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Parker 61 Capillary Conundrum


Maine Vintner

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Hi Parker afficciondos!

 

I have a riddle for your collective pondering. I own a Parker 61 capillary that I purchased off the bay for $5. I cleaned, rinsed, flushed, etc more times than I care to recount. I have never been able to get it to write with the exception of this...

 

Thoughts? Do I need to send out for repair? If so, who is an expert at these? Thank you in advance.

 

John

post-16637-0-64785900-1521992256_thumb.jpg

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Has the shell shrunk around the nib/collector?

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Fair question. I am no expert here but wondered this myself as there appears to be almost no space between nib and feed on the underside. Here are a couple of photos.

 

Thank you for your thoughts.

John

post-16637-0-62689400-1522010059_thumb.jpg

post-16637-0-84586400-1522010136_thumb.jpg

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How much pressure is needed to get it to write when upside down?

 

If the ink flows readily with little or no pressure (like a fountain pen should write) then the problem may lie at the end of the nib. Have you tried cleaning out the ink channel by inserting the corner of a brass shim sheet from below and then pulling it through the exposed portion of the nib (with care to not gouge the shell)? Or, have you examined the writing surface of the tipping under magnifications to make sure there isn’t misalignment or “baby’s bottom?”

 

On the other hand, if it takes some pressure to get the ink to flow, that might be a clue that there is a misalignment or blockage involving a problem with the shell/feed configuration.

 

And there is also the one fallback to try before giving up on any P61 - see how it writes with Waterman Serenity Blue!

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Cleaning the capillary filler is not an easy job. I am afraid your pen still has dried ink in the filler as well in the collector and feed.

Khan M. Ilyas

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John,

 

I dont know if this has anything to do with the problem but your nib seems to protrude more than the one on the 61 I have at work today, will check my other two tonight when I get home. All three are capillary ones.

 

James

 

 

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fpn_1522154523__0a57814c-439f-48bf-8fb7-

"If you want to succeed in the world, you don't have to be much cleverer than other people. You just have to be one day earlier." -- Leo Szilard

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Im not sure about the extent to which the nib protrudes: it is hard to judge because the Parker 61 hood is made of a plastic known to shrink over time.

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Has the shell shrunk around the nib/collector?

Post a close up picture of the hood.

San Francisco International Pen Show - The next “Funnest Pen Show” is on schedule for August 23-24-25, 2024.  Watch the show website for registration details. 
 

My PM box is usually full. Just email me: my last name at the google mail address.

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Looking at the reverse of the pen, the nib of the OP’s pen seems to protrude beyond the end of the feed more than on mine suggesting a difference in location relative to the feed.

"If you want to succeed in the world, you don't have to be much cleverer than other people. You just have to be one day earlier." -- Leo Szilard

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Thank you all for your posts and suggestions. I apologize for my delayed response; I had some unexpected business travel the last few days. Some answers starting. From the top:

 

Pressure when writing upside down? None - writes as you would hope right side up.

Brass Shim: I have not tried this; good idea

Inspection of nib: yes, I have done this. Times are aligned; no baby's bottom.

Ink: I have tried Herbin and Waterman (flushing/soaking multiplie times between fills)

 

As for flushing and the nib, I will try flushing more. I've done a lot but I understand that these capillaries are a real bear! The extension of the nib is an interesting thought (beautiful pen, James). I will push on it and see what results.

 

More to come....

John

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Get a squeeze bulb from a drug store. You’ll need to trim off the point to where it will just fit over the capillary filler. Fill it with water and squeeze the water through the pen until little or no ink is coming out. I’d use a screen colander just in case the arrow decides to part company with the pen. Put the pen nib down on some tissue so that remaining water wicks out. Hope this helps.

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I once had a Parker 61 capillary filler that was a PITA to clean. I toyed with the idea of converting it to a C/C filler, but in the end sold it as soon as it was clean enough. Even Parker soon scrapped the capillary filler idea and converted them.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Find a 2 Liter bottle, drill a hole in it just big enough for the threads to go through (not the whole section), insert the section from the under side of the cap (so it points into the bottle), fill the bottle with water, screw on the cap, turn the whole thing over in the sink, drill a tiny hole in the bottom of the bottle to let the air in, go away it's going to be awhile.

 

Save the cap (you can always find another bottle)

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"...drill a hole in it". In what? In the bottle or in its cap?

Couldn't understand. Could you explain a bit more?

Edited by mitto

Khan M. Ilyas

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Maybe a good idea to send the pen to a professional repairer. If the nib is not in the right position it can be for various reasons: a bad previous repair, an incorrect nib, a wrong feeder, etc. The Parker 61 is not an easy pen to disassembly and can easily crack, but when they write properly they are a joy to use them. Good luck.

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If it writes upside down then I don't think cleaning is an issue. IMHO the issue might be (a) connect between feed a nib is poor i.e. there might be distance and that's why when you write upside down it works - because the nib gets pressed against the feed, or (B) baby's bottom. If a pen writes at 90-degree angle and not 45-degrees then I find that it is usually baby's bottom. In fact from one of your pics it looked like severe baby's bottom but you would need to look at the nib through a loupe and at the correct angle. See Richard Binder's notes for how to look at the nib (link)

My Vintage Montblanc Website--> link

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"...drill a hole in it". In what? In the bottle or in its cap?

Couldn't understand. Could you explain a bit more?

 

 

I think he means to drill a hole in the bottle's cap that will fit the threaded section of the pen. So, this would basically turn the 2 liter bottle into a giant flushing bulb of sorts. Only I guess you'd just let it run it's course without squeezing the bottle. You'd have to rig something to hold the 2 liter bottle up and also be sure the pen couldn't fall out of the cap and land nib down on something.

 

This is a supersized version of how I deep cleaned my Parker 51: I would fill the pen with water and then put it nib down into a folded up paper towel stuffed into a tall 2 oz shot glass. Leave over night (or even for just a few hours) and all the water would be drained out of the sac and the remaining ink in the collector should be in the paper towel. Repeat until paper towel comes away clean.

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