My Esterbrook

[Charles Skinner]

I have a great Esterbrook pen that I use a lot. The nib has the number 2668. Can a nib be TOO smooth? I really have to be careful when I first start writing with it, or else my penmanship will be less than desirable. I believe that the nib is so much smoother than my other pens ----- about ten in number ---- that it affects my handwriting. Is that possible? Is this being caused by the smoothness of the nib? ---- Anyway, it is a good "problem" to have, I guess.

 

I do not know which of the Esterbrook pens I have. I may remember someone calling it the "double jewel" model.

 

 

Anyway, it is a great pen with a great nib.

 

C. S.

[linearM]

It might be a wonderfully smooth nib or a very smooth paper, like Tomoe River. I know I have a few pens that make it seem like I"m skating on ice. Don't do anything with the nib but maybe try another paper. What paper are you using by the way?

 

I agree that Esterbrooks are great pens, durable, and easy to do a sac replacement if you need to, with the interchangeable nibs, they are hard to beat.

[gweimer1]

If it has double jewels, it's probably a J pen. The full size J is 5" long and a sturdy pen. The LJ is the same length, only slender. The SJ is slender and shorter.

 

I've had some nibs that were quiet and slick, as you describe. I have a Parker 51 that is so smooth, it tends to run away from me if I'm not careful. I've found that each pen I use affects how I write one way or another. If you put a really nice, smooth nib to some good paper, you could see a drastic change in what comes out of the pen.

[Hobiwan]

My first Esterbrook, back in the '50s, was like that. And the paper didn't matter. I used either a white or yellow tablet to do my schoolwork, and because I write with a light hand, it was wonderful.

 

Sheaffer, in the late '40s (if memory serves) advertised the gold-tipped "Feather-Touch" pen showing ink getting on to paper using only the weight of the point. I thought it was great that I could experience that with my cheaper Esterbrook ....

[redbike]

I tend to write quickly, so a nib that's too smooth on the paper I'm using results in worse than usual handwriting.