How is everyone's track record with Esties that have been found with dried ink that flushes easily from an apparently pliable sac?

I'm attaching a photo of two pens that I found in this condition, for anyone curious.

Should I go get a bottle of ink now and start writing with these pens -- as I wish to do, since they seem to be in good shape (nibs feel a bit scratchy, but I can bu)-- or would it be wise to send these out for sac repair despite the evident good condition of the guts?

Bear in mind that I'm not quite up to doing my own resac work, so if I decide to resac, we're talking most likely about FPH.

Thanks!

Jeff-

In my experience with esterbrook pens with apparently pliable sacs, I've never had a problem. Just flush and go. However, one needs to take this on a case by case basis of course. Some people I know replace a sac on any pen where they don't know when it was last replaced (vacs included). I think that's a bit excessive, but if the thing leaks on your paper and it's obviously not the nib, then have the sac replaced.

Just a guess, but I'd think there would be other people on this and other lists that could replace a sac cheaper and quicker than FPH. On the other hand, Esterbrook pens are some of the easiest pens to re-sac, to which many will attest, some simple directions can be posted so you can get the job done yourself. All you need is some sac cement, a size 16 sac, a hair dryer or heat gun, a scissors, and maybe a knife to scrape off excess from the inside of the section. It really is very easy.

Best-
Brian

Jeff,
I would suggest filling with water first to test for leaks. If there are leaks, no big deal, it's just water. If it's pliable, then you're probably in good shape. I'm sure others will chime in with other indicators of good condition.

Second, if they need sacs, you can do it. It's not that big a deal. It was just a few months ago that I did my first. There are plenty of good posts here on it - just look around.

HTH, southpaw

When I took apart my grey 'J' it said Esterbrook on the sac so I'm assuming that it was original. I'd say give it a go with water & let is sit overnight. If it works then keep on using it!

K H

Thanks for the advice -- once I can get my hands on some of the bottled stuff (that is, next time I make it to Staples) I'll take my Esties out for a spin and see how the 1555 Gregg nibs are.

Jeff,

I've used original sacks just fine. You should remove the nib, pull out the section and sack and test it by putting your finger over the opening, holding it in a basin of water and squeezing the sack. If no air bubbles come from unexpected places you are good to go. It is possible that there will be an air channel that has developed through the shellac that seals the sack onto the section, but unlikely.

The 1555 Greggs are generally scratchy nibs and I have generally found it difficult to get them smooth. The steel is softer, and there is not much to work with. I have ground these down to fine stubs and had much better luck.

Perhaps I'm just a little obsessive but when I find wild pens I always replace the sacs or diaphragms to ensure that I won't have any leaky messes. In many cases the replacement sac or diaphragm has been incorrectly installed or poorly affixed to the section nipple.

The cost of materials is nominal and with an Esterbrook, the work is fairly easy to do while replacing diaphragms on 51's and sacs in Touchdown and Snorkel pens is a little trickier.

With that being said, if the existing sac is still pliable and doesn't show any signs of ossification then it will probably work just fine. I'd ensure that it was well sealed to the section nipple and passes the water test before filling the pen with ink.

There are plenty of tutorials in the Repair Q&A on sac replacement and there are more than a few folks here who will give you a detailed walk through on how to do this if you opt to replce the sacs. It's a great skill to have since most old pens are lever fillers and being able to re-sac then yourself saves time and money.

Thanks for the suggestions regarding sacs.

Are the spark plug pliers (or comparable homemade gadget) generally needed to get the section out of an Esterbrook barrel, or are they pretty good about coming apart without any tools?

I guess that doing one's own sac work probably frees up enough financial resources to round up more nibs. Pendemonium seems to have a good supply of Esterbrook nibs; I may have to order a couple.

Jeff,
The spark plug pliers are necessary for some (for both the SJ and LJ that arrived today, as a matter of fact) and can be found very cheaply (<$5). I picked up a set from Harbor Freight Tools.

FWIW, I get sacs from Woodbin Woodbin Sacs and shellac (comes with good applicator brush) or use Tryphon's / Giovanni's sac cement or shellac (Tryphon). No affiliation with either, just a happy customer.

This would be the basics to get you ready to replace Estie sacs (size #16, as already mentioned).

HTH, southpaw

Southpaw,

Do you generally use the latex or silicone sacs from Woodbin, and do the silicone sacs need talc?

I am pretty sure these pens have good sacs -- when I originally flushed them out, they seemed to be able to hold a pretty good deal of water, though I have yet to try leaving them filled with it overnight. However, I am certain that I'll eventually come across a pen that does need a new sac and I'd like to be able to do it myself. Thanks for the info.

I won't trust a sack unless I can pressure test it underwater where it will be quite evident if there is a leak. They are just too hard to find otherwise.

I find that the sparkplug tool is helpful, but once you do it once or twice, you'll see that most are removable by hand.

Jeff, I use the rubber ones primarily for budgetary reasons - plus rubber was good enough for them originally, so . . .

Use talc on the sac regardless of whether its rubber or silicone.

I would recommend a good leak test on the pen, just as Kendall suggests.




Kendall, maybe it's just me, but I've found on the ones I've resacced, that I've had to use the sparkplug pliers on about 1/3 of them (and I've got a strong grip, so it's not my being weakhanded). But then again, I'm just a newbie and that could just be an anomally.

Of course, I don't have any tactile idea of how much force it takes (would it be more or less, on average, than it takes to separate a Paper-Mate ballpoint?), but it looks like I'll be needing either heat or pliers to get the sections and sacs out of these pens. For the time being I'll just watertest tonight or this weekend, and if the sacs seem okay when holding water for a few hours, then I'll be happy for the time being.

In fact, since the nibs don't align with the levers, I almost wonder if they've already been restored. I have no idea as to the provenance, as I sumgaied them $1/per at an antique store while I was on vacation, but since they were together and both have 1555 nibs, both instruments have probably been subjected to comparable treatment.

I sumgai-ed a black Dollar Pen for $5 at an nearby antique store a couple of days ago. It was sitting in a pile of very well beat-on no-name pens.

I was shocked at seeing that the pen still had a flexible sac. After soaking it in water for about a half-hour, I was able to get out the ink-clogged 2668 nib and replace it with a fresh 9668. Inked it up and it writes and seems to hold ink without leakage.

I have no idea if this pen still has the original sac from 65 years ago, or if had been replaced in the interim. All I know is that I have just seen another example of why Esterbrooks are the most overbuilt cheap pen ever made.

Randy, my first Esterbrook which I bought in 1953 didn't need a sac until early this year. Fifty-one and 1/2 years. Amazing, isn't it?

Ann

Hi,

This should mean that I need the pliers when I start repairing lever-fillers. My hands are not srong enough to just grab the section and pull it out. Slush99 does this pulling to BIC stics and Papermates all the time (No tools...and I can't even do that!!). I am still in the process of learning...I have to sac one of my Platignums.

Dillon

Be sure to use sparkplug pliers or something much like them; else you'll just damage the pen.

Hi,

Yes, that is what I was talking about. I would need to get some parallel jaw pliers too for some other jobs (Not sacing).

Dillon

Can I just add that heat comes before section pliers. You may need pliers, but you should warm the end of the barrel first. A hairdrier will do. It will make the section easier to remove, and lessen the chance of splitting the barrel.

While I generally mistrust sacs, and agree that resaccing lever fillers is a good thing to be able to do, and satisfying (it's the only repair I trust myself with), Esterbrook sacs seem pretty robust and more likely to have survived than others.

Best

Michael

With the proper amount of heat applied correctly to the section/barrel area, section pliers are almost unnecessary. I've never used a section pliers and can't even think of using them (I'd be afraid of breaking the barrel). I've never found an esterbrook I couldn't open with just heat and my two hands.

One word of caution though, when applying heat, (and this is especially true of earlier dollar pens) for the right handed folk (reverse if a leftie), grab the section with your right hand, and the END of the barrel with your left. Make sure you've still got the renew point in the section or you'll squish the section out of round. If you use heat and then grab the barrel by the threads with your left hand, you can end of deforming the plastic. Ever see a dollar pen that looks "squished" by the threads? The plastic gets soft quickly and with pressure will get that way.

Best-
Brian

On an earlier post on this thread, I spoke of how I thought I still had a pliable sac in an old Dollar Pen I found during the summer.

Turned out that just because you have a lever that moves without hearing crunching sounds doesn't mean that there's still a working ink sac in the pen.

I sent it off to Brian a few weeks ago to have him look at it. It turned out the sac had totally disintegrated. That's why there no crunching sounds of dried up ink hardened in an old sac. There was no sac.

That's why I have professionals work on my pens.

I finally broke down and added a "real" Esterbrook to my collection. It's a single-jewel transitional model J in blue with a 3556 nib. Sack came pliable - not new-sack pliable, but usable. I decided to go ahead and use it as-is, until I get around to doing some resacking.

John