Parker 51 Special question

wrote in message ...

Like all pens 51s are nothing more than a pile of assorted parts put
together at one or more, perhapes several times over the years by
various people of varied skills or lack thereof. Non dimpled nibs in a
51 designed for dimpled nibs (and visa versa) are no greaat problem IF
the parts are carefully installed and adjusted very perfectly. But if
not and the parts are simply swapped odds are the pen will not perform
as it should. A loose nib is a clear sign something is very wrong in a
51 and it may or may not be due to lack of dimples.

At very least it sounds like the shell should be heat set to tighten
things up, but that is rather risky without some experience so "good
enough" may be just that rather than do any more work to this already
overworked pen.

I'd again suggest ink flow differences when the slits are reversed may
be as much due to simple re-arrangement of parts that if repeated may
not show in the same result. Any pen once disassembled and then
reassembled will never perform exactly as it did before. There will
always be some difference even if its too tiny to notice. In the case
of a 51 the difference can be greater because you are working with shell
fit, feed fit, collector fit, tine alignment, nib ink channel spacing,
dimpled or non dimpled nibs, and so on. All change in relation to each
other the instant the pen is taken apart. More things to adjust than
most other pens. Perhaps more than any pen the 51 should never be
disassembled unless necessary. Having said that a factory original 51
is usually easy to work on but even that must be very carefully and
pricisely reassembled.

Greater problems come with used 51s that may have had parts swapped in
the past. 51s are not Esterbrooks and the thought of anyone changing a
nib on a 51 is IMHO a mistake unless the nib is broken. Yes it can
easily be done, but only when done properly will the results come out
perfectly and that takes far greater skill than many people realize and
does include the skill needed to heat set the shell, if it that is
required. I'd bet 95% of the problems reported in 51s are the result of
needless tinkering in the pens past. Left alone to just be a pen the
average aero 51 will work perfectly more than the average persons
lifetime and probably several peoples lifetime. Tinker with it and all
bets are off unless the person is very highly skilled.

I realize in this case you had a leak and the work was necessary. So
alls well that ends well. Also its easy to find 51 specials at shows
for $20-25 and sometimes even less so its not a big deal and easy to get
another in the future. Frank

I paid about $25 for this one from an antique dealer at the Ann Arbor
Antique Fair. He had it originally marked for $100, but he does not get
them restored or even tested, so that was not a good price. He had some
knowledge of pens and of shows, and I think he figured he'd have to get near
show prices to get a sale. The nib-to feed alignment looked good, but it
wasn't till I tried it that I saw problems. The leak wasn't all, it started
hard and dried intermittently. A "start by your own weight" test, where you
recommend to allow only the pen mass to load the tip, and get perfect
starting, was out of the question. Soaking in coolish water didn't help.
When I got the shell off, I checked the component alignment against the
Book, and it did not match, so I disassembled to realign, and chased a ton
of crud out of the feed slit and the collector vanes. Then came the
reassembly you've heard about.

I'm sure you're right about the slit reversal I did not necessarily being
significant. As I said, I moved several things at the same time.

How did Parker get these pens together right at the plant assembly stage -
did they have to hand match the part sets? Was this a "cheap" product in
its day, or a high-end one?

The pen has definitlely been overworked, but that started before me. For
$25, I just want it to be a good user. It also came with a really nice blue
diamond/short clip cap 18kt GF cap with parallel lines equally spaced all
the way up to the jewel, so the cap might have as much value as the pen. I
read that Specials should have a glossy stainless cap.

I wouldn't be surprised at anything that may have been done with this pen -
as I said, the nib didn't fit the feed and the slit alignment was way off
plan. If Iget courageous I might squeeze the nib gently and see if I can
get it to fit the feed better, but as I said, so far I'm ahead because I
have an improvement and I've learned a few things.

Again, thanks Frank, and to the rest of you!

Ken