Daily Rounds

[WOBentley]

I can't wait to give a report about a few finds from the bay this weekend. I only needed a little prodding from someone and I became an uncontrolled Estie hunting monster the last few days.

 

 

(I was the only bidder on two of those! Where was youz guyz?)

I was the only one bidding on the unused 407 double dipless set (for too much money, but I HAD to have it.... :embarrassed_smile: )

Package just got here (I haven't even had a chance to open it yet...dinner first then playtime

Dave

[kathleen]

Bruce,

I do have the written up directions for your polishing regime. I have yet to buy the necessary items to accomplish it. I am just such a visual learner, I would love to observe actual demonstrations. I can sit patiently for very long periods if I am interested in what it being done. Many of my favorite memories with my Dad were hours of just watching him as he tinkered and fixed things. I remember at five or six he would let me sit on his work bench. I learned to identify some of his tools and he could say, "Hand me the Phillips" and I knew what he wanted. I think sometimes I was a little pest. I would ask all kinds of questions, my favorite question being, "Why are you doing that". I remember after tiring of all my questioning, the answer to "Daddy, why are you doing that?" became "To make little girls ask questions".

 

I understand that you may, at times, not feel motivated to work on pen restoration. Sometimes I do not feel like tinkering and sometimes I do. Right now the only patient in my clinic is a Deluxe that came with no cap, a bad sac, and a strange nib, suppose to be a 9668 and so marked but with a very different little feed beneath, something is not right with it. I am sadly, looking at it more as a parts donor than a pen to be revived.

 

On that J bar measurement, was your measurement the entire length of the j bar tip to tip? The thing I have had to tinker with when installing j bars is the crook. Shortening a J bar for an SJ, I have not wanted to shorten it at the top where the two piece j bar is joined so I was snipping off the crook and then reshaping and having a time getting the bar to sit up against the top under the lever. Trial and error, in and out with the j bar, positioning and function at last perfected but I do wish I could just do things right the first time.

Bruce, you have been kind to act as a mentor and I do appreciate all you and others have taught me. I enjoy restoring these beautiful pens so much. And I love seeing them write again. My twin brother is a professional writer. I just gave him a streaky green J that I restored, he is loving it.

Edited February 27, 2011 by kathleen

[777]

Another successful patient returns from the grave! This weeks Estie is a classy Dollar pen in black (plastic variety). I got this one off of flea-bay. It needed a new sac, some cleaning, a good polish, and a new nib.

 

Here are the before pictures. I'll try and get some after pictures up of the finished thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

Musta caught yall snoozin' again.

 

 

Root Beer J, with paper cap band, instructions, box, $29.35 shipped.

 

Dear Lord, yet another spawn of Satan NOS(pending)stickered pen? I already had to cast

the first one I had away from me.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL -don't know about myself sometimes

 

[kathleen]

" Dear Lord, yet another spawn of Satan NOS(pending)stickered pen? I already had to cast

the first one I had away from me."

I think that still in the box stickered pens are sad. I say, "rip that sticker off, fill 'er with ink and let her write!" That poor pen, that has never known ink must be so sad, like a sixty year old virgin thinking, "why not me?"

[tmenyc]

Yep, Bruce...I watched that one go, watching for the snipes to kick in. Wasn't interested in the pen, so was just watching. Glad to see you got it!

 

Tim

[Gobblecup]

I am currently working on a Copper J many would have simply written off... Replaced a cap jewel, section, nib, J-bar... And I will be putting a new sac on and polishing as soon as my wood bin order comes in. I will post some pictures of this happily restored Brown J after it's at full capacity!

[wpb]

I am currently working on a Copper J many would have simply written off... Replaced a cap jewel, section, nib, J-bar... And I will be putting a new sac on and polishing as soon as my wood bin order comes in. I will post some pictures of this happily restored Brown J after it's at full capacity!

 

Can you provide instructions on how you removed and then replaced the jewel, especially the cap jewel. Did you remove the inner cap to get the old jewel out completely? I have removed a barrel jewel, but not a cap jewel, and it was difficult. And I didn't have a replacement jewel, so I didn't attempt a replacement.

 

Thanks,

Bill

[tmenyc]

I should have probably posted this under Repairs, but really like this thread...

 

One of my most reliable staff just became a patient...my super trusty J from Chiro blurped yesterday.

 

For a moment I thought I had run an eyedropper too far toward empty...but of course it's an Esterbrook J. The entire feed was filled with ink. I gave it a quick rinse, dried it off, capped it, and put it nib down into a glass to see if it repeats. Been 24 hours and it's dry.

 

The sac is good; there's no ink under the barrel. The nib unit is in there nice and tight. There have been a lot of crazy weather swings, which might have done it, but this is a first for me. We all carry a variety of pens, and some are carried with the thought that it might leak at any time. Not so with my Esterbrooks. So what's happening?

 

best,

 

Tim

[Gobblecup]

I am currently working on a Copper J many would have simply written off... Replaced a cap jewel, section, nib, J-bar... And I will be putting a new sac on and polishing as soon as my wood bin order comes in. I will post some pictures of this happily restored Brown J after it's at full capacity!

 

Can you provide instructions on how you removed and then replaced the jewel, especially the cap jewel. Did you remove the inner cap to get the old jewel out completely? I have removed a barrel jewel, but not a cap jewel, and it was difficult. And I didn't have a replacement jewel, so I didn't attempt a replacement.

 

Thanks,

Bill

 

I can't really tell you too much, this restoration only required me to force fit the new jewel into place, the old jewel was completely gone. I started a thread looking for more complete information on replacing existing jewels, and the best info I got were the reference pages on Esterbrook.net. You might look over the information there. I am sorry I can't be of much more help right now...

 

 

I bought some jewels from member Lizzard, but I doubt she has any more now. If you are still looking to replace the barrel jewel I may be able to help. Give me a PM.

[kathleen]

Today I discovered several Esties at my local antique mall. Together upon the self were a Blue J with broken jewels, opened to reveal no section and a 2668 nib, a black SJ that appeared to be in good condition, and a very light green J (unlike any of my other greens), looking to be in good external shape and having a #9968 Firm Broad nib.

For $20 I rescued the pretty Green Estie.

An exploratory examination was conducted in Kathleen's Clinic. This examination revealed an original, pliable Esterbrook sac.

I opted to perform a sacectomy and replaced the sac just to be on the safe side. This pretty pen will be entering daily service.

The only other treatment deemed necessary was an ultrasonic nib cleaning.

Inked with vintage Sheaffer's Emerald Green this is again a happy Estie. The #9968 nib is a very wet writer. The only problem to be addressed now is re-inking. This Estie needs an ink that is less prone to feathering; though, to be fair, this inexpensive tablet paper is perhaps more to blame.

 

Edited May 14, 2011 by kathleen

[pen2paper]

love the Sheaffer Green! this is old ink?

somthing poetic in The Perfect teachers penmanship, in an Estie, restored by her hand.

 

Q: is the estie green quite this close to the emerald ink? thought they were closer to a greyish green.

or, is the celluloid in exceptional condition?

[kathleen]

love the Sheaffer Green! this is old ink?

somthing poetic in The Perfect teachers penmanship, in an Estie, restored by her hand.

 

Q: is the estie green quite this close to the emerald ink? thought they were closer to a greyish green.

or, is the celluloid in exceptional condition?

 

Pen2paper,

The vintage Sheaffer Skrip is a really lovely green, i just wish it wasn't so prone to feathering, as I am most often writing on very inexpensive paper, I use my pens daily in the classroom.

Here is another photo showing what a pretty pen this new green J is. The exterior is not faded, it is uniformly a very light green. The pen at the barrel threads is the same color as the pen overall, so I do not suspect its light green color to be from fading. Evidence of fading would be if the pen beneath the protection of the cap were a darker shade. All of my other green Esties are more the color of the SJ pictured here, and I must admit to finding the darker, streaky green Esterbrooks among the prettiest of pens.

 

It is very satisfying to restore a pen. As for the "perfect penmanship", I can only thank you for the compliment, and say I have never strayed far from the Palmer method form that Mrs. Higginbothom, my fifth grade teacher, insisted we practice. Practice I did, ascending and descending loops upon loops and counter-clockwise circles. My father also thought penmanship mattered; when he checked our homework even if our answers were correct if the paper was not produced neatly he would ask us to copy it over again.

[pen2paper]

Thank you for the speedy reply, and With photo!

You do Mrs. Higginbothom, your father, and your own self proud.

 

Your T on "The" is, now I'm certainly not a Palmer expert, but it is what I was taught.. your T is about as perfect as perfect can be..

I may have to reconsider my loopless decenders.. recently have found my work reports looking Palmer-ish.

My L's & E's are decidely Palmer. I eliminated the ascenders, and lower loops, and right slant, to simplify the result of moving from a fountainpen required, Palmer based school, to a slippery-skippy ballpoint only Palmer school. An inelegant way of repairing my handwriting.

 

Thanks for sharing your "revived" Estie with Us!

 

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

Way to go Kathleen you did really good for $20! :clap1:

 

You know that 9968 is screaming STUB ME!

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[Prvt. Toter]

Kathleen, Pen2Paper and 777... based on your post and comments I took apart my first Esterbrook today.. the first I own and the first to disassemble. (now that is scarey!) As I noted I picked up the black pen at an antique store for $11.80 the other day... unrestored and really dirty. looks like it has been sitting in a tool box for awhile, reddish dirt on it. I cleaned and polished it a little and then started reading here per Kathleens suggestion. Her comment about the leak at school made me wonder if this pen had the original sac? Alas... it does... here it is on the bench...

_http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o318/Huntbuck/surgerypending.jpg

 

So I think this takes a size 16 bladder?, and I am thinking about ordering a few of these, some shellac, and??? I see several places that sell on line. But,is there a good, better, best alternative? and I am contemplating taking it down further.. not sure what else to take out? Advice is welcome...

Edited July 10, 2011 by Prvt. Toter

[kathleen]

I have not worked in my Estie clinic for the longest while, I was thrilled to come upon this silver LJ for a mere $10 in a thrift/antique shop. The nib is a smooth writing 2668. Examination revealed a definite need for sac replacement, as the sac presented brittle and hard. The J bar was bright and shiny, so this would be a quick procedure.

 

Here is my latest patient just after sacectomy and sac replacement, before closure she is receiving a good dusting of talc.

 

Restored, newly discharged, this Estie is returned to service. What a beautiful writing companion alongside my MacBook Pro. This Estie looks so sleek and contemporary; who would ever guess her age?

Write on ol' gal, write on!

 

 

Edited September 24, 2011 by kathleen

[Gobblecup]

I have not worked in my Estie clinic for the longest while, I was thrilled to come upon this silver LJ for a mere $10 in a thrift/antique shop. The nib is a smooth writing 2668. Examination revealed a definite need for sac replacement, as the sac presented brittle and hard. The J bar was bright and shiny, so this would be a quick procedure.

 

Here is my latest patient just after sacectomy and sac replacement, before closure she is receiving a good dusting of talc.

 

Restored, newly discharged, this Estie is returned to service. What a beautiful writing companion alongside my MacBook Pro. This Estie looks so sleek and contemporary; who would ever guess her age?

Write on ol' gal, write on!

 

 

 

:clap1: :clap1: :clap1:

[OcalaFlGuy]

Boy we all must be slacking off, I had to go back 3 pages of threads to find this! It used to always be on the first page of threads...

 

 

I really don't have many Esties parts. I have more nibs than anything but found out tonight I am dangerously low on spare sections.

 

But the chuckle for the evening was seeing that I actually have 3 or so of the "official" 50 year old Esterbrook j-bar eraser spacers. (Yes, I needed one!)

 

If you had told me 4 years ago that I'd actually have those and use them I would have laughed even harder than I did tonight. :ltcapd:

 

So this cute little silver Estie SJ is all cleaned up on the inside, the j-bar pulled, clean up and reinserted, it's all taped up to be polished and the section cleaned and resacced. I need a fine nib for it and I'm a little low on those too but I think I have a decent one for it.

 

This one is a PIF for someone's first vintage pen.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[AndyLa]

Currently operating on a silver j and black sj with bell systems written on the barrel. Lot came with three nibs, that were all a bust. Two without tipping and one with a chip in the tip. Is there anyway to salvage them or should I scrap them? Anyways... Managed to pull the section out fairly easily (hair dyer) and found a dried sac in the barrel. Pulled it out. Will replace sac soon. Moved on to the black sj. Came with no section. Examination of the barrel and lever revealed that the j bar was incorrectly placed. Upon removal of j bar discovered it was rusted. Currently soaking for clean up. Now on the search for spare sections and nibs.

 

Have a red estie on its way ($5), looked rough. Also won a lot of quite a few barrels (9) and pen caps(13)! Hunting for nibs and sections. What have I gotten myself into!!