I'm just getting into disassembling some of my mounting horde of 51s. I mean, the Borg Queen orders me to buy them, and, well, then what? One question I have is with regards to the slits and groove on the 51 collector. Do these need to be aligned with the nib and feed? If so, which way??? And does that fine slit on the feed really do anything? Inquiring minds have a tough time believing.

Yes, and no.

The early repair manuals said that you had to have the big slit on top, the little slit on the bottom. But I have a 1954 Parker repair manual with an addendum that says that their research department had determined that it really didn't matter which slit was on top. It didn't say that a slit didn't need to be on top and lined up with the nib, just that it didn't matter which one. Truth is, I see them both ways when I open up a 51.

Having said that I like to put the big one on top because that was the way they had it at first, and it's easy to remember - like a circus tent; "big top."

Thanks, Ron! In the few I've taken apart, I've seen orientations all over the compass, and they all didn't appear to have much bearing whatsoever on their pre-dissambley writing prowess!!!!!!!

What he said... THAT !!!!!!

I've actually done the experiment, and I've found that orientation -- despite what Parker's 1954 manual says -- is important. Flow is perceptibly better if the broad air channel is aligned with the top of the nib so that the ink slit is aligned with the underside of the nib, where the gap that allows proper air flow is located.

The fissure on feeds manufactured from 1946 on does improve flow a little, not in terms of quantity but in terms of evenness. That said, the improvement is very minor -- although it's actually more noticeable if you don't bother to align the collector correctly.

Thanks, Ron and Richard. I have a few more to take apart and swap out parts, adding to the junque pile of chipped hoods, cracked barrels, and dynamited nibs. I will re-assemble with the indicated collector orientation.