Fester

[Scrawler]

Dear denizens of Estieland, I have been slaving away over hot corpses in the laboratory, taking bits of this and tacking it to bits of that. This is Fester. He is bald, ugly, scarred, has claws and is very eccentric but has a heart of gold.

 

The body of the pen is a black Bell Systems Esterbrook J. At some point someone scratched the Bell Systems imprint off leaving bad scarring. I have tried to show it in the pictures, but I am not an expert photographer. The jewel was gone, so I made one from brass. The nib is a size 14 Banks, which is very flexible, and is so large that the cap will no longer screw all the way on. You can imagine that getting a nib this big into a carrier was quite a challenge. I used a Venus carrier, because the 1970's plastic is more flexible and can be distorted by heating. This trick is not possible at all with any of the original Esterbrook collars. The feed is from a #2668 and has been modified to flow more ink as the tines open up. I cut two parallel channels as auxiliaries to the main channel. These are normally covered and blocked, but when the tines lift they allow more ink into the main channel. This makes for a very nice juicy pen.

 

 

http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx153/FPWriter/fester4.jpg

 

http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx153/FPWriter/fester3.jpg

 

http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx153/FPWriter/fester2.jpg

 

http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx153/FPWriter/fester1.jpg

[pajaro]

That is totally beautiful. Excellent and imaginitive work. I love the way it writes.

[liz4tin]

I love it! I'm so happy with Wednesday by the way. She's a great pen!

[Federalist Pens]

IT'S ALIVE!

 

IT'S ALIVE!!

 

IT'S ALIVE!!!

 

[Scrawler]

IT'S ALIVE!

 

IT'S ALIVE!!

 

IT'S ALIVE!!!

 

Well it is now but it had been dead for quite a while.

[subbes]

Have you considered hardcore buffing with some micromesh on that imprint scarring? I doubt you'd want to try and remove it completely, as you'd probably end up with a barrel that's only a few microns thick.

[Scrawler]

Have you considered hardcore buffing with some micromesh on that imprint scarring? I doubt you'd want to try and remove it completely, as you'd probably end up with a barrel that's only a few microns thick.

No, there is no point in trying to remove it completely. I just do this as a hobby and every one is a practice pen. It would thin out the barrel and this pen has no value really, other than as a toy for me. I have another unblemished black one with a broken jewel, which if I wanted to do the same to, I could. The scarring contribute to its name. If you remember Fester is all scarred because he likes to blow things up.

[spiv]

The pictures do not do the dagger like pen justice

It is seldom that I heft a pen and wonder if I'm going to hurt myself... but it was a hoot to see this last Sunday.

[dhosh]

So, to clarify ... you fit the pen into the nib holder (find one that will fit your pen shell, the nib holder portion ... and the dip pen itself) ....but don't really use the sack or filling full pen's reservoir system ? You still dip it, but the nib fins just hold more ink? That's the biggest problem I've had with dip pens, is the pen doesn't seem to hold enough ink to get much of a line ... wen in flex mode, anyway. I use the fine tips a lot for line drawings.

[dhosh]

I have an all white cat ... and a black 'Property of Bell Systems' black pen as well. Maybe we were separated at birth .....

[Scrawler]

So, to clarify ... you fit the pen into the nib holder (find one that will fit your pen shell, the nib holder portion ... and the dip pen itself) ....but don't really use the sack or filling full pen's reservoir system ? You still dip it, but the nib fins just hold more ink? That's the biggest problem I've had with dip pens, is the pen doesn't seem to hold enough ink to get much of a line ... wen in flex mode, anyway. I use the fine tips a lot for line drawings.

No. This is a fully functional fountain pen. It is a fully removable nib section, in an operational fountain pen. I fill the sac with the lever in the normal manner. The only problem is having a bottle deep enough to accommodate the nib. To overcome this I use a funnel inside the bottle, and insert the nib into the long narrow neck.

[Scrawler]

I have an all white cat ... and a black 'Property of Bell Systems' black pen as well. Maybe we were separated at birth .....

Sadly this cat was eaten by a fisher some time ago. I have kept some of his remains in hopes that one day I might have him cloned. He was a very intelligent and cheeky cat.

[dhosh]

No. This is a fully functional fountain pen. It is a fully removable nib section, in an operational fountain pen. I fill the sac with the lever in the normal manner. The only problem is having a bottle deep enough to accommodate the nib. To overcome this I use a funnel inside the bottle, and insert the nib into the long narrow neck.

Ahh ... even better, then! Thanks!

[dhosh]

Sadly this cat was eaten by a fisher some time ago. I have kept some of his remains in hopes that one day I might have him cloned. He was a very intelligent and cheeky cat.

Bummer .... yeah ... we've lost 5 .. 4 to SOME sort of fowl or critter.... They lived much of their life outside, and weren't happy living an indoor life ... And, one to a car. Sadly, he's the only one we found.

[pajaro]

I had a white cat like the pictured one many years ago. She lived outside all the time in Pensacola, Florida, and later in Cape Coral, Florida. She caught snakes, mice, fish, rabbits and ducks, and she feasted on all of them. She died in 1991 of an apparent stroke at age eighteen. I still have pics of her, including one of her on the outside window ledge, looking in through the Christmas candelabra. Requiescat in pace, Esmeralda.

[Scrawler]

So, to clarify ... you fit the pen into the nib holder (find one that will fit your pen shell, the nib holder portion ... and the dip pen itself) ....but don't really use the sack or filling full pen's reservoir system ? You still dip it, but the nib fins just hold more ink? That's the biggest problem I've had with dip pens, is the pen doesn't seem to hold enough ink to get much of a line ... wen in flex mode, anyway. I use the fine tips a lot for line drawings.

I would like to point out that this is not the only one I have done. Beside putting dip and gold nibs into Esterbrook pens, I have also put superflex nibs like the Hunt Imperial 101 into a Wearever. I have that one on my desk right now because I wrote a letter with it yesterday. I do have an Esterbrook 404 (dip-less) desk dip pen which relies on the fins, and I could as easily screw these nibs into that. The only reason I do not, is because the 404 is for dipping in inks that are to be tested.

[spaceink]

I love Franken-pens. They are beautiful, unique creatures!

[spaceink]

Or, a Frankebrook, as one might call it.

[Scrawler]

Or, a Frankebrook, as one might call it.

All my Frankenpen experiments are named after The Addams Family and the Munsters, except one particularly beautiful gift for a young lady, which a friend named "Belle". She has an Eversharp nib in a copper SJ with gemstone jewels. I made a Waterbrook, or is that Esterman, named Puggsley, because of the short fat modern Waterman nib. I have not been able to work on any in a while, but continue to collect broken and unwanted parts, so that I can continue to resurrect the dead in future. My daily use pen is Lily (Munster), which has a 1920s Conklin nib, in a sparklingly lovely blue SJ.

Edited February 22, 2015 by Scrawler

[amberleadavis]

All my Frankenpen experiments are named after The Addams Family and the Munsters, except one particularly beautiful gift for a young lady, which a friend named "Belle". She has an Eversharp nib in a copper SJ with gemstone jewels. I made a Waterbrook, or is that Esterman, named Puggsley, because of the short fat modern Waterman nib. I have not been able to work on any in a while, but continue to collect broken and unwanted parts, so that I can continue to resurrect the dead in future. My daily use pen is Lily (Munster), which has a 1920s Conklin nib, in a sparklingly lovely blue SJ.

 

 

Did you see 1313 Mockingbird Lane?