Some Repair Questions

[Chiro75]

I've purchased about 7-8 Esties on a popular auction site over the last couple months and just ran into my first one that needs a lot of work. Lucky, eh?

 

This is a Bell System Property J. The nib is really funky, so it's soaking.

 

The filling lever/pressure bar/whatchamacallit will not move, so I assume that means the sac is trashed and maybe the j-bar has issues, too.

 

I soaked the whole lot for a few hours, came home and removed the section, which pulled out without a sac.

 

Looking into the barrel, I see what looks like a metal collar just inside the threaded end. I don't remember seeing that on some of the other Esties I've popped open, but I did see a photo here showing a collar on a LJ. I'm assuming to get the dead sac and j-bar out to do the work on this, I need to pop that out, huh? Any tips? I assume I'll make some sort of homemade tool to pull the collar.

 

Based on other threads it seems like I'll need latex #16 sacs, shellac and talc. I will also buy a sac for my Parker 51 special, which has a little rip that hasn't quite made it all the way through (yet). An ounce of prevention yadda yadda.

 

Does it sound like I'm moving in the right direction? I have never worked on pens before but have good mechanical skills, so I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. The barrel on this Bell pen is super, looks really nice condition. I'm excited!

[Chiro75]

Oh, and if ordering from Tryphon, which size j-bars should I get for J, SJ, LJ?

[Chiro75]

OK, so the "collar" I saw in there was simply the leading edge of the old crappy sac. Removed the pieces of sac, and the j-bar, oiled the j-bar to protect it from the soaking I had subjected it to and it looks just fine. I can't get the sac tray out, though. More soaking, or what? Is there a particular tool that will help with pulling these parts? The homemade "hook" I made for the J-bar won't work for the sac tray.

[D Armstrong]

I find the best thing for de-saccifying is a dental chisel. You can use the long edge of a straight chisel to scrape along the side of the barrel, but it never hurts to have a few shapes in your arsenal.

[FarmBoy]

OK, so the "collar" I saw in there was simply the leading edge of the old crappy sac. Removed the pieces of sac, and the j-bar, oiled the j-bar to protect it from the soaking I had subjected it to and it looks just fine. I can't get the sac tray out, though. More soaking, or what? Is there a particular tool that will help with pulling these parts? The homemade "hook" I made for the J-bar won't work for the sac tray.

There is no need to remove the sac tray but if you must, lift the front end up enough to release the tab that is in the lever ring groove and then slide it out.

 

Todd

[Chiro75]

Aha, I knew there must be some trick. I'll work around it, but thanks for the tip! I sent an email to Tryphon for my supplies, waiting to hear back on a total so I can place my order...

[welch]

Are you sure that the J-bar is dead? There's no telling until you've coaxed out the dried sac scraps...unless, of course, the lever is rusted and falls out. (I had that once). My rule (of the over-cautious) is "don't replace a part unless I'm sure it's broken".

 

I've had a half-dozen Wearevers that had loose / half-dangling J-bars. Those were toast. So was the plump little "banker's pen" that arrived with its rusted J-bar in a separate baggie. I was pretty certain about that one, too