How to clean a J - Newbie Question

[arvadajames]

I have fairly recently gotten the Estie bug! Yes it is painful, and there is no known cure. I would like to change ink colors, but would first like to do a good cleaning of the old ink. My question is, "is it ok to remove the nib and agitate the pen in a sink of water or would that make the bladder/sac? fall down or cause any damage."

 

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but this whole vintage world of ink sacs/bladders is really new to me.

 

Thanks,

 

James

[wdyasq]

I take the nib out and swab the sac with a q-tip to clean residue. This is after I flush out, nib removed, with only the section under water. I would avoid getting the inside of the barrel wet if I could. I think the spring is stainless (and other hardware) but, I'm not sure and there is no need in going further than the steps outlined.

 

Ron

[arvadajames]

I take the nib out and swab the sac with a q-tip to clean residue. This is after I flush out, nib removed, with only the section under water. I would avoid getting the inside of the barrel wet if I could. I think the spring is stainless (and other hardware) but, I'm not sure and there is no need in going further than the steps outlined.

 

Ron

How careful do I need to be to avoid collapsing the sac or is this not an issue?

[wdyasq]

Sacs are pretty tough - I'd worry more about pushing the sac off the nipple than anything else. I don't worry about pushing the sac off the nipple.

 

Ron

[Gerry]

Generally, soaking the nib, then flushing out the sac by filling and expelling clean water until it runs clean is sufficient.

 

If the ink in the sac is persistent, or dried out and caked up, you might resort to the q-tip swabbing through the section, but this risks leaving strands of cotton in the sac which usually won't cause any problems.

 

[for really difficult cases I have been known to take the section/sac off and ultrasonically clean that]

 

Don't immerse the barrel. While the lever is stainless, the J-bar on the inside is not, and will rust. If you do get the barrel wet on the inside, dissassemble the pen (section and sac out of the pen) and dry as soon and as thoroughly as possible.

 

Regards,

 

Gerry

[EventHorizon]

Much More Info

 

Here is a little more info when I asked close to the same question a little while back.

 

Welcome to the addiction. :blink:

[David W]

I think the spring is stainless (and other hardware) but, I'm not sure

 

the "j-bar" assembly as well as the lever retainer ring are *not* stainless in J family Esterbrooks, this means that allowing water to stay inside the barrel for more than a brief period *will* cause corrosion of these parts. rusty lever retainers are more difficult to remove and often deform or break more easily than sound ones, rusted j-bars often break at the "j" end causing them to float around loose (and useless) in the barrel...this on top of the fact that the rough texture inside the barrel picks up the rust color which is nearly impossible to completely remove

 

stick with flushing the ink transport and cleaning the inside of the cap out... I find that a toothbrush aids in getting crusty nib units clean, and the q-tip trick makes for *very* complete flushes, but as noted you need to be careful not to leave cotton fibers behind.

[arvadajames]

Thanks for all of the good information.