Parker 51 And Modern Ink?

[FPFan]

I have a small assortment of Parker 51's and have almost always used just about any ink in them. However, I have been seeing discussions of some of the modern inks, especially the Japanese inks Pilot Iroshizuku and Sailor inks that are very highly saturated. My first thoughts are that the 51's have always been a little difficult to completely clear of any ink, springing from the days of their manufacture when one picked an ink and stayed with it for most of the life of the pen. In our current times, we like to experiment with a variety of inks and colors complicating the chance of cross contamination with other colors and brands. Now, I read that some of these modern inks are not good for the "sacs" on these pens. I'm hearing that some inks will turn the sac into mush and/or disintegrate the sac altogether. With these thoughts in mind,

 

What inks are most often recommended for use in 51's. I am not adverse to the idea of picking one ink for my lifetime (we know the pen will like survive longer than we will. Many already have lived longer than some of us?)

 

My ink choice would be a blue/black, waterproof/water resistant, and semi-permanent. Inks much like those that would have been used in the 40's and 50's.

 

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[pen lady]

I'd stick to Parker ink for your P51. Leave the highly saturated ones for modern pens.

[pajaro]

The only ink I have had a problem with was Pilot Turquoise. I found the ink in the barrel. I cleaned it all up, and emptied the pen and flushed it out for a while. There were no more leaks. As a result of a topic in the Repair Q & A forum that had an adverse opinion on red ink, I would not red ink in sac pens, including inks with red in them, like purple and violet.

 

Think what you want about the Pilot inks. I will leave them out of the sac pens. The thread in Repair Q & A about red inks had pen repair people writing that red inks attack sacs.

[welch]

I have never had an ink disagree with a Parker 51, and I rarely write with a pen other than a 51. I gave up Noodlers Blue Eel because it refused to dry and creeped into odd corners of a couple of Onto K pens, but had no problems with Nodlers' "plain" blue or Ottoman Azure in a 51. I use various Diamine inks (Saphire Blue, Imperial Blue, Majestic, Sargasso Sea, Midnight, Oxford) in aerometrics and vacumatics. Same with Private Reserve, Edelstein, and Visconti Blue.

 

I think that current "waterproof", "bulletproof", "freeze-proof" inks are not like vintage "permanent" inks; the vintage inks are stubborn, but had no special ingredients meant to bind to paper, wood, or cloth.

 

P-51 aerometrics are easy enough to clean out. Hold them under a faucet and keep pumping until the ink runs clear. Sometimes, let a pen sit in water overnight, which is the extra step for a 51 vac. Have never had a problem with old and new inks. Iroshizuku? No problem.

 

Of course, your P-51 will thank you for a drink of vintage 1980-90 Quink blue-black with Solv-X!

Edited May 21, 2017 by welch

[FPFan]

 

Of course, your P-51 will thank you for a drink of vintage 1980-90 Quink blue-black with Solv-X!

 

I'd be thrilled to use the older Parker inks if I knew where to get some! Any hints would be greatly appreciated. Lead me to the well and shall drink from it!

[pajaro]

The older detergent containing inks. Try ebay. Estate sale miners are occasionally selling them on ebay. Look in the classifieds here as well. You never know when something will turn up. So, check back regularly.

[FOUR X FOUR]

This is good to know. I don't use my 51 very often but when I do I generally use waterman ink

[dcwaites]

I have not had any problems with my Parker 51s and any inks - Private Reserve, Noodler's, Sailor Kiwaguro, etc.

 

The pens were designed for inks that were far harder on FPs than anything currently on the market.

 

Just don't let any ink of any sort dry out, as the fins in the collector are far finer, with smaller gaps, than any current pen. This can make it difficult to clean out a dried up P51. However, I have no problems cleaning any modern ink out of any of mine.

 

Just match the wetness of your pen to the appropriate ink. i.e. if your nib is wet, pick a drier ink like Sheaffer Skrip, Pelikan 4001 or Edelstein, or if it is dry, pick a wetter ink like Waterman or Private Reserve.

[ac12]

I have Private Reserve DC SuperShow Blue in my 51 Aerometric for about 3 years.

The only issue has been where the slit in the nib has clogged with a combination of ink + paper dust, and needs to be flossed every so often.

 

I will warn you that if you forget, and let the ink dry out in the 51, it WILL be a PiA to clean. Especially if you put RED or PURPLE ink in the pen. I do not know what it is about those colors but, in my experience of cleaning used pens of dried ink, RED and PURPLE inks have taken the longest to clean out. Specifically 3 weeks of 2 or 3 times a day flushing. Those inks just do not want to let go of the pen. I suspect that dried RED or PURPLE inks do not dissolve back into solution as easily as black and blue.

 

The sac you are referring to are the latex ink sacs in lever fill or button fill pens. The ink sac on an Aero 51 is made of a different material that has proven to last a long time and stand up to some nasty Parker inks.

HOWEVER if you are talking about a 51 Vacumatic, then what I said above does not apply. The diaphram on the 51 Vac is made of latex and is subject to the same chemical reaction as the latex inks sacs.

Edited May 22, 2017 by ac12

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

As other Members have offered excellent advice, I have little to add, other than the suggestion of Sheaffer BlBk. (I add a whisper of Lamy Blue or Diamine Denim.) And Pelikan 4001 BlBk.

 

While iron-gall inks were common in the same era as the P51, somehow myself personally don't see them as dance partners, not that they'd be incompatible. Think R&K Salix.

 

Please be mindful of some of the wonderful but persistent cellulose-reactive inks. When I did a review of Noodler's 54M one Member replied that a commercial pen flush didn't do the necessary for his P51. So please match not only ink to pen, but to your manner of pen handling, and what you're willing to do to keep the pen happy. (Seems that to keep my Newhaven P51+B happy it wants to go to Paris, which raises no argument, its just a matter of when - how long has it been waiting?)

 

When you have a moment, please take a wee shufti at the renowned Richard Binder's site for savvy info about the P51: http://www.richardspens.com/?prof=51. The site Parkercollector dot com can make me dizzy https://parkerpens.net/parker51.html

 

Bye,

S1

Edited May 22, 2017 by Sandy1

[deepak23]

Have used the following inks without any problem.

Waterman Serenity Blue

Pelikan Turquoise

FC Urushi

Diamine Sapphire

 

Inks I've had a problem with

Sailor Murai (too high flow)

[mitto]

I have been using Pelikan, Parker Quink and Sheaffer Scrip inks in my 51s. But sometimes I dont feel happy with the way the Pelikan behaves in my 51s. The other two give best results.

[welch]

 

I'd be thrilled to use the older Parker inks if I knew where to get some! Any hints would be greatly appreciated. Lead me to the well and shall drink from it!

 

As Pajaro suggests, check EBay, Try searching on "Parker Quink Solv-X".

 

Here is one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-PARKER-QUINK-Permanent-Blue-Ink-Solv-X-Glass-Bottle-in-Original-Box-NOS-/162519887738?hash=item25d6f0af7a:g:8T4AAOSww9xZHNxi

 

This might be another: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Parker-Blue-Black-Ink-Super-Quink-SOLV-X-2-5-oz-Made-in-England-NOS-/352041486709?hash=item51f74ec975:g:9XwAAOSwmLlX-t6l

 

There are older bottles, beautiful art-deco styled bottles. Those with metal caps often have spoiled ink. The art deco Quinks with plastic caps seem to have survived better.

[sirgilbert357]

I have a super old bottle of Parker Quink with Solv-x that I have been hesitant to use in any of my pens. Its the permanent black variety. I see no SITB, but I guess I just wonder if 30+ year old ink can really be "clean", LOL.

[JotterAddict62]

I only use vintage Parker Quink. Look at my avatar on the left, all the 2oz. bottles are full and since that photo was taken I added to the display. When the bottle that I have been using runs out I will take one of the five bottles of 4oz. Perm. Blue/Black off the shelf in the bedroom to use.

My ink quest is to fill the display full with full bottles.

[FPFan]

Thank you ALL for these wonderful suggestions, advice and links.

 

I dug around in my ink stash and came up with a bottle of Waterman Mysterious Blue/Black to fill my lovely 1948 Forrest Green demi with gold filled cap. For now that will do the job and I get the pleasure of using the pen that has been sitting idle while I played with more modern pens from around the world the past few years. I just got to feeling like it was time to "come home" to my Parkers for a while. I've been missing them and the minute the pen was filled and in my hand I knew what I have been missing!

 

I was amazed at how natural and perfect the pen felt in my hand. How my writing instantly took a turn for the better. I think I will be haunting some of the antique malls and second hand shops a little more frequently this year in the quest for some Quick Ink! With luck I will discover a "secret stash!"

 

Thanks for the links. I have read those before, but I will be reading them again, today.

[welch]

...and why Quink with Solv-X? Parker explains, in 1944:

 

 

[truthpil]

 

My ink choice would be a blue/black, waterproof/water resistant, and semi-permanent. Inks much like those that would have been used in the 40's and 50's.

 

 

+1 for Pelikan 4001 Blue-black (if you can get it Stateside)

 

It fits all your preferences perfectly.

[pajaro]

The only ink that I have ever had cause a problem in one of my 51s was Noodler's #41 Brown, a bulletproof ink. What this ink did was to cause nib creep, and it was aggressive. This ink did the same in other pens as well. Watermans and a Montblanc.

[FPFan]

I have a bottle of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black ordered late last year from Cult Pens in the UK. Last night I put it in a black 1947 vac with a F nib and a gold filled cap feather cap. Am really enjoying it along with the forest green and gold I inked Sunday. I'm in hog heaven with these 51's. I don't know why I haven't inked any of them for possibly the last 5-6 year or so. Sort of got hooked on a multitude of pens from Japan. I needed a reminder of the joy of the Parker 51's.

 

Thank you, Thomas!