Rotation Or Not Of Esterbrooks

[New_Falcon]

Hello All,

 

I have found that J Esterbrooks with 9460 nibs work pretty well for me and I have a scarred one that I use on a day to day basis and then a couple as backups in storage.

 

Question is should I rotate them in the hopes of keeping the sacs in good shape or should I just accept that I'm going to have to change out the sacs in about 5 years or so. All of the pens had sacs replaced in the last year or so.

 

Thanks.

[ac12]

Sacs will age, used or not. There is no way to accurately predict when a sac will fail. However, there are reports that certain inks will decrease the life of the sacs. I expect to have to replace the sacs in my pens in about 10 years. But replacing a sac is really not a big deal, unless you have to ship it away to get it done.

 

I would say to do as you want.

If you want to use the pen, use it.

Edited January 27, 2016 by ac12

[Runnin_Ute]

I would second ac12's comments. Regardless of use, the sac will age and one day have to be replaced. I just got my first J that I will be replacing a sac on today. Got it apart and the old sac off the nipple without issues. It appears there is little to NO corrosion of the J bar so I am leaving it alone. Now to order my supplies and put it back together. And clean up the nib assembly.(there was ink on the nib, don't know if it is clogged or not, so I will give it a good soaking in a 10:1 H₂O:ammonia solution.

 

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-01/20160127_181143_zps3nj1fjjc.jpg

 

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-01/20160127_180935_zpsxwmycjtl.jpg

 

(red = SJ; green = J; black = LJ (skunk))

[New_Falcon]

Thanks. Pretty much as I thought, at some time in the future just order sacs for all the Esterbrooks that I have and plan to use and rescac them all.

[Glenn Atkins]

Thanks. Pretty much as I thought, at some time in the future just order sacs for all the Esterbrooks that I have and plan to use and rescac them all.

 

Sorry, off topic in relation to your signature. The Lamy 2000 broad nibs are fire hoses. Have you actually had the chance to try one in person? I sent mine to Pendleton Brown and it came back as .9mm stub I think. Perfect. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming....

 

Glenn

[Tom Heath]

Strange thing about sac 's I am sure several Olde Timers will report of finding Esties with original sacs still intact with lots of integrity remaining and I will concur with over 25 years experience with thousands of re- sacing behind me finding many with gummed sac remains inside having no science explanation , a few no doubt were put out of service with ink traces still in them, some with water traces, having been cleaned but besides my own enjoyment in re-sacing them at the time they were acquired

I am some what dis appointed to find many failures when I check them out these days.

 

So now I simply smile and re-sac them again, I am glad that I only shellac the section into the body on about 5 percent of my

restorations making it much easier to redo.

 

By all means use your pens unless you plan on starting a private museum

[gweimer1]

I live in an area with really bad water. High iron content. I've pondered what the effect of heavy mineral content in water would have on routine pen flushing. We could probably make another scientific study out of these kinds of questions. I've gone as far as using filtered water on some of the repair/cleaning steps of pens I work on.

[mmg122]

One of the true joys of Esterbrook pens is the ease of restoration for most of us....also relatively inexpensive restoration supplies. Richard Esterbrook truly made the "Everyman Pen"...and I'm forever grateful...one of the great American companies.

[corgicoupe]

Perhaps there are two study projects here. In addition to the water in various parts of the country/world, it might be helpful for those of who are regular users of our pens to see a grading of the ease of maintenance and repair of various makes and models. It should also include ink brand tolerance, and price bracket would also be helpful. This study probably lends itself more to pens with some age on them.

 

I live in an area with really bad water. High iron content. I've pondered what the effect of heavy mineral content in water would have on routine pen flushing. We could probably make another scientific study out of these kinds of questions. I've gone as far as using filtered water on some of the repair/cleaning steps of pens I work on.

One of the true joys of Esterbrook pens is the ease of restoration for most of us....also relatively inexpensive restoration supplies. Richard Esterbrook truly made the "Everyman Pen"...and I'm forever grateful...one of the great American companies.

[inkandseeds]

I would add humidity to the equation. Dry climates, really dry climates, may cause unused sacs to dry out faster. I have no evidence or study to support this. I would use the pens.

[FarmBoy]

If you rotate do so in a counter-clockwise direction. This will counter act the rotational field of the Earth and prevent sacs from sagging.

 

Or not. Just clean them out if you put them away.

[corgicoupe]

Under these circumstances you will also have to take into account how rapidly the pen is traveling relative to the fixed stars in order to give Albert Einstein his due. Now it's getting complicated.

Edited February 7, 2016 by corgicoupe

[pajaro]

I live in an area with really bad water. High iron content. I've pondered what the effect of heavy mineral content in water would have on routine pen flushing. We could probably make another scientific study out of these kinds of questions. I've gone as far as using filtered water on some of the repair/cleaning steps of pens I work on.

 

I live in Tecumseh, MI. Same water. The water softener softens my hot water, so I use that or warm water. Sometimes I take hot water from the faucet into a bottle and let it cool. The water softener worked on the cold water also when we moved into this house, but some vendor of a water filtration system messed with the water softener, and it doesn't work as well any more.

Edited February 8, 2016 by pajaro

[Sasha Royale]

So, you save those other Esterbrooks for future use. Then, the comet hits and there is an Extension-Level Even. All life on earth is extinguished, and you never got to enjoy those Esterbrooks. What a waste !

 

Enjoy your Esterbrooks ! Life is too short.

[Tom Heath]

Now then there is a certain amount of comfort and joy knowing that I will never run out of my Esties.

 

Even though I probably have a different one for each day of the year +2 on Sunday one can never get enough of just looking at them all lined up ready to write on my cue .... and they never complain or get a headache ,either : ).

[New_Falcon]

 

Sorry, off topic in relation to your signature. The Lamy 2000 broad nibs are fire hoses. Have you actually had the chance to try one in person? I sent mine to Pendleton Brown and it came back as .9mm stub I think. Perfect. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming....

 

Glenn

 

Hello Glenn,

 

For me it seems that the Esterbrook J with a 9460 nib is close to the perfect pen, just if it posted a little better. My 2000 used to be my travel pen as for some reason I thought lever fillers didn't fly too well.

 

Now my Lamy 2000 is really just for occasional use I thought it would be nice to have a bold nib to show of inks better for when I write cards and letters. Though I have a couple of really nice 2284 and a nice 9284 for that.

 

 

 

 

So, you save those other Esterbrooks for future use. Then, the comet hits and there is an Extension-Level Even. All life on earth is extinguished, and you never got to enjoy those Esterbrooks. What a waste !

 

Enjoy your Esterbrooks ! Life is too short.

 

 

 

I agree but it seems that I've got pretty much down to a single pen (Estie J with a 9460 nib) and a single ink Waterman Serenity blue. So I don't see the point in having multiple pens inked, but just wanted a few backup pens, especially as Esties are such great value for money.

[Glenn Atkins]

 

Hello Glenn,

 

For me it seems that the Esterbrook J with a 9460 nib is close to the perfect pen, just if it posted a little better. My 2000 used to be my travel pen as for some reason I thought lever fillers didn't fly too well.

 

Now my Lamy 2000 is really just for occasional use I thought it would be nice to have a bold nib to show of inks better for when I write cards and letters. Though I have a couple of really nice 2284 and a nice 9284 for that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree but it seems that I've got pretty much down to a single pen (Estie J with a 9460 nib) and a single ink Waterman Serenity blue. So I don't see the point in having multiple pens inked, but just wanted a few backup pens, especially as Esties are such great value for money.

 

 

That stock Lamy broad had a very small sweet spot for me...hard to control...

 

Glenn