You've Got Your First Found In The Wild Parker 51 In Your Hand, Now What?

[CaptainGroovy]

You may want to check out this thread for the disassemble of a P51 http://www.fountainp...51-disassembly/

also on U-Tube Grandmia Pens has a video of him taking apart a P51

I had some other information lost it when I had some hard drive problems a while back.

 

How would one take apart the hood and nib on a 51 for cleaning?

It doesn't even look as if it would come apart so I would appreciate some idiot proof instructions please.

I just can't afford to send pens away for repair at the moment what with our new baby and having to save for a move. So this'll be a bit of a DIY job.

[OcalaFlGuy]

It doesn't even look as if it would come apart so I would appreciate some idiot proof instructions please.

 

 

Nothing is idiotproof for the sufficiently persistent idiot.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[samgeee]

Very informative post--Thank you!

[kestrel]

Thanks, Bruce.

 

For those who don't have a spare vintage shot glass, try one of those tall, narrow single serving syrup jars that come with some meals in places like Cracker Barrel. At 1 and 3/4 inches in diameter and just under 3 inches tall they make ideal soaking containers. Most of mine once contained blueberry syrup and were acquired after a pleasant chat with an assistant manager who was willing to ask his table bussers to save them for me.

You can also fill the jars half full and set them in an already filled ultrasonic cleaner. Then hold the pen in the liquid without the nib touching glass. This confines the ink to the jar and eliminates cleaning the ultrasonic's bowl. Or stuff them with folded paper towels tucked into the jar the way gentlemen tuck a handkerchief into their jacket pockets to hold pens upright while the water drains out of them.

[inkstainedruth]

This has been an incredibly useful thread to me! Not sure I'm quite up to the disassembly part, but soaking the plum Aerometric has worked really well for me so far. For a container, I used a mini-sifter that looks like a mason jar with a handle, which cost me a buck + tax at a local dollar store, and used a pair of tweezers around the sac sleeve to hold the pen upright (next time I'm thinking that a plastic clothespin might work a bit better).

I had to wince a bit about the comment that someone posted about losing the clutch ring down the drain -- I had that happen last weekend with my 21. The hood had gotten twisted somehow in March, and the pen was leaking pretty badly (I don't remember for sure, but it was either Liberty's Elysium or Manhattan Blue ) and I had to remove the hood to straighten it out, which also served to give me a chance to clear all the gunked up ink out of it. I was having some trouble getting it to line up properly when I did a dry run of replacing the hood before shellacking it, and realized that I was missing *part* of the clutch ring assembly (one of the outer rings). This was on, I think, Wednesday (after taking the hood off the pen late Saturday afternoon...).

I was *incredibly* lucky, in that my husband was able to find and recover the missing piece in the trap under the sink. I was just amazed that it hadn't been washed completely down the drain, given how small and light it is, and how much water had been run through there over the intervening days.

But now I have a couple of questions: I saw the link showing all the 51 parts, and wondered about the o-ring behind (or under) the clutch ring on a disassembled pen; do I need one of those on a 21 as well?

Additionally, the nib itself has the number 53 on it, with what looked like dots on either side and below it. Is this a date code? (It would make sense if it was, because I know the pen is a pre-1956 model: the sac sleeve says "Use Superchrome Ink".) I dropped a line to Tony Fischier at the Parkerpen.net website, and he thought it might be plausible; however it then occurred to me that it also might be some sort of marking for the nib width (although I haven't been able to find any information one way or the other, and the list of nib markings I've found did not include that one).

I also would like to know (to get back to the initial topic), whether the flushing/soaking regimen would also work for a 51 Vac, or whether this is a case where it really should go to a pro to be worked on -- I got a Vac the same weekend I got the Plum Aero, but haven't really done anything yet (and of course FPN has been down so much the last couple of weeks that I couldn't....

Thanks in advance.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[OcalaFlGuy]

Ruth,

 

P-45 clutch rings also Really like to go walk about. I won't hesitate to tack one down with shellac. I've come very close uncountable times to losing one.

 

Speaking of shellac. If you find you need to go back into the 51's you are shellacing the hoods on, you may consider some section sealant or beeswax. It'll be much easier to separate on re-openings and will still seal the hood fine.

 

If you have the hood off, a toothbrush is Jim Dandy for cleaning the feed and collector.

 

O-rings. Not even all Aeros came with them. I'm not sure about the 21's but if so, I'd suspect only on the Mk II that's most like a 51.

If your 21 came with one, it's probably still in the hood though they can be hard to see in their little slot. Besides, I wouldn't want to be taking 21 hoods off without it being a total necessity. The plastic is crappy and the less you mess with it, the better. It can crack with a stern look sometimes.

 

The 53 on the nib sure sounds like a date code to me. Good job sleuthing out the dating clues, I presume you've seen the Chronology page on Ernesto's site.

 

On the Vac 51 the answer to Both questions is most likely Yes. As mentioned in the original post, IF the diaphragm is in good shape and it fills, it should work fine with the soaking and flushing. OTOH, unless you know for a fact a Vac has been re-diaphragnmed in the past couple years you really should have that done Before you (IMO) put the pen into dedicated service. By that I mean soak and flush then fill once to use to critique it's writing so you know what to tell the Pro to do with it to make it YOUR 51. Then get a good diaphragm in there before you start carrying it at least away from home. That's how I'd do it anyway.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[Savory Goodness]

Good afternoon -

 

My dad's 51 (Navy Grey) and I thank you for this post. The cleaning you prescribed was all she needed. I loaded up some Waterman Florida Blue and took her to work this week. Other than creating a blue mist when ripping the cap off, everything works just beautifully. I know now: easy with the cap. My go-to cap-actuated ball-points will now get some rest. Thank you!

 

Mark

[OcalaFlGuy]

Mark, try this.

 

On either your last filler squeeze if it's an Aero or your last plunger push if a Vac, hold the squeeze filler closed or the plunger down Until you lift the nib out of the ink then either release the filler spring bar or let the plunger up. That will draw excess ink off of the internal collector and up into the pen making it less likely to drip out.

 

Glad to hear you Dad's pen is writing fine again and

 

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[Savory Goodness]

Hey Bruce -

 

Thanks again. I remembered that you had mentioned a filling technique in the top-post. But FPN was getting its nib polished when I filled the 51, and I did not remember the specifics. So I winged it.

 

In the same nest of ancestors' pens, there is my grand-dad's Duofold Jr., and my grandma's Lady Duofold. There's also a GF Wahl pen and pencil set (very nice looking but too tiny).

 

I believe the Junior is next on the refurbishing block, because the orange really is pretty cool. It's remarkable that a $6 pen from the 1920s shows every sign of being made useable without a big ordeal.

 

Mark

[dragos.mocanu]

Hello, I recently purchased an Aerometric "51" that writes beautifully, but every time I flush it (once or twice a month), I can spot some small dark solid residue on the bottom of the cup I use for flushing. It clears if I fill and empty the pen with water a few times, but if I let it soak for a night and afterwards shake it (as to get the water all the way into the sac and back), the residue starts coming out again (it's not much, but it's there, and I'm concerned that it could be more, that only falls appart gradually).

The thing is that I bought the pen as restored from a very reputable person, and only used Pelikan 4001 Blue Black with it...could it be that this ink left the residue in the pen? And if so, will the ammonia solution solve my problem? Thank you.

[rochester21]

Well Dragos, i think i know what you are referring to- small pieces of dried ink that slowly come out of the pen. I never used ammonia on my pens, maybe you should just let it soak in water for a week or two, flushing it once a day until the residue goes away. The pen probably sat a long time before you bought it- with ink still in there. Imagine a pen with 40 year old ink inside Don`t worry though, it will go away gradually, if the ink flow is not affected, it should be alright.

 

As for the seller, well...."restored" could mean that he polished the cap and barrel and flushed it once before selling it, as these pens aren`t exactly maintenance dependent. As long as the pen works as should, you can`t really complain.

 

Anyway, the topic is very informative. Many thanks.

Edited June 23, 2013 by rochester21

[betweenthelens]

Bruce, thank you so much for the information. I got my Parker 51 in a bag with several other older fountain pens for the princely sum of $8. I flushed it out this morning, filled it with Pelikan 4001 and am loving it, totally. I think I like it better than my Stipula.

 

I do need to get all my pens serviced save for the one reconditioned and one brand new one coming in the mail one of these days.

 

I do believe the end of the cap on my 51 is missing something. Does anyone sell a replacement for this?

[WayTooManyHobbies]

A number of sellers can provide the end piece, or jewel. Take a look at http://www.parker51.com, Ariel Kullock's site, or even the 'bay.

[betweenthelens]

Thank you so much, WayTooManyHobbies! Much appreciated. Going to have a look now.

[haroldvincent]

I guess I'm going to have to get a 51. It hasn't appealed to me thus far, but the sheer passion that users hold for it make me inclined to try one. Thank you for the incredible education.

[usk15]

Hi

I want to thanks to OcalaFlGuy and Grandmia for they contributions, reviews and advices which help me to clean my first P51 burgundy aero.

[ac12]

Bruce,

With your comment on the plastic of the P21, is there any risk in using the ultrasonic cleaner (USC)on the P21?

I have a P21 aero that I only flushed the normal way, before I read your post about the soaking. And seeing the pix of the collector, I am now pretty sure the P21 could do with more cleaning of the collectors. Whenever I used the USC on the feed of a used pen that I flushed with water, a cloud of ink comes boiling off the feed, which I presume is the dried ink or the ink in the fins of the feed.

 

When I use the USC, I usually only use filtered water with maybe a few drops of dish washing detergent. I never used ammonia in my cleaning, because of the smell.

 

Thanks

[apkayle]

I'm part of the club! I couldn't resist nabbing a 51 after playing with a Hero 616!

 

I ended up with a beautiful midnight blue aerometric. It write so...beautifully!

 

My ebonite Konrad finally has a rival for the "favorite daily pen" position. :x

[OcalaFlGuy]

Bruce,

With your comment on the plastic of the P21, is there any risk in using the ultrasonic cleaner (USC)on the P21?

I have a P21 aero that I only flushed the normal way, before I read your post about the soaking. And seeing the pix of the collector, I am now pretty sure the P21 could do with more cleaning of the collectors. Whenever I used the USC on the feed of a used pen that I flushed with water, a cloud of ink comes boiling off the feed, which I presume is the dried ink or the ink in the fins of the feed.

 

When I use the USC, I usually only use filtered water with maybe a few drops of dish washing detergent. I never used ammonia in my cleaning, because of the smell.

 

Thanks

First, depending on the generation of P-21, I would advise Against removing the hood unless really necessary. Some of the material is very prone to cracking.

 

Secondly, get the hood in some good light and go all around the clutch ring area looking for fine cracks. You could have

one just starting that might leak more after some strenuous sonicating.

 

If it were me, I would fashion a cardboard holder to hold the P-21 vertically, nib down in the sonicator with the nib tip not

touching anything but solution. Then yes, give it a few cycles.

 

A 1-10 Ammonia solution is just fine with the P-21's and in the Lucite in the 51 and some of the 21's I've used stronger than 10%.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[Colourfingers]

Sell it because quite frankly in my experience they're over hyped and not really very good at all. Uneven ink flow. Fiddly to place the nib in the correct position on the page for writing to name but two problems with them. Stopping flow to name a third even after numerous flushings.

I'm afraid that the 51 is one pen that I have decided my pencil case can do without.