Jump to content

Esterbrook no. 444 Dip-Less


Guest JohanO

Recommended Posts

Guest JohanO

This is my first review. And it is not even a real fountain pen! Please forgive me the blurry pictures I made with my web cam.

 

I bought this Esterbrook no. 444 Dip-Less desk set on Ebay for $29. The Dutch seller told me it was in a near mint condition. I think it is not near mint, but in a very good condition. The American Eagle on top of the set is faded, and a small ship of the cover is missing. I had to soak the whole set before I could open it; it was filled with ink! After I cleaned the set, I think it looks really nice! The top is black, while the well is made of nice gray glass. It was produced in the early 1950's.

 

 

The nib on the demonstrator penholder is an Esterbook Renew Point marked 2314B; this means it is a broad stubb nib.

 

I had never written with a stubb nib before, but it was a very pleasant surprise. My handwriting looks a lot better with this pen.

 

 

I have loaded the well with Quink Permanent Blue; the well holds a ton of ink! Because this dip pen has a feed, it holds a lot of ink; you can write a lot of lines with it before you have to dip again. You really have to dip less!

 

This wasn’t a sumgai find, but I don’t think it was expensive either. I wish I could use it at work, because it would be great to sign letters with this pen! :P

 

I like to thank Brian "Esterbrook" Anderson for all his advise!

post-34-1149282215_thumb.jpg

Edited by JohanO
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 8
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Brian Anderson

    2

  • M4R1N4

    1

  • JRodriguez

    1

  • sonia_simone

    1

Aaahhh, so that explains it. When you said it had no lever, I couldn't believe it, but knowing it is an Esterbrook Renew point demonstrator makes sense.

 

The pen did not originally come with that set. It would have originally come with a special display designed to show off the various nibs available. It is a standard model W desk pen without a cutout for a lever. The section is also very different in that it is friction fit to allow quick changes between testing nibs. You do not have to screw a nib in this section. It is worth more than the asking price in itself, and at $29, probably qualifies for sumgai status. :)

 

Like I mentioned in a previous email, you might notice a problem resting the pen properly in the inkwell, because the section is different from a standard dipless section.

 

Good find on the pen with a classic Estie nib to boot!

 

Best-

Brian

www.esterbrook.net All Esterbrook, All the Time.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very neat!

Isn't sanity really a one-trick pony, anyway? I mean, all you get is one trick, rational thinking! But when you're good and crazy . . . ooh hoo hoo hoo! . . . the sky's the limit!

--The Tick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest JohanO

Brian, the pen does fit rather well in the inkwell. I do not have to use friction, nor does the pen sit loose in the well.

 

I have a sumgai? :eureka:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a sumgai? :eureka:

 

Yes, I'd say. Remove the nib and look carefully inside the section, do you see a series of metal tabs inside, or is it just a standard section? If there are no metal tabs, the section might have been replaced (gasp) at some time. If the tabs are there, you should not try to screw the renew point in or you might risk damaging those tabs.

 

I wonder how the seller came about the pen and where the rest of the display went? :D

 

Best-

Brian

www.esterbrook.net All Esterbrook, All the Time.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks very cool Johan! Way to go on your sumgai! :D Your writing sample is very nice, though I never saw your writing before. I have a couple esterbrooks, but none with stub nibs. I'd like to get my hands on one..

 

Congratulations to you!

 

Marina.

"By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. "

- Socrates

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Johan, that's a very nice set, even if it's not really a set. I have pieced together the exact same set, with the 444 Dip-Less well and the same Renew-Point Demonstrator pen. I bought the pen from eBay just to go with the ink well I already had but had no pen for. The seller had no idea it was a demonstrator, so I too Sumgai'd it for a mere $30. I've since been offered twice that for the pen.

 

I'd definitely say you got a Sumgai deal on that pen, though the 444 "hocky puck" ink well is pretty common. Congrats!

 

Tom

A pen is a good deal like a rifle; much depends on the man behind it. Paraphrased from John Philip Souza

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...