Jim, to make you feel better...

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I bought a gold capped Parker "51" vac from the Marketplace for $100.

 

The pen may have been restored at some point in its life, but the vac-filler fid not work and the hood was loose. The collector was completely impacted with Parker superchrome and the nib was coated with the stuff.

 

First, I try to clean the pen out by filling it and emptying it, but I find it impossible as there is simply too much ink inside. Just then, I unscrewed the hood and found a way into the pen. I spent a long time manually cleaning the collector, then I committed to use it.

 

Not long after, it started leaking, so I took it apart and ordered some parts and tools from Giovanni.

 

Once I got the pen in all of its pieces, I cleaned it for a day in the ultrasound cleaner, and got the parts are really clean with no more traces of superchrome anywhere. After screwing in the vac-filler, I put the thing back together and sealed it with some rosin sealant. After trading the cap to a standard lustraloy and buffing out the gouges and scratches all over the pen, I now have a nice Parker "51"

 

In all this took one whole working day to fix. What a pen!

 

Dillon

[JimStrutton]

Hi Dillon,

 

But as you say, 'what a pen' and you have a pen fixed and working, plus you have learned some valuable skills for the next "51" vac that comes along. So all in all I call that a good investment.

 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch in Hagerstown MD, somebody, Oh I know we will call him OldGriz, just as a reference, has a "51" Aero that covers him in ink everytime he uses it and another where his blue diamond has worn off.

 

So all in all Dillon, you and I can feel rather smug as we gaze upon our wonderful and working pens

 

Best,

 

Jim

[OldGriz]

AHHH YES, you are quite correct...

But the 51 Aero is easily correctable, The Vac with the worn diamond is not here yet, and I have 2 other 51s and 2 21s that write well....

So feel smug if you wish... I can still pick up all my beautiful writing Sheaffers and my nice writing Parkers and have a wonderful day

[Dillo]

Hi Dillon,

 

But as you say, 'what a pen' and you have a pen fixed and working, plus you have learned some valuable skills for the next "51" vac that comes along. So all in all I call that a good investment.

 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch in Hagerstown MD, somebody, Oh I know we will call him OldGriz, just as a reference, has a "51" Aero that covers him in ink everytime he uses it and another where his blue diamond has worn off.

 

So all in all Dillon, you and I can feel rather smug as we gaze upon our wonderful and working pens

 

Best,

 

Jim

Hi,

 

I made sure to get a cap that does not have any sign of paint on the diamond since my pen is "correct" with the gold diamond.

 

Oh, and my "51" had a 61 nib inside of it. All of the aligning tabs on the 61 nib has been ground off so that it would fit. Possibly a previous repair. I might spare it a 0.4 MM italic Parker "51" nib from my spares bin.

 

Dillon