I'd like to take a 51 and possible remove part of the hood so that more of the nib is visible. How would this adversely affect the pen? Would it ruin the flow? or simply have the ink dry out more quickly?

As my eyesight becomes worse with the stupid bifocals, I'm finding it harder to write with a 51. If I can't see the nib, I rotate the pen in my hand and constantly have to stop, look closely at the pen and start again. The 61 poses no problem because of that big arrow.

Anyway, I'm interested in your thoughts on this possibility,

Thanks,
Dave

I'd say if you remove to much hood it may not work well. I'd also say ask around here for a "broken hood". Most people will have a few with the end broken off and you could experiment on one of those and have your good hood for later if it doesn't work.

Todd

THat's a good idea about he broken hood/s.

I tried placing a big sticker on it but didn't like that much either. Perhaps a line with a white china pencil could work too. But, I thought if it could work, I'd have a nifty little custom pen that I could also see well.

How about just scoring a small line on the hood and filling it with the china pencil. Probaby look neater and last longer.

One problem with making the hood enlarged to show the nib better is that you will change the way the nib is held against the feed. That will change the writing characteristics of the pen and make it much too dry. The nib is made to be held tight against the feed by the hood placement. That is the reason that 51 nibs are not flexible. Certainly messing around with a junk hood will not be a bad idea. That way if it doesn't work, there is no real loss.

To make it more visible, I would also vote for using a dot or a line of bright nail polish. If it is a user pen and not a collectable or rare model, a hashmark of lines engraved into the hood using a diamond marking pen would also work and would make it easier to align your fingers correctly.

Good luck with your experiment!
Rob

There is a pic somewhere that someone posted of their demo - you can see the ink between the hood on TOP of the nib. Since you will be taking material away from this area, well, I don't know.

I had another idea. How about a Parker 61--it has an arrow--and almost the same writing experience.

Todd

As others have noted, there's little sense altering an intact shell when there are plenty out there with chipped tips (the thinnest, the most exposed, and thus the most vulnerable part). You can actually grind away quite a bit of that tip before messing up ink flow and nib support. Still, I'd think a painted dot, line, arrow, or other shape or artistic design, would serve as well or better.

Why not stick a thin sliver of some type of tape (in a contrasting color) on the hood in the same relationship to the nib as the arrow on a 61? I would use mylar tape, but any water-resistane plastic tape should do the job.

I deal with the issue by posting the cap so that the clip touches my hand when the nib is in the correct orientation. Keeps the nib where it belongs and inhibits my terrible habit of rotating the pen -- taught myself that to keep from getting blobs from Bic disposable pens back in the 60's when they tended to generate globs of ink in use.

Peter

you can safely remove 1/4" from the top, but about 1/16th to 3/32" from the bottom side (that would be more like changing the angle of the hood side, if you got my poor explanation)

I'm glad I'm not the only one that has a problem telling where the nib is on my 51. I wonder if a demonstrator hood (clear) would vastly help this issue?

I couldn't get used to hooded nibs... I guess that it isn't as much as an aggravation to actually not being able to see the nib, but the feel of that you're writing with a novelty ballpoint

Got a beater p51 that had been dropped on its nib which broke and broke the hood as well. Hand ground the nib but then had to do the hood and feed as well. Guess what? No tipping left but this came out as a pretty fun itallic p51. Not recommended treatment for sure but the story here is that you can smooth down the hood and maintain the shape, expose the nib. No problems with ink drying so far. Think using a pre busted hood is the right thing to do!

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You know, it probably would as one could see the triangle of the nib quite easily (or at least I would assume so because I've never actually held a demonstrator 51 to give a definitive answer).


One gentleman graciously offered a chipped off 51 hood with which to experiment. So, I'll try one old beater with scoring/china marker, and the other with a ground hood and see how they compare.


Thanks for the photos williamsmarks. It looks like it could work okay as long as I take it slow and don't whack off too much. That's a cool fix for the beater 51. Make lemonade, eh?