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My First Esterbrook

jmccarty3

By jmccarty3
in Esterbrook

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jmccarty3 Antique

jmccarty3

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Just inked up my first Esterbrook, a beautiful little SJ in green that I bought from Brian Anderson, with a 1551 medium nib. It's a bit smaller than I'm used too, but that's not really a problem. It writes very smoothly with Waterman Mysterious Blue. I'm glad I was curious enough to try this brand.

Rationalizing pen and ink purchases since 1967.

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BMG Extremely Rare

BMG

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I was very curious about the brand as well. At one point bought a gray J with an EF nib and, well, was underwhelmed. I liked the size of the pen, the material it is made of, and the overall look and somewhat Spartan aesthetic but just couldn't get excited about it.

 

Fast forward a few months. I picked up another J, a copper one this time, at a pen show. It had an OM nib, which I soon supplemented with an OF. Liked this much better, but even the OF wrote too broad a line for me (pity, as I was jonesing for such a nib). Got by chance an F nib and – BINGO! – everything clicked. The pen writes a consistent, wet, fine line and is a pleasure to use. And the copper color is lovely. It's the perfect size for writing in notebooks, making marginal notes, etc.

 

Happy camper. :)

Écrire c’est tenter de savoir ce qu’on écrirait si on écrivait. – M. Duras

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Runnin_Ute Museum Piece

Runnin_Ute

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My first Esterbrook was a green J with a 9550 nib (EF). It was a struggle at first, because I had never used anything that fine. A few months later I tried another EF. This time on a Pelikan 120 Merz & Krell and liked it. I learned to use the nib, and when I went back to the 9550 on the Estie it was a completely different experience.

 

Now I have five Esterbrooks.

 

Three J's - green, gray and black

one each of the LJ (black (skunk-Bell Systems)) and a red SJ. The LJ is a 2464 and the SJ a 9450. The other J's are another 9550 and a 1555 Gregg (plus a Venus Fine)

 

order - green J 9550, black LJ 2464, then three this year..... red SJ (9450), gray J (came with 9461, have something else in it currently) then the black J with 9550 in the spring.

 

The red completed a J/LJ/SJ set. Now all I need to do is get a copper, red and blue J to complete that set.

Brad

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling
"None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

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inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

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I'm to the point now that when I see Esterbrooks in antiques store or at pen shows, I'm searching for specific nibs. Considered a black J yesterday morning with a 9556, because weirdly I don't have that nib, but I was going, "Waaaall, it's black. And the guy is asking a *little* more than I want to spend on an Estie...." I might have actually gone back, but then an Emerald Pearl Vac lockdown filler stuck out it's foot to trip me (metaphorically) and it was, shall we say, all over.... So that size nib is still on the shopping list.

Now, if it had been something really exotic (say, a 9048 or a 9312) I wouldn't have blinked. Or thought twice about the price.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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gweimer1 Antique

gweimer1

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I'm to the point now that when I see Esterbrooks in antiques store or at pen shows, I'm searching for specific nibs. Considered a black J yesterday morning with a 9556, because weirdly I don't have that nib, but I was going, "Waaaall, it's black. And the guy is asking a *little* more than I want to spend on an Estie...." I might have actually gone back, but then an Emerald Pearl Vac lockdown filler stuck out it's foot to trip me (metaphorically) and it was, shall we say, all over.... So that size nib is still on the shopping list.

Now, if it had been something really exotic (say, a 9048 or a 9312) I wouldn't have blinked. Or thought twice about the price.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Keep an eye on my Etsy shop. I will have a pen with one of those exotic nibs coming up pretty soon. The pen show auction on Saturday included a lot of four nibs - a pair of 8440 nibs, and a pair of the original two-tone Relief nibs. They weren't cheap.

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inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

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Keep an eye on my Etsy shop. I will have a pen with one of those exotic nibs coming up pretty soon. The pen show auction on Saturday included a lot of four nibs - a pair of 8440 nibs, and a pair of the original two-tone Relief nibs. They weren't cheap.

I've only heard rumors of 8440s existing.... And there were *two* of them in the auction? :yikes: Of course, I'm betting that the price would probably give me a coronary. They certainly would be likely to give my husband one! But I ALSO keep thinking at the same time that a nib like that might be narrow enough to suit him....

Of course I didn't really believe 9312s existed either, until I met someone last June who had one clipped to her neckline (at an SCA event of all places... she and I had a lovely time geeking about pens).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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estie1948 Collectors Item

estie1948

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Congratulations on getting that first Esterbrook. My pen of choice is an Esterbrook J with a 9550 nib. I have more than one and use one daily. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine.

 

-David (Estie).

No matter how much you push the envelope, it will still be stationery. -Anon.

A backward poet writes inverse. -Anon.

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Rosymomma New

Rosymomma

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Got my first Estie about the same time as you! Came with a 9048, which I love. I really like a very fine line though, so had to find a 9128....love that one for everyday writing, but I slip the 9048 back in for shaded writing practice. Mine is a beautiful copper/brown, but really, I think it looks like rootbeer.

 

I have a few other nice pens, but this became my favorite in no time....my everyday carry. Now I am searching for one of the icicles in an SJ or LJ.

 

Amazed at how much I like this pen.

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