Would you recommend a Parker 45?

[Gojira]

I heartily recommend the 45. Just be careful to check the nib section as some may have warped or 'shrunk' from use or storage. Try one of the metal-bodied ones...I have a Harlequin and it certainly feels very robust.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have a wonderful rolled gold capped black, semi-flex nibbed English P-45....wow.

 

I was at a table in an indoor flea market in Germany, and the man had some pens...I ignored the P-45...in I'd only read they were nails....could well be I had one back in the day of the silver dime as a school kid.

Stupid didn't even look at it...thinking it cheap gold tone cap.

 

My wife said, what about that one, take it too. (great wife)

 

I got lucky that day, two English semi-flex Parkers, the 45 and a Jr. Duofold, along with a 900 silver overlay Luxor full flex steel F (1938-40, no gold nib which was illegal after the summer of '38, '39 the war starts. Silver would then too have been taken as a war resource.)

[PDW]

What I value in the P45 is the ease of disassembly for thorough cleaning. You can get the thing to pieces and clean it out completely without tools, and put it back together without shellac.

 

The ultimate easy-for-end-user pen?

Edited May 10, 2012 by PDW

[Sagar_C]

I would grab (another) one only if it is metal-bodied version (I have a lovely one) and cheap enough. Otherwise, P51 is a better deal for me.

[nxn96]

Personally, I like them. I also think the Parker 45 is a somewhat underappreciated/ misunderstood pen.

 

People need to remember that the 45 series was originally designed, built and marketed as a c/c school pen. Over its life, it got a lot of "upgrades" such that it was the anchor of Parker's mid-price line via Flighters, Harlequins, Insignias, etc.; but all were based on a basic design that was never meant to compete with the 51, 61, 75, etc. as Parker's "flagship" fountain pen. That being said, I think the fact that so many of these pens have not only survived, but continue to function in great form many decades after they rolled off the production line speaks not only to how well the pen was designed and built, but also to the level of quality Parker built into even its less-than-flagship lines.

 

Viewed for what it was meant to do, I think the Parker 45 is an exceptionally nice pen that is looks great and functions well. I've seen some posts here that suggest the latter UK production prior to the "retirement" of the 45 line a few years back was not up to the standard of its predecessors, but I can't speak from experience on that point.

[jslallar]

To the OP

Will I recommend a P45-

In one word - YES!!

Edited May 10, 2012 by jslallar

[carlc]

2007 to 2012

 

Whoa!

 

Talk about return of the living thread.

 

This is necromancy!

[tomgartin]

I got one for my wife and fell in love with it so much I had to have one for myself--it's in the mail now. They're very easy to take apart (easier, as I understand, than disassembling the 51) for maintenance, and easy to put back together again.

I can speak from experience that a Lamy Z26 converter fits perfectly, in case you'd like to use a converter but don't like the aerometric ones.

[Garageboy]

Not bad at all for the price

I just don't like the look (the taper and the semi hood) and the really cheap feeling plastic (which isn't THAT bad)

[georges zaslavsky]

it is a good pen for the money

[Tom Aquinas]

I have several, prefer the 75 and 51 of the older pens but the 45 is the Parker that

 

I love to hate, it is so functional and good value for money.

[thomas.russell]

I am a big fan of the Parker 45. The only failing of the pen is that there is not really any scope for a really flexible nib. On the up-side, there are plenty of advantages - easily refillable with any ink, also takes standard Quink cartridges, very easy to dismantle and clean (no glue/friction joins - everything screws apart), and different weights for different writers, from full stainless steel to full plastic resin.

I have a couple that I use regularly (a 45 desk pen and an all-plastic Arrow), as well as some that I just collect and look at, viz:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2013 by thomas.russell

[Runnin_Ute]

Nice collection Thomas!

 

And

 

A P45 flighter is my favorite ballpoint. Don't have the FP version -yet. Been looking at a NOS one for a while. Site I am looking at (5 Star pens) has both 10k and Octanium nib versions available. Octanium for $10 less. (Circa 1970's)

Edited August 25, 2013 by Runnin_Ute

[ac12]

I used the P45 through college. Very nice pen.

I currently have the desk pen version of the P45. This is basically a P45 but with a long tail. It is a GREAT writer. As for being a dry or wet pen, that can be controlled and changed by tuning the nib. But as with any time you tinker with the nib, it is tricky to get the flow "just right" and you usually have to settle for "good enough."

As was mentioned the P45 is like a modular system. If you don't like the F tip, you just unscrew it and replace it with a M tip (or whatever you want). With the P51, I'm stuck with the nib in the pen, unless I send it out to get the nib replaced.

And the P45 is oh so easy to clean. So much easier than an aerometric pen like the P51. I just put a bulb syringe on the section and pump water thru the section/feed. And I can unscrew the tip and disassemble it to clean out the collector and feed of old ink. This cleaning is more important on the used pens that I get off eBay, which has been unused for a LONG time and the ink is dried up in the feed channel.

 

One querky thing about the P45 at least to me, is that the tip on some/many is not shaped like a ball, it is a cylinder. Then they grind the sides in, until they get the width they want for F or M (don't know about X and B tips). This gives you a flat bottom to the tip (like a cylinder laying on its side), rather than a sphere, so you get a wider ink like than a round sphere shaped tip. And the transition from the bottom to the side of the tip, if not rounded off enough, can make for a scratchy writer (just like an italic nib).

BTW, I have this same profile situation with a narrow F tip P51. I guess that is how they made the tips back then.

Edited August 25, 2013 by ac12

[Vendome]

I've used a 45 ballpen for years.

I bought a NOS 1996 Flighter 45 FP last year for £12 and it's a great pen to use.

 

Edited August 25, 2013 by Vendome

[Runnin_Ute]

I am a long time fan of the P45 Flighter ballpoint, finally picked up a P45 Flighter FP- got it for a steal, especially considering it is a 14K nib.

[ac12]

One observation, the Lamy 2000 sure looks like a slightly bigger P45.

[welch]

The Parker 45 was -- still is -- a great pen for the money. I used one from 7th grade through my first year or two of college. A great school pen, and a pen that introduced most of the elements of today's fountain pens: cartridge / converter, section and barrel that unscrew, nib that unscrews: all components.

 

Parker's 51, 61, and 75 were better pens, but Parker intended that: they were high-end pens, sold at around $15 when the P45 sold for $4.98 (early '60s).

 

Thomas Russell has an astounding collection!!!

[thomas.russell]

Here (link) are a few photos of my pen collection, including some prototype 45s and various 45 colours, including a (quite rare) yellow 45.

[rtruslow]

It is a good pen. Inexpensive. Very convenient. The nib of mine writes between a medium and fine. Very smooth, but I still like my P51 better for some reason. The P45 almost has it but the P51 gets it!

 

Rob