Hello to you all!

For many years, my only fountain pens were a couple Sheaffers I had in junior high and high school. Cheap, but reliable cartridge models. Then I picked up a Waterman Phileas and an inexpensive Parker. The Phileas is a very nice pen. Writes exceedingly smoothly.

A month or so ago I discovered vintage pens. My first purchase a Parker Duofold Senior. Then a bunch of Sheaffers, a Conklin crescent filler, and a Conway Stewart.

Then I saw one of those Dubonnet Red Esterbrook J models. Beautiful. I won the bid on eBay. The pen had been restored and has a 2668 nib. I loved writing with it from the first letter. Now I'm hooked. Can't get enough Esties!

Hope to learn lots here and share what I happen to pick up.

All the best,

Chris

Can't have just one!

Welcome to the dark side.

While you're in this stage of acquiring mass amounts of Esterbrooks, don't get taken in by any auctions and pay too much. Make sure you learn what makes different pens valuable and be patient. Nine times out of ten, another very similar Estie will get listed on eBay the next day. After shipping, you probably shouldn't spend much more than $20 unless the pen has a specific nib or style you want. Be warned and have fun!

By the way, if you get any you don't like, be sure to send them my way. I'll be happy to take them off your hands!

I trust you mean $20 unrestored? I too am felling the lure of the auctions..... I think it is the multiplicity of nibs that makes the lure of owning more than one so irresistable. My lonely little Estie is crying out for a companion.

Yep, $20 - $25 unrestored but the good part is that 8 times out of 10, all they need is a sac and cleaning. For all the Esterbrooks I have bought on E-bay or the few I happen to find in antique stores, there was one that needs some nib work. Every single other one has been replacing the sac (and a few of those not even), clean the nib and away you go. As yumbo stated, welcome to the dark side....mwahahahahaha

Edit - That $20 - $25 is usually for J model pens or "newer" (i.e. 101 models, M2....). The older stuff like "$1.00" pens, V Clips, pastels and the all elusive Phaeton would be more.

Edit Again - Esterbrook.net is a good place to see what you are up against in regards to selection.

Yes, that $20 price was for the J series and unrestored. I guess I was assuming that it might need a new sac ($2.00 from Pendemonium.com - size 16) and a little cleaning. Of course, you can always find a J with a 9284 Signature Stub or 3668 Sunburst nib and pay lots more than $20, but you can often pick up a Dollar Pen with a 1555 nib for $20 or less if you are patient.

Have fun!

Thanks for the welcome and advice. Should have joined here first and possibly saved myself a few dollars. Still, while I may have over spent on a few I think they may have been worth it as I was able to get an 8000 series nib and now have 3 3000 series nibs. And a couple dollar pens to boot.

Thanks again!

Chris

I just gotten into fountain collecting. I have bought some Esterbrooks. They do write well and work well for being a leftie also. Curious though do you clean vintage pens in general?

Welcome aboard.

How you go about cleaning a vintage pen depends on the pen. Some pens are made from materials that do take well to cleaning.

For an Esterbrook J series, I start by completely disassembling the pen. I rinse them with water then scrub them inside and out with a mild detergent. After they are dry, I polish them as needed and give them a light coat of wax. Rinse the cap out with water and try a small bottle brush to loosen up the gunk.

If you just want to clean out the insides, start by flushing with water. Then use a 10% ammonia solution to flush it out. When the solution comes out clear, rinse with water again and let it dry. You are ready to ink.

To clean the renew points, unscrew them from the section and soak them in 10% ammonia or water until they no longer bleed ink. If you have an ultrasonic cleaner, these go right in the tub for a few cycles.

Hope that gets you started.

All I can add to what FarmBoy stated is that you will need to invest in some section pliers ($6 - $10). There are many other useful tools but this one is top of the list in my opinion. After you break your fist pen, you will see that the $10 is a cheap investment. I did!!

Link to Tryphon here (4th item from the bottom of the web page)

You can, of course, do what ever you wish with your pens, but I would present another view on cleaning vintage pens. I tend to follow the Frank Dubiel advice (at least that's my best recollection of where I got it) of doing no more to a pen than is needed to get it back to good writing condition and as much cosmetic work as you wish.
I only disassemble the pen as far as needed to repair the pen. I very rarely scrub out the cap and never scrub the inner barrel of a pen unless it's a vac filler or some other non-lever filler where barrel clarity is important. If the pressure bar seems to function well, I leave it alone. I avoid any water in the barrel of a lever filler to help prevent corrosion to the lever and pressure bar assembly.
I only knock out the nib and feed if the pen seems to require it.
All of this is based on the notion that the less work you do on a pen, the less chance you have of breaking it.

I do restore the visible parts of the pen the best I can. I like pens that look like they did when they were new. Some pen folk disagree on that approach, but I think it falls to the "it's your pen, do as you wish" position.

IMHO, the most important part of the restoration/repair process is the filler system and the nib/feed. Done properly, this level of repair will get a pen to great writing condition and won't jeopardize the basic structure of the pen - unless, of course, you mess up the repair.

But, your pens are your pens and you should do as you wish.

Most of all, have fun!