In another thread King Joe said that he had made a P61 nib so that it fitted in a P51 body, and that the pen combined the strength & durability of the P51 with the gorgeous nib of the P61 - combining the best features of both pens.

Now, I had a P51 with a fine nib I wanted to replace and 30 year-old P61 who's section, feed & barrel were completely worn out. So..

I now have a fantastic lashup. It really is beautiful to write with. If I were to describe it fully, you'd soon get bored of all the superlatives.

The P51 & 61 nibs are very similar in length, radius and cutouts. The primary difference between them is that the P61 nib has three extra tangs compared to the P51 nib - two to clutch the feed and one to orient the nib in the collector. These need to be filed off carefully with a needle file. Shortly thereafter you'll have a working P51 with a fantastic point. The whole process took less than an hour (including washing out both pens, finding the tools and doing the job).

If you have a P61 that's falling apart on you, but love the nib - now you know what to do with it.

And a big 'Thank You' to King Joe for the idea.

Regards

Richard.

Nice one Richard, now where did I put them old 61 bits wot is lurking around here

In all fairness...it wasn't my original idea. I actually obtained a 51 Vac with a 61 nib that had long ago been such modified...we believe by Parker.

Anyway, I'm glad you like it!! It sure is a heck of an idea. I have a pen that writes like my 61 (dreamy), but I don't have to be so afraid of cracking the barrel with normal usage. Plus...as much as I love the capillary-fillers, the 51s do hold more ink. And, as you said, now we have something to do with those old 61s that have become cracked or worn out or been hopelessly clogged with old ink.

Other than being able to reuse a 61 nib, what is the writing advantage over the standard "51" nib?

If they are the same except for the tangs, how do they write differently?

The only difference to me between my 61 and 51 users is the looks. The 61 has a nib milled for me by Parker and the 51 has the smoothest broad nib, so they do write a bit differently, but no preference whatsoever.

In the comparitively limited experience I've had of P51's and the somewhat wider experience of P61's I'd say there are the following differences:-

1) The P61 tipping is more generous. In particular the UK manufactured P61 tipping is vastly more generous than the US made P51.
2) The standard 'User Grade' P61 seems to have a wider 'sweet spot' than the 'User Grade' P51.
3) There seems to be a little line width variation possible with the P61 nib - possibly the gold is a little thinner.
4) The nib seems to be a bit wetter, which is an advantage given that the point seems to be a little broader for the same designation.
5) I've not yet tried a 'Binderised' or similar P51 nib so I can't give a comparison with one of them, but the P61 nib feel can be absolutely exquisite, the way it touches the paper, rubs over it and generally provides feedback. Basically, you can get a user grade P61 nib that feels like I'd want a nib-meistered nib to feel like - without the expense.

What it comes down to, I suppose, is that I think the P61 nib was a development of the P51 nib, and a little bit of an improvement.

Regards

Richard.