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Does anyone know exactly when this set is from? One is a fountain pen, the other a pencil. I haven't seen this exact set anywhere. Was hoping someone could ID it for me.

I've found a Parker 51 in a eBay pen lot and seems to be clogged of what it seems to be india ink. It's in really good conditions and i want to restore, it.. some advices on how to proceed?

Help ! Disassembling my Parker 51 double Jewel in black , and managed to crack the barrel . Does anyone possibly have a spare barrel . The one I have is marketd *6* so I assume 1946 . I may try to fill the crack , it's along the barrel and is about 2 " , although I don't hold out much hope , and would love to get it working again . Devastated !! What an idiot !! I'm sure there must be plenty of spare parts out there ? U.K. Based here .

I have just got a beautiful English aerometric Parker 51 from 1965, but when I flushed out the dry old ink the press-four-times filler slowly started letting out water at the opening where one pushes. I assume that the pli sack has gone loose and either has to be replaced or re-glued with shellac - which leaves me with some questions: 1) How do I get the filler out? (It certainly is not easy to get it out and I don't want to use to much force.) Is it correct that it is not screwed in? Does it help putting it in warm water? 2) Any advice on what size of pli sack I should get will be appreciated, as will any advice on what brand of shellac to use and any details with regard to the procedure in general. I have looked all over FPN but I have found very little on the subject, so if you are experienced in these matters please give me as much advice as possible. Best regards Ursus

In the world of fountain pens, there are forgettable pens and famous pens…. and then there are the icons. Those are the pens that have a wide appeal and a cult like following. You may love them or not, but there is no denying their impact and the passion they generate amongst devotees. One of these icons is the Parker “51”. There is an abundance of information about these great pens, and I will make no attempt to repeat all the details. I will simply point out that there are two primary filling systems used in the life of the pen – the vacuumatic plunger filler and the aerometric filler. The vac filler was the first system used and I draw this distinction because the pen I am reviewing uses this method. Sometimes iconic pens inspire tributes or fantasy versions where people create a pen they want to see, but it never came from the factory. When this is done with the intention to add character or widen the scope of a pen, I think it has the potential to be a thing of beauty. (When it is done to deceive or to make a pen that is represented as a rare factory original, I find this despicable and blight on our hobby.) There are many folks who have created so called fantasy “51” pens including Ariel Kullock, Paul Rossi, Ralph Prather, and Brad Torelli. Each has their strengths and their products cover a wide range of prices, depending on materials, hours invested, and parts used. While I admire the work or all four men, the pens that appeal the most to me in general are those by Brad Torelli. Although he is a master of many pen skills, plastics are the area of expertise he focused on for this pen. He essentially took standard “51” vac parts and crafted a new barrel, hood and blind cap. In addition, he put new jewels on the top and bottom of the pen to make is a “double jewel” or DJ version of the pen. This particular pen is a demonstrator in a lovely transparent brown, almost the color of a refreshing root beer. I find the color pairs well with the gold cap. The transparency also gives one a real appreciation for the mechanics of these pens. Manually creating a vacuum to pull ink through the collector and breather tube in order to fill the ink chamber – simple but effective. One of the best things about Brad’s pens is the warranty. He likes to say he offers a lifetime guarantee on his work and his materials. The part that always amuses me is that he means his lifetime. I have no desire to publicly share his current age, but he has joked that he probably has 20 good years ahead and then maybe another 5 or 10 so so years (so get that warranty work done!). In all seriousness, I have personal experience with him standing behind his work and going above and beyond what any large manufacturer would do in support of their pens. Besides the giant pain in the rear it is to clean a “51” vac, the other issue for me personally is the limited range of nib widths available. To remedy this I turned to a custom retipped nib from Greg Minuskin. Greg sells a lot of “51” nibs that he retips and stubs in various widths. The one I picked was a fairly broad 1.3MM tip and Brad mounted in into his pen for me. Now I have a demo pen with a tip that is wide enough to suit my preferences. I’ll close by saying that if, like me, you found the Parker “51” a little lacking from the factory the good news is there are artists who can make your desires a reality. I have a soft spot for demo pens, wide stubs, and pens hand made by artisans. This pen met all these criteria in one slim, iconic form factor.

Has anybody tried to fabricate, with or without a 3d printer, any parts? especially Parker 51 vacumatic blind cap parts? esp on the Mark 1? I have a Blue 51 Mark 1 (vacumatic with the plastic plunger and all-plastic blind cap) that I think is a a demi because it was short, but the diameter is the same so i don't think it matters. I do not care if the color is the same (not like pink or a bad looking color though) or if it is even the same shape since it isn't a very intriguing or necessary shape anyways. The bottom lip has a chip that is about 90-120 degrees around the bottom but not deep, so it doesn't affect usability but is clearly visible by as breaking the continuity/seam and as a kinda "hole" in the side. I'm thinking it might be hard to 3d print usable threads, but I think the following things could be done. 1. Print something that vaguely resembles the cap and have an inset with the threads in another material like homemade casein (milk protein plastic), modeling clay, sugru (moldable silicone that stays set once cured), or a Thermoplastic like InstaMorph (plastic that can be reshaped as well as finished in several ways) 2. Have the whole thing one of the materials listed and hand shape it or even better make a mold of the current cap. 3. Have it 3d printed or one of the materials listed and fugure out a way to have it attached another way than threading. I haver some ideas but not really sure of the best way. I am thinking like some sort of small locking or snap mechanism or like locking friction threads. If anything I could have like a friction-fit end cap with "arms" that run down the pen a little, and if the whole thing or at least the "arms" are made of the silicone sugru it would almost definitely grip if it is what I imagine and double as a roll-stop as I don't usually post even when the pen is short. As long as it works, and doesn't cost much more than an actual blind cap or I can sell another to offset the cost I am probably going to make my own blind cap for at least the experience/fun/challenge/new techniques so if you are interested contact me.

So I guess it's a '51' Double Jewel if there is one jewel in the pen and one jewel in the pencil........ http://www.ebay.com/itm/PARKER-51-FOUNTAIN-PEN-PENCIL-SET-270-MAROON-RED-CHROME-DOUBLE-JEWEL-W-CASE-/262318440406?hash=item3d1365bfd6:g:dnoAAOSwYlJW2LoB

As I understand it there are the following 51 aero connectors (for full size Mark I pens): 1) Threaded shroud, no O-ring groove. 2) Slip fit shroud, no O-ring groove, no shoulder for barrel recess. 3) Slip fit shroud, O-ring groove, no shoulder for barrel recess. 4) Slip fit shroud, O-ring groove, shoulder for barrel recess. Did I miss any? Is it correct that I can: - Use an o-ring hood on a non-o-ring connector (without an o-ring of course)? - Use a recessed barrel on a non-recessed connector? If so, can I use Connector #2 to replace #2, #3, and #4 ? How about using #2 to replace #1? Can I press fit a threaded shroud onto connector #2? Maybe sand down the diameter of the connector a little first? Thanks, Brian

Hi All- I got to thinking the other night (while trying to fall asleep) what was my least favorite '51' Aero color and thought it would be interesting to see what all of you thought... so, which is your least favorite?

Hi All- some time ago I fell in love with the Parker '51' Aerometric demi and now have a ...few I recently discovered that I really like the Aerometric pencils as well. I have a few and recently got a burgundy one. The band on the caps of all the others I have is a thin band, but this one has a wide band. I looked on here and on the web and can't seem to find any info on this. Just wondering, was it a choice at the time, or is it a particular year(s)? Thanks for any help!!!

It seems to be raining Plums At this rate, their status might have to be demoted from uncommon to somewhat uncommon... kind of like when Pluto got demoted... Not sure if this one is actually plum http://www.ebay.com/itm/PLUM-PARKER-51-FOUNTAIN-PEN-/271939397274?hash=item3f50d9e69a but these are: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PARKER-51-AEROMETRIC-SET-FP-PENCIL-CODE-DATE-8-PLUM-RARE-TO-FIND-COLOR-/371397688304?hash=item567906fbf0 and: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PARKER-51-AEROMETRIC-CODE-DATE-8-PLUM-RARE-TO-FIND-COLOR-COLLECTIBLE-VALUE-/351465843223?hash=item51d4ff2a17 (seller does note that the pencil is not plum)

Can anyone point me in the direction of where(in the UK, and online)Imcan buy a Psrker 51 cap? Thanks Alex

Can anyone tell me the name of this pen? Any and all info would be appreciated (color, model, etc.). Thanks!

Hi. I'm just starting out my collection of parker pens and I have aquired my very first Parker 51. When I got it and looked it over I saw that the cap says "Made in USA" and the barrel says "Made in England". My question is if there were any 51:s that had their caps made in the us and their bodys in the UK or if this pen is put together from two different pens. Does anyone have any ideas? /Mattias

Hi all. Thought I'd post my fledgling Parker collection - it's mostly vintage(ish) with a few new ones that I've found at a good price. I'm looking to complete the set of UK Duofolds in blue - I can't get enough of them. I've also included a scan of the paper so you can see why I love Quink blue black, red and green so much. Anyway, sorry not sorry for the self indulgent post! http://i.imgur.com/e5EYPX4.jpg

Hi all, I was lucky enough to be able to buy my ‘Grail’ pen - an aerometric "51" - on an auction site a couple of years ago. As it was my ‘Grail’, I decided to spend some extra money to get its (worn-out) nib replaced and to get a NOS pli-glass sac put in it too. I like being able to see how much/little ink I have left. Once I got it back from the restorer I was very happy with it. I wanted to keep the pen as ‘minty’ as possible for as long as possible, so I read-up about staining issues here, and have therefore never put any red ink, or brown ink, or purple ink into it. For about a year, I ran it solely on a diet of R&K "Salix" blue-black, without any problems at all. But then I thought "what the heck, I'll try some other inks in this thing". Not wishing to take any ‘rash’ decisions, or ‘extreme’ risks, the first other ink I put in my "51" was the famously benign - the easy-to-clean-out, and ‘washable’ - Waterman ‘Serenity Blue’. The ink performed absolutely beautifully in the pen, but when I cleaned it out, to my utter amazement, I noticed that my very first fill of it had slightly stained the pen's pli-glass sac I tried cleaning my "51" out with lots of flushes of tap water. Then I tried soaking & flushing with dish-soap, and finally I tried ammonia solution. None of these worked. The sac retained a slight stain of blue dye I was astonished that, of all ink, WSB had stained the sac of my pen. [i don't think that it was a problem with my particular bottle of WSB, because the ink hasn't stained any of the converters that I've put it through, or the clear body of the Pelikan M205 that I have also used it in.] I sighed, and I resolved to go back to using only "Salix" in it, which at least wouldn't stain the sac any further. To my delight, the next fill of "Salix" actually cleaned the dye out of the pli-glass sac. It was back to being totally clear, and free from stains The point of my regaling you with this story is not to calumniate WSB (which has never given me any problems in any other pen). Nor, indeed, is it to sing the praises of "Salix". I've posted this in order to ask those of you who have more experience than me for your recommendations for ink that I can ‘safely’ use in my "51". i.e. ink that you have used in your aerometric "51"s without it staining the pli-glass sac. Of course, if there is a consensus that the ‘price’ of having a sac that will stay pliant and functional for at least the rest of my life is that almost ALL inks will stain it, and that I should therefore quit worrying about keeping it completely clear and just get on with using the pen with whatever ink I have a hankerin' for, that's fine too My thanks to you in advance, M.

If all you had on hand was some basic cleaners and such at home what would you recommend to remove the stain from a clear plastic ink collector of a Parker 51? I got everything spotless but the ink collector and I would prefer that it be clear again before I reassemble it. Suggestions?

I would like to dip my toe into the realm of restoration/repair....just for me, hobby, not to make any money: I'm very fond of the 51, and wondered how good - or not - a subject it would be? Any opinions very gratefully received Alex PS am posting this on the repair forum - hope its ok to do that

Hello! At least I got a little time write. A couple of weeks ago I was looking after my first P51 and thanks to farmdogfan now I am a happy owner of this magnificent pen! The pen is a MKI aerometric with beautiful black body and lustraloy cap, there are no date marks but it has the basket clutch spring, and the black plastic ended converter so it is one of the early aerometrics (please correct me if this is not true). I have to admit that I really hated this design before (bad lasting memories from childhood using P51 fakes at school) and I was a bit afraid. And I never really liked the idea of a hooded nib……BUT when I saw mine that beautifully proportioned shiny black barrel, the heavy cap that feels machined, that somebody really worked on it. And that solid clutch ring that divides the pen compositionally it is perfect, it just gives the necessary amount of detail to the pen body without being just a "decorative" element. If you divide the length of the visible barrel when capped with the golden ratio number 1,618 it gives the length of the cap (I observed this on more Parker pens) and these were just the looks. Now to get to the tactile review. It just feels perfect for my hands, it is like a highly polished gem, jewel it does not feel at all like "plastic". The thickness is also extremely comfortable for writing in comparison the P75 seems a bit too thin for me. At 20grams the pen may seem light but not that light to feel cheap. Its a wonderful piece of architecture! Behind that streamlined body hides the technology, you know from the beginning that its an old pen but feels modern. It resembles pure elegance, professionalism in this minimalist design. I started to like this idea very much, that the nib is hidden, that only I know (from my colleagues) that there is a nice gold nib, most of them don't even recognise it being a fountain pen. It is like the pen reveals her secrets only for the user. As for the writing performance its smooth, wet, holds a lot of ink. I use it as a daily user because I'm afraid that my P75 is too flashy in many situations. Also as a comparison many compare it to the P51 Mustang but for me it is much more like the Mallard Steam Locomotive, as far as I know the most elegant and fastest steam engine. Some pictures of my P51: Have a nice day!

Hi everyone, I have a Chinese copy of the Parker 51 called Youth. It has a sentimental value for me, and I've been using it for a few years, but about a month ago I ran out of ink (which was old and started to smell). I bought new ink today, but unfortunately, the sack (where the vacuum is) is now under pressure. It's like that because the pen is probably clogged (combine not writing for a month or so + old ink), so now when I try to vacuum new ink, it doesn't suck it in. How do I fix this? The pen is identical to this one in the pictures attached.

My P- '51' Demi/Aero rainbow! (sorry for the bad photography)

Even though the design does not attract me but I was impressed by the reviews and many many topics here about the 51. I was surprised how rugged it is. I saw that many of you have tons of these pens. I searched trough ebay, but I only found nice looking ones. I do not want to spend that much on a pen that does not appeal to me like the 75, however I'm curious about trying it and test it. I would like to find a 51 (the standard one, not demi or special) aero / vac does not matter, barrel full of scratches, bite marks, scars (but not broken) cap full of dings and dents, steel/octanium nib (gold would be expensive I think). The only thing is to be functional and to have all the parts (the cap jewel could be missing, I guess) I think you get the idea, I'm looking for a functional but beaten 51 that I can carry with me even in the forest without fearing of scratching, dropping… and paying too much for it. If have a pen like this that does not have much value and you don't really care about but it works please tell me. Or at least can you tell me how much could such a pen cost? Thank you! Have a nice day!

Hi all, I've been trying to get all the dried-in iron gall ink out of a Parker "51" Aerometric, but it never seems to stop coming out. Background I've been using R&K ‘Salix’ iron-gall ink in the pen for the last eighteen months. I'd only ever used dish soap & tap water to clean it out, as I'd never had flow problems and the pen was in constant use, so the ink was never anything other than ‘fresh’. My mother had to go into hospital for a while this year, and while she was in (and for a short while after she'd been discharged) I was rather preoccupied and so hardly used the pen for about a month. When I came back to it, the pen still wrote ok but the ink had become noticeably darker. Once I'd used it up I decided to clean the pen out with a solution of white vinegar, then dish soap & water, then vinegar soultion again. Although the dish soap fill came out ‘clean’, the second vinegar solution fill dislodged as much old ink as the first. So I decided to keep doing vinegar soaks until no more ink came out. The Process So Far I started out by filling the pen with a solution of white vinegar, and leaving it for a day or so with occasional nib-up to nib-down rotation & longitudinal shaking to try to circulate the solution through the breather tube & sac. I would then prop the pen up on a piece of kitchen paper to enable capillary action to drain/wick the vinegar solution out through the nib. After a few weeks of this, and small amounts of old ink coming out each time, I have increased the concentration of the vinegar soultion, and have been leaving the filled pen on top of a radiator in order to use the heat to increase the speed of reaction. Old ink is still evident on the kitchen paper after each cycle of filling with vinegar solution & wicking through the nib. I can never see any colour in the pen's sac (I had a NOS one fitted to it), but there is still always some depsoited on the kitchen paper after the vinegar solution has wicked through the nib. After a couple of weeks using the radiator & the stronger vinegar solution, I am becoming rather frustrated now, and would really like to expedite the process so that I can get my "51" back into rotation. Being both a ‘restoration virgin’ AND an inveterate klutz, I feel in no way competent to disassemble the front section of the pen without fatally damaging it. So, I am thinking of buying an ultrasonic cleaner to help to get my "51" clean. After reading old threads about best practice with USCs, I am thinking of pushing the pen into a piece of thick cardboard and placing that across the USC's bath so that only the section of the pen to just in front of the clutch ring is suspended in the cleaning solution, but I still have some questions that I'd like to ask: Questions 1) As I am (I think) trying to remove layers of iron salts that have precipitated inside the pen's collector, should I actually be using a solution of white vinegar in the ultrasonic cleaner, rather than ammonia (or whatever is in the detergent that comes with the USC)? 2) Should I fill the pen's sac with the cleaning solution before placing the section inside the USC's bath, or should the sac be dry and ONLY the section that is submerged contain solution? 3) Am I right to think that I should put the pen through a USC cycle, then empty it (squeezing & wicking onto kitchen paper), then another round of USC-then-emptying, then further rounds as necessary? 4) Am I wrong about the identity of the dark blue patches that have been appearing on the kitchen paper after every vinegar soak? Are these bluish-grey patches (that are the same colour as the dye component in R&K ‘Salix’) actually patches of the salt (Silver Acetate?) that results when the sterling silver breather tube of a 1950's aerometric is exposed to vinegar? 5) Is there anything else that I need to know before I go ahead with my plan; do you have any general advice for me (apart from ‘type shorter posts already, you blethering Windbag!‘ )? Or; 6) Should I actually just ‘bite the bullet’, and take my pen's life in my hands by attempting to fully disassemble it? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, M.

Hi All- I fairly recently came back to fp's and didn't search too long (fortunately for my wallet) before I found the '51' - I wasn't even interested in vintage pens at all and then one day woke up wanting a '51'. Bruce in Ocala did an amazing job guiding me on my first one (thank you Bruce!!!), so I think the '51' kind of came to me. Now, I ONLY use the '51'(s). I first got a demi and figured that that would suit me best, and it is true. I also have a couple of standard size, but the demi feels better for me, and I am addicted to them! There I said it out loud the aero/demi is my thing! I am not a collector, but would like to someday have one in each of the demi/aero colors... So, my question is, because I am interested...and to know when I have a problem...LOL How many '51's' do you have and how many is too many? I would also be curious the number of vac or aero's and the number of standard or demi and maybe which pen is your favorite. You can certainly be less specific like: less than 10, more than 5, less than 100, more than 100 For me, my favorite is a 1948 plum demi that writes like a dream, I'd love to know what you have -Octatonic