First Estie - Storage, Inks To Avoid?

[T4TEXAS]

I bought my first Estie at the Dallas Pen Show. Green double jewel SJ, restored.

 

I have noticed some leakage at the base of the nib if I lay the pen horizontally for a short time, even say 30 - 60 minutes. Is this normal. Not just enough to get on the section, but also drain into the cap. Do I need to keep the nib pointing up? Or is there a problem?

 

Are some inks a problem? Major offenders to avoid? Not only as far as the above leakage goes, but as far as cleaning and damaging the ink bladder go. I have Noodler's Zivago in it.

 

Will appreciate your experience.

[Mr. JW]

It sounds like you are experiencing nib creep, where the ink "creeps" onto the nib. This is fairly common with Noodler's inks and I have experienced it with Noodlers Lexington Gray in an Estie. It's probably best to store the pen upright, which should help. FWIW, I have used a variety of inks in my Esties without any issues. I've never used Zhivago though, so I will let others comment on that.

[scully012]

I haven't had any problems with any inks I've tried, though they were mostly Noodler's. As for the leaking problem, you can try tightening up the nib unit if the ink is leaking from around the threads (hold the nib and feed carefully between your fingers and twist).

[sirgilbert357]

I disagree (with Mr. JW). This is not nib creep. Creep needs capillary action to happen and it goes no further than that. If its leaking off the pen, then you most likely have a leak between the section and the nib unit (a crack, or screw it in tighter) or between the inside of the nib's feed and collar (ask me how I know -- I have TWO that do this!! Very annoying!).

Edited December 5, 2014 by sirgilbert357

[ac12]

Should not happen.

I use Cross/Pelikan blue and black inks in my Esterbrooks. And Pelikan is a dry ink.

 

Tricky as to the ink you are using, because in my limited experience, Esterbrook nibs are wet.

I don't know how your ink compares to Pelikan ink, probably wetter. Wet nib + wet ink = too much ink on the paper.

Also a too wet ink (for the pen) can leak from the nib. I switched one pen from Parker to Cross/Pelikan to stop the pen from drooling.

[sirgilbert357]

T4TEXAS, dump the ink (back into the bottle, not down the drain!) and pull the nib and rinse it off. On the back of the feed, on the circular part that looks down into the bladder of the pen, you will see a U-shaped channel (or hole) cut into the feed. That should be the only place for ink to go. If there is ANY gap between the feed and the collar that hold the feed, then ink can leak out from the base of the feed while you are writing (or if the pen is at rest). Also, look very closely at the section under a bright light and look for cracks; inside, outside, the threading, etc. And you need to be sure it is screwing all the way into the section and making a snug fit...there are no o-rings after all.

Edited December 5, 2014 by sirgilbert357

[T4TEXAS]

Thanks everyone.

 

I cleaned it out with tap water and then distilled. Thoroughly. The seller had old Parker Blue-Black in it to demonstrate, but I thought I had cleaned it out well before inking with the Zhivago, although I had not removed the nib section. Not so. I have it drying overnight and will update afterwards.

 

Searching for Zhivago info here, I read a post saying it is a combo of Bullet-Proof Black and a green, and that it can be hard to clean out of pens. I may cut it 50:50 or 75:25 with water or just use another ink.

 

I can not see a crack or other problem, but.... Should be able to see if it still leaks tomorrow.

[sirgilbert357]

Does the feed look nice and tight in the collar? Is everything flush and snug?

[T4TEXAS]

Yes it does. to my inexperienced eye.

[LamyOne]

Hello T4Tex,

 

I have not been collecting Esterbrooks very long, but I've read a good deal about them and leaking nibs is a problem that crops up on them from time to time. I think the problem lies with the threading on the nib unit and the section - after decades of contracting and expanding from heat and cold; coupled with general wear from removal and re-insertion, the threads develop micro gaps over the years - permitting ink to slowly leak or leach out.

 

People have "cured" this problem by using a dap of silicone grease, (like you would do with an eyedropper), to solve the problem; however, Bruce from Ocala strongly advises against this, claiming the grease eventually works its way into the nib unit itself, causing serious clogging issues and is quite a bear to clean out. I see his point and agree with him.

 

While I have NEVER done this myself, I think it would work, (I'm hoping one of the pen repair pros will chime in with their thoughts); my advice is to use section (thread) cement, (available from Fountain Pen Sacs.com), it is used to reseal the hood units on P51's. It will give you a liquid tight seal and stop the leaks, (hopefully), and it is semi-permanent, so it will not migrate into the nib unit itself; the downside is that if you ever want to remove the nib again, you'll have to apply heat to soften the cement, so this may or may not be such a hot idea, (no pun intended, but it fits in nicely ); again, I'll leave it to the pros to debate my theory - hopefully, one or more of them will chime in. I am thinking of using this technique on a leaky Camlin 47 piston filler.

 

In regards to ink, I would never use bulletproof or saturated inks in a vintage lever filler - use inks that are easy to clean out and will not clog the pen over time. Most Diamine and all Waterman, J. Herbin, Quink, Sheaffer, Lamy and Pelikan 4001 inks are safe to use and have been around for a century or so, (J. Herbin has been around for three centuries); when you use these inks, the only servicing your pen will ever need is a good soak overnight in plain water - and it will be writing again - that is not the case with the bulletproof and heavily saturated inks. If you need an ink that is bulletproof - I recommend you use it in a modern c/c pen that it is easy to clean and easy to service - not a vintage "x"-filler type pen.

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

Edited December 6, 2014 by LamyOne

[T4TEXAS]

Thanks again to all.

 

I rinsed the soaking pen parts this morning and a little ink was still coming out, so I put it back to soak in distilled water. I'll try again tomorrow. It may be as simple as the section not being snug when I first got the pen.

 

Not sure I want to try the thread cement, but what about the tape plumbers use to seal a connection. I have some, so I may try that if my current clean up does not work any magic.

[bfg]

I might try the silicone grease but certainly not any sort of cement. The whole "point" of an Esterbrook is the ability to replace the nib unit. You don't want to make that connection permanent. I don't see spending a lot of time repairing nib units when it is so easy to acquire and replace them. These units were not intended to last forever.

[LamyOne]

"Not sure I want to try the thread cement, but what about the tape plumbers use to seal a connection. I have some, so I may try that if my current clean up does not work any magic."

 

 

Hello T4Texas,

 

Not sure. That isn't designed for use on fountain pens; not sure what affect it could have? Shoot a PM to Ron Z, (Ron Zorn of Main Street Pens), he's the one to ask.

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

[OcalaFlGuy]

Baystate Blue will stain Estie plastic so bad it'll have to be polished out.

 

I have had BSB melt a ring into an Estie cap along the edge of the inner cap. And I have the pics to prove it.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl-who keeps his BSB in a P-51 where it can't hurt anyone

[MKeith]

As for the leak, I have sometimes used a tiny bit of silicone on the nib threads with sucess. Just enough to seal the top thread. I use an ultrasonic cleaner with a 10-1 solution of distilled water and non-sudsing ammonia with two to three drops of Dawn dishwashing soap to clean my Estie nibs. It works very well.

 

As for inks,I know this will upset some, but I will never use Noodlers or most saturated Private Reserve in my Esterbrooks again. i have had four sacks go to goo due to them. I use Pelikan, Waterman, most Diamines, and Montblanc in my Esties now and have had no more problems.

Edited December 7, 2014 by MKeith

[OcalaFlGuy]

 

As for inks,I know this will upset some, but I will never use most saturated Private Reserve in my Esterbrooks again. i have had four sacks go to goo due to them.

 

About 95% of my ink used is PR DCSSB and I cannot argue against your point.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[gweimer1]

After the Ohio Pen Show, I'm likely to follow suit and avoid the P.R. inks. I also hear that there may be some QC variances lately. The problem for me is that the only guy in town with ink is a P.R. fanatic. I need to find better ink. Looks like I'll have to ship in. I'm fond of Waterman and Diamine inks.

[welch]

Unless you use Noodler's Eel, it probably is not the ink.

 

I use Diamine, Private Reserve, Visconti Blue (great ink that is not praised often enough, so...), and Iroshizuku Asa-gao. And sometimes mix vintage Quink Royal Blue (the art deco bottle) with PR or Diamine. I like the smell of Solv-X.

 

Only once had a problem, and that was with Diamine Sapphire Blue in a P51 Vacumatic. Diamine Sapphire is one of the best-behaved inks available.

 

Noodlers? None of the colors appeal to me, and Baystate Blue seems to require more precautions than I want. Have used Ottoman Azure, which is a nice color but more "tealish". I like the purplish inks.

 

Why not Eel? It's too wet for its own good. Filled an Onoto K, a piston-filling hooded pen. Put it nib-up, as we all do, overnight. Blue Eel managed to crawl down around the piston and fill the bottom of the pen. There used to be an "oil that crawls". Same behavior.

 

Sounds like a nib unit that has not been completely tightened or might have a crack. Ron Zorn's "thread sealant" will fix that, but you will have to work harder to replace the nib some day...and you WILL swap out the nib, just because that's what we all do with Esterbrooks!

[T4TEXAS]

An amazing amount of ink came out of the cap with repeated soakings. A green-blue from a previous user; apparently not the Noodler's Zhivago I was using.

 

I did not let it dry overnight. Dried it off, assembled and immediately noticed the nib unit will not unscrew. Did not tighten forcefully and do not want to force it to unscrew. Suggestions? Heat?

 

Filled it with Waterman's Serenity Blue. Anyone think it may be a problem? I parked it upright and will look for leakage day to day. If you all think the Waterman's may be a problem, I have plenty of Sheaffer's Jet Black, Blue-Black and Blue.

 

Assuming the basic problem is fixed, should I be able to use this for note-taking in situations where I need to lay it down horizontally for 5 - 10 minutes at a time, cap on.?

[cellmatrix]

Serenity Blue should be pretty safe and easy to maintain.