Parker 45 Extra Fine - but is it really?

[Gio839]

Hi everyone, 

 

I'm kinda new so I hope you won't mind in case I'm asking a silly question. 

 

I've recently purchased a Parker 45 with an extra fine nib. It got home, I cleaned it gently and once ready I loaded some ink and tested it. 

 

You see, I'm particularly fond of fine writing nibs and I have a love for hooded nibs that seeped into me from using for years a Hero 616 that I picked up without really knowing what I was buying a very long time ago in Beijing. I am getting a little tired of my Hero 616 though. It writes very nicely but the cap keeps falling apart (the "jewel" holding the clip unscrews itself from the cap and I find it in pieces in my bag more often than not), so I had initially started to look to get myself an actual Parker 51, when I stumbled into the 45 and was smitten. 

 

I then started to look into nibs and when I realised I could get a nib that writes even finer than my Hero 616 I was sold.

 

Long story kinda short: it really does not write like a fine nib. I'm not an expert but if I had to compare it to a marker I would say it's comparable 0.8mm.  I was expecting half of that! 

 

I checked the marks on the pen and it has the customary X of X/F, I pulley's dit apart to check if the nib is the same nib that originally belonged to that pen, but there is no such info on the nib itself, only information on the material and production. 

 

Is there a way for me to test if this is really an XF nib, or if it has been changed? 

 

I wouldn't mind spending more to replace the nib for an actual XF, but I don't want to spend more to get a nib that's exactly the one I already have. 

 

Thank you for reading this far and I hope you have ideas! 

 

Giorgia

[MarioR81]

Do you think you can share some pics? Maybe someone can have a better idea looking at the nib.

Western nibs (Parkers) are usually thicker than eastern nibs (Wing Sung, Pilot etc) so even a extra fine western nib can something close to a F or M of a eastern nib.

Another thing you have to consider is the ink and paper, it can make a big difference in line width especially on older pens. Ideally you should test using, say a waterman blue ink in a rhodia paper for comparison.

[bsenn]

There is a large variation in line width among 45 nibs of the same marked size.  Some is from variations in tipping size (to me, English nibs run wider than US nibs for the same marked size). Some is from how a nib is set up (tine spacing, fit/spacing with the feed and collar) resulting in wetter or drier writing which affects line width.  There is also the possibility the nib was changed but the collar (which has the nib size marked) was not.

 

Brian 

 

 

 

[alexwi]

Hi,

 

An XF shouldn't write a .8mm line. Definitely share some pictures of the nib.

 

Parker 45's XF nibs barely have any tipping (the ball at the tip is really tiny). It's possible that you got a frankenpen.

 

I don't like XF and might have such a nib, so if you're interested, we can swap.

 

Alex

[inkstainedruth]

I'm wondering whether the nib is a replacement and that the collar is marked XF.  Because one of the advantages of 45s is that the nib assembly unscrews and can be fully taken apart.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[alexwi]

This is what a Parker 45 M nib looks like. F and XF nibs' tipping balls are nowhere nearly as large. Like @inkstainedruth says, it's quite possible that the collar of your nib assembly doesn't match the nib you have.

 

(Image "courtesy" of ebay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/124819149612?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D2644a2149b034d62a881ad63b1b1dce0%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D124819149612%26itm%3D124819149612%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057%26brand%3DParker&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A1fdd43b4-ef62-11eb-b746-a67307c78dce|parentrq%3Aeb856f8a17a0acb45b8763a6fff15a30|iid%3A1

[gyasko]

On 7/26/2021 at 4:37 PM, MarioR81 said:

 

Western nibs (Parkers) are usually thicker than eastern nibs (Wing Sung, Pilot etc) so even a extra fine western nib can something close to a F or M of a eastern nib.

 

 

 

This may apply to modern pens, but it certainly does not apply to vintage pens, of which the 45 is an example.  My xf 45 writes like an xf, not a medium.

 

Possible reasons for an xf nib to write with a broad to medium line:

 

- fibre caught in nib

 

- misalignment 

 

- flat spot in tipping 

 

-  air leak 

 

- unsuitable ink paper combination 

[MarioR81]

So would you say your Parker 45 is comparable to a XF from Japan? Because my Parker 51 is vintage from England and it writes 1.0mm or more.

[Bo Bo Olson]

XF Parker should not be anywhere near a XF Japanese pen. Nor near a XF Shaffer.

 

American Shaffer was known to be narrower than American Parker...and each company wanted it that way; so their died in wool customers would Not make a mistake back in the day of One Man, One Pen....and a new pen every decade, need it or not; to keep up with the Jones.

One bought a properly sized Parker "M" in the Shaffer "M" was a bit skinny for an "M" or vice versa, those Parker were fat to a Shaffer man....Ford and Chevy mentality.

Waterman was narrower than Shaffer.; but then again it was suddenly French so didn't matter.