The Esterbrook Forum Estie Loaner Program

[Harlequin]

Just as an update for OcalaFLGuy, I've sent GClef's Green J w/9788 nib back, should have arrived by now I hope. So it can probably be marked available again.

[nxn96]

Hi Estie Loaner Program Folks,

 

I'm not sure where to go with this, so I thought I'd start here.

 

While running some errands yesterday, I stopped by a local antique store and asked if they had any fountain pens for sale. Among the usual broken Wearevers, no name pencils and pens I noticed a few Esterbrook J's that were essentially "stripped". Caps, barrels and sections, but no clip, jewels or nibs. I realize, given the "logic" of an Esterbrook, that the nib problem is no problem at all, but not being very knowledgeable about Esterbrooks, I have no clue as to the other missing pieces. With that as the introduction, here's my thought/question:

 

Because these pens are essentially parts, I don't think the store is looking to get more than a few dollars ($3-5 is my guess, but I didn't ask) apiece for them. If I were to purchase them, is there someone in this Loaner group who would be able to put the pen back together and willing to put it into this Loaner rotation? Understand, I'm not looking to get these pens back, as I'm not looking to expand my Esterbrook holdings beyond the three or four I've got (hope nobody's offended by that, but I'm more of a Parker person), but I thought it might be an opportunity for a restorer to get some practice as well as expand the universe of pens in the Loaner Program.

 

Again, my apologies if this is the wrong question or the wrong place to ask the question, but I'm thinking it could be a nice way to "save" some decent Esterbrook parts.

 

Thanks, and let me know if I should go back to that store to see what they'll take for the parts.

[sandraw]

I want in, but as you can see i havent been around long enough. Loving the looks of Esterbrook pens. Going to get me one soon.

Edited February 9, 2013 by sandraw

[sandraw]

A green J with a 9788 - flexible medium is available.

 

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/photobucket-53824-1343066026130.jpg

 

edited for addition of writing sample

 

beautiful handwriting and love that shading. Looking for same in red.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Esterbrook Loaners Available as of 2/9/13

 

Blue SJ, Medium 2668 nib

Green SJ, Medium 2668 nib

Blue LJ, 9556 F or 9550 XF nib (Borrower to specify which nib)

Blue SJ, 1550 XF, 2556 F, 2284 S (Borrower to specify which nib)

Copper J, 2556 F nib and a 2668 M

Copper J, 9556 F or 9668 M or 9048 whichever the Borrower desires

Green J, 9788 M

Red J, 2668

Turquoise M2, Red SJ, Green SJ, Blue J, Gray Deluxe, or light blue purse pen

(Borrower to select nib from; 2668 M, 2556 F, 2460 M, 1551 M, 9450 F, 9460 M, 2314-B, 9314-F, 9550 F, 9556 F, 2284 B stub

 

Pens residing overseas for in country loan only; Postage for these pens may be

noticeably lower than pens sent from the U.S.A.

 

Australia-Silver SJ, with either a 1551 M or 2668 M

 

The United Kingdom-Green J 2556, Copper SJ 2668--On Loan (Either can come with a 1555 or 2314 B too) NO LOANER POSTAGE FEE on these two UK only pens!

 

Curacao Only-Silver J, 2668

 

 

The subject of a few Estie Borrowers not fulfilling their part of the postal reimbursement has been discussed among the Estie Loaner Outters. They are those most immediately impacted.

 

As a result, there is a Pending change to at least the order of how things happen in the Loaner Program.

 

The change is simply that the Borrower will Paypal Gift the agreed on postage to them to their Lender Outter, either $3.00 or the amount they agree to with the Lender Outter, BEFORE the Estie is placed into the mail to the Borrower.

 

This eliminates the After borrowing postage issue thusly solving it.

 

This change Will Remain *A Pending Change* to the point at which Another Borrow than the ones currently known of, fails to keep their end of the Loan Out agreement up. At that point it changes from Pending to In force.

 

The decision of when or if that ever occurs lies solely in the hands of those borrowing the Esties.

 

I would also like to personally thank the Loaner Outters, Borrowers and all members and visitors to the Esterbrook forum for their efforts and contributions in having made the first 6 months of the Estie Loaner Program such a success.

 

 

The pictures and notes from everyone have been Really Neat, it's nice to see everyone enjoying their Loaners. :clap1:

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL and The Esterbrook Forum

[OcalaFlGuy]

Among the usual broken Wearevers, no name pencils and pens I noticed a few Esterbrook J's that were essentially "stripped". Caps, barrels and sections, but no clip, jewels or nibs. I realize, given the "logic" of an Esterbrook, that the nib problem is no problem at all, but not being very knowledgeable about Esterbrooks, I have no clue as to the other missing pieces. With that as the introduction, here's my thought/question:

 

Because these pens are essentially parts, I don't think the store is looking to get more than a few dollars ($3-5 is my guess, but I didn't ask) apiece for them. If I were to purchase them, is there someone in this Loaner group who would be able to put the pen back together and willing to put it into this Loaner rotation? Understand, I'm not looking to get these pens back, as I'm not looking to expand my Esterbrook holdings beyond the three or four I've got (hope nobody's offended by that, but I'm more of a Parker person), but I thought it might be an opportunity for a restorer to get some practice as well as expand the universe of pens in the Loaner Program.

 

Again, my apologies if this is the wrong question or the wrong place to ask the question, but I'm thinking it could be a nice way to "save" some decent Esterbrook parts.

 

Thanks, and let me know if I should go back to that store to see what they'll take for the parts.

 

 

I want in, but as you can see i havent been around long enough. Loving the looks of Esterbrook pens. Going to get me one soon.

 

nxn96, I know your heart is in the right place but at $3-5 each and THAT stripped, it's a close call. About all that's worth saving IMO if the clips and jewels are gone are the sections and j-bars. From your description though, I doubt there are j-bars there. $3 each wouldn't be bad if there was a good section and j-bar though. Replacing clips and jewels in basically Estie brain surgery and there are no readily available parts to speak of. (Don't feel bad, a friend of mine just barely pen knowledgeable, bought me a nice box of parts off The Bay pretty much as you described. At least I was able to harvest a few factory j-bars.)

 

[EDIT] I can actually think of one thing I DO use those kind of barrels and caps for and that's to practice heat lifting out heavy scratches with. That's a high risk practice if you're GOOD at it and in finding that touch you're going to melt some pens. They might as well be ones just one step from that.

 

Not to mention that perfectly usable undamaged Esties are still available for around $15 or so.

 

sandraw, I'm sure it'll be no time at all til you have the requisite number of posts!

Start thinking about which nib you want to try.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

Edited February 10, 2013 by OcalaFlGuy

[nxn96]

Bruce, thanks for the feedback about my earlier query. I didn't examine the pen parts too closely, but I'm guessing the j-bars had also been "harvested". Well, it seemed like a good idea....

[Mags]

Bruce,

 

 

 

I have a nib to place the Red SJ into the loaner pool that arrived off Ebay last night. Writing sample and picture for the Canadian borrowers is enclosed.

 

 

 

Mags

[alc3261]

All my Esties are back home and available for loan again.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Thank you Mags and ALC.

 

Esterbrook Loaners Available as of 2/22/13

 

Blue SJ, Medium 2668 nib

Green SJ, Medium 2668 nib

Blue LJ, 9556 F or 9550 XF nib (Borrower to specify which nib)

Blue SJ, 1550 XF, 2556 F, 2284 S (Borrower to specify which nib)

Copper J, 2556 F nib and a 2668 M

Copper J, 9556 F or 9668 M or 9048 whichever the Borrower desires

Green J, 9788 M

Red SJ, 9461 F-M

Red J, 2668

Turquoise M2, Red SJ, Green SJ, Blue J, Gray Deluxe, or light blue purse pen

(Borrower to select nib from; 2668 M, 2556 F, 2460 M, 1551 M, 9450 F, 9460 M, 2314-B, 9314-F, 9550 F, 9556 F, 2284 B stub

 

Pens residing overseas for in country loan only; Postage for these pens may be

noticeably lower than pens sent from the U.S.A.

 

Australia-Silver SJ, with either a 1551 M or 2668 M

 

The United Kingdom-Green J 2556, Copper SJ 2668 (Either can come with a 1555 or 2314 B too) NO LOANER POSTAGE FEE on these two UK only pens!

 

Curacao Only-Silver J, 2668

 

 

The subject of a few Estie Borrowers not fulfilling their part of the postal reimbursement has been discussed among the Estie Loaner Outters. They are those most immediately impacted.

 

As a result, there is a Pending change to at least the order of how things happen in the Loaner Program.

 

The change is simply that the Borrower will Paypal Gift the agreed on postage to them to their Lender Outter, either $3.00 or the amount they agree to with the Lender Outter, BEFORE the Estie is placed into the mail to the Borrower.

 

This eliminates the After borrowing postage issue thusly solving it.

 

This change Will Remain *A Pending Change* to the point at which Another Borrower than the ones currently known of, fails to keep their end of the Loan Out agreement up. At that point it changes from Pending to In Force.

 

The decision of when or if that ever occurs lies solely in the hands of those borrowing the Esties.

 

I would also like to personally thank the Loaner Outters, Borrowers and all members and visitors to the Esterbrook forum for their efforts and contributions in having made the first 6 months of the Estie Loaner Program such a success.

 

 

The pictures and notes from everyone have been Really Neat, it's nice to see everyone enjoying their Loaners. :clap1:

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL and The Esterbrook Forum

[pajaro]

I have lent two pens to KingJoe, because he wanted to try a J and an SJ for direct comparison. I lent him a copper J with 9668 medium nib and a black SJ with 9556 nib. He can see what he thinks about Applejim's work on the black SJ, it's as I got it. The program lives.

[KingJoe]

Pajaro's pens have arrived here safely. They were sitting on the porch in the middle of a blizzard when I got home, so I'm letting them warm up before I ink them. I really appreciate the opportunity!

 

~~KJ

[Pensfan]

I would LOVE to try out the 9788 flexible nib! I have had Esties in the past, but never found a nib that I liked. Then again, I never tried the 9788. From the writing samples it looks like that nib would get me back into the land of Esterbrook again.

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

Pensfan, your request has been forwarded to our 9788 Loaner Outter.

 

Standby.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[senor47]

Hi,

 

I would love to try out the Esterbrook J in a 8xxx or 9xxx nib. Preferably a fine nib; if a vintage fine is too fine then a vintage medium. I like the way my vintage Parker Vacumatic writes; finer than a Binderized M200 F.

A rigid or stiff nib would be lovely.

 

If it is possible to send in two pens, can another Estie J be sent in with a similar nib, but flexible/soft. If an extra $3 is required, then agreedo. If not, then I understand.

 

Thank you Esterbrook Community.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Senor47,

 

One of our esteemed Loaner Outters, GClef, has stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park just for you. :clap1:

 

I'd asked him backchannel if he had a Fine Estie nib since he is the only one in the program who also has the Flexi nib you'd like to try. GClef has so very graciously offered to Loan you a Black Transitional J of his with a 9048 Fine Flexible in it. This gives you both your choices in One pen.

 

There is only one small "catch" for you. GClef hasn't written much with this nib, so it's an unknown. We'd like you to do a writing sample and short critique of it and shoot a pic of that either HERE or at least in with the pen when you send it back to GC so that he can get a good idea of how it's performing. We of course, only want to Loan Out pens and nibs that are writing as they should. Your writing with it will be instrumental in determining if it goes into the Loaner Program line-up.

 

:notworthy1: to GClef for this. It was actually his own Loaner Program idea that beget the Estie program and he has been very gracious in constantly sending out the most requested Esties here with their Flexi nibs. Thanks for everything GC!

 

Senor47, get with GClef via PM after you've read the FIRST posts in this thread detailing how the program works.

 

And welcome!

 

Bruce in Ocala,Fl and the Estie Loaner Program

[Toulouse]

What an absolutely wonderful program!

[OcalaFlGuy]

Everyone who has enjoyed participating in the Estie Loaner Program whether as a borrower or loaner has You to thank Toulouse for that pleasure.

 

Your kindness, patience, tutelage, willingness to teach and your generosity in sharing your love of pens and especially Esties, are The #1 impetus for there even Being a loaner program.

 

It likely would not exist if it were not for you.

 

Today, years after your started the first one, your traveling journals are still being enjoyed by many members here. Just this week, someone I didn't even know was telling me how much they were still enjoying your traveling journal idea. Several newer members here have been benefited greatly from a Lever Filler 101 primer made from hints, how tos and tips you dispensed. Those lucky enough to have a pen you restored I'm sure count those pens as very treasured friends.

 

There are so many of us here who have you Toulouse to thank for so much of their enjoyment in and with their pens.

 

So,

 

Thank YOU Toulouse! :clap1:

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL and many, Many other FPNers

[Sasha Royale]

Bruce, thanks for the feedback about my earlier query. I didn't examine the pen parts too closely, but I'm guessing the j-bars had also been "harvested". Well, it seemed like a good idea....

 

Sometimes, it works. Sometimes, not so much.

Regardless, it does not change the fact that you are a thoughtful, generous

neighbor in the FPN community.

 

I am glad you are here.

[Sasha Royale]

@The subject of a few Estie Borrowers not fulfilling their part of the postal reimbursement has been discussed among the Estie Loaner Outters. They are those most immediately impacted.

 

 

************************

 

Such things can make good people discouraged and cynical. Kudos to those of you who

carry on these "drive-by kindnesses" to strangers. It bewilders me that people would

abuse random acts of generosity.

 

Such "people" will quickly find themselves alone in the world.

 

But, then, $&*^?%)^^#/%!#^@$# enjoy fountain pens, too.

 

I still like vintage Parkers best. With people, however, Esterbrook owners are

FIRST TIER !