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How Do You Restore A Faded Esterbrook Caption?


Venemo

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I don't have many Esterbrooks, but I noticed that two of them have their "Esterbrook ® Made in U.S.A." caption completely faded. It is engraved in the pen body, so is still legible, but whatever paint was in it, is long gone. This hasn't really bothered me, but now I have another one (in better condition), and the same caption is painted white on it.

 

So the question is, how can I restore this white caption? Is it even worth to bother with it?

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You can try rubbing over the engraved words with a white wax crayon, not a pencil crayon and then just buff away the excess. Probably not something you'd want to do with a very early pen, but the plastic in an Estie should stand up to it I would think. If you don't like the look, you can get rid of the white with a soft brush and a bit of patience.

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I don't believe Esterbrook ever had white imprints, other than the advertising logos for people like AT&T. The actual Esterbrook imprint was simply stamped into the barrel. I've used a white crayon effectively to fill in worn AT&T imprints.

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The Esterbrook imprint was never highlighted with color as GW states.

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  • 3 weeks later...

That's interesting. I have an Esterbrook T (transitional J, I believe) which has a white imprint. How could that be? I'll try to take a picture of it.

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That's interesting. I have an Esterbrook T (transitional J, I believe) which has a white imprint. How could that be? I'll try to take a picture of it.

 

My guess is that someone added it at some point.

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  • 1 year later...

Sorry, I've just realized I forgot to respond to this thread. Here are some photos on the web site of the pen dealer that I bought my Esterbrooks from:

http://toltotoll.arta.hu/index.php/toll-galeria/esterbrook

http://toltotoll.arta.hu/index.php/toll-galeria/esterbrook/142-esterbrook-j-kek

 

You can see that the "Esterbrook ® Made in U.S.A." caption is in white.

All 3 of my Esties came with such a white caption, which fades every time I clean or wash them.

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Many sellers will highlight an imprint with white so that the condition of the imprint can be seen when they take a picture before posting the pen for sale.

 

If they're thinking, they use a Caran d'Ache water soluble crayon. White wax works, but it will take naptha or mineral spirits to remove it.

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One thing I've also noticed on imprints - I believe the pressure used to make them wasn't always consistent. I have seen some deep, bold imprints and some very light ones. The light ones, in many cases, are perfectly intact, and don't look worn away. They just look very light. It may be that some of those photos you just posted had the imprint filled in simply to be able to read it better.

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