New To Esties And Restoration - Missing Threads?

[Fox Point]

Hi all,

 

My first Esterbrook arrived today, and I know very little despite haunting this thread! The pen is very nearly 5" long capped, striated grey with a 1551 nib with a loose feed. The nib and feed appear clean and it only took about an hour of soaking to work the section off... but it appears to have no threads! Have the threads separated from the section and become lost forever in the body if the pen? Is it doomed to only ever use one nib with a rattling feed?

 

The sac was solid inside it but chipped away from the section readily, and the lever appears to work fine, if not quite perfectly. The jewels are present and undamaged.

 

Please tell me what I might have, and how silly I am being about the apparently missing threads! Also, where do I get sacs and shellac? Pointing me towards established threads would be great, the search function is dodgy on phones and tablets.

 

Cheers,

Fox Point

 

[Fox Point]

See the smoothness where the threads on the section should be?

[Fox Point]

Well, now I feel silly. Ah well, at least I understand! Soo... The loose feed? How do I doctor that?

[gweimer1]

You can get shellac, sacs, and other needed supplies from Anderson Pens - https://www.andersonpens.net/repairs-s/1813.htm

 

You can build up the section with a light layer of shellac, letting it dry for a day or so. You need to be very careful about putting the section back in place, since the risk of cracking the barrel is there. I would go to the pinned repair topics here, and read them over carefully.

[risingsun]

I recommend a thin sheet of paper to snug up the section to barrel, instead of shellac. Learned that one from Richard Binder. Works great in my experience, and completely reversible.

[Fox Point]

Got the loose feed sorted. Pinned threads are great - my haunting was mostly looking at all of the pretty things instead of the DIY! I will check out Andersonpens and pendemonium, thanks! Ideas on the size-type? SJ, J, other? The pic I uploaded is much poorer quality than the original image, which I'm sure doesn't help.

[Fox Point]

Risingsun, I'm not sure I understand what you mean - place paper between the friction fit section and barrel? Wouldn't that extra tightness make cracking more likely?

[pajaro]

Risingsun, I'm not sure I understand what you mean - place paper between the friction fit section and barrel? Wouldn't that extra tightness make cracking more likely?

 

I think the paper was to shim a loose section in the barrel. Probably this was a misunderstanding.

 

If the section fits snugly in the barrel, I would use no shellac on the section when you put it back into the barrel after resacking. Using shellac on the section when reinserting it into the barrel will complicate the next section removal to resac the next time. You would have to use more heat to first, expand the barrel to release the section, and, second, use heat to release the hold of the shellac. So, don't use shellac here. Limit its use to the area of the section where the sac attaches.

[Fox Point]

Thanks, Pajaro.

[estie1948]

Fox Point, here is the place to find answers to the majority of your questions: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/192086-esterbrook-repair-index/

 

Good luck with your repairs. If you hit a snag and the answer is not in the repair index, just ask. Someone with be quick with an answer.

 

-David.

Edited September 9, 2014 by estie1948

[risingsun]

Pajaro got it. I misunderstood where your looseness issue was occurring based on gweimer1's comment. Sorry about that.

Edited September 9, 2014 by risingsun

[Fox Point]

All good, thank you all for your quick replies! Now if any of you have resources to point me towards for an OT Osmiroid I can't seem to open or its Radiograph sibling... The three came together and I now feel like the Estie was the friendliest of the lot!

 

Cheers!

[Fox Point]

David, that resource is amazing, and just what I needed! Ü

[Brian Anderson]

The beauty of shellac is that it _is_ reversible. All it takes is a little heat to remove. All Vacumatics and 51's use shellac to seal hoods and section threads and it is never an issue getting them loose. If you have to build up the section like has been suggested, let dry and file down with an emery board if need be.

 

Use a size 16 sac for esterbrooks and trim down, accounting for the displacement of the section inside the barrel.

[Fox Point]

Cheers, Brian

[risingsun]

I've had to have Ron Zorn lathe out an over-zealous shellac job on a pen at the barrel/section joint... Call me cautious, but I wouldn't ever want to do that to someone else on purpose.

[OcalaFlGuy]

If I build up a section with dried shellac, I usually give it a full day to cure after the last build up coat to Be Sure the shellac is All The Way dry.

 

IF you Must shim the section with paper, start small, say a paper band only 1/3 rd the way around the section and cut the band More around the section on each successive effort until it's just snug. Just CRAM the section in there with a whole circumference band of paper and you Could crack the barrel.

 

That's why Most pros Won't reco shimming. It's harder to test fit than a shellac built up section. If the shim is Too big, you first usually figure that out when you hear the faint Crack! of the barrel end.

 

Not to mention, shimming it is just amateurish. These are our Esties, if you're gonna do it, do it Right. Take pride in your work.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl