I now have a handful of Esterbrooks to restore as practice before working on my blue purse pen. So far, I have taken apart two pens, a blue SJ and a green J, and replaced the sacs. What fun! And very cool to actually use a pen I fixed myself.

When I replaced the sacs, I took the nibs out of the sections so I wouldn't accidentally get shellac on them. Then I followed the procedure on Richard Binder's website, being sure to wait and give the shellac time to dry before putting the pens back together. After reassembling the pens, they worked great.

When I put the blue SJ back together, I put it's original nib back on, but I had a little trouble with that nib being scratchy, so after a little while I took it off and replaced it with a different nib. All was fine and I wrote several pages with that pen.

Now I want to remove that second nib, and I can't get it off.

I've soaked it in cool water and followed the method of removing nibs on Binder's website, and still can't get it off.

Any advice on how I might get this nib off the pen?

Thanks!

Sometimes these need to soak in water for hours or even overnight. And sometimes they're just really tight and take more pressure to break loose than you'd think. I'd try soaking it overnight and then give it another try. You can add a drop of dish detergent to the water. If you hold the nib against the feed when you're twisting it off, don't be afraid to give it a good hard turn.

If it is cross-threaded, the nib, the section, or both might be damaged, but my guess is that it's just kind of stuck and with a good strong twist, will come apart without damage.

Todd

Be careful with the soaking. Some of the sections are hard rubber and the soaking will discolor them. Try putting the pen in a plastic bag, and then in 140 degree (F) water. This amount of heat may loosen things up a bit.

Also, with the nib out and the sac off, clean the INSIDE of the section. My tool of choice is strips cut from clorox wipes. I use the strips to "floss" the inside of the section. There is usually a A LOT of ink dried inside the section and once the new sac is glued on you will never get the section totally clean.

All the things the other Todd said and:

Try a dilute solution of household ammonia (say 1 ammonia to 9 water) as your soaking solution. It doesn't hurt to suck a little into the pen as well.

If you have access to one, an ultrasonic cleaner for a few minutes does wonders.

Todd

Thank you all for the advice! I soaked the nib overnight in water with a drop of dish detergent, but still no luck getting it loose. When I held the nib against the feed and twisted firmly, the nib slipped relative to the feed. My hands may not be strong enough to apply enough pressure. I also put the nib for a few minutes in a little ultrasonic cleaner that I have for cleaning jewelry, but it didn't make a difference. I haven't found any ammonia yet, but will keep looking. Tomorrow I'll try warm water. I cleaned the section thoroughly before putting a new sac on it, using rapido-eze (then rinsing with water), which has been working really well for me, so I would hope there isn't anything stuck in the threads. My little bottle of rapido-eze is empty now and I am awaiting some more to arrive.

I'll keep fiddling with it, and try to be patient and not break anything. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know!

Although unlikely, I guess it is possible that you might have gotten shellac inside the section...which could be acting like thread glue.

I'd pull the section from the pen body and then try warming the section with a hair dryer (don't get it so hot that the nib can't be easily touched), then try removing the nib. If it's shellaced into place, the heat should break it loose.

Good luck and hang in there ...

Todd

I did finally get this nib loose, after a soak in rapido-eze. Possibly when I changed nibs, which I did with ink still in the sac, I got some ink in the threads. What a relief! Thanks again to everyone for your advice.