I have 2 Esterbrooks, a J and an LJ. I've been having this recurring problem on both of them, and I'm not sure how to stop it. Ink will not stop getting on the nibs! I'm not talking about nib creep or anything like that; I use Waterman black & haven't had this problem on any of my other FPs. I think what's going on is that old ink caught in the caps of the Esties is getting on the nibs when the pens are capped, particularly on the edges where they might barely touch the inside edges of the caps as the caps are screwed on/off. The problem is that no matter how clean I seem to get the caps, ink always comes back & ends up on the nibs. I've used Q-tips to soak up drops of ink in the caps, flushed the caps with plenty of water, let the caps air dry completely, etc., etc. This is a minor problem, but it's really been bugging me lately since I like nice, ink-free nibs.

Any ideas for a solution? Does anybody else have this problem with an Esterbrook?

I had this same problem with some of my Esties. I did everything you listed above. I also found for some odd reason the presence of ink or any moisture for that matter brings more ink onto my nibs, not sure why. The only thing I found that worked was being almost to gentle with the pen. Maybe change inks to to see if that changes something. I've only used PR and Noodler's in mine and once I stopped manhandling my pens they were a bit more well-behaved. Don't take that as I think your doing that, but that's been my personal experience. It seems to come and go for me though, some days no ink on the nib, other days there is.

I kind of have the same problem, but it's more the ink just staying on the nib after filling if I don't wipe them off. It doesn't really bother me that much.

Thanks for the replies! I've been trying to be gentle, but that doesn't always do the trick.

Any other suggestions?

I have an LJ that never did this until I left it laying on its side. I even got ink inside the cap. When I started storing it vertical again, the problem stopped.