As some of you will have seen me mention in a couple of other threads, I recently bought a lovely Copper J, restored beautifully for me by Toulouse. It is such a lovely pen, but it's driving me mad.

After a lot of thought, when asked what nib I wanted for it, I went for a 9314M, simply because I thought it would suit my style. But I'm a leftie.....

And it does suit my style. When it writes, it is really nice to write with and it's one of those pens that really seems to improve my dreadful writing, but then, after writing a line or two, it just stops. The only way I get get it to start again is to give it a quick shake. (And clean up the ink later). I've tried two different inks, Noodlers Walnut and my favourite MB Racing Green, and they're both the same, in fact, the MB seems slightly worse. But I'm determined to persevere with it.

I've now ordered a 9284, which I picked up for a very reasonable price a couple of days ago.

So two questions really for the experts -

1. Is a relief nib like the 9314M an inherently unwise choice for a leftie underwriter?

2. What nib would the lefties out there choose? (Bearing in mind that I don't get on at all with fine nibs, like a good wet line and I'm not fussed about flex).


(PS If Toulouse reads this, I'm really not at all worried - I will get there eventually and I'm pretty confident that I will easily cover my outlay on the 9314M if I can't get on with it! )

Do you "twist" the pen when you write?

I am a lefty OVERwriter, and have no problem writing with the 9314 Esterbrook series, because I rotate my pen counterclockwise naturally. On the other hand, I cannot write with a sharp italic or a right-foot oblique, because I dig the nib into the paper.

I thought that because I had no trouble with the 9314s, it would work for all lefties. I gave one of my 9314 nibs to a lefty underwriter friend, who called me for instructions, because the nib was fighting him. He does not rotate his pens at all, and couldn't work with it. Called ME weird!

I have read that relief (Esterbrook-speak for left oblique) nibs are intended for people who hold the pen so that the nib slit is not perpendicular to the paper when writing, in fact away from the lefty and towards a "rightie". Also, that oblique pens are not meant to make thick-and-thin lines like italics or stubs. Richard Binder's site, perhaps?

As to your problem with the ink trailing off after two lines, if the nib rotation is not the issue, have you checked the tines' alignment and gap* (so it is wide enough for the flow that would make a wet line)? Failing that, clean the pen out with an ammonia-and-detergent-and-water solution (1 parts:1 drop:9 parts), a feed reaming and thorough rinsing. As a last resort, send it to someone for adjustment.

*Esterbrook nibs seem more brittle than others, so go very gently. I cracked a tine on my 9314-F. It's hanging on somehow, but it's a goner.


Edited formula

Thanks OnPoint. No, I don't believe I twist or rotate the nib at all, so maybe my situation is akin to your friend's? (I won't call you weird though.... ). I've checked the nib and tines and can see nothing at all wrong there. I very much doubt that there is anything untoward that needs cleaning out, so I'm more inclined to think along the lines that perhaps the 9314M is simply not the nib for me. In which case I shall try another nib and see what happens with that one! If I have the same problems with another nib, then I'll worry.......

You're welcome.

Where'd your giraffe go?

Regards.

I swapped it for an animated gif I made myself of Ayrton Senna at Suzuka, but for some reason that kept failing to show up - even though it was hosted on my own webspace - probably too big to load quick enough. So the Toyota GT-One (a shot which I took myself at Le Mans in 1998) is a temporary replacement as I lost the link for the giraffe!

The Senna animation showed up here just fine. Nice shot from LeMans!

I used to have the "drying up" problems with my Duofold, but after using it for a couple days, it subsided. I think that it was probably a case of "gunk in the feed."

I doubt that this problem is your fault, seeing as it writes the first couple lines perfectly fine. If you like the nib, I would try cleaning it up.

I just recieved a 2314F nib today (same basic design as 9314M, except mine is "durium tipped" and is fine, not medium) and I find that it writes best when rotated a good amount counter-clockwise. It barely lays down any ink if held parallel to the paper, but that is to be expected, as it is a left-foot oblique. It is a stub, but an oblique one at that, so most of the variation comes on the "top right to bottom left," and "top left to bottom right," strokes, for lack of a better word . Mine wasn't writing too great out of the box, but then I increased the flow and boy is it a wonderful writer.

So, I would say, try cleaning out the nib and feed and see if it makes a difference.

Oops, sorry, just realized I'm not an expert, although I like to think of myself as one

But my 9314M was a NOS nib?

To make matters worse, I've now swapped it for a 9284 and it's even worse. But I intend to persevere, I'll try all the buggers if I have to........




Go on, humour me with how you did that........

I've just recieved and tried my third nib with this pen. A new 2312 italic from DocNib. Such a lovely nib.

It does seem to be writing better but there are still occasional skips.

One of the reasons I bought another 'J' (and see my tale of woe about that one in the 'Bad Ebay Buy' thread..... ) was to try these nibs in another pen to help me to work out whether it was the pen, the nibs or me at fault for the skipping and drying up, but I still can't..... I have one other Estie still to arrive and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that one.

Still, I'm absolutely determined to persevere with this pen as I like it so much.....

Well, this darned pen still isn't right - either that or I'm definitely not right...... I don't seem able to put any nib in this pen that will write freely and indefinitely without skipping or just stopping. A quick shake and it will start again, but that just gets super-annoying after a while. It doesn't happen with any of my Sheaffers, so why with this pen?

Bearing in mind that I've exchange the whole nib unit several times and I still have the problem, could anything be impeding the flow of ink somewhere else?

I have the same relief nib, and find that Noodler's Zhivago works very well in it. If you happen to have some, you might try it. Another ink that always works well for me in my Esterbrooks is Quink Washable Blue. Beyond that, I don't know what to say, except that the oblique (relief) nibs can be a bit cranky even at the best o times. Why that should be, I don't know.

Trouble is, its three nibs with the same problem Bill - that strikes me as something other than the nib!

I received a glorious restored blue SJ in the post today - it writes well with the 2556 it came with but that's way too fine for me - the pen is destined now for my sister, but first I'm determined to try each of the other nibs, 9314M, 9284 and 2312 in it to see if the ink flow problems I'm having with the copper J disappear......

I've come back to this thread to relate my experiences with my Estie (and I now have two) since my purchase back in August.

Since then, in an attempt to find a nib that writes well for me with a degree of 'character' I have tried the following:-

9314M
9284
2442
2312

I've also acquired a 9460 which strikes me as bog-standard medium, plus a 9550 and 2556, both of which were too fine for me.

I absolutely love the 9314M (I somehow knew I would when I ordered it for the pen from Toulouse), but I can't get over the inkflow problems with the left oblique - the same goes for the 9284. Both write well, but skip routinely. I've tried 5-6 diffrent inks, but the result is the same. I'm therefore resigned to the fact that I just can't use these two lovely nibs.

I'm trying to persevere with the 2312 but I have some skipping problems with that too.

So, being a lefty - surely there is somethingwith the character of these nibs which will work for me? Or do I have to go the Osmiroid route, do you think?

I have a 2314 medium Relief nib that I love. I'm a left-handed underwriter and it works perfectly for me. Improves the look of my handwriting. I like it so much that I've ordered a fine Relief nib from Richard Binder.

Judybug