I purchased a beautiful Vista Blue Parker 61 (Mk II ??) for $22.00 inc shipping.

Spent 3 days cleaning it. Then let it sit wrapped in changes of paper towel until no more water came out of the nib.
Filled it with Noodlers Navajo Turquoise, this is not a highly saturated ink IMO and writes beautifully in any pen I have tried it in.
In this pen I find it to write dry.... is dry writing normal for a 61 or do I need to do something here. The pen is a real sweetie and just cries to be filled with turquoise ink. I really don't want to do through all that cleaning again. And please don't tell me it's the ink unless you can recommend the same color from another manufacturer that will work...
HELP

The pen writes proportionally to the amount you paid.
If you had paid full price it would write better
Try Waterman Florida Blue.

Hi Tom.

I have two P61's and both of them write on the dry side. I thought maybe I happened to get a couple of oddballs, but I have seen this same question asked on other boards, and at this years Michigan pen show, so I'm beginning to think that it is a normal condition.

Larry

My partners father gave me his parker 61 set which he received for his 21st birthday, it is an English set with a polka dot case and in mint condition.

I filled it with black Quink and it wrote with a wet line and not dry at all....

Give the seller another $10 and then try it again.

Hi,

This is a common problem.

I have a wet one, but these are not all that common.

I did fix up two dry 61 nibs. It is a dangerous process, but, OldGriz, if you want, I can get you instructions.

Dillon

I have a 61 that Dillon has adjusted and the flow is about perfect - not a gusher by any stretch, but not dry (bought from a fellow FPNer). I believe Richards profile mentions the dry writing as one known issue.

Griz,

I assume this is a converter model, so try a different converter on it, I have found that the cheaper slider piston ones work better.

Just a thought.

Jim

Nope a nice capillary filler Jim....

Griz,

My answer would be to flush that 61 out again and try something like the Quink Washable blue in it. The clue will be not if the flow changes but if the ink changes colour. My 61 capilliary will write with about anything now, but it took me a month before it would write anything sensible. I could flush it until it ran clean, but after about three days, the Washable Blue turned into a blue/black, which meant there was still some gunk in there.

I even made up my own 61 flusher, a 1 Litre Garden sprayer, tube over the brass spray outlet and then the other end of the tube over the nib or filler. Light pump and pull the trigger and water flows through the pen. Liquid ink runs clear in about 3 mins, then in the salad spinner to get the rest out. Dry out for 48 hours, refill and on you go. After the dire warnings I was reluctant to try and get the hood off. It did work eventually, but it has to be a 'mushroom project', keep it in the dark and take it out twice daily for a month. Not as if you have nothing to write with Griz

Jim

Hi,

It is very likely that the tines of you "61" nib are very tightly spaced, Old Griz.

Something to look for.

Dillon

Well based on some of the information I got here.... I decided to flush out the pen AGAIN... it is currently sitting nib down in a pile of paper towels and then I will flush again and let is sit some more...
I ordered a bottle of Waterman Florida Blue and Souths Seas Blue. I am hoping that it is the ink and not the pen that is causing the problem.
The nib spacing looks good.
This is one pretty pen. It looks like this one from Richard's site

except that the arrow is gold. So I guess you can see why I was seriously looking at Noodlers Navajo Turquoise in this pen... hopefully the South Seas Blue will be just as nice.

Griz - I bought a bottle of Washable Blue per Jim's recommendations for my recently acquired 61 - but prior to that was using Florida Blue with pretty good results. I use South Seas Blue in several other pens and it is both a beautiful color (quite vibrant and not washed out at all) but has tremendous flow properties. I think you'll be happy.

And don't feel too bad, I had to flush mine out twice and I still couldn't get all the water out of it despite leaving it nib down in paper towels for a day - so that my first load of washable blue was very pale ... much improved now but as another new 61 owner do not underestimate how stingy the cap filler and collector in the 61 are with letting go of old dried up stuff and with water after flushing. I have considered the centrifuge/salad spinner to be overkill until I owned a 61 - now I'm figuring out when I can get to the dollar store/wally world to try to find a low end one to convert for theses purpose.

Once they work they are a remarkable design but it is readily apparent after cleaning one a few times why they were not a huge hit in the marketplace.

Edited to add: I also gave my collector a good soaking for a day as well...

My 61 (same color as yours but with gold vermeil cap) is very nice writer, not too dry or not too wet. I've only used it with Waterman Florida Blue and South Sea Blue. I might try my sample of Diamine Mediterranean Blue. That gives me an idea I'm gonna take it to my trip to Japan next week. No sloshing fluid inside, TSA-friendly slip cap

Hi,

My 61 is a grey first edition. I just cleaned it completely, then filled it with Pelikan Brilliant Green and wrote with it immediately.

My 61 is a rather wet pen.

Dillon

Well I was flushing out my 61 today because I filled it with South Sea Blue and decided I want a different ink. Then I spilled water I was soaking it and the gold arrow came off I was ready to use super glue but did search here before I did that, and saw Richard's reply to another thread. I guess super glue is a big no-no. I don't think I have a time to repair it before I leave so 61 is going to stay home <_<

What would you guys value this set at - grey with the rainbow caps - the set has the original polka dot case and in very good condition.

Looks like you have the least common of the 61 rainbow cap models: yellow and brown RG, only made in the UK. The other color made by Parker England was pink and green RG, this was also made in the US, along with nickel and silver and yellow gold (filled) and silver.

If the set is in as nice condition as they look, you'd pay upwards of $200 here in the US, more in the UK. Selling price from one collector to another would be perhaps $150-175, but that's a guess. Drop a line to Peter Ford of Melbourne Pens, he could give you a good estimate--very nice fellow.

Really lovely set and great color on the caps!

Dan Carmell

Alas I dont own this set yet....by monday hopefully it'll be mine.

I think the brown may just be tarnish....

My bottle of Waterman's South Sea Blue ink arrived yesterday and I filled the 61 with it.... what a world of difference... the pen writes like a dream... a nice wet beautiful line that almost perfectly matches the color of the pen... just what I wanted.

Tom - I'm glad that worked out for you! That is a nice pen and SSBlue is one of my favorite ink colors (and it is a very good flowing ink).

Enjoy!

I have a black 61 I inherited NOS. I used Waterman's Florida Blue in it and it was my favorite pen, wonderful writer. But since it is black, I cleaned it out and tried Noodler's red/black - and it would hardly write. I have been skeptical in the past that ink would make that much difference, esp if said ink works fine in other pens (as is the case with the red/black in my vanishing point and snorkel). But sure enough, I went back to Florida blue in my 61 and it writes well again.

Even so, Tom, some of us utter curses at you for your capacity to get deals. Maybe that was part of your problem.