I just got an Esterbrook that has been unused for some time. I am not familiar with pen terms so a search did not turn up much. I am soaking the nib and want to flush it out. The nib seems to have cleaned up well but the internals are an unknown. The side lever only moves about 1/16 inch and I don't think that is its original range of motion.

Any suggestions as to my next steps? I don't want to force the thing. It is an inexpensive item but I like it.

Welcome to FPN VPW001. You probably (almost certainly) need a new sac. It's the old hardened sac that is keeping the lever from opening freely. Resaccing a fountain pen is not that hard to learn -- especially with all the help you'll get on FPN. Your other option is to send the pen to a professional for repair.

I think I would like to learn. Where do I look for a sac and how do I know which is which?

I already discovered that the nib assembly unscrews. I hope the dried ink wasn't all that was holding this together. :-)

Pendemomium (http://pendemonium.com/) sells pen sacs and orange shellac which are the basic things you need. Hopefully some other memebers will chime in soon with more detailed information. Otherwise you can search for old post on pen repair and resaccing.

Thanks!

Just be easy on pulling off the section from the body of the pen. It will slide out with judicious wiggling, but the body can crack if you get too enthusiastic. It's best to practice your repairs on some throwaway Italian or German pen, like a Stipula Etruria or MB149, before you move up to something precious and irreplaceable like an Esterbrook.

Dear VPW001:___________
Ive been doing these old desk pens for the last little while.

I always soak the pen in a solution of cool water with a drop of dishwashing liquid for a couple of days; that generally dissolves the dried ink and will let the section (the thing that the nib screws into) turn loose easily. I would keep the nib screwed into the section to keep it from crushing the section (they are kind of thin).

After you get the section out of the pen, you can clean it up a little with a small scraper and remove whats left of the old sac from the top of the section. It may be pretty hard like rock candy; but will scrape off if you go slowly. I sometimes loosen this stuff up a little with a little bit of methanol (denatured alcohol -- home depot or lowes paint department -- $6.00 per quart); but i wouldnt soak the section in it. It will help clean the old adhesive from the end of the section.

After the section is cleaned up so that there is no trace of the old adhesive (shellac) on the nipple. Get out your pen sac -- it will be a #16-- cut it to about 2 inches long with a pair of small scissors. Cut across as straight as you can.

After the sac is cut to length, rinse the inside if the sac with a little bit of the methanol to clean it real well. I use a blunt nosed syringe (or an ear bulb from an ear wax cleaning kit -- from your local pharmacy). Rinse the inside if the sac a couple of times and drain it. The alcohol will veaporate out of it pretty quickly.

Now thake out your sac shellac (it's in a small bottle with a brush applicator included in the top) and very carefully, very neatly, brush a small amount of the shellac completely around the nipple of the section. Be careful not to use too much; but don't leave any place on the nipple unwet with shellac.

Take the pen sac in one hand and the section in the other; and gently slide the pen sac end over the end of the nipple and give it a small turn or twist to spread the shellac a little.

Straighten up the sac with respect to the nipple; and set the whole thing aside and let it rest for a few hours. You have now completed the installation of the new sac!!!

Turn your attention to the pen body; so you can remove the old sac and clean up the pressure bar. I always unscrew the taper (the black or clear sharp thing) on the top of the pen. Once unscrewed; you can look down into the top of the pen and you will see either a blue or silver bent piece of metal that looks like a spring in the pen. This is the pressure bar. It is held in by spring pressure (very light -- dont worry about it jumping out). Get out your small pair of needle nose pliers and reach down into the pen body, grip the spring lightly, and pull the pressure bar out with the pliers. Most likely, the pen sac remains will come out with the bar. I would make sure that i was outside or off the new white carpet when i did this. The stuff in the pen may be dirty and is full of dried ink.

After you get the pressure bar out, gently wash the inside of the pen barrel with a little bit of water with a drop of dishwashing detergent and clean it up well.

Once the pen barrel is cleaned up, carefully dry it with whatever is handly. I usually run a piece of paper towel into the pen barrel (make sure the lever is closed) and dry the barel out with it.

Tun your attention to the pressure bar (it's the blue or silver thing you pulled out of the pen to clean the sac out). I always inspect them and clean any rust off them with fine emery cloth or wetordry sandpaper (about 400 grit). I always try to get the rust off and clean them up as well as i can. Dont worry if you have a blue one and the blue sands off. Evidently, the blue ones were blued (like a rifle or shotgun is blue -- its a rust type coating). I would rather have the rust off than the blue on -- it wont hurt anything.

After the pressure bar is cleaned up; you are ready to reinsert the pressure bar back into the pen barrel. I always put the taper back on first-- that will stop the pressure bar spring exactly where it belongs in the pen. Take the pressure bar (which looks like a "J" with a long top) align the long side of the "J" with the lever in the barrel (make sure it is aligned closely); then take a small screwdriver long enough to push the pressure bar into the barrel until it stops. Then check to see that the lever and pressure bar work correctly. The long side if the "J" or pressure bar should lay flat against the inside of the barrel.

Now take the section and insert it into the pen barrel.

Congratulations!! You have just completed your first pen repair!!!

AS A FINAL NOTE; DON'T BE SCARED BY THE LONG WINDED DISSERTATION; THE INDIVIDUAL STEPS ARE SIMPLE, AND SOUND HARDER THAN THEY ARE. SECONDLY, KEEP READING THE FPH "REPAIR Q AND A" SECTION; YOU WILL LEARN LOTS OF IMPORTANT THINGS. THIRDLY, ALL OF WHAT YOU HAVE JUST READ CAME TO ME AS THE RESULT OF THE KINDNESS OF THE FPN MEMBERS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THIS HOBBBY WHO REGULARLY POST IN THIS TREAD. MANY THANKS TO THEM.

Regards,
LEROY

Robert,

Thanks for the caution.

John

Leroy

Thanks for the detailed steps and explanation of some terms that had me a little unsure. I have a question. Do I remove the pressure bar through the throat or through the tail end of the pen barrel?

And when I unscrewed the nib after it loosened, I filled the pen with water using an eye dropper. I put the nib back on to hold the water and tried to "write" with it. I noticed drops of water coming out of the feed(?). Of course this would be a problem if it was ink. I wonder what could be causing this?

John

The water is dripping out because there's no vacuum to keep it in place-- in a functional pen, the ONLY hole in the ink chamber is the one in the feed. You'll REALLY want to get the pressure bar out now so you can dry it, otherwise it will rust into uselessness. It generally comes out the front of the barrel, although I've never worked on an Estie desk pen so there may be some variation here, so wait for Leroy's experience-based guidance on that.

John:____________
The pressure bar can come out tru the "throat" or top of the pen after you screw off the taper; or it can come out thru the "barrel" or open end of the pen. If you pull the pressure out thru the "barrel" end; you will need to press down on the lever a little bit, look up into the barrel with a small lite, spot the end of the pressure bar, take hold of it with your small long nosed pliers, turn the lever loose, then pull. It will probably be a little harder pull, and you may think that you are tearing something up; but dont worry; the bar will come right out. Also, there may be remnants of the old sac that may be in the way. If you have some long nosed tweasers you can pull the sac out before you remove the bar.
PS -- In fountain pens (that you carry) you have to pull the pressure bar out thru the "barrel" end.
Hope this helps,
LEROY

Leroy,

I am easily confused and want to make sure of my terms. Is the best way to remove the pressure bar through the nib end or the taper end? And, if I undertand correctly, the section (part where the nib screws into) comes off and should before I remove the pressure bar. Does it unscrew or is it a friction fit? It has only been soaking for an hour or two so maybe I am being premature.

Thanks,

John

Ernst,

So likely there is a hole in the sac somewhere or an air entry around the threads of the nib?

Do I need to get it out now, meaning today or within the next week or so? The part I can see at the taper end is not rusted but I can't see much.

John

The sac is likely not a single piece anymore-- if the lever moves at all, it's doing do because a chunk of sac calved off from the main mass. If you're in a dry climate, it's less of an issue to attack the problem RIGHT NOW, but generally speaking now that wet has been introduced to the interior, sooner is better than later. Act in a methodical and thinking manner, though-- panicky stampeding will only lead to actual breaking of things. Even if the pressure bar disintegrates entirely, it's easy to find replacements (even modern manufactured ones), while if you snap the barrel in a hasty effort to get at the bar, you've got a genuine disaster.

John:__________________
In regard to removing the pressure bar; there are two ways to do it on a desk pen: The first is to just unscrew the taper (the long black or clear top of the end); when you do that; you will see the top of the pressure bar spring. You can easily pull it out with your pliers. That's what I do most of the time. Doing it this way allows you to put a little bit of the water/dishwashing liquid down into the inside of the pen from the top. That helps to dissolve any of the dried ink that acts as a glue to hold the section in. I normally let a pen like this sit two or three days with liquid both inside the pen (added thru the top); with the section (the piece on the bottom or writing end of the pen) submerged in the water/diswashing liquid solution.
The section on an esterbrook is a friction or slip fit. The dried ink acts as a glue to hold it together. When you soak the pen; you help dissolve this dried ink or, at least, drive it back into a solution.

To remove the section; simply soak the pen in the solution of water and a drop of diswashing detergent. Submerge the nib and section in the liquid. It will loosen up in time (fron a few hours to two or three days). When it loosens up; gently pull and twist a little bit and the section will come out of the pen barrel. I know it's hard; but don't get in too big a hurry on this, because you can easily break the pen barrel or the section. I've learned the hard way that it is best to leave a nib in the section when you are trying to remove it. My usual method of section removal is to take hold of the section with a paper towel and gently try to twist and pull the section out of the pen barrel. Most of the time, if you soak the pen long enough, the section will come out of the barrel. After you get the section out of the barrel; you can move the lever a litttle bit, get hold of the pressure bar, and pull the whole thing out (thats how you would do it it this were a "regular" fountain pen that you carry in your pocket.

Final advice; dont get in too big a hurry or pull too hard.

Hope this helps,
LEROY

Pressure bar out and minimal rust removed. Barrel & section soaking for an attempt at separation on Tuesday.

I was surprised at the small amount of rust and expected more. How would I find out how old the pen is? Model number is 112.

By the way, thinking over the whole process makes me realize how silly some of my question are. I appreciate everyone's patience.

Once you've applied yourself to one, it's pretty obvious. Before that, it's a dark mystery. Better to ask than shatter

[quote name='VPW001' date='Sep 6 2008, 04:54 PM' post='726823']
Pressure bar out and minimal rust removed. Barrel & section soaking for an attempt at separation on Tuesday.

I was surprised at the small amount of rust and expected more. How would I find out how old the pen is? Model number is 112.

No questions are silly. Everything seems simple to folks who have done this stuff a little bit. As to the vintage of the desk pen; we probably need an Esterbrook expert to speak up. I would recommend that you describe the logo on the barrel of the pen and the nib. Pictures would even be better.

Keep up the good work!!
LEROY

Amen brother!!! Remember, all experience comes from experience; in my cass, most of it has been bad.

LEROY

Section removed!!!! Obviously, I am an accomplished pen restorer :-)

However, I did forget to order the new sacs and shellac until yesterday. Back in hover mode.

You'll be alright. Replacing a sac is (relatively) easy.

Tip - When selecting a sac, don't glue it on straight away. Slip it around the section-nipple and off a couple of times so that you know if it's the right fit. It should stretch over the nipple and shouldn't be too long. Any sac that just so-happens to fit perfectly is not the perfect sac. It needs to be stretched slightly so that when it's on and the glue dries, it forms a tight seal.

Obviously, getting a smallish sac onto a nipple that is larger than it is a tricky thing to do, so, as said above - practice putting the sac on, before applying shellac.

The sacs & shellac arrived. And the sac will have to be stretched to fit the section. I am off to the basement to look for a spreader of some sort.

I have discovered that spreading the sac is not an easy thing to do. I need to devise a way to anchor an edge and lift up and away on two other points to fit the section in. Hmmmm.

When I need a spreader, I resort of Mum's Old Eyebrow Tweezers, thrust up the inside of the sac. You'll still need to use a fingernail or two to hold the sac to the nipple while the withdrawing the spreader.

I'll give that a try. My two point spreader with a third point anchor pin did not leave room for the nipple.

Worked like a charm. Thanks.

I now have a working Esterbrook desk pen.

BTW, I just hand tightened the nib/feed and did not seal it with anything. It does not seem to be leaking.

The pen is leaking a bit possibly around the threads. I just hand tightened the nib and did not seal it.

Should I have sealed it?

What sealant should I use? Shellac?

Once again, my lack of familiarity with the model drifts to the surface-- if this is one of the Esties with an interchangeable point (were there any that weren't?), the only thing you'd want to apply to the threads of the point/feed unit is a tiny amount of silicone grease; fluid resistant and makes for less grunting when swapping points. Something else to consider is that there might be a tiny leak at the sac interface. It's not unknown to use not quite enough shellac, and a tiny failure of seal would be enough to let air in, which lets ink run slowly out the point.

Just read an interesting note on this same problem. Candle wax or bees wax applied to the threads (after cleaning them up) was sugguested as an excellent sealant. I haven't tried it; but it sounds like a great idea. Don't use shellac; it will lock anf gum everything up so you can't dissassemble the pen.

Regards,
LEROY

Well I have a bunch of sacs to I could do it all again and chalk it up to training. I really enjoyed the pen before I started getting the ink stink fingers.

That is good news. I have some beeswax somewhere. Maybe the better news is I waited and did not use shellac on it early this morning.

Thanks for a really useful and informative thread, which I have enjoyed vicariously (and now am awaiting a 112 set so may have to do the same....)
Best,
Mars