Trying To Enliven An Esterbrook Pen

[estie1948]

A great web site to learn about Esterbrook pens is http://www.esterbrook.net/ by Brian P. Anderson. Brian is a Fountain Pen Network member.

 

-David.

[Quintane]

Thanks for the suggestions and tips. I'll post here any news I have.

[OcalaFlGuy]

A great web site to learn about Esterbrook pens is http://www.esterbrook.net/ by Brian P. Anderson. Brian is a Fountain Pen Network member.

 

-David.

 

not to mention our very own Estieville Mayor... (Moderator)

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[Quintane]

In a first search I made this last Sunday for Esterbrooks made in Mexico in what once was a huge second-hand and antiques market (La Lagunilla), I had no luck. I found only three Esties, two J made in USA and one SJ (this is a guess) with only one word, "Ruth", engraved in the barrel in black handwriting and no other sign of origin. (Could "Ruth" be Mexican? How could we know?) I did not purchase them. You can look at them in the photos. The three of them have nibs 2556. They seem well but I could not try them. Both J's are offered at 500 pesos (+/- 38 US), the SJ at 350 (+/- 26.50US), but usually the initial price is not the last one. The small white patch in the end of the barrel of "Ruth" is the price tag. The J on the far right has a black irregular mark in the cap (of about 4 mm in its longest diameter) which seems to be original and somehow "internal". It could be a defect in fabrication but it also gives it some attractive (in my view). I cannot make promises, but if there would be a serious interest, I can try to go again one of the following Sundays to look for them again (hoping they have not been selled). I will also try to continue the search for the made in Mexico ones..., a search more difficult than what I imagined.

In the same visit to La Lagunilla market I did an interesting purchase, though. I found a Sheaffer Imperial Touchdown Silver about which I say something in the Sheaffer Forum (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/272003-a-fine-sterling-silver-touchdown-imperial-found-in-a-stall/).

[gweimer1]

Quintane, I'll make you an offer. I'll swap you even - your bent 1461 for a good 2550 nib. As it turns out, I have been wanting to get my hands on a problem nib to learn how to straighten the tines, but didn't feel like just buying one. This satisfies both our needs.

Edited August 13, 2014 by gweimer1

[Quintane]

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/user/114088-gweimer1/, in principle sound good to me, but there are possible drawbacks. A private message follows...

[Quintane]

Happy to report the happy ending of the story of my black LJ.

I received (quite soon, by the way) a private message from a FPN member (bluefish65) with the offer to restore the pen free of charge. Talking about the nib, he also offered me a new 9550 nib, also for free. I accepted his generous offer and sent him the pen to Kentucky. I just received the pen back these last days (due to postal delays), and I must say bluefish65 did a very fine job: after a complete diagnosis about which he informed me in detail, he changed the sac and the j-bar, he applied wax to the pen, he put in it a 9550 nib and sent me along another 9555 nib, just in case I would not be satisfied with the other. (He also payed for the shipping back to Mexico thinking he incurred in a delay in bringing back the pen to me.) Once again I express to him here my appreciation. His was a really friendly gesture which I will not easily forget. Thanks, Greg!

And, well, the pen is as great: it looks almost as new, it works perfectly, and its new 9550 nib writes beautifully. It is fine enough for me (more or less like the Extra Fine nib of a Nakaya I own), and, while it is not as smooth as the Nakaya's, the friction with the paper it produces is just what I need (and like) for me to be able to control my handwriting. A very smooth nib in a very smooth paper glides a lot and it is not easy to control the hand. The Nakaya's nib in Clairefontaine paper, for instance, is unmanageable for me. But this 9550 nib is great in all kind of papers, it makes me write really well, and it has an almost perfect ink flow. So I think this humble and once almost forgotten pen will see many days of light in its new live.

The 9555 nib is also quite fine. It writes perhaps a little bit thinner than the 9550, and I guess it will also be all right. But I am now so enthusiastic with the 9550 that I have not given the 9555 enough testing yet.

By the way, I have news concerning made in Mexico Esterbrooks. Soon I'll post about two LJ's ("Icicles") I got, and also will put an ad in the Classifieds section. There is also an "HECHO EN MEXICO" pen (9668 nib) advertised in mexican Mercado Libre site:

http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.mx/MLM-458835116-pluma-fuente-sterbrook-_JM#D[s:HOME,L:CONVCATEG-CORE-ITM,V:1]. Take a look! Its price tag is $850.00 mexican pesos (about 65 US), but the owner promised to sell it to me at $650.00 (50 US). If someone is interested, we can purchase it right away.

[Quintane]

Here you have a sample of what I want to mean. If you compare carefully the handwriting with the three nibs (the first two in the same pen, the third in the Nakaya pen), you will notice, in the Nakaya nib, the sort of uncertainty that causes the excess of smoothness in both the nib and the paper. Both Esterbrook nibs have a different feeling in the hand than the Nakaya's. Also, among them, the 9550 allows a more firm control, even though the 9555 writes a finer line. I still cannot describe, though, the difference in feeling and control, not in the thinness of the line they produce, among the two Esterbrook nibs. But until now, and even though I usually prefer finer nibs, I prefer the 9550 because of what I call its manageability…

 

The lines are from an old poem by myself… Ask for references if you are interested...

 

 

[Quintane]

Please look in the Classifieds section for my advert

 

Two Esterbrook Lj “Hecho En Mexico” - Without A Nib

[Quintane]

I mean: Two Esterbrook Lj “Hecho En Mexico” -...

 

One of the pens is gone (number 1). Number 2 is available, and soon I will advert the gray one...

[Quintane]

FOUND ONE MORE LJ MADE IN MEXICO:

 

Esterbrook Lj Made In Mexico