Got An A101 Last Weekend

[tmenyc]

I was sitting around on Saturday night at my mother-in-law's, in the woods in central Massachusetts, and had a successful ebay evening, getting two pens I found interesting for less than $20 combined. One is a Sheaffer that I'll be posting about separately, since I can't identify it and don't know anything about Sheaffers.

 

The other is an Esterbrook A101 with a 9314M nib. I've never had one of that model, or nib, before, so the price was certainly right and it has arrived. It has the A101 aerometric convertor (thanks to Brian's site for the background info),the sac for which is hard as rock. Do I just replace the sac like any other sac replacement? Can I just pull the converter out and go from there? Contrary to some other recent posts, this one (and the other) is exactly as it was described in the auction.

 

I'll probably end up selling the nib, since I'm a lefty who doesn't do stubs or reliefs, but I was surprised at the excellent condition of the nib.

Apologies for the dark pics; best I can do at work and with my phone camera.

 

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6097/6214344965_857608fbee.jpg http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6031/6214907328_e81f46c709.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6178/6214863000_fc2bd61c67.jpg

 

thanks!

Tim

[pal38]

Nice pen!

 

Mounting a new sac is a bit of a tricky affair because of the mechanic involves some fiddling with a little slit and a bump which has to match when pressing the tube in place after having mounted the sac with shellac. But nothing you couldn't handle. 4 things you should remember:

 

1. Let the shellac well harden before you start mounting the press bar and the tube

2. Use your thumb nail or a little screw driver to press the tube apart when mounting

3. Use a 16 or 14 size sac

4. Be careful not to cut the sac too long.

 

A word to the nib: It's probably worth as much or more as what you paid for the pen!

 

Good success!

Edited October 5, 2011 by pal38

[pal38]

I explained in a PM to tmenyc a few steps in the process of changing sac on a a101 aerometric filler. May be others are interested too, so I post the pics here as well.

 

2 steps are tricky:

 

1. To take the tube off. the tube is a quite strong spring tube you have to open with a small screwdriver and wench it off somehow.

2. To put the tube back on without the opening of the press bar leaving the notch on the section. I do it by pressing the section with the nib screwed off to my belly with my left hand while opening the the tube slit with a screwdriver in my right. It works - after some trying ...

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 8, 2011 by pal38

[tmenyc]

yes, this is terrific, and very helpful. I don't think I've ever seen the anatomy of an A101 laid out before. Many thanks.

 

Tim

[PenFisher]

Thanks pal38 for a very instructive tutorial on how to replace the sac. The annotated pictures made the entire process very clear and easy to understand. Much appreciated!

[tmenyc]

Pal,

thanks again for the great tutorial! I got the pen disassembled easily enough, replaced the sac with a 14, fit just fine. Shined up the press bar and tubular spring with my dremel; they shine now. Powdered up the sac, got out my little pocket screwdriver and it slipped right on first try, as you said. Took more coordination than force, but yes, that is one tight spring. The only change I would make to your tutorial is to have a nib/feed unit screwed in when you replace the spring. There is a fair amount of force on the section; I used a broken nib unit for the job to not damage a good one by pressing on the point inadvertently. Definitely a job where you need to know what every finger is doing.

Now to polish up the pen and decide whether to keep or sell. Probably sell.

 

thanks again!

 

Tim

Edited October 30, 2011 by tmenyc

[Readymade]

@pal38 - is that a dark blue A101?

[pal38]

@pal38 - is that a dark blue A101?

 

Has to happen to me, the one who is always complaining about photos giving a wrong color impression!! Serves me right. Sorry!! It's a jet black 101 and not a dark blue one. To my excuse I can say that the color was unimportant in this instance, but still....

 

Of course the dark blue 101 exists also in my collection...

Edited October 31, 2011 by pal38

[amberleadavis]

Thanks for the anatomy lesson! I needed this today.

[estie1948]

Pal38, I want to add my thanks to you for the excellent illustrated lesson. It is wonderful. Thank you.

 

-David.

[PDW]

Excellent tutorial - meets the Marshall and Oldfield gold standard!

[berlinairlift]

Excellent tutorial! This helped me take apart my pens. It took me a bit to realize that the spring slid in the opposite direction of the section once I had slightly parted the end closest to the section with a small screwdriver.

 

That helped me with a similar Esterbrook which did not have a spring with a slit; the metal tube simply slid in the opposite direction of the section with a slight rocking effort.

 

I replaced both sacs with a size 15S. The original was 67mm.

 

[spaceink]

Nice. Thanks for the anatomical photos! I have two C101s but not yet an A101. If I ever come across one, this will come very handy.