First Esterbrook and I hate it

[tonyespo]

I just got my first Esterbrook pen and it is a really scratchy writing pen. It came with 3 nibs. One doesn't write at all and the other two scratch a hole in the paper. The pen holds ink and looks nice but the nibs are junk. Where can I buy a good replacement nib and how much should I expect to pay for one.

 

I'm a Parker guy and this is my first Esterbrook. You know what they say about first impressions.

 

The Esterbrook has it's own forum so I figure there must be some pens out there that write well. Maybe I'm spoiled because I use a Parker 51 and there isn't much else to top that one. Still I would like to give this pen a chance. Please tell me where to find a Nib for it.

 

Thanks,

Tony

 

[PAKMAN]

There are several Este experts here, so I will bow to them on the where to get a nib part. The price seems to run $5 to $25-30 depending on the nib. There are some rare sunburst yada yada nibs that will run a lot more but that should give you a ball park.

[john.reiss]

Tony,

What are the numbers on the nibs that you have? I experienced almost the same problem with a Gregg 1551 (I think that was the number) nib on my first Estie, but after changing it out, you'll know why so many people like them. Try Brian Anderson's website, www.esterbrook.net for a lot of info and he has nibs to order from that site.

 

John

[J English Smith]

I echo John's comments, I am working with Brian now on a re-sac and he seems like a very helpful guy.

[RayMan]

Do you prefer fine, extra-fine or broad nibs? Which nibs came with your Esterbrook (what numbers are on the nibs)? Esterbrook made an extremely wide variety of "Renew Point" nib styles and widths. Esterbrook Renew Point nibs also vary in the construction of their tips. The variety of Renew Point nibs is what attracts many people to Esterbrooks. It can also be a turn off, however, if your first Estie nib isn't to your liking, and if you're not aware of the many choices available.

 

Some of the Estie nibs have a tip formed into a "ball" for easier writing, and others simply have a flat tip. I would guess that some or all of the nibs you received are flat, or possibly broken. The balled ends of the early nibs (such as the 1000 and 2000 series) were formed by simply folding over the tips. There was no iridium added to those tips. The 9000 series nibs, however, are tipped with osmiridium. Nonetheless, although the tips of the 1000 and 2000 series nibs have no tipping material, there are several in that series which I enjoy using.

 

I like 1551 (Firm Medium School), 1555 (Firm Fine), 2556 (Firm Fine), 2668 (Firm Medium), 9450 (Extra Firm Fine), 9461 (Rigid Fine), 9550 (Firm Extra Fine), 9555 (Firm Fine), and 9556 (Firm Fine) and 9668 (Firm Medium). I've become especially fond of the 2668 nib as a signature nib in conjunction with PR Lake Placid Blue. None of these nibs are scratchy, by my standards, but I don't like glassy smooth nibs. The 2000 and 9000 nibs I've listed are as smooth as I like.

 

I generally don't like broad nibs, so I haven't tried any broad Estie nibs. I also don't like italic or stub nibs, so I haven't tried any italic or stub Esties.

 

By contrast to the nibs mentioned above, I don't like the Esterbrook 1554 (Firm Fine) or 2550 (Firm Extra Fine) nibs. These nibs have no formed tip (i.e., no rolled over tip or osmiridium), and are very scratchy. They simply have flat tips.

 

Brian Anderson has a variety of Estie nibs for sale at reasonable prices. Below is a link to his "Nibs for Sale" web page:

 

http://www.esterbrook.net/nfs.shtml

[tonyespo]

Thanks everyone for the replies. The Nibs I have are 9550, 2048, 2556. Non of them write well. They are all scratchy and very slow starting.

 

I will check out the Brian Anderson site that you have recommended.

 

Tony

 

[roguesw]

if they are scratchy they probablycan do with a bit of nib smoothing, but if they are slow starting, its likely they still have old dried ink in them

i have an estie with the 200 series nib and it writes wetter than my wet parker "51" almost like a river

after you soak and clean the nibs, try increasing the gap between the nib and feed, this will improve flow

but i did have one nib which would not get clean no matter what i did, turns out someone had used india ink on it

that had to be thrown out as i could not remove the nib and feed to clean the feed itself

best of luck on your search

des

[EventHorizon]

I have a pen with the 2556 nib and I really can't use it. I do however have many others I can. As stated above, there are many to choose from. The one I use the most is the 2668 firm medium. Here is my review of said nib.

[Lloyd]

I loved my 9550 (smooth & very fine) but my wife has made it her own. My 9556 is nice but I miss my 9550....

It sounds like there's something wrong with these nibs you have. First, give 'em a long soak in 10% ammonia/90% water. Then, flush them with plain water. If they are still bad, look at the tines under 10X magnification and see if there is a misalignment problem.

[J English Smith]

I got a 9550 nib just yesterday in a copper SJ that I purchased recently from Cloud (Claude).

 

I'm finding that paper makes a BIG difference with Estie nibs. With good, smooth paper, this 9550 works great, as does the 1555 Gregg shorthand nib in my other current Estie.

 

On normal copy paper...not so great.

 

And, I imagine that ink can make a difference too, although I have not had enough time to test that.

 

Try the 9550 nib on good quality paper...you may be surprised.

[*david*]

They may not be fancy pens, but a good Esterbrook nib in good condition will certainly work properly.

[tonyespo]

I ordered a new nib from Brian Anderson last night. I should have it in a couple of day. I didn't write down the number he is sending me. He told me it was a good beginners nib and wrote like a medium. It was $14 with postage so I don't have a lot at risk if it doesn't work. I am cleaning the other 3 nibs and letting them soak as we speak.

 

Are there any tricks to filling one of these J series pens?

 

Thanks everyone,

Tony

 

[RayMan]

Are there any tricks to filling one of these J series pens?

 

I always squeeze and release three times with the nib in the ink. Other than that, I don't do anything special.

 

[Brian Anderson]

I ordered a new nib from Brian Anderson last night. I should have it in a couple of day. I didn't write down the number he is sending me. He told me it was a good beginners nib and wrote like a medium. It was $14 with postage so I don't have a lot at risk if it doesn't work. I am cleaning the other 3 nibs and letting them soak as we speak.

 

Are there any tricks to filling one of these J series pens?

 

Thanks everyone,

Tony

 

Your 9668 went out this afternoon. I think you will like it, it is a good general purpose, all around nib.

 

In a complete reversal, I have not found a 51 I am really crazy about, and I have several of them, vacs and aeros.

 

Hope you like the new nib.

 

Best-

Brian

[tonyespo]

Thanks for the reply Brian. Esterbrook sure does offer a large choice of nibs. Does anyone have a list in PDF form or something that can be printed out?

 

I must admit you Esterbrook folks are very friendly and helpful. The Parker guys will tell you to do a SEARCH because that question has already been asked a dozen times.

 

When I get the nib and try it out I'll write a review.

 

Tony

Edited October 13, 2007 by tonyespo

[john.reiss]

Thanks for the reply Brian. Esterbrook sure does offer a large choice of nibs. Does anyone have a list in PDF form or something that can be printed out?

 

I must admit you Esterbrook folks are very friendly and helpful. The Parker guys will tell you to do a SEARCH because that question has already been asked a dozen times.

 

When I get the nib and try it out I'll write a review.

 

Tony

 

I learned a while ago not to print out anything regarding Estie's, I just go to Brian's web site. If a new nib number is found in someone's basement in Nebraska, Brian has a radar system in place to update his website. Quite amazing I might add. If memory serves, the CIA tried to use it to find UFO's but Brian held fast in his belief that Estie's will one day bring the world together. :ltcapd: Let us know if your nibs are healthy again after a long bath.

 

I procured a stub nib from Brian earlier in the summer and it works great. That is the beauty of the Esterbrook design: you can change your nib for relatively cheap. Oh yeah, and they are easy to fix. And cheap. Why don't I have more of these pens.......?

 

John

[Cloud]

I have many pens, and my Estie J with a 2668 nib, is always fun to use, even over my parker vacumatics, sheaffer snorkel and many other pens. I am pretty sure the nibs you had weren't in good condition.

 

They are normally nice wet writter, an supersmooth.

 

If you have particularly scratchy nib, write a couple of lines on a brown paper bag. It should smoothen just a little.

[antoniosz]

The beauty of Esties is that their cost is low and that you can repair them easily.

 

1) 2xxx are untipped (no hard material in the tip to prevent wear) and as a result wear can make them unusable.

At the same time, this is their advantage because they are much easier to smooth out.

Even, just using them makes them better with time, but of course the pattern of wear matches the holding style of the owner.

Use the nibs you have to practice nib smooth.

 

2) 9550 is tipped but it is a extra fine nib. This means chances of having problems are higher than with 9556 (fine) or 9668 (medium) or 9968 (broad)

 

3) If the nibs are not delivering enough ink, this means that they have ink in them. They need either long soaking and flushing, or cleaning and disassembling.

The first is easy but tedious. The second appears difficult but it is not and it is very effective.

 

Esties are attractive because you can find them for almost $10 unrestored and with minimum knowledge you can make them operational.

The multiple nibs are also a very inexpensive way to enjoy variety without having to buy a new pen.

Finally the plastic of Esties (most models, not all) is TOUGH. To me they wrote the book of tough plastics with their J, LJ, SJ pens.

That is all that makes them attractive.

 

I hope you enjoy Brian's nib and that you get a chance to appreciate why people are fond of their Esties.

 

 

 

[tonyespo]

Here is my nib cleaning update. After 24 hours of soaking and flushing I got all three nibs to flow OK. Two are still very scratchy. I tried buffing then with my razor strop but it didn't help much. The third had a bet tine. I took my wire cutters and cut it clean across making it a stub and I polished it up and WOW I have a nice writing stub tip pen. I had don't this trick before with some poor writing Parker nibs and they worked out fine. The Estie is dream to work on because the nib came apart so easily. I will get the new nib from Brian next week and I'll give it a go. I also bought a M2 (I think) today in the market place that has a broad nib. The pen doesn't look like an M2 in the pictures on Brians website but as long as it writes I don't care.

 

I will let you know how my new nib and new pen works when I get them.

 

Tony

 

[Brian Anderson]

I also bought a M2 (I think) today in the market place that has a broad nib. The pen doesn't look like an M2 in the pictures on Brians website but as long as it writes I don't care.

 

That's an A101 (aerometric filler) or CA101 (cartridge filler), not an M2. If it's a CA101, you can use old Sheaffer cartridges. New carts can damage the pen, but as long as they were used before, you can refill them.

 

Best-

Brian