My family did Christmas very late this year, so I only just received one of my presents this past weekend -- my first Estie!

I was looking at it a few minutes ago, and noticed a split in the cap threads just below the section!

How bad is this? Will I be writing one day and the downward pressure will cause it to break the rest of the way? Should I back out the section a little bit? Should I just not worry about it?

Part of me wants to believe that this "split" is actually a "feature", some way to protect against over-tightening the nib -- the split is almost too perfect, apparently parallel to the pen body. I've never heard mention of an intentional split, though, so I'm not too optimistic.

Argh...

Weird...it sure does look like a cut in the plastic.

Strange. I've seen similar cracks on other pens, but not on Esterbrooks.

I suspect the crack will eventually spread until it causes serious trouble. I would very carefully remove the section, to avoid making it worse, then weld the crack - do a search here on cracks, you'll find lots of information. I understand Acetone and similar things work, but hopefully someone with more experience with cracked Esties will have some advice.

I'm going to take a stab at this based on similar experience from where I work and the split being "to perfect".

If I am correct, these barrels are plastic injected, (i.e. melt the raw material and force it into a mold). when you do this, there has to be a way to remove the parts and typically you would "split" the mold after injection and remove the rough finished part. At that point you clean any excess and polish. Now, these molds are in two pieces and the weakest point on the finished goods is where the two halfs of the mold meet and if a product is going to crack it will be there. Maybe the original owner over tightened the cap and the weakest link thing comes into play.

Yet further evidence that Esterbrook had a very controlled process for manufacturing and tight Quality standards.

Hi,

Esterbrooks are made from Celluloid shaped on a lathe. The material has a seam that is welded together prior to shaping. It seems that the weld split, so what we have to do is weld it back together.

Dillon

I have learned something today. Thanks.

Thanks for all of the replies, I appreciate the help. Glad to know that I'm not crazy, that crack really does look near-perfect!

I haven't really done any pen repairs before. From what I've read, I should be able to pull the section out without too much trouble by gently twisting it, possibly with the addition of light heat. At that point, I should be able to squeeze the crack closed -- lightly applying acetone to the inside of the crack should weld the crack shut. I'll need to be careful not to muck up the threads.

Does this sound correct? I'm not 100% sure I'll attempt this myself, but I'd like to make sure I understand what needs to happen.

Oh, one quick thing -- do I need to empty the ink out of the pen before I take the section out? Will it make a big mess if I don't?


Thanks!

Yep, empty the pen, if you don't, somewhere along the line, you'll make a mess. It would be a good chance to put in a new sac if it doesn't have one - I can't remember if you said anything about that.

Do be careful with the acetone - lots of fresh air and all that. After you wait 48 to 72 hours (I think I read that somewhere) be sure to use 140 to 150 degree heat to help with the section re-installation, you don't want to re-crack the barrel!

The pen was supposed to have been re-sac'd by the person my father bought it from, so hopefully the sac is in good shape.

Dillo,

Where do you get this information?
My understanding has been that Esterbrook has been one of the pioneers in injection molding. Hoban says so in his book. I always took the patterns of the surfaces of the J models as signs of longitudinal molding. But yes there is a seam in the barrel. This alone does not preclude molding. So I am just interested to know where you got the information.

In any event this crack seems that it came from a slightly oversize section forced into an undersized (or shrunk) barrel.

AZ

Generally agree AZ. In addition, to your comments, reinserting the oversize section will most likely stress any repair beyond it's elastic limits and cause a repeat failure, considering the size of the crack with it inserted.

Either turn the section down, or build the barrel up in diameter to accommodate the section as is [note: the choice depends on what dia most closely matches the inside thread dia in the cap].

I have successfully experimented with installing brass tubing of the appropriate diameter, (fastened with epoxy) a technique that strengthens the threaded part of the barrel against subsequent failure. The section naturally will have to be turned down to match the ID of the brass tube.

Regards,

Gerry

I have the same exact problem with the SAME color Esterbrook J. It is currently in the process of re-curing after an acetone weld (DWL recommends waiting 24 hours after welding). It seems that the friction fit on these sections caused the seam to split. I'll be turning the section down just a hair to prevent this in the future, and reseating the section with shellac to keep it tight.

I guess I will get Mr. Hobans book out when I get home tonight. I thought I had seen the comment/statement somewhere. I would assume that both methods were used.

Well, it's been nearly a month but I finally pulled out my book and per Mr. Hoban, Esterbrook started plastic injection in 1938 or 1939. I would assume however that he did lathe and injection together depending on demand and pen style.