch list

This way, the next time I do go wading in the "Bay", trolling for 45s, I can open up my focus a little bit. Before, I was passing up on pens that didn't fit all the criteria: 14K nib that isn't an M; has the original style converter -- rather than newer slide converters or cartridges, or nothing at all ; and not a black barrel (if I'm going to have duplicates of pens I want to be able to tell them apart -- and so I *don't* need another M nibbed black 45... ).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Cryptos]

I have the original converter on the early 45. It's quite a substantial thing. Unfortunately it doesn't quite fit in the Kullock so I had to get some cartridges. I may be tempted by a CI grind if Pendemonum is only asking $20 for it (that's what it looks like on their site). We'll see.