A friend has given me her Parker Duofold because she heard that I'd had a couple of pens repaired. Is this pen even practical for repair? If it was sent away for repair what should I expect as a reasonable price? Alternatively, could I keep an eye out for parts pens on EBay and what exactly am I looking for?

This pen was bought by my friend in 1947. It's an orange colour with Geo. S. Parker Parker Duofold Made in US stamped on it. Total length 11.5cm. The clip gives the patent date Sep 5 16. It's a button filler, but the button is missing. As for the nib, the feed is broken off. The nib itself looks as if it has been torn and then a rough repair carried out. There's no iridium left, to say it is well worn is an understatement. Marked Parker Duofold (illegible) Made in USA.

Hi Carrie
from the lenght you mention it look like it could be a Junior Duofold, and from the pics you provide it looks like it has been through a rough ride!
Buttons and a pressure bar can be found on sale on some fountain pens websites (eg. Nishimura?), so they won't be difficult to find. The nib, however, IMHO, seems very worn - does it have a tip at all?
One option could be to get another Junior on Ebay and then use its nib&section ensamble for this Junior.
My 2 cents worth!
Cheers

Mmmm. Junior Duofolds are great pens, but they don't go for much money. By the time you'd paid for the replacement of the filling mechanism and the nib and feed (which would probably be cheaper than having the nib re-tipped), it would likely have cost more than the average price of a good Duofold (I haven't looked recently, but you ought to have a choice in the range US$75-100).

If the pen were in nice condition otherwise, reclaiming a lost pen might make it worthwhile, but it looks like it's had a really hard life.

Sorry about that

Michael

You might keep it to take to pieces and put together again -- learn repair on it yourself.

Hi Carrie,

I have to agree with Montague and Michael above; the nib & feed will probably have to be replaced...or retipped. Retipping will cost more than the price of a new Duofold Jr. nib (John Mottishaw sells them for $50-$55...and I don't think that includes the feed). You can get a replacement button from David Nishimura's site (check the "Other parts" section on this page)) for $6 and Woodbin has the button-filler pressure bars for $3.50 each....I guess if you can find a similar " junker" (parts) pen with a good nib & feed, then you're off to the races... but if you want to pay someone to retip the nib (or purchase a new nib and feed), it's not going to be cheap...

It's a nice pen, though, so don't give up on it, if the rest of it is in good shape!

The nib definitely doesn't have any tip at all and I'd guess it's lost quite a length of its gold after the tip. It really is in incredibly bad shape. It doesn't show up well on the photo, but there's actually a tear running down the length as far as the U of USA.

Now I know exactly what the model is, I'll keep an eye out for a cheap parts pen on EBay and then hopefully get the pen back to its owner in working order.

Hi Carrie

If you're looking for a donor pen, then you need to know that you have a Junior Duofold Streamlined. They came in two broad types, the original flat tops and the later Streamlined. My impression (purely anecdotal) is that the flat tops are more common.

Good luck

Michael

i'd look for a section while you are at it, carrie. it appears that someone took a pliers to this one and chewed it up royally.
good luck