This morning I dropped my pen case with two Parker 51, some Pelikan 400 and Lamy 27. Fell about 1-1.50 meter downward to the floor.

When I had my first meeting this morning I tried to uncap my favourite 51: no chance!
My colleague tried: He also could not uncap it. I can unsrew the barrel but the rest is like glued into the cap!

I tried the other 51: same problem!

I tried the Pelikans and Lamys that had suffered from the same fall and all of them work fine!

So what had happened to my 51s? And what can I do about it?

I don't want to use some force because I don't want to add some other damage to it.
Pens get dropped every now and then. They should be able to tolerate it to a certain degree.

What I'm guessing happened is that the cap was well-and-truly jammed onto the barrel when the pen attempted to commit pennicide.

I'd suggest a gentle twisting & pulling action to get the cap off. As GENTLE as possible, and the cap should slide off eventually. Too much force and you risk bending the cap/splitting the plastic. Take your time.

I had this happen a couple of years ago. I sent my 51 to Richard Binder to handle. If I recall correctly, he had to cut the cap off. I really would not try to yank it off. You might want to contact Richard and see what he says.

1. send it to a pro if you want some sort of guarantee that this job will be done right.

OR

2. Wrap the cap in double sided tape. Wrap the barrel with double sided tape. Stick your hands to the pen. Pull it apart.


Regarding pens being able to handle being dropped "to a certain degree" - 51s can handle it to a certain degree. You just exceeded that degree!

Does anybody know someone in UK who is able to handle my suicidal 51s?

You've probably tried this already - but have you tried screwing off the barrel, and then gripping by the metal tube? It worked fine for me, but mine probably wasn't wedged on so hard. Best of luck!

Huh?

Assuming this is an Aero, which is the 51 that will have the barrel unthreaded, upon unscrewing, you will see the sac and the cage. The metal tube will by inside the sac. What am I missing?

I think arbatrmwc meant the sac protector by the metal tube.

I have never had that problem and i am just guessing that a possibility is to gently heat the cap with a hair dryer. It just might expand it enough for you to be able to pull it off.

Thanks a lot!!

I did not dare gripping the metal tube because I was afraid of damaging the pens even more.
First I tried the grey one. This barrel was not jammed that bad into the cap and it ain't my favourite pen anyway. I tried to move it a bit and when it started coming free I pulled it out. Yippee!

After I had been sucessfull I gave the black 51 a try. Very careful, because it was jammed harder into the cap.
And it came off, too!!!! I am so happy because this is a very nice wet medium nib. The only one that makes Pelikan blueblack look like blueblack and not like bluegrey.

It is really great to have you helping with my pen problems! Thank you all.

Now I know that I have to find a more solid pencase for my 51s!