1960 Parker 61 Conversion *SOLD* ($150 US)
- Douglas J. Rathbun
- May 31
- 3 min read
THIS PEN HAS BEEN SOLD!
Hello there. Welcome to Inkquiring Minds. My name is Doug, and I'm back with another Pen Resurrection Sunday video. Today, I'm going to resurrect a very interesting fountain pen.
I’ve done a few conversions, but this is my first time on a capillary filler. It’s a Circa 1960 Parker 61, and you can tell it’s a 61 by the arrow on the hood. When you remove the barrel, you’ll find a black cartridge. This isn’t a cartridge; it’s a capillary filler made of teflon, a space-age material back in 1960.
To fill this pen, insert the butt end of the capillary filler into the ink and let it sit for about 5-10 seconds. The ink will draw up into the filler. Because of the teflon, the ink rolls off the outside. This was supposed to be a touchless, tissueless, messless ink-filling system, a revolution for its time. It actually worked, but the pen was difficult to clean, change inks, or service. The model was discontinued in 1983.
If you have a working capillary system, great! Keep using it. They work very nicely. However, if your pen won’t draw up water or ink anymore, there are complicated ways to replace the internal structure of the capillary filler. One of the best solutions is to convert it to use a Parker cartridge. That’s exactly what I’m doing with this one.
THOUGHTS
So, what are my thoughts on this pen resurrection? I’m really pleased with it for a few reasons. First, a subscriber donated this pen to Inkquiring Minds. She emailed me, saying she had found it at an estate sale but couldn’t get the capillary filler to work. She also had a Parker classic ballpoint pen, but couldn’t find a refill.
Interestingly, I have a matching fountain pen to the ballpoint. This is a Parker Classic from the ‘70s or early ‘80s. My friend Ronnie owns this fountain pen, so it’ll make a great companion. She asked if I could use these in a resurrection video. Of course, thank you so much for your generous donation to the channel.
The second reason I’m pleased is that I’ve wanted to convert a Parker 61 for a while. If I had a working capillary filler for a Parker 61, I wouldn’t convert it. These were rare before they switched to aerometric fillers; unlike the Parker 51 Aerometric, which I’d happily convert to cartridges because they were mass-produced. However, this Parker 61 capillary was dead. Now it’s not, and it writes very well. I wasn’t sure it would after all the tinkering, but it’s a pleasant writer.
If you’re interested in a piece of fountain pen history that writes with the convenience of Parker cartridges, I’m selling this for $150 US plus shipping.
It was a donation, but I spent some money on the brass converter. I think that’s a reasonable price considering it’s not in its original condition. However, it’s very usable. The cracks on the barrel are stabilized. You don’t need to worry about that other than over-filling the pen. I wish you wouldn’t do that, but it’s easy to fix.
These cartridges are available online or at your local stationery store. They’re the short Parker Quink cartridges called Quink Minis. With a pocket full of these, you could easily carry this as an EDC fountain pen. If you’re interested in purchasing this pen, email me at inkquiringminds@gmail.com with your name and address. I’ll send you instructions on how to pay via PayPal and get a shipping quote.
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And that's all she wrote.
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