Parker 51 Grail?

[crescentfiller]

Tseg wrote:

 

"I suppose a tactic would be for every day to identify qualifying new entrants on an auction site and set a $100 snipe limit and do that over and over for days, weeks or months until one somehow slips through the gauntlet and is snagged by my winning bid."

 

Yes, that is one tactic, and it can certainly pay off. However, another tactic is to go to antique shops, flea markets, and garage/estate sales. That's where you can find the real bargains. For instance, I bought a Parker Ripley Vacuum Filler last summer. I paid the full asking price: $5.

[crescentfiller]

Well done.

 

Thanks Farmboy. It was quite difficult to conceal my surprise and joy when I spotted that second set, the Nassau green ones, especially as it was in a shop that also specializes in buying gold and silver! (It's hard to believe they didn't examine the caps.)

I am, however, on the hunt for an amber barrel jewel for the pen: the post broke on the one that was on it.

[Tseg]

Well, my plain jane workhorse 'Special' arrived. Visually it is in exceptional condition. I'm also surprised there is quite a bit of tipping on this pen's nib, better seen from the underside.

 

This pen was very dry when it arrived... and had a very small sweet spot despite it writing more towards a Medium width. After a lot of brass shim action I got the nib to get more wet. Still not juicy by my standards, but it became very smooth and the sweet spot expanded significantly. But after a bit of time it seems like maybe the Octanium tines are tightening up again and the writing has gone more dry. Its still much better than when I first got it. I'm hoping as this pretty wet Sailor ink sits in the feed overnight writing may be a little more fluid in the morning. Nonetheless, I'm glad I sprung for an affordable P51 version and got a sense of the utility of this pen. My Parker 51 grail quest may be over. I appreciate everyone's commentary. I know a lot more about a historic pen that a few days ago I knew little about.

 

 

[mitto]

I don't want any more pens. But I want more and more 51s. Why is it so, I don't know and don't want to know.

[Tseg]

A day after my acquisition my ink flow has really come in. I'm now experiencing that "easy writing" tht a P51 can deliver. Nice.

 

Now my next issue is emerging. I see half way up the section a wear ring is starting to form where the clutch rubs/grabs. Is this normal? If not, how can I fix?

[KZ900]

I always thought the Bexley Ebonite 51 Was and Awesome 51. Maybe someone will post a picture.

[inkstainedruth]

I always thought the Bexley Ebonite 51 Was and Awesome 51. Maybe someone will post a picture.

 

Wow. That would be one I'd like to see as well....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[JotterAddict62]

I don't want any more pens. But I want more and more 51s. Why is it so, I don't know and don't want to know.

Send them all back to Wisconsin Mitto. I'll take good care of them. BTW send money for the building I would have to build to house them in.

[inkstainedruth]

Send them all back to Wisconsin Mitto. I'll take good care of them. BTW send money for the building I would have to build to house them in.

 

Are you going to have room for them with all those Jotters?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Glenn-SC]

I always thought the Bexley Ebonite 51 Was and Awesome 51. Maybe someone will post a picture.

 

 

Wow. That would be one I'd like to see as well....

 

http://i67.tinypic.com/2nqqkhe.jpg

Edited March 16, 2019 by Glenn-SC

[Driften]

 

 

http://i67.tinypic.com/2nqqkhe.jpg

 

 

 

Very nice... thanks for sharing!

[inkstainedruth]

I have to say that ebonite just feels good in one's hand. It's got a warmth to it that most other pen materials don't have. Not even Lucite.

Thanks for posting the photo of the ebonite "51" -- while that particular color doesn't grab me, I've seen some other ebonite stock which would be *stunning* if made into a 51 barrel and hood.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[PAKMAN]

Sold a Gold filled 51 set this weekend at the pen show and along came a Kullok done in coin silver that just had to go home with me!

[mariom]

 

 

 

I was more than a bit chuffed to stumble upon these two Empire sets--within a three-week period--for less than $25 each.

The black set was in a lot of five pens for $35 for the lot and three weeks later, in another state, the Nassau set was in another lot of five pens for $60 for the lot. Grail? Well, they can be for that price!

 

Please excuse the wretched photos!

 

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1552522486__black_empire_set.jpeg

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1552522543__nassau_empire_set.jpeg

 

$25????? I think I hate you. No, actually, I'm sure I do.

[inkstainedruth]

 

$25????? I think I hate you. No, actually, I'm sure I do.

 

Hmmm. I think I said pretty much the same thing a few yeas ago to Farmersmum, who scored a full size Plum from an eBay listing that was running at about the week as the listing for the Demi sized Plum I got. I was pretty happy about the price I paid.... Until I saw his post of "Hey, this was listed as being a black pen, but I think it's Plum -- and I just got it for forty bucks...."

The worst part of course was that I had seen that listing while scrolling down though all the current Parker 51 listings -- and hadn't bother to look at that one because I already had a black 51.... And of course he paid just over half the amount -- for a full sized pen -- than what I had for the Demi.... O course I was perfectly happy with getting a user grade Plummer. Plus it has a very nice medium nib on it. But if I hadn't actually seen the listing header and just discounted it....

I actually got to meet Farmersmum one year at the Ohio Pen Show -- I had been telling the story to someone, and he was nearby and overheard me, and came over then to introduce himself.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pajaro]

 

Hmmm. I think I said pretty much the same thing a few yeas ago to Farmersmum, who scored a full size Plum from an eBay listing that was running at about the week as the listing for the Demi sized Plum I got. I was pretty happy about the price I paid.... Until I saw his post of "Hey, this was listed as being a black pen, but I think it's Plum -- and I just got it for forty bucks...."

The worst part of course was that I had seen that listing while scrolling down though all the current Parker 51 listings -- and hadn't bother to look at that one because I already had a black 51.... And of course he paid just over half the amount -- for a full sized pen -- than what I had for the Demi.... O course I was perfectly happy with getting a user grade Plummer. Plus it has a very nice medium nib on it. But if I hadn't actually seen the listing header and just discounted it....

I actually got to meet Farmersmum one year at the Ohio Pen Show -- I had been telling the story to someone, and he was nearby and overheard me, and came over then to introduce himself.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

The personal connection makes all this more satisfying.

 

Ebonite . . . I wonder if there are still people active who make hoods and barrels for 51s, as there were a few years ago, or are they retired?

[Glenn-SC]

 

Ebonite . . . I wonder if there are still people active who make hoods and barrels for 51s, as there were a few years ago, or are they retired?

 

 

Calling Dr. Prather!

Calling Dr. Prather!

[Hanamizu]

What makes it so special?

 

 

The first thing that makes it special for me, is that the "51" was the pen my dad used when he was still using fountain pens. I realize that that won't make it special for anyone else, but to me it became what a fountain pen was supposed to look like. The nose of the pen looks very like an F-86's nose—very modern to a kid in the 50s. I had no idea at the time that the "51 predates the F-86 by a decade.

 

Then there is the utter reliability of the thing. When I retired I brought my work pens home and put them on my desk. One of them was a vac "51". I bought it a dozen years ago for $22 at a local antique shop and to my surprise it still took in ink. Usually with a vac you have to replace the diaphragm, but in this case I didn't. I still haven't. Anyway, it lay on my desk untouched for at least six months. I picked it up and it started writing immediately. Even my other "51"s aren't that ready to go after such a long time of sitting around unused.

 

The aerometric filled "51"s usually just require soaking and flushing to get them writing. These pens are getting up there in age—60–70 years and they just still work.

 

In terms of design, they are understated and if I'm using one in public, many assume it's a type of ballpoint, since the nib is pretty much unseen. Some just don't like them, but as someone else said, use it for a month and see what you think. Over the years I've accumulated a dozen of them, both vacs and aerometrics, average price paid about $25.

[pajaro]

 

 

The first thing that makes it special for me, is that the "51" was the pen my dad used when he was still using fountain pens. I realize that that won't make it special for anyone else, but to me it became what a fountain pen was supposed to look like. The nose of the pen looks very like an F-86's nose—very modern to a kid in the 50s. I had no idea at the time that the "51 predates the F-86 by a decade.

 

Then there is the utter reliability of the thing. When I retired I brought my work pens home and put them on my desk. One of them was a vac "51". I bought it a dozen years ago for $22 at a local antique shop and to my surprise it still took in ink. Usually with a vac you have to replace the diaphragm, but in this case I didn't. I still haven't. Anyway, it lay on my desk untouched for at least six months. I picked it up and it started writing immediately. Even my other "51"s aren't that ready to go after such a long time of sitting around unused.

 

The aerometric filled "51"s usually just require soaking and flushing to get them writing. These pens are getting up there in age—60–70 years and they just still work.

 

In terms of design, they are understated and if I'm using one in public, many assume it's a type of ballpoint, since the nib is pretty much unseen. Some just don't like them, but as someone else said, use it for a month and see what you think. Over the years I've accumulated a dozen of them, both vacs and aerometrics, average price paid about $25.

 

+1.

 

My father used a Parker 51 pen and pencil set in midnight blue, and I bought a set just like it in midnight blue when I went in the Air Force after college. I am still using it. Almost 49 years.

 

I agree with the rest. When I think of a fountain pen, I first think of and remember a Parker 51. All the other pens I have had are just pens that didn't measure up to the 51.

Edited March 20, 2019 by pajaro

[crescentfiller]

 

$25????? I think I hate you. No, actually, I'm sure I do.

 

 

Haha! Yes, that sort of deal can incite all sort of emotions (and emojis!). Of course, they could have been yours: I understand the black Empire set sat in the shop (in Michigan) for nearly a year, and the Nassau Empire set was in a very busy shop (that specializes in buying scrap gold!) for at least a month or so. If I see another set priced at under $25, I'll send you a PM!