Dipless Esterbrook Desk Set

[Alexcat]

Im pretty new to fountain pens in general, and saw this, and wondered if anyone could give me a bit more detail....please pardon my ignorance in advance - I go by the notion that the only silly question is the one unasked, so, what exactly is a dipless desk pen? Are the pens filled, them kept in the desk set, rather like my Parker 51 in it's red glass Whitefriars ball? Or, are they actual inkwells, which one fills?

 

Any words of wisdom much appreciated

 

Thanks

Alex

[bsenn]

Ink is kept in the inkwell, not the pen. It isn't dipless (no dip), it is Dip Less (dip less often). Most dip pens are a nib stuck on a shaft. The Estie dipless is a nib on a feed or collector. The collector soaks up a bunch of ink when you dip the pen, allowing you to write a few paragraphs before the next dip is needed.

 

Esterbrook also has lever fill desk pen sets which would operate like your 51, ink in the pen.

 

Brian

Edited January 22, 2015 by bsenn

[Alexcat]

Ink is kept in the inkwell, not the pan. It isn't dipless (no dip), it is Dip Less (dip less often). Most dip pens are a nib stuck on a shaft. The Estie dipless is a nib on a feed or collector. The collector soaks up a bunch of ink when you dip the pen, allowing you to write a few paragraphs before the next dip is needed.

Esterbrook also has lever fill desk pen sets which would operate like your 51, ink in the pen.

Brian

Ah, thank you! That clarifies it greatly for me. I read/think/see things very literally( eg many years go, at school, being told to pull my socks up, and then wondering why everyone was laughing when I did. Pull my socks up.)....have Aspergers.

 

It was the dipless/dip less that bamboozled me...."that does not compute" as the robot in the original Lost In Space said( I think. It just came to mind.)

 

I was thinking "dipless" as in no dipping, not Dip less as in "dip less often".

 

Cheers

Alex

[Larry Barrieau]

Many of us have asked for that same clarification.

[Alexcat]

Many of us have asked for that same clarification.

It's nice to know it's not just me

 

Alex

[Ernst Bitterman]

I've got a cutaway view of the gravity-fed version of the base here, and a nearly-intelligible explanation of the other capillary-fed sort here. They're good fun.

[SockAddict]

It's nice to know it's not just me

 

Alex

 

Nope, I hadn't figured that out yet, either. Thank you for asking.

[bbycrts]

I just put a 444 into service on my desk at work this morning - it brings a smile to my face every time I use it!

[jdllizard]

It's nice to know it's not just me

Alex

Definitely not just you, that confused me for a long time when I first started getting into Esterbrooks too.

 

Also I just finished cleaning and rehabbing a green/black Esterbrook 484 double well Dip-Less. Looks great on my desk but I still need to find a proper red tapered pen to go with it.

[Anne-Sophie]

I've got a cutaway view of the gravity-fed version of the base here, and a nearly-intelligible explanation of the other capillary-fed sort here. They're good fun.

 

Thank you so much for the wonderful explanation and documentation on your website.

 

It is valid not only for Esterbrooks but also the history of fountain pens.

[fireant]

Is it ok to add the following question to this thread?

 

I stumbled on an Esterbrook 113 while checking out a thrift shop in Montana. I have it soaking, when I dipped the nib in ink it wrote beautifully.

How is do you remove the nib from the body of the pen? I saw that the nibs are the same ones used in the pens-but mine doesn't want to budge.

 

I have it soaking in water right now but if it doesn't budge is there some secret way to open it?

 

Thanks in advance!

[ac12]

 

 

 

I stumbled on an Esterbrook 113 while checking out a thrift shop in Montana. I have it soaking, when I dipped the nib in ink it wrote beautifully.

How is do you remove the nib from the body of the pen? I saw that the nibs are the same ones used in the pens-but mine doesn't want to budge.

 

I have it soaking in water right now but if it doesn't budge is there some secret way to open it?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

What is likely is that the ink got between the nib collar and the section and dried there, turning into a cement of sorts, and cementing the nib collar to the section.

 

I use an UltraSonic Cleaner to blast out the dried ink in a few minutes.

 

Lacking a USC, I would say soaking in water with 1 drops of dish washing detergent, and be patient.

Soak the nib up to mid way up the section in a narrow glass. Then just leave it. Every day or half day, take a look at it and see if there is ink in the glass. If there is ink, change the water, and let it soak again. The water has to dissolve the ink and let the ink drift out of the gap between the nib collar and the section. This is a very time consuming process because of the very narrow space between the nib collar and the section.

 

And if you think this takes a long time, it took me over 2 weeks of soaking and flushing to clean out the old ink from a Parker 51.

[fireant]

 

And if you think this takes a long time, it took me over 2 weeks of soaking and flushing to clean out the old ink from a Parker 51.

 

 

Ouch.

 

Thank you for the information!

[ac12]

Some one on FPN said it best.

 

The pen has had MANY YEARS of neglect or disuse, to be in the condition it is now.

You cannot fix that in a few minutes.

 

Well sometimes you can, with the right tools, in this case an USC.

 

So be patient.

Impatience will only lead to damage or destruction of the pen.

Been there, done that The resulting parts go into the AW SH*T box.

[fireant]

I have a cleaner- but I don 't think the 8-ball will fit in it with the pen (they are chained together).

[Ernst Bitterman]

There should be enough slack in the chain that you can heave the pen in with the stand beside the tub.

 

...he said having never been in a room with a chained version.

 

As long as the business end can get into some water, though, you should be set; with the likely exception of the chain, there's nothing there that minds long exposure to damp. Whatever its previous experience, the pen and shaft I'm using have been face-down in ink pretty much without a break since spring of 2012, and there's no signs of corrosion or plastic decomposition. You might try unscrewing the tail to dribble some water in at the back, too (unless that threatens the chain).

[fireant]

It came off this morning with just a little pressure. A large amount of black flaky stuff dribbled out as well-I am assuming that is the very dead and dry rotted sac.

 

I have to buy the talc, varnish and sac now.

 

Ernst, to verify once repaired, the ink won't dry up if kept in the 8-ball correct?

[ac12]

Remember to keep the nib assembly IN the section when you remove the section.

The nib assembly supports the section from being crushed.

 

The 8-ball is not a sealed/air-tight holder. The water in the ink can/will evaporate from the nib while in the holder. What happens then is the dye concentration of the ink in the nib will go up, and the ink will write VERY DARK, until that dark ink is written out in a few lines of writing. I get this all the time with my desk pens (Parker 51, 45 and Sheaffer touchdown), if I leave them unused for a few days.

[fireant]

Ok-thank you!

[Ernst Bitterman]

Wait a tick... eight-ball? That should have a Model W fountain pen rather than a Dipless in it.

 

Remember to keep the nib assembly IN the section when you remove the section.

The nib assembly supports the section from being crushed.

 

The 8-ball is not a sealed/air-tight holder. The water in the ink can/will evaporate from the nib while in the holder. What happens then is the dye concentration of the ink in the nib will go up, and the ink will write VERY DARK, until that dark ink is written out in a few lines of writing. I get this all the time with my desk pens (Parker 51, 45 and Sheaffer touchdown), if I leave them unused for a few days.

 

Wait a tick... eight-ball? I wasn't paying enough attention, even though you said that and 113 above. That should have a Model W fountain pen rather than a Dipless in it, and any ink put into it will certainly dry up because there's not really any room for it; the 444 and 407 only stay wet because there's not much air exposure and they have a whole bottle of ink inside 'em. Ac12 is right on with estimate of slow evaporation; the 113 is a little more given to it than Parker and Sheaffer bases, too, although when I have one on duty on my desk at work, I find it's usually only a serious issue after a long weekend.

 

Also, if some idiot suggested dribbling water down the hole the tail goes in and you actually have a Model W, don't listen to the idiot because you'll damage the j-bar.