Hero 616 Jumbo with Noodlers Midnight Blue

Montegrappa's Symphony (red)
Namiki Falcon
Pelikan M400 White tortoise

Hello everyone,

I am kinda new here. Anyway I am using my Pelikan M800 - a workhorse pen and very reliable. I have a Van Gogh on hand just in case I get bored. Both have medium nibs.

Cheers

I used my Omas Arco Paragon and my Faber Castell Pernambuco FP today. Whereas the Faber Castell is an absolutely reliable writer, the Omas's nib betrays soul.

Forgot my pen roll today (the horror!) so I used my little emergency Safari with italic nib (about 1.1, probably) and Zhivago.

Omas Arco is one I've been watching for the past 10 yrs or so, but sometimes Omas pens can be temperamental too. I have two Milords and one Dama and they are all incontinent, that is they leak a lot! <_<

M800 and The Big One

Three at the moment: a Dinouyang 200, a Haolilai 601 and a (same brand) 511.

New Pelikan M420 in F. SmooOOOooth! A little wide for my taste, but not on some papers. Also an Aikin Lambert BCHR in EF, which may be too fine for me to keep. Sigh. I can't be pleased, now, can I? But oh they both write so well . . .

Aurora Optima (black with silver trim) and Noodlers Nightshade -- love that color.

Stephen

Delta Moresi, F, Stipula Dark Blue

Best,
David

Currently using

Parker Sonnet cisele fine 23K gold nib with Waterman Florida Blue Ink
Cross II Medalist 23K fine nib with waterman purple ink
Cross solo fin nib with Shaeffer black ink.

Duke Shark and M800

Sheaffer sterling silver Imperial, fine nib, black Skrip
Esterbrook Model J, copper color, #2048 flexible writing nib, Aurora black
Pelikan red demo, XF nib, Pelikan blue

I got tired of carrying multiple pens at work...just P51 Cocoa with Noodler's Blue today.

VP and M800

For me, it's a VP and a Levenger True Writer. I think I've got a NoNonsense, a Safari, an Epoch, and a 51 in my bag, though.

Just in case...

M800 and Hand Turned

Sheaffer Connaisseur, black with gold trim, with Medium nib

Sheaffer Targa, black with gold trim, with Medium nib

Black-striped Pilot Custom - Noodler's Squeteague,
Sailor 1911 Demo - Sailor's Blue-black,
Grey Shield Parker 45 Harlequin - Noodler's Ottoman Azure.


raf.

Sheaffer Balance II in black, Aurora black
Copper Esterbrook J, #2048 nib, Waterman Florida Blue
Parker Classic Jotter, black rollerball refill

My Vanishing Point today, with Skrip black.

Today it's been:
Cedar Blue Parker "51" vac fil with Penman Sapphire
Burgundy Sheaffer Imperial II Touchdown with Noodlers Ottoman Rose
1950s Tortoise Pelikan 400 with Visconti Brown
1950s Green Pelikan 40NN with R&K Verdura
Burgundy Sheaffer Imperial IV Touchdown with FPN Galileo Manuscript ink
Brown striated Sheaffer Vac Fil, Triumph Nib, with Noodlers Kiowa Pecan
Sailor Professional Gear with R&K Solferino

It's been a Dani-day today:

Danitrio Tosca with Noodler's Legal Lapis and
Danitrio Tac Carry II with Waterman Blue-Black


(click for a larger image; sorry for the fingerprints on the Tac Carry II )

M800 and Stypen

Again, the VP...freshly filled with PR Burgundy Mist.

Blue Lamy Safari with blue lamy ink.

Very Japanese day today:
-DaniTrio Densho Raw Ebonite, which somehow "jumped the queue" and came up before it should have in my rotation.
-Sailot 1911M

Pelikan M15 (F) Blue/Black with Waterman Florida Blue.

Again, with (what's becoming) the trusty workhorse...the black VP w/rhodium trim.

M800 and Platinum

MB 146 rollerball.
Cross ATX with black cross ink.

Sailor 1911M with Parker Quink Washable Blue
Visconti Wall Street with Noodler's Black

Boring inks, but very pretty pens. 9 9 9

Pelikan M200 that my wife gave me for Christmas, with a mix of Pelikan royal blue, Waterman Florida blue and Parker Quink washable blue, at about 2:2:1.
Sheaffer Prelude with a dark red made of Noodler's Tiananmen, Noodler's summer tanager orange and Waterman's Havana brown, at about 2:1:1.

Lamy Al-Star with PR Avacado
Midnight Blue Parker "51" aero with Watermans Blue Black
Parker Vacumatic Major with PR Avacado

IT's a good day

Pilot Legance with Waterman Florida Blue...I've said bad things about this color, but it does behave really well in any pen I have.

And P51 Cocoa with Noodler's Blue.

MontBlanc Ramses
Grayson Tighe Twist Damascus #5

Waterman 7 Red Band
Parker 75 Vermeil Cisele w/#75 nib

Mike

Wality and M800 and Duke Shark

I do believe today is the day of the VP (surprise surprise) and the Pelikan M200 Blue Demonstrator with the cursive italic Dillon Ang nib.

Dillon, if/when you read this...thanks for looking at it again. It "looks great on paper"...so much so that I'm having to fight my wife for it. She wants to take the nib and swap it into the M215 she's using these days.

No no...bad Kara. Put the M200 down.

I hope I am posting this in the right (write?) spot.

I went back to the "mother load" box where I found about a dozen FPs. Right there, in front of my face, larger than life itself was a Parker 51. Now, I know nothing about this pen, except to say it is probably over 15 years of age. It was owned by the father of a friend of mine, who used to collect pens (fountain, ballpoint and rollerball) by the fistfull.

The pen appears to be in perfect condition. It was obviously dried out, with a fair bit of ink having been left in the reservoir before it was put in the box I received from my friend right before I moved. That was three moves ago.

Now what do I do? How should I clean it? I did use it to put a bit of distilled water in the pen just to see if it leaked. The result was a truly inky discharge but no leaking. It has a smooth writing action with water in it.

But first I need to get the pen cleaned out and back to its former glory. Or at least a shadow of its former glory.

What ink will be best for this pen that has been doing the Sleeping Beauty routine for the past decade, plus? Obviously if I get it going, this will be the pen I'll be using today. Or tomorrow.

In the interim, I'll be using my Elysee with Noodler's blue "something". (Clearly not at the true afficionado level here. Yet.) The bottle is at my Mum's right now. It was the whole Christmas thing, with pen, inks and a bit of trying out of various pens that were unearthed in a small box under the eaves in the attic here.

Or, I might be using a Stypen of unknown history. That was a pen that I found on the subway in Chicago. It's a little beaten up in the outside appearances area, but a lovely writing instrument.

Thanks for the help. I've checked a bit on the Parker forum, but haven't found anyone with a 51 that's been idle for such a long time. Any hints? (I am a newbie.)

Elizabeth

Today, I managed to leave home without bringing ANY pens!

It's a good thing I have a Parker Reflex as a backup... :bunny1: :bunny1: :bunny1:


ViolinWriter/Elizabeth, you'd probably get more help in the "Repairs Q&A" and/or Parker fora...

M800 and Vortex

Today, it's my black VP w/PR Burgundy Mist, a Levenger True Writer w/MB British Racing Green, and my Pelikan M200 w/Pelikan Royal Blue.

Not really, Elizabeth, but I doubt anyone will mind if I have a stab at answering here anyway. (It probably should really have been a new topic in either the Parker forum or Repairs. I know some places don't like people starting too many new topics, but that doesn't seem to be the case here on FPN.) I should probably point out that I'm no expert, just bouncing back what I've learned here myself, and I stand to be corrected if any experts jump in and call me an idiot

The first question is to see if it's a Vacumatic or an Aerometric. Vacumatics have a screw-off section near the end of the barrel, at the opposite end to the nib - maybe an inch from the end. Aerometrics don't have that, and there's no break in the barrel until the shiny "clutch ring" that the cap grips on to.

If it's a Vacumatic, it may well not work - they don't love being left, and the rubber can deteriorate. May be best to get it passed on to someone to service. Someone else can probably tell you better than I can how to test it, but basically, you dip the nib, and pump the button on top. Emptying it is less fun.

If it's an Aerometric (and it most likely is - there were more of them), the barrel should unscrew reasonably easily, showing the filler - a rubber sac in a case, with a push-bar to squish it for filling. Some here will say that any pen should be serviced after being left for years, but I wouldn't worry too much about an aerometric 51 - they're sturdy things, and it will probably work fine after a good flushing.

Flush it thoroughly with lots of water, until it runs almost clear. When it's coming reasonably clear, it might be worth wrapping it in some tissue (so you don't redecorate), and 'flick' ink out through the nib - hold it nib outwards, and use a flicking motion to 'throw' the water out through the nib. Usually this will get some more ink out of the collector. Try not to let go at an unfortunate moment - it would be unfortunate. :doh:

Once it's reasonably clean, fill and go. Most fountain pen inks will probably work just fine. Some people say that some inks don't work so well in some 51s - I think OldGriz says some are problematic with Noodler's, for example. It's not a set rule, though - I've got an Aerometric 51 that works just great with Noodler's.

Then, just enjoy your pen - you don't get much line variation with a 51, but they're wonderfully reliable pens, and very easy to use and get on with. Have fun!

:bunny1:

Old-school blue M400, with the cap from an M215, the cap insert with engraved Pelikan logo from the M400, and a lovely Binderized F nib, with Diamine Prussian Blue. It's a Franpelikenstein... Best,
David

M800 and XEZO

At home with a black English Parker 61 with Parker Permanenent Blue in it and a US blue Parker 21 with Waterman South Seas Blue. It's a Parker kind of day.

Parker 51 Cordvran vac with Waterman Havana.