OK - I'm waiting on delivery of my first 61 cap filler (black classic model with a fine nib) and figured it would be good to review the appropriate steps to get this pen into the rotation. AFAIK it is in very good condition but I do not know how often it has been filled so I am anticipating a good flushing before giving the cap filler a try (I do this with all my new pens anyway... but they are usually a little easier to figure out what to do!).

So - IIRC the rinse method should involve a bulb of some sort to get the water flowing (suggestions for a cheap and available tool are appreciated - some have used a cutoff bulb type drug store syringe IIRC) - but do you fill it with water and then use the bulb to flush it from the filler end out through the nib? Only that direction or from the nib through the filler as well? Or do you fill the syringe with water and flush it from the bulb into the pen and out the nib?

Also - any ink suggestions? I've considered some of Jim's magic Quink Washable Blue as a solid choice and will stay away from highly saturated inks like Noodlers/PR. Any other thoughts on the best ink to use?

I believe that this pen is going to become my primary travel pen as well - it is my understanding that the cap filler 61s perform very well on aircraft (the same cannot be said for my "51" flighter which spit some ink into the cap the last time I travelled - and the breather hole was free and clear).

OK for Flushing, I use the small garden sprayer and the salad spinner technique. I have a small 1.5 Litre pressure sprayer that I fit to either the nib or the filler end with a piece of rubber tube. I then let water run through both ways at a low pressure.

I then spin the pen dry, both ways in the salad spinner as per Ron Z.

Leave to dry over night and then fill. I used Parker Washable blue at first as mine was an eBay find and had been used with some black ink that had dried out well and truely.

After a few days, the blue started to turn blue black, so I did a flush, spin, dry and refill. This time it remained fairly true blue, so when it needed a refill it got Quink Permanent Blue in it and has been running with that ever since.

I have taken it on a couple of flights and have had not problems, I just had it in a small ziploc bag in my jacket pocket just in case.

Best of luck with the 61, enjoy it

Jim

I used the ear syringe method to flush my 61 when I got it. I flushed it in both directions: from the cap fill out the nib, and from the nib out the cap fill. I didn't use a salad spinner, just wrapped the pen in two or three thicknesses of paper towel and swung it in an arc downwards at arm's length several times. This seemed to be enough.

I only use Parker Quink in the 61, on the theory that it's the ink the designers had in mind. It keeps the pen clean and happy. No issues with drying out, and the nib seems to be just wet enough. I have only had the pen a couple of months. I try to keep it full all the time (top up every two or three days), so I don't know whether I should flush it again or just keep going as long as it writes well. It seems to be far more reliable than I had heard.