What Inks For Parker 51/21?

[smithno]

What inks do you use in your Parker 51 or 21? I recently had my P51 re-sac'ed and they recommended Parker, Waterman, and Sheaffer inks only. I agree these are appropriate. But what about Pelikan or Lamy or Noodler's inks? What do inks do you guys use?

[georgeb]

I use Parker ink usually, sometimes Waterman ink.

[Beechwood]

Agreed, keep it to Parker and Waterman, possibly MB. Pelikan and Lamy can run dryish. Most if not all the major pen restorers recommend keeping to pen inks as sold by pen manufacturers although the admittedly limited experience that I have had with Noodlers has been disappointing.

[ENewton]

Because I imagine I will never be able to flush my Parker 51 entirely, the most important criterion for me is to use an ink that I have already seen flush easily from other pens. I would specifically avoid any highly saturated ink, regardless of whether the manufacturer of the ink also manufactures pens. And to avoid any troublesome interaction between inks, I avoid switching from one ink to another, of any brand.

[Olya]

You don't need to stick to pen manufacturers for ink. Some years ago MB and Pelikan had major issues with their ink, I think MB even had a callback last year or so for an orange ink. Plenty other manufacturers had issues too over time, at times not even their own fault. So there's really no hard & fast rule on who produces the "safest" or "best" ink.

 

There are two main things to take into account:

 

1. Red inks, and inks with a heavy red dye load (purples, blurples etc) tend to ruin sacks much quicker than other hues.

 

2. The feed collector is huge, so frequent flushing is beyond annoying. Hence, best use an ink you'll continuously use and don't change too often, unless you don't mind flushing an awful lot and still running the risk of having residue ink left behind (and hence possibly affecting the new ink load's hue).

 

So really just load any ink you like.

Just also keep in mind that Noodler's Baystate inks may not be mixed with any other ink ever, so perhaps do avoid inks known to be fussy.

[corgicoupe]

I was using Private Reserve because of the colors, but have since decided to stick with Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman, and Pelikan inks, and I stick to blue.Pelikan is reported as dryer and Waterman as wetter.

[welch]

Most Diamine inks will work well. I think Sargasso Sea might be over-saturated...beautiful, but maybe best in a P-51 aerometric. Aurora blue and black are probably good, as well.

[Zeeppo]

I have a couple 51s and I can also refit my own pens with new ink sacks when needed. So I do not mind rebuilding them from time to time.

 

That said I use Noodler's Bay State Blue in one of my 51's exclusively. It is my favorite ink. I would not recommend this unless you have a plunger fill or have one you can dedicate to one ink. I have been using Bay State in this pen for seven years. It had a new ink sac when I started using it and it has not worn out or leaked. If I know I am going to not use this pen a while I will flush it with water and dish soap to store it. So i would say you can use Noodler's if you take a great deal of care.

 

I would concur with everyone that said do not use dye saturated inks for general use. Also stay away from Iron Gaul inks. Even people that make these inks tell you not to use it in a pen with an ink sack.

 

For this type of pen I usually use a Waterman ink. I keep a couple bottle of it around for most of my lever fillers.

 

As a programming note is is interesting that Waterman, Parker and Sheaffer were all passed back and forth between Bic, Newell Brands and Sanford over the last decade and a half.

[mitto]

Parker, Waterman, Sheaffer and Pelikan. I use all of these and some other inks in my 51s.

[Parker51]

I suggest Vintage Parker Quink, that's what I use for vintage Parker pens .

[welch]

I suggest Vintage Parker Quink, that's what I use for vintage Parker pens .

 

Quink with Solv-X: it smells like ink!

[ac12]

It all depends.

 

First the ink sac WILL STAIN. It will NOT remain clear, no matter what ink you use. Accept that fact and life will be easier.

 

thoughts:

• If you intend to periodically change inks, use an EASY to CLEAN ink; Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman, Pelikan, etc.
• I would avoid RED or PURPLE inks. My experience cleaning out dried ink has been that RED or PURPLE inks were the most difficult to clean out and tool the longest. I do not know what it is about these 2 colors that makes them so difficult to clean.
• Invest in making a salad spinner pen dryer. It makes getting the inky cleaning water out of the pen a LOT easier. Even so, it will be difficult to really clean out the collector of old ink. Which makes using an easy to clean (not saturated) ink more important.
• As for specific inks, I would not worry about what ink you put in the 51, the 21 I might. The 51 can handle most any ink that I can think of. Some of the old Parker inks were rather hard on pens. So go ahead and use your Noodlers inks.
• Though I do not necessarily recommend what I do. I have PR DCSS blue in my 51. But that is a LONG TERM pen/ink combo. I do not intend to change ink for a LONG LONG time, so I do not worry about cleaning a ALL the old ink out. In this kind of scenario, it does not matter.
• Some inks will flow too much or not enough. To fix that, you need to adjust the nib, and that can be very difficult on the 51 or 21, because for certain adjustments, you have to have full access to the nib. And that will require the hood to removed. That can be difficult on the 51, and is NOT recommended on the 21 (due to the fragile plastic used on the 21). Because of this, for the 51 and 21, I would match the ink to the pen, rather than try to make the pen work with the ink.

[ParkerPip]

Interesting comments above.

 

I recently switched from Royal Blue Quink to Imperial Blue Diamine and feel that it is drier and doesn't flow as well as well in my 51.

[Chrissy]

I would tend to steer clear of Noodler's inks and other really saturated inks that might permanently stain your new sac, but otherwise, the ink world is your oyster.

 

As 'ac12' says, your new sac will eventually stain anyway no matter what, but it's not like it's impossible to get new replacements.

[mitto]

And the stained sac looks beautiful.

[MarcinEck]

I agree with @ac12 - avoid red inks, but you can use every known brands like Parker, Waterman, Pelikan and so on ....

For time to time flush your pen several times with clear water

Edited July 25, 2017 by MarcinEck

[FarmBoy]

Interesting comments above.

 

I recently switched from Royal Blue Quink to Imperial Blue Diamine and feel that it is drier and doesn't flow as well as well in my 51.

Not surprising.

[Flounder]

Not surprising.

 

Why's that Farmboy, just out of interest? The only time I used Diamine imperial blue was when i ordered it by mistake instead of royal blue.

[Flounder]

OP - I use Diamine royal and presidential blue in all my 51s, and Pilot blue (just plain Pilot blue, not from their speciality lines) in my finest nib aero.

 

The Pilot blue is really nice ink, but they wouldn't tell me the pH value. When I read a blog test somewhere and saw it was a little further off neutral than many inks, I paired it with a synthetic aero sac 51 rather than any of the vacs.

 

All 3 above are well behaved inks I've used for years.

 

Will say I avoid Pelikan royal blue in the 51s and in general - boring, dry, fast to fade.

[pajaro]

I bought my first 51 when I went in the US Air Force in 1970. I used Sheaffer blue black for work, red ink for certain letters, white laundry ink and India ink for laundry marking in the 51. Rinsed them out, and then refilled with blue black. I am still using this 51 today, and the hood has never been off, and the sac is original. I won't tell you some of the places I took this pen. In a way it's a very old friend. I suspect that some of these worries are not necessary with a 51. I also believe that the 51 is the best pen that ever was. Well done, 51!