J-Bar queston

[OcalaFlGuy]

Preface; I have the mechanical apptitude of a small appliance bulb. The one redeeming mechanical

skill I have is to know when, if I do one more thing, I'll mess it up beyond all repair. (Actually, not *that*

bad of a "one skill" to have...)

 

On this Green monster J that I am attempting to "restore" [1]

 

I've done pretty well with it so far. It's all ready to have the sac glued on and be buttoned back up,

I'm just waiting for the sacs and shellac to get here from Pendemonium.

 

In cleaning out the red ink Sharon Tate death scene inside the barrel, I did notice just a couple spots

of rust on the j-bar. To get all the ink out, I did end up finally having to flush the barrel out with some

1:10 ammonia water then a rinse of clear water. I DO KNOW that's generally not a good idea to do

with the J-bar still inside but I will have it very dry before it's buttoned back up. The J-bar is in the

perfect position and working just fine. I am VERY WARY of removing it for fear it WON'T BE that way

when I finish with it. [2]

 

My two questions;

 

1) How big a mistake am I making by not removing the j-bar and cleaning it up? My thoughts on it

are that I stand much better chance of messing up the j-bar itself and it's current perfect alignment

by doing so, also that the pens done just fine so far for over 50 years with that bit of rust on the

j-bar and probably will be fine for years yet to come. I don't see the 2 flushes with ammonia water

and clear water to be an issue as long as it's dried out good before it gets buttoned back up. Am I

wrong here?

 

2) I've seen some posts about putting some pure silicone lube on the j-bar After They Are Cleaned Up

and before they are reinstalled. Should I still do so with this one or will I only be isolating those

couple small rust spots right next to the metal of the j-bar?

 

[1] I realize I can't really call this pen "restored" unless I do remove the j-bar and clean it. However,

with the exception of that, it IS pretty much back to like new condition.

[2] I don't have a spare original j-bar in case I mess this one up removing it, nor do I have one

of the newer styled spares.

 

Thanks in advance for any assistance here,

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

 

 

 

[johnboz]

Don't worry about removing the J-bar. If it's working, leave it alone. Sure, you can't say it's 100% restored, but how much of a difference will that really make if you plan on selling it? Probably not much. If it writes nicely and looks good, it's a good Estie.

 

I've never heard of putting silicone on the J-bar. Not sure why, except to keep the sac from sticking to it. Most people use talc.

 

It's pretty hard to mess up a J-bar when removing it. Unless it was going to break soon anyway, they're very tough pieces of metal.

 

The best thing about Esties is that you can experiment on them and if something goes wrong, spare parts are not hard to come by. Plus, it's pretty hard to mess anything up. They're very simple pens that just work good.

[OcalaFlGuy]

The posts I saw about lubing the J-bar said to put a bit of the silicone lube along the top

where the refill lever contacts it.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[PaFitch]

Don't be afraid of removing and replacing j-bars. If it doesn't line up the first time--try again. One of the things I learned was how far in the j-bar needs to go. If it isn't inserted far enough the section will snag the end, so I check that measurement now. The j-bars in my Esterbrooks have been much easier to position than those in the Sheaffer Balance. It took me more than a half dozen tries but its OK now.

 

I am very much a greenhorn at repairing pens but the Esterbrooks have been wonderful teachers. Further, a careful reading of the Esterbrook Forum and the FPN is opening up an entire world of enjoyment beyond just writing with fountain pens.

[DeaconKC]

Okay, where do you get new J bars? I need one of them and another medium nib.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Okay, where do you get new J bars? I need one of them and another medium nib.

 

Try Tryphon, The Fountain Pen Hospital, Wood Bin or Pendemonium. The only

downside is the non-Estie factory ones don't have the fill lever stop in them so

you'll need to manually stop it yourself at the 90 deg spot else it will flop forward

and that negates that refill stroke.

 

Or you can get one out of a trashed pen on Fleabay but you'll have no idea of

it's condition til you get 'er opened up.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[wvbeetlebug]

The posts I saw about lubing the J-bar said to put a bit of the silicone lube along the top

where the refill lever contacts it.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

Funny that you would mention this. I just did this to one of my Esties. There was just a tiny bit of rust on the jar bar where the lever meets. I'm sorry, but the sound of corroded metal on metal just makes my skin crawl. About the equivalent to that kid in a restaurant in the booth next to you whose parents allow them to "play" with the silver ware. :::shiver:::

 

In any case, for me, that little tiny dab of grease helped to alleviate that sound and make things go a little smoother. One day I will remove the J bar, but for now I am happy the way it is.

[mstone]

Don't be afraid of removing and replacing j-bars. If it doesn't line up the first time--try again. One of the things I learned was how far in the j-bar needs to go. If it isn't inserted far enough the section will snag the end, so I check that measurement now. The j-bars in my Esterbrooks have been much easier to position than those in the Sheaffer Balance. It took me more than a half dozen tries but its OK now.

Where should the jbar end up in relation to the section? I got one restored pen where the jbar actually poked a hole in the sac, I guess because it was too close to the section. I've seen a lot of exploded views online, but never one that shows how everything should line up.

[EventHorizon]

I took a j-bar out once and got it back in the corect position on the second try. I focused on lining it up with the lever more than anything else. Either I got lucky or it's really not to bad of a task.

 

I'm sure there is a "sweet spot" as to how far to push it back in the barrel. To far and you could poke a hole in the sac. Not far enough and you don't get good "compression" when filling with ink. I verified what I did bu holding the sac (after application to the section) on the outside of the barrel and "eyeballed" it. I had a very skinny pair of hemostats that helped.

[Robert Hughes]

By the way, I hope the OP was listening to "Helter Skelter" as he was cleaning up the mess.