Ryan Roossinck - LOOK AWAY!

Okay, first let me explain (and please don't take my other pens away from me). This is what I think happened.

This pen, this Parker 51 with the perfect nib, was safely ensconced in a leather pen case with three other pens. I had used the pen at work in the morning, and it was fine. You know how it is when you find a pen with the nib, what a joy it is to use, even for the shortest notes. Later in the afternoon, the pen case was on my desk. I swung around on my chair or dropped folders or there was some other minor disturbance around my desk, and the pen case dropped approximately 30" to the floor.

GASP!

No, not really. Cos all it means when your pen case falls from a low height is ink in the cap.

So I uncapped each pen to check for ink spillage, and there was nothing on the first three nibs. Which in itself was unusual. I figured I was lucky. I took the P51 out and tried to take the cap off. It wouldn't budge. I mean, it felt glued on.

The arrow had been amputated from the cap before I got the pen. So I twisted the cap, or tried to, and I couldn't.

So I tried to, ah... um... bottlecap-opener loosen the cap. I mean, I leaned the stub of the amputated arrow on my desk and applied leverage.

It didn't work.

I got a little frustrated.

I was pulling, tugging, trying to twist, yanking, I might have tried to bottle-opener it on my teeth. Probably not, but maybe, I can't remember.

Then, trying to turn the cap, I heard a KEEE-RACK! But! The cap was loose! I was able to take the cap off! A piece of plastic hung on a like loose baby tooth. I clicked that back into place.

The nib... I wish I could get the cap off to show you the nib. It was the nib version of Linda Blair in The Exorcist. A little out of alignment.

BUT IT WROTE! It still wrote!

It felt weird, having to hold the pen in a way to accommodate the twisted nib, but it still wrote. It was just the almost-unnoticablyest scratchy; nothing to prevent me from using the pen.

An hour went by. I was still shaken by the experience.

Then I got a bright idea.

If I put the cap back on tightly and twisted THE OTHER WAY, I could fix the nib!

And this is what happened:



And I can't get the cap off.




God, I'm so embarrassed.





Edited to fix the tenses.

Oh, the humanity!

That's pretty strange. The situation you described should not have produced that! Maybe it was fate. You would have used this pen so much you'd start to neglect your other pens. Then you'd start to neglect the meaningful relationships in your life: "Do I want to go out tonight? No, I've got to, umm, wash my hair tonight. *don't worry, Precious, I won't leave you alone tonight*". Is that what you wanted? Did you really want it to come to that? I didn't think so.

Still, the poor pen didn't deserve to be snapped in half. Maybe just a bent nib, but that carnage? Fate works in mysterious ways.

I, too, have dropped my P51 Special onto the floor, and jammed the cap on. Of course, it was in front of somebody I was trying to show off the pen to.
Fortunately, a couple of minutes of gripping and twisting and the cap came loose with no harm. I suspect that the warmth of my hand caused the cap to expand just that teenly little amount it needed.

In your case, it looks as though the only permanent damage is to the barrel. It shouldn't be too difficult to get a replacement one (he says, writing in ignorance...).

So long as the nib isn't permanently damaged, it should be possible to get it re-aligned properly.
I bought one P51 where the nib had no tipping at all. I was able to get a replacement nib for $20, put it in myself, and now have a beautiful writer.

The filler hoop assembly should just reattach, perhaps with the appropriate adhesive (Shellac?).

I was going to say that it is just a pen. But the way you wrote about the incident says that, to you, this is an important pen. You need to decide if you want to repair it, or put that money into a replacement P51. Not now, though. That will be a rational decision, and you can put that off till later.

Oh dear, what a lost to a beautiful pen.. Really sorry to hear that.. Do you have a duplicate to the damaged pen?

Think of the fun you'll have finding your next 51... Always look on the bright side of life... (Whistling part).

Couldn't help it, Lisa honey...had to look.

Shoot me a note. I might be able to help. At very least, I can probably point you towards someone who's got a barrel. All is not lost.

Prawnboy keeps is "51" close to him.

I'm sorry for your loss! It looked like such a pretty colour too.

To get a jammed cap off a 51, it's better to hold the pen loosely, like a drumstick, and tap around the cap where it is stuck on the barrel. That often works for me. If it doesn't, a little warm water usually does the trick. Patience is of the essence.

Ah, shoot, ether. Well, you need a new barrel, and the rest can probably be fixed up. If the hood is not broken, the nib can just be re-alligned.

Looks like it was a teal blue special - is that right?

I recently got a replacement 51 barrel in the teal blue from parker51.com - Ernesto Soler - I bet he can get the parts you need. While you are at it, you could add a clip for the cap too. His prices were very reasonable!

What a weird thing. You'd think the pen case would have cushioned the blow. Well, you had the pen well protected, it was just fate.

-Joe

Sweet mother of Jesus!

*Faints*

Wow ... I'm so sorry to read this. I really hope someone is able to fix it up for you, especially given how much you seem to have been digging how its writing characteristics.

Thanks for the sympathy, guys. You-all.

Ryan, I know you couldn't help but look, but I had to warn you. I (inadvertently) destroyed that pen so soon after it became mine, you know? And it was... I gotta say, a little humiliating. I mean... put the cap back on and twist in the other direction?! What was I THINKING?! It's as if I channelled Lucy Ricardo!

Shangas - Your response made me laugh and laugh. I'm still laughing. Thank you.

Joe, dcwaites, Ryan (again), JRodriguez -- I don't think this pen is salvageable. I mean, the nib was slightly out of alignment before I further mangled it. Actually, it's sortv like Schrodinger's cat at the moment. Is it dead? Or is it still kicking and screaming? Ryan, I'll send you a note, but I gotta work on this other thing (a work thing), and it's already later than I'd planned.

I'm okay. I hope I haven't offended the Parker sensibilities of the Parker experts.

When you do a number on a pen you really do a number on a pen!!!
I don't wanna shake your hand ;-))
Next time - if you do it again (and we all jam the odd cap), hold the barrel, wrapped in a cloth, in your hand and gently heat up the cap with your hair dryer. Expansion is a wonderful thang!
I had to do that with a 21 which arrived across the world having probably been mishandled by the posties.

Okay... so I guess that "defies description" does equal "was in an explosion"

I still think you've got a chance, 51s are pretty tough. Assuming the nib is alright, all that pen needs is a barrel, an arrow clip... and a new owner. Kidding, Ive killed a few 51s myself. Killed one I got off ebay just the other day, as a matter of fact. You won't be seein that pen round here anymore.

Glad I could make someone laugh over this.

What a horrible thing. You think there's a new barrel out there somewhere? Or is it possible to glue the old one back together?

I feel sick

Lisa, don't worry, it will be fixable. The most important part of the equation is the nib, and it is most likely fine inside the vault of a cap. Barrels and hoods are easy to find, again ask Ernesto at parker51.com.

Shangas, it is not likely that that barrel is one which can be glued together. Lucite basically does not solvent weld or glue at all. I know Ron has had some success with Tenax, but I recall that he was not totally satisfied with that either. Really, as the barrel is probably available on the market somewhere there should be no reason to try to glue this one.

If you need help with the pen Lisa, let me know. I would be glad to get it working again for you if you can find a barrel.

Cheers,
Sean

GASP!

Thanks again, Ryan, and thanks, Sean. I think I'm just going to leave things as they are for the time being. I have other priorities: car that won't start and a road trip to plan in YIKES! pretty soon! (No itinerary, so that part's taken care of. But budget allocations have to be made.)

I've got this P21 Super that I'm enjoying very much... and am being careful with. If the cap gets stuck, I'll use heat not brute strength and cartoonish antics to loosen it.

I'm sure I'll get another P51 eventually. I'm good with being patient.

Great gads of gobblety gloop, that is one messed up pen. I am so sorry that happened to you. You may be able to gather some parts and put the pen back into serviceable condition. My concern is if this pen is worth fixing as opposed to purchasing another. You mentioned the cap was without clip. Broken barrel. Nib and feed are in unknown condiiton. Sometimes, these pens just need to be allowed to pass away. You now know that you like 51's that write well. I think you''ll have another soon and that isn't bad. /Craig

Oh my. This is so sad. Think of all of the stuff this 51 survived! Think of how many dinner checks were signed, how many Dear John letters, how many journal or diary entries. Wow. Hmmm, maybe this is a sneaky-powerful lesson about attachment to objects. Unlikely, but worth entertaining? This is likely fixable, and if you've found "the nib" then Humpty is worth putting back together again...

Well, on the bright side, does this count as one of your 30 photographs?

Do you have a back yard where you can have a solemn ceremony and bury it next to Fluffy? After seeing the carnage I had to take a quick look around and make sure my Cedar Blue 51 didn't have a clear field of vision to see the screen!! It is now safely wrapped in velvet and bubble wrap and hiding in the bottom of my pen box!!

All of your comments have been very kind and some of them have made me laugh -- out loud! Thank you! Thank you for the sympathy and the advice and the moral support and the laughs (Pete: "Assuming the nib is alright, all that pen needs is a barrel, an arrow clip... and a new owner." -- I'm still laughing!). It's comforting to know where to turn for encouragement during times of pen crises. Thank you, all, truly. I will be in the market for a P51 eventually. I've got other pens to break in, to break IN.

Also, this happened maybe a month ago. I'm not quite sure. I'm well over the shock of it. The absurdity of what I'd done helped to buffer the searing disappointment, and I know it's a Parker 51, but, frankly, I've sustained much larger, sharper losses.

But man... that nib...

I'm pretty sure it's twisted and mangled now. I'm going to go with pakmanpony's advice and "bury" it in the freezer with "Fluffy*." (No backyard, no lawn, not even a flower box.) (Don't let the fact that I used "flower box" properly in a sentence lead you to believe that I'm familiar with those. I probably just read about them in a book.)




*There is no "Fluffy" in the freezer.

Anymore.

Our Fluffy, who is a walking stomach, surrounded by a cat body, would like to live in our 'fridge, if not in our freezer.

I used to have a Sugar Glider in my freezer, some decades ago. My then girlfriend, now my beloved, made me give it to a museum...

BTW, like many marsupials, Sugar Gliders are insane, paranoid, psychotic, murderous little beasties.

Do you kill "51"s just to watch them die?! What happened?



I guess they're more closely related to humans than I ever realized.

As I said in another post some months ago, these Australian possums have no corpus callosum. This is the thick band of nerves that joins the left and right halves of the brains.
So for them, truly the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
This makes them ideal material to become politicians...

Have you tried duct tape?

Speechless ....

But don't worry, I'm sure fate has planned another beautiful Parker 51 to come along and heal the pain ....

It was causin me problems so I took care of it. Dont worry, I buried it in the freezer next to my ex-wife.




There is no ex-wife in my freezer.


... anymore.












(She was delicious!)

High five to you, SIR!

Click to view attachment

If it is ANY consolation at all, the same thing happened to my Eversharp... and it has a solid gold cap. I certainly can commiserate.

It doesn't make me feel any better, ANM. OH! That is terrible! It looks like yours was in better condition overall than mine was. Ah well... we live, we lose, but we still live.

Is there any fixing it? See, mine, I'm sure the nib was mangled inside the cap, first in one direction, then in the other. (Still can't get the cap off to check. Heh.)

Yes, I can commiserate with you, too.

You have my sympathy!

I don't know if it can be fixed. I imagine finding a replacement barrel would be more difficult than finding one for yours... paraphrasing you. We live, we lose, but we learn and go on.

Oh. Sometimes I don't learn... (laughing).

But you can bet that I'm being careful with my P21. The cap's a bit tight, so I'm making sure that I'm gentle with it.

I don't think the P51 is worth fixing, but yours looks worth it. Solid gold cap? That thing needs a body! Good luck. I hope the quest is successful!

Isn't this true for all marsupials?



Come to think of it, I have never seen a politician play patty-cake...hmmm.... They could also use their pouch to hide bribes from Big Oil and Big Tobacco (or Big Opals or whatever you guys have over there )--how diabolically clever of them!



Did you eat your pen, too? Did you give it the old nib-nibble while the ink dribbled? I bet that Ridley Scott would love to make an award-winning movie out of your life called..."Glad-he-ate-her".

"[narrating, after Mother breaks the Old Man's Major Award, and he is unsuccessful at repairing it] With as much dignity as he could muster, the Old Man gathered up the sad remains of his shattered Major Award. Later that night, alone in the backyard, he buried it next to the garage. Now I could never be sure, but I thought that I heard the sound of "Taps" being played. Gently."

Would this keep you occupied for a while?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=190246345776

Sorry about the joke (and your pen)--I'm weak and couldn't resist.

But seriously, try putting the cap in hot water just long enough to heat it but not the barrel or clutch ring. Then try to wiggle it off while holding onto the remains of the barrel with needle-nose pliers. If you're lucky and the nib is still good, then you don't really NEED a barrel, do you? I mean, does Donald Duck wear trousers? Exactly. Just think of the hoop-style sac guard as a "51" Speedo, and you'll be fine.

Thanks for the laugh, Iridium. Those barrels are pretty! Tempting, too. However, George kindly offered to send me an extra barrel with the P51 I bought from him, and I'm thinking maybe I can gingerly pry the cap off. It's on there pretty good, though. When I tried to take the cap off the other day, the rest of the barrel came off... but that's it. I didn't try more than that, cos I was pretty sure the bladder (sac?) would come off, and there's ink in there still.

Ah! I have needlenose pliers! I can try your suggestion!

Cool.

"'51' Speedo..." Ha ha ha ew.

In five billion years or so, our Sun will go red giant, and fry the Earth to a cinder, and perhaps even engulf it. It is anticipated that even Parker 51s might succumb (though this is debatable). So you have just accelerated history a bit, not to worry.

Mmmmmm... fried chicken.

I think the Earth will exhaust its resources to sustain the human population saturating it long before the sun goes super nova. Hopefully by then we'll have mastered space travel and have gone elsewhere, taking our precious pens with us.

Hah...A thousand years in the future...

"Johnny get rid of those priceless antiques, those Van Gough paintings and that antique Steinway piano! I need to fit my pen-collection in the trunk!"

Oh dear...

SINK: Single-Income, No Kids -- Doing my part to control population growth.


Yer welcome, earth!



Edit: I just remembered what a friend told me years ago when I was complaining about a problem. He said, "One day you'll be dead, and none of this will matter." I laughed and laughed. All you ever need is a little perspective and optimism. Thanks, nihontochicken and MYU!

I guess that makes me SINKA... OHH MIA. Single income, no kid anymore...Oh Hell He Moved In Again

Even if humanity gets its act together, I doubt that the Earth will remain habitable for anywhere near five billion years because the Sun will keep putting out an ever-increasing amount of energy. In geologic terms, we've appeared at the tail-end of the Earth's habitable period (at least for large, multi-cellular organisms). To change this outcome, we would have to literally move the Earth--speed it up in order to move it to a larger orbit. This may save the planet when the Sun begins to grow in size, as well. Does anyone have an idea as to how to accomplish such a feat, preferably involving fountain pens?

Of course, this is all moot since we have the capability of destroying ourselves, and it's only a matter of a relatively small amount of time until this capability is utilized. I knew that we should have at least put a "51" on each of the Voyager and Pioneer probes, since it is a pen from another planet, after all.

To pick a nit, yes, we would have to put a lot of energy into the Earth to move it out of the potential energy well into a larger orbit, but, perhaps counter-intuitively, once in a stable, bigger diameter orbit, it would actually be moving slower. That aside, will global warming (more likely from the Sun radiance as opposed to the current protest de jour, carbon dioxide) end humanoid dominance of the Earth, or will we handily take care of that by ourselves beforehand?

My father always used to put it this way, ether:

"Just remember, in a hundred years...all new people."

In other words...this too shall pass.

I was just referring to how orbital maneuvering is usually done. If you want to pick nits, there are several to choose from, including my deliberate misuse of the term "energy" when I could have more correctly said "power"--"energy" just seemed better for a forum not devoted to physics.



This is quite off-topic by now, but sadly I just can't envision a species that possesses the capability to destroy itself surviving for more than a brief moment of geologic time. All it takes is a few nuts to ruin everybody's day, and there are more than a few nuts running around. Just look at what happened (and nearly happened) during the 20th century alone. Then there are asteroids, comets, and potential "nearby" supernovae to consider--overpopulation problem solved.

Broadly speaking, we're still on the topic of carnage.... Judges?


(Judges nod.)

I have no idea but if you add an extra coat of talc on the sac it should keep the pen from hoiking up ink caused by the higher ambient temperature.

I sort of know how you feel because I dropped my Hero 329 onto the concert floor at the studio in college. The other end broke but not the nib. I even used it for a while and still kept it as a momento. It was only just this year that I found another Hero 329.