I managed to get one from eBay that is, shall we say, a fixer-upper. When I first got it, the lever won't move, and there's a Wearever nib jammed into the section...

Anyway, after poking at the dried ink/sac with a paper clip and soaking the parts, the petrified sac is mostly gone, but I have a question as to whether there should be anything inside the barrel but the lever. Peering inside the barrel reveals some... thing that's stuck on the opposite half of the lever. Is it supposed to be there?

Thanks.

So far this has been rather easy, but I guess I'll save that until the new sac arrives in my mailbox. Oh, that and a new nib.

About 1" down, directly across from the lever, there is a half round rim which is the beginning of a ramp that extends towards the tail of the barrel. It is to hold the sac towards the lever bar to allow for complete compression when filling.

More experienced hands may testify that this is a discreet structure that can be, but probably shouldn't be removed. Or it is cast as part of the barrel.

If the sac is totally stuck you might try gently abrading the inside with the threads of a 3"drywall screw.

Happy fixin'!

Jack

Edited cause I don't wanna look like a dope!

Thanks for the picture, Jack!

That's exactly what I see when I look down the barrel... and of course, I poked it with ye olde paper clip a few times, so mine is slightly, erm, let's just leave it at slightly toothy. I should've asked for help before trying to remove the thing, but I guess I got carried away chipping (very lightly) at the old ink/sac. :doh:

Speaking of looking like a dope, I just took a closer look at the nib, and promptly realized that nowhere does it say 'Wearever.' I just assumed that it was, whatwith the big 'W' and the 8364 broad markings. Can anyone confirm that it's not supposed to be anywhere near the section of this pen?

And a followup to the nib question... Is there any place to go for cheap nibs, preferably on the broader side? I'm going to try my hand at grinding some.

Thanks.

Try:
http://hans.presto.tripod.com/nibs/esterbrook.html
And:
http://www.richardspens.com/ref_info/estynibs.htm
for nib info.

Don't fret about chewing up the inside a little. These things aren't so valuable or rare that you should feel bad about messing something up as you learn.

This is a very interesting hobby, but it's not nuclear science or anything else that is too complicated or important to the rest of the world!

Have fun!

Jack

You should also refer to Brian Anderson's site for Esterbrook info...

http://www.esterbrook.net/

The nib number you quote does not correspond to any I kow of, so it likely is a substitute. No idea as to the maker.

The internal plastic piece (yes, it is removable) had several functions - one being to stabalize the sac so one size sac could be used for all pens regardless of barrel size, and also to thermally insulate the sac from the heat of the hand holding the pen (prevents blobbing).

There also should be a J-bar in there in addition to the lever. That is a spring bar that the lever presses down on to compress the sac.

Although it isn't absolutely necessary, there's no reason you can't remove everything from the inside of the barrel to allow you to get all the sac remnants out. The J-bar and the plastic insert both come out relatively easily (usually). The J-bar fits around the plastic insert.

Regards,

Gerry

PS: Lots of these pens don't have the plastic insert - whether lost or assembled that way, I don't know.

Here is Richard B's diagram of J-Bar and lever interaction.
You can't go wrong following Mr. Binder's explanations of FP engineering:

Leave the insert and J-bar inside, just make sure you get all the sac parts off them.

The insert is hard rubber, so you can chew it up if you are not careful.

Sac is a #16, standard on all size Esties. Nice, you only need one size to fix any of them. Larger pens have inserts to make them work correctly.

If you remove the instert, the lever will not completely compress the sac, leading to poor filling.

Peter

Thanks for the tips and pointers. Now to wait for my order from Tryphon/Giovanni.