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The other brand sections have this kind of thread, and I couldn't believe we don't have one for Parker. So here we go. What Parkers have you added to your collection lately? We have 100 years worth of pens with the Parker name, and some of us are addicted to gathering them up. I have a number of items on order, both vintage and modern, and I will mention those as they arrive over the next few weeks. But to get us started, here's the ebay photo of a P45 I just scored: Burgundy Parker 45, 14k Medium - described as NOS. In fact, that's how I found it. I was searching for gold P45 nibs. I had to grab this one because: 1. I don't have this color yet. (I am hoping it's not the same color as my red one.) 2. A gold Medium nib is my P45 sweet spot. (I do have a 14k broad nib unit on the way, too, to upgrade one of my two steel Fines.) 3. That squeeze converter alone could cost half of what I just paid for this pen, and I only have one of those. My other P45s use carts or one of the modern twist converters. So, now it's your turn. Let's keep this one going, shall we?

I have four 45s, 3 US and 1 UK. All of the caps have "PARKER" stamped under the clip and "Made in US/UK" on the back. Two of them, 1 US and 1 UK, also have a large "45" stamped on each side between the front and back stamps. Might this indicate, approximately, when they were made? There are no yr/qtr stamps on them, like on my Frontiers.

Hey, So a while back I acquired two used Parker 45 pens, one with a 14k extra fine nib and the other with a steel Fine. Unfortunately, the 14k nib seems to have been either worn out, or badly ground...it writes as thick as a Japanese M, and has such a tiny sweet spot that it's immensely difficult to use. A tiny bit off and the pen bites into the paper. I made sure the tines are aligned, and spread them a tiny bit to make it wetter which seems to have helped a bit, but it's still not very fun to use. In addition, my other P45 kept getting ink all over the inside of the cap, as well as the section. I couldn't figure it out and packed away the pen for a while, and only took it out today. I had stored it cap off, but I now realize the whole section is warped, so the nib doesn't even point up anymore, it slants slightly. At this point I'm considering just sticking the steel nib onto the section of the other pen (with a problematic nib), but it seems to be a bit of a waste... Are there any easy ways to fix the 14k nib and/or the warped section? I'll try to post photos later. Thanks! edit: Here are some photos! http://i43.tinypic.com/295cs5u.jpg http://i42.tinypic.com/rup8og.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/1y1t87.jpg http://i43.tinypic.com/2guz91u.jpg

I went flea market crawling, last Monday. Came home with an artist's kit. I won't try to bore you fountain pen folk with a descripion of the contents, regardless of how they fascinate me. However, the contents did contain a Platignum Silverline pen with a full set of italic nibs, an olive drab P45, and the dreaded bottle of solidified Speedball India ink. The Platignum nib units were all completely plugged with insoluble ink, and the section was badly cracked. That lot went over the side. The P45 section and converter went into an overnight soak with distilled water, ammonia, and dish detergent. I was able to get the section apart after a short blow with a hair dryer. Everything inside was clotted with black goo and crumbly ink bits. I was able to clean the feed channels with various diameters of guitar string wire. The steel nib came clean with a stainless steel brush and some nyon thread for the slit. The converter sac eventually came clean with many flushings. The pen works very well now. I gave it a fill of blue black Quink, just to make it feel at home. The P45 is one tough pen. It is now worth more than the whole artist's kit, handmade brushes and all.