A Parker 21 Super(Hero)

The reason why this Parker 21 Super’s disassembled is because I was trying to find out why it wasn’t drawing ink. Air wasn’t leaking from anywhere above the connector so I guessed the problem lay with the sac. So I heated the sac guard, pulled it off using section pliers (which, I later read, Marshall and Oldfield advise against), and discovered the problem — a slit in the pli-glass sac.

I was about to reach for a silicone sac when I recalled I had a brand-new Hero 336 lying around. Wasn’t that pen based on the “51”? Couldn’t its sac fit the 21 Super…? Only one way to find out —

The fit turned out to be just right 😀 (And an added benefit: the Hero cost less than a silicone sac.)

A little clear nail polish and some cursing (while trying to line the hood up with the nib) later, the pen fills with ink properly once more. The sac is a little shorter than before, but it still holds a good amount of ink –

So the Parker 21 Super writes again… thanks to a Hero-ic sacrifice! 😀

Wahl Oxford, red-brown & gold

This Wahl Oxford offered no trouble at all: a straightforward resac with a size 18 silicone sac. Cosmetically very good, no cracks, with some of the original gold wash still on the clip.

Although it has the shape of an early Wahl Oxford, it has some characteristics I used to associate with later Wahl Oxfords:

1) a #2 nib, marked “WAHL OXFORD 2 MADE IN USA”, with “WAHL OXFORD” in the same script as that used on the clip.

2) The “MADE IN USA BY THE MAKERS OF EVERSHARP” imprint is across the barrel, not along its length, so that it reads right-side up when the nib is pointed down (meant to be read while you’re writing?).

The #2 nib is smaller than the earlier unmarked “Warranted” #3 nib (see earlier post here), but is smoother and has a pleasant, slight spring. Gives a wet Medium line with no variation. In all, I like these pens a lot 🙂

There’s a brief survey of what’s known online about these pens, over at Peaceable Writer.

Here it is pictured with my first Wahl Oxford –

Nakaya shiro-tamenuri sukashi – “Kyubi no Kitsune” (“Nine-tailed Fox”)”

Had the good fortune to have this pen in my hands today. The photo on left is 1 of 4 on the Nakaya website – didn’t have a camera on me.

The pen is much more beautiful in real life. The illustration of the nine-tailed fox (九尾の狐 = Kyubi no Kitsune = nine-tailed fox) glows softly against the lacquer, and parts ebb or flare as you turn the pen.

The kanshitsu finish on the section is softer, and the contrast with the rest of the pen is less jarring and more of a pleasant surprise. That little swirl — the symbol of the nine-tailed fox — is a marvellous companion to the sinuous illustration below.

The barrel thread is a single one, so cap and barrel always match up to form the fox.

Review: Hawksmoor

Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

View all my reviews