Hi Everybody

I have a question regarding Parker hooded pens.

I own few Parker 51s and Parkers 61s.

The nibs on all my 51s need some work on them so they are not smooth writers (I am working on the problem right now).

As for my 61s I never inked them because I didnt want to plug up the finiky capilar system.

2 weeks ago I won on eBay a british 61 flighter with the converter and not the compicated capilar system.Needless to say right away I tried the pen and I was AMAZED this pen without a doubt is the best and smoothest writer I own even better then my new Omas Paragon and Pelikan M800.

So you have to tell me in your opinion who is the better writer between the two ? the 51 or the 61 ?
And if you want tell me in general how is the 61 compared to the 51 ?

Everything else being equal, the writing differences between a "51" and 61 are more about the feel of the pen itself, the 61 being a slimmer shape.

The nibs will be pretty much identical. I have compared a medium 61 with a medium "51" and the differences are barely noticeable. I think that your reaction may be in some part having an English nib. English Parker nibs are typically more generous than the US nibs in the size of the tipping and the line size, as has been well documented before.

On the subject of your "51"s not writing too well, this has been my experience with many "51"s that are bought from eBay. If you had asked me six months ago if I thought that a "51" nib would distort with the owners writing hand I would have said no. But now having seen a few where the tip is bent up and the nib has a defined bend to the left, I now question that belief. In fact I now take the nib out as a matter of course and examine it for bending before attempting any other form of smoothing.

So I think my answer to you would be, get a "51" writing as well as the 61 and then you can compare and contrast.

The good news is that writing with a smooth 61 won't be an onerous task whilst you get the "51"s sorted.

Jim