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Hi Everyone, I'm in the middle of restoring some Esterbrook SJs, and learning more all the time of course -- I will post photos of the final product, which I promise will be a set of lookers! Wouldn't you know one of the J-bars was broken, and came out with sac pieces in a heap. There was something else in there I wasn't expecting, and thanks to other posts I've learned it's a spacer for proper positioning and to prevent the J-bar from creeping back into the barrel away from the lever's...lever-ing action. In advance of jumping into pen repair I realized a strong and tiny LED light would be useful, and then I discovered they came with cameras attached So here are some photos of my J-bar mess, followed by two with spacers in situ behind the J of the J-bar. Enjoy! (I hadn't yet set the date or time on the camera!) Matt

I've replaced the J-bar of one of my Esterbrook J pens with an 54mm aftermarker J-bar. After doing that I noticed that the lever is loose. While the pen otherwise worked, the rattle of the lever annoyed me enough to pull the pen apart again and try to fix it. Googling for the issue revealed some insight from Brian Anderson here. However I haven't found any information about how best to do this. So I thought I would try on my own and grabbed a couple of pliers and used that to flatten the metal on sides of the J-bar. However it didn't give easily, and I'm not sure if it helped at all. I still can't insert the J-bar in a way in which the lever isn't loose. On one occasion I almost succeeded, but after trying to use the lever 2 or 3 times, it returned to being loose once again. I must admit, I have no idea how to do this properly. Could somebody help with some advice, please?

Hello, Everyone. I recently purchased a Parker Parkette based solely on the photos provided on eBuymyjunkplease. It wasn't an expensive pen, and the nib appears to be intact. The pen needs a new sac.....and a new j-bar. The sac size was easy to determine (thank you, FPN!). The J-bar length appears to be a mystery. Looking at some websites, it looks like the J-Bar comes in 62mm, 54mm and 40mm. Any ideas on which one would fit in the Parkette? It's a 1938 Junior model (not Deluxe) in grey celluloid marble. The nib is steel with a little gold plating left and the number "9" stamped in it. --Eric

I have a Lady sheaffer XI Black/gold Tulle, is it possible to make it into an eyedropper? I also want to know how fragile the gold tulle overlay is, and if mine is in pretty good condition with an xf/xxf nib what is a pen (prefereably with the same Waverley xf/xxf nib or a fine nib with flex) I would be able to trade it for? I don't really care about the cosmetic condition too much, but this will be an EDC pen for jeans or soft pouch so I worry about messing the lady sheaffer up (everything else about the pen is good). Also, I have an inkograph lever-filler that needs some TLC. The j-bar is rusted, but has only surface rust. How should I remove it? The needle writing tip is also slightly bent, not to mention ink has apparently seeped into one end. Where would I even find another part?

Hello, I have a couple of lever fill Sheaffers coming in the mail (a 350 and a Craftsman) and am wondering what J-bar size is recommended, should I need to replace ones I find in them? I have a couple of 54mm J-bars but am wondering if I'd need something larger like a 62mm. I did a search and couldn't find exact answers, and so thought I'd just ask the forum. Thanks.

I found a beautiful Estie in light green at an antique flea market. I just loved the color, and since the price was right (tagged as $30.-, but haggled down to $20.-,) money changed hands and it came home with me. Luckily, I was able to take the section out without too much difficulty. Doubly lucky, as I already had an extra ink sac at hand. I bought four at Philly Pen Show, to repair two Esties I had at hand... from last year's flea market season. Figured I would get a couple of extras in case I mess up. Turned out I was able to replace both without any problem, thanks to Brian Anderson, who kindly showed me how to do it, and the great thread here. Which meant I still had two sacs left! My luck, however, ended there. After removing the fossilized old sac that broken into pieces, the J-bar fell out as well. It was completely rusted and corroded. Sigh.... I was luckier with the two earlier ones, both of them had intact J-bars. I tried to transplant a J-bar from an Estie desk pen that I also picked up at the flea market for $1.50, but it was a tad too long, by like 1/8 of an inch... didn't clear the nipple. I started looking around here, and saw that someone successfully made a J-bar from a hair clip! Since I also had an old hair clip lying around, I figured I could give it a try. I was just too eager to get my new pen working to order the new J-bar/ wait for it to arrive in the mail... And- wow, amazingly enough, it worked!!! It is writing beautifully now. Thank you everyone, for posting the great tips and sharing the great wisdom!!! The nib was like this... Tried cleaning it... (Got cleaner than this, after all.) J-bar from the desk pen, corroded J-bar, and the new one in making. After this, I peeled off the black plastic thing and bent it to shape. The old one came in handy to measure the correct length! Family shot! Since this one is slightly shorter and slimmer, is it an SJ??

I recently acquired a lever-fill Esterbrook desk set with the 8 ball receptacle. The sac (ossified) and j-bar (rusted and broken) were shot and I replaced both, using a 54mm j-bar purchased new. It all works OK, except the lever wants to sag open. Previously I was advised this was due to lack of tension in the j-bar, but this one is new and appears to fit flush against the barrel. Any other suggestions to make the closed lever stay flush with the barrel? Question 2: Is there a rule/guideline/suggestion on seating replacement j-bars? Do you slide them in until they stop with reasonable force, far enough to clear the section nipple plus "a bit more"? Thanks! Steve