Hi everyone,

I recently came into possession of a Parker '51' mechanical pencil. How does one operate one of these pencils and what kind of leads does one use to fill them with?

Shangas,

There are two types of 51 pencils. There are twist pencils (two types) and push pencils. On the push pencils, the lead is advanced by pushing down the cap. The twist pencils either advance the lead by twisting the cap or twisting the metal point at the tip of the pencil.

There is more than one size of lead out there but my current 51 pencil uses 0.9 mm refills.

Todd

I see.

Mine's a push-pencil. I press down on the 'cap' at the back of the pencil and a small metallic tube comes out the tip, which is split into thirds. How do I insert lead into this kind of pencil? What kind? and how easily-accessible is 0.9 lead? I have 0.5 & 0.7.

I believe .9 lead is easily available, I think I saw some at walmart the other day.

Thanks. I'll buy some while I'm out today. But how do I fill and operate this pencil?

Shangas, the 0.9 size has been increasingly popular lately as some of the recent non-disposable MP releases have been made in it. Once hard to find, it now pops up everywhere. At last check, Staples had many varieties of 0.9 leads available.

Much like my F's and XF's in fountain pens, I've always liked thin pencil lines (wood pencils were heck for me...I'd resharpen every 1/3 of a page or so). I had equally OCD friends in grade school who kept a piece of scrap paper to "dull" freshly sharpened pencils. We drove each other crazy...lol.

That's the problem with lead solved, now, can someone solve the problem of operation?

Pencil as I found it:



After pressing down on the spring-gold-filled 'cap':



What is that metal thing poking out of the tip? And how do I fill one of these pencils?

I wonder if you can add lead through the hole of that metallic thing that pokes out (you would have to play with the push or twist mechanism to slot in the lead)? I have a Sheaffer mechanical pencil, and I nearly damaged the pencil by forcing the lead from the top. I then learned that the pencil leads are inserted from bottom.

purpledog

Shangas,

The lead should self feed into the pencil. Take off the cap and then remove the eraser. Put the leads in the barrel. Click a few times and it should start to feed. If not, you most likely have lead jammed in the mechanism. To check, look down the barrel and look for the small point of light at the other end. Many pens I've gotten have had a bit of lead jammed in the the channel and caused the pen not to feed. To remove the lead, I fish it through with a fine wire or probe.

Todd

My push-pencil "51" loads from the back end as well.

Followed the instructions. Not quite sure if I'm doing this right. Can someone provide photos?

--

Should add: No evidence of clogging. When I put the lead in (0.7mm), it just slides right out after I click down on it and the little metal protrusion sticks out of the pencil-tip. I shall try and find some 0.9mm pencil-leads today and see what happens.

did you still need photos? the flighter pencil I just got is the same as yours. I can take photos of it if you want. But the folks above are right:

1. take off the cap
2. remove the eraser (my eraser collar is a little tight, so I have to wiggle it a bit)
3. place the lead inside and replace everything.

I had to poke a lead through the clutch as it comes out, but after that, I haven't had any problems. When I advance the lead until it is fully released by the clutch, a few pushes later another lead comes out.

I would VERY MUCH LOVE some photographs, please. I'm completely lost as to how this pencil works...

Can't give you photo's but can give a description of how the mechanicals work.

You load the pen from the top end (as described), with the lead going into a chamber. This chamber funnels down to the tip of the pen where there is a hole big enough for one lead to escape.
Below the chamber, and attached to it, is a clutch tube that's cut into 3 or 4 segments (that's the bit sticking out of the pointed end of the pencil in your second photo). The upper edge of the clutch tube is tapered, and the smallest end is attached to the lead chamber by some means. The clutch tube has a through hole that is nominally the size of the lead.
Now, the lead chamber is sprung loaded against the pencil's body, and the tapered section of the clutch tube engages in a similarly tapered end of the pencil body. So, the spring forces the chamber away from the point, pulling the clutch tube into its taper, which closes the segments of the clutch together, which grips the lead. When you push the end of the pencil down you are pushing the lead chamber down and the clutch tube comes out of its taper, allowing the segments to spread and lead to drop out until you release the end of the pencil.
Very simple method of operation, but requires fairly good machining tolerances.

Regards

Richard.

So do I put in one piece of led? Or can I put in say, two or three?

--

Not having any luck here. When I remove the gold cap, the entire shiny steel thing with the space for the eraser at the top, comes out. Is this right?

I put the lead (0.9 size) into the bottom half of the pencil and put the other metal part back to it's original place, with the lead going through it. Then, the cap goes on. One click, two clicks, three, four...no lead comes out. Or, the little clutch comes out, but no lead. ANd the clutch won't retract, either...is this pencil completely shot up?

Yes.
One, or two or three or the whole pack so long as it doesn't jam up in the chamber.
Maybe even a yard of the stuff. (Yard-o-Led = 12 off 3" pieces). I don't think you can go the whole nine yards though.

Regards

Richard.

I cannot get this damned thing to work, Richard...It either comes falling out, it doesn't come out at all, or the clutch comes out but doesn't retract...

The only answer, then, is to hit it repeatedly with a sledge hammer.
It'll make you feel much better.

Seriously though, I suspect there must be damage inside somewhere. Possibly the clutch is burred or worn, the spring is weakened/broken or something else isn't right - maybe the clutch isn't reliably attached to the chamber. Without physically looking at the parts I suspect diagnosis will be impossible. Sorry.

Regards

Richard.

I just took photos of my pencil, but don't have the cable to connect it to my computer! ARGGGG!!

Based on your description of the clutch coming out but not retracting, you have a mechanical problem.
When I remove the lead in the clutch and keep pushing on the cap, the clutch retracts just fine. It also has no problems retracting when there is a lead in the clutch.

sounds to me like the clutch is stuck in a slightly open position as it either wont retract or lead just slips out.

Just noticed this... when there is no lead in the clutch, does the clutch retract fully into the tip of the pen such that it's flush with the end of the pencil? Mine does. If yours doesn't, then there is something impeding the clutch from seating fully into the barrel.

Thanks for that, Johny, now I know what the problem is!

I think you guys are right. The clutch is stuffed. I'll shift over to the Repair forum and see what they can do...