I'm working on an Esterbrook J that I just got from Ebay. It came with a loose clip. The clip rotates around the cap, and the end has also been pulled away from the pen about an eight of an inch, so now it doesn't actually clip to anything.

I figured I could glue the clip in place with some shellac to stop the rotation. But is there a way to get the end tight up against the cap again? Thanks.

Depends on how you want to approach it - and whether you want the correct fix

The best way is to remove the inner cap and plastic jewel at the end of the cap (there are previous posts covering this, as well as a text on Brian Anderson's site), and to restake the hollow rivet holding the clip to the cap. If the restaking is less than totally successful - ie it tightens the clip most of the way, but there's still a little rotation that bothers you - you can use CA - Super Glue to anchor it. Replace the jewel and the inner cap, and you're good to go for the life of the pen.

Should you not want to put that much work into the restoration, and provided the clip isn't too loose, you can try wicking CA around the cap where it joins, which should cure the problem. There will inevitably be a little CA that stays on the cap near the clip, which you will have to remove with sanding discs/paper/sticks etc, and then polish up after. I believe that this process has been discussed at length elsewhere as well.

Please feel free to ask for more detail on any of these techniques.

Gerry

Brian's Site

Thanks. I think I'll put this repair off, since it's just going to ride around in my pants pocket anyway.

But a question for when I do feel more ambitious -- is tightening up that rivet also likely to tighten the clip down against the side of the pen? In other words, will the rivet just stop the rotation, or will it also make the clip snugger against the material of a pocket? If not, is there a way to repair that problem too?

Thanks again.

It will probably tighten the clip to the body of the barrel as well, although that depends on whether the clip has been 'stretched' or not.

How to explain - well, tightening the rivet will tighten the top part of the clip to the top of the cap very snugly. But, if the clip has been bent so that even when the top of the clip is snug, there is no pressure on the shirt fabric, then tightening the rivet alone will not fix the problem.

But that is the ideal time to effect a fix, bending the clip down to engage the body before it is 'staked' or tightened. The staking will tighten it a little more, making the grip secure.

Gerry

The more I think about it, the more I'd like to do the repair right. But reading Brian's article, it looks like you either need an inner cap puller, or else you have to drill through the inner cap. Is there any other way to get that cap out? Is it threaded, friction-fit, or glued? I saw a picture of a cap-puller on one of the websites, and I think I might be able to improvise something like it, but I'm not sure if it's just a matter of getting it jammed in there and yanking, or if there's more to it than that.

Thanks.

Yes, there is an alternative ...

You might find that a 5/16 NC tap will thread into the inner cap with a grip sufficient to allow you to pull the cap out. That way doesn't require you to drill through the top of the inner cap.

If you are mechanically minded, you might try fitting a drill stop collar to the tap, and using a couple of large washers, create a system where you can pry between the washers to force the tap to pull the cap out. I've adapted a threaded hollow tube used in lamps to the task, and with a couple of threaded metal strips used in electrical boxes have fashioned a rudimentary puller from that.

You may discover other ways - for example, screwing the tap into the inner cap, sliding a couple of washers over the tap, and mounting in a vice. Gentle prying with a screwdriver between the washers should force the inner cap out, without putting too much strain on the lip of the FP cap.

Of course, if light thread marks on the inside of the inner cap bother you, this method may not appeal.


Gerry

PS: Sorry, I forgot to answer your questions. The inner cap is just a friction fit, no threads or glue to worry about, although there is sometimes a fair amount of friction...

That's great. Thanks very much for the help. I probably won't tackle this for a few days at least, but I'll let you know just how much damage I manage to do.