Parker 45 - Flighter Xf 14K Nib

[watch_art]

So, the world famous Parker 45. I had the chance at a 45 Harlequin, or shield pattern, a few years ago, but the nib was awful and the price too high. I think he wanted $180 for it. No thanks.

During my recent search for a 75, which I got, I stumbled on this incredibly low priced flighter 45 with about five minutes left on to go... or was there more... whatever.

I picked this beautfy up for a mere $16 and change from China - and it got here 3 days before the "expected" delivery date. Fast shipping!! Go Fred Yeung!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Condition - Well it's okay. It is an old pen so I wasn't expecting it to be in perfect shape, but I wasn't expecting the nib to be so out of whack that it wouldn't even write.

 

1 - the tines were pressing together so tightly that no ink could get through.

2 - misaligned so badly it was SCRATCHY as hell.

3 - POINTY! Look at the doodle to see what I mean. The inner edge of the tines was SHARP.

 

So me being the way I am, I hit it over my Arkansas wet stone until I was happy with the shape and then on the padded micromesh. Much better.

 

Bonus! It's a 14k nib. Stiff as a nail, but now nice and smooth.

 

Next - two loose parts. The ring from between the barrel and section was flopping around. A dot of epoxy and that was cured.

The barrel finial spun freely. Another dot of epoxy on a long wooden dowel smeared around the end of the inside of the barrel cured that one. Very nice. There's a tiny bit of shrinkage on the section too - not a big deal.

 

The metal is all straight and blemish free! No dings! Perfect!

 

 

 

So with the condition issues taken care of --

Appearance -

It's metal with a black plastic grip. Smooth with no texture.

 

Construction/Quality -

It's well built I'd say. I suppose the loose bits are probably not uncommon on these things. The shrinking plastic section is a bummer, but at least it's more durable than the 21. Binder says on his website that it's a good quality plastic. So I'm happy.

 

Weight/Dimension -

Posted or not this thing sits so comfortably in my hand. Not heavy - not light. This is definitely one of those Goldilocks pens. At least it is for me. Which honestly, is quite a surprise. I wasn't expecting to like it so much!

 

And a doodle of a chili pepper of some sort growing in our garden. Noodler's Golden Brown. Something else I wasn't expecting to like SO MUCH. What beautiful ink!

 

[Brian C]

The ring on the section is loose on both of mine as well. Must be fairly common.

[watch_art]

Epoxy will make it stick.

[habib]

Silver clip and ring make a pretty flighter. Thanks for sharing.

[ac12]

When you screw in the barrel, that holds the ring in place, so it does not matter much that it is loose.

 

Nice review, I'm in the process of getting a P45 up and running.

[de_pen_dent]

Loose on mine as well. +1 epoxy.

[watch_art]

When I take the barrel off it falls off - that gets on my nerves. So I fixed it.