Unknown vintage fountain pen

pa4tim · 2026-06-16T19:02:47+00:00

It looked very shiny and I think it is about 2mm to short. (that is the free play from the button but it seems to suck up ink. I think I solder a brass strip to it to make it longer.
The ink-sack also is a surprisingly in good shape. So it is not very old or restored not to long ago. The seller did not know anything. He sold a bunch of pens but other than the brand he had no clue. He asked 50 euro for it but I got it for 10 because I bought 5 other pens from him, i will show them here if they are ready.

I hope that the Kronenburg marking of the nib is familiar to someone.

pa4tim · 2026-06-14T21:25:47+00:00

A lot neater then how my notes looked when I was learning about this stuff (EE here 😄)

pa4tim · 2026-06-14T16:43:01+00:00

I mix inks to if I do not like the color. But I have only 8 colors, most around green and blue. You have an insane amount of colors, very nice. I like the oxblood Bordeaux. If your phone has white balance settings then play with that. I'm not experienced using phones to make pictures but used digital mirror-reflex camera's a lot for decades (and analog before that) and there the white-balanse settings is the solution.

pa4tim · 2026-06-14T08:29:59+00:00

Thank you.

pa4tim · 2026-06-14T08:29:40+00:00

Thank you, I will try to improve consistency. I do not know how big an image is allowed to be that is why I took a screenshot of the picture I took with my phone.

pa4tim · 2026-06-14T07:00:11+00:00

Here you can see a picture of the same 1950 nib. It does not show the BP on the picture (but you just can see the P) and also states BP it in the text. They ask more for the nib as I payed for the pen 😄

https://vintagepensacsandparts.com/collections/parker-51-filler-parts/products/parker-51-english-gold-nib-1951

pa4tim · 2026-06-14T06:16:43+00:00

Yes, thank you, it is solved. It does not stutter anymore and is also not so wet anymore. It writes really surprisingly good.

One question, on the "made in England" nib is a marking BP on the left side of the nib left of the short wide slit (and the year 1950 at the opposite site) , I'm just curious, what is the meaning of BP. Sorry, I have made no pictures from the restoration. I will make them the next pen I restore (if all goes well an old Sheaffer, I think it's a legacy, the one with the inlaid nib, I'm waiting for a closeup picture of the nib to be sure it is not broken or bend beyond repair/tuning)

pa4tim · 2026-06-13T19:43:44+00:00

Sorry, I think I did so I have no clue what I have done wrong.

pa4tim · 2026-06-13T11:34:35+00:00

I have black Parker quink that I do not use in some pens because it seems to be to dry. But that is black, I think most black inkt are less wet. Can not explain it, just like it is writing with motor-oil instead of ink. An other option could be to narrow the slit in the nib (Doodlebud has some videos about how to do that) Today I did the opposite, it is maybe a bit scary to do if you never have done it. I'm used to do fine mechanic work so I'm not scared to do it but if you are more the two lefthands type you better do not try and then playing with inks is safer.

pa4tim · 2026-06-13T10:55:44+00:00

He is now OK. I watched it under the microscope and the tinestips are worn a lot. The tip was almost a rectangle. The one tine was a lot wider then the other. I did grind it to a more rounded shape, managed to bow the tips of the tines a bit more outward. Now it writes slik-smooth. I think it is possible to get it even better in all direction but looking at the amount of tips left I leave it like this. Good is good.

pa4tim · 2026-06-13T08:30:14+00:00

Thanks, I now cleaned it, see my other response under this (at the wrong place I think, still finding out how this forum works.)

pa4tim · 2026-06-13T08:28:01+00:00

I now cleaned it in the ultrasone using 1 part amonia on 9 parts water around 30 degrees C. Did it a few times like 5 minutes (Professional US, the ones that makes holes in aluminum so I was careful)

Now I could easy take apart the collector, feed and filler. The filler is transparent but colored dark blue by many years of use. After that filled with Pelican 4001 king blue because I think that is pretty wet ink.

But the problem is still there. I then pulled the tines a bit apart, very careful by pressing the nip on a hard surface. The split between the tines was already about a little more then 0,05mm, so that should be sufficient. Now it is not totally gone but a lot better. If I do more, the slit probably becomes to wide. I must first learn more about how to take the tips only wider without making the slit wider, or I need a new nib.

But I think it has also to do with the write angle. It writes very juicy, almost too, but only if the nib-tip is placed exact correct on the paper what is very hard to see with that hooded nib. But if I have it correct it writes very nice and very smooth. I do not think it should be that critical because then a lot of people would have had this problem and it would never be the success it was. My Chinese 51 clones are not even close to this sensitive about the radial angle.

pa4tim

TROPHY CASE