Tips On Getting Into Lever Fillers?

[Arkamas]

I'm considering looking for a lever filler pen at some point, but it seems this also takes me into new territory with vintage pens as well, granted there aren't many modern lever fillers around from what I've found. What tips do you have on finding a good pen of the like? Are there many Japanese brands that have made lever filler pens or are there particular, well-known models of lever fillers?

Edited April 2, 2017 by Arkamas

[Bo Bo Olson]

Esterbrook....solid as a tank, screw in nibs.....many have many of the many colors.

7 years ago when they were cheap $15 all noobies were told to get one first.

Now that all the noobies have 5-15 or more they cost $30 or more. I've not looked at them for the last 5 five years.

Do not use modern supersaturated inks in them.

With perhaps a better sack, the original sacks lasted 30-40 years. Now it is hoped one will last 10....except if you use supersaturated inks.

Some repair men say that sort of ink eats rubber sacks with in a month to less than a year.

 

There are hundreds of non-supersaturated inks.

 

Dead easy to fill, stick in the bottle of ink, pull lever down to 90 degrees. 4-5 times. It is filled in 10 seconds counting wiping the section clean.

 

Takes a bit longer to clean for a different ink. But in you have your rubber bulb for your CC pens, just twist out the Esterbrook nib, and clean.

You can cut a rubber bulb to fit over the Esterbook or Pelikan twist out nibs.

 

Go over to the Esterbrook section. I have only a blue SJ and a copper DJ.

[Kelly G]

1. Learn to change a sac. It is fairly simple on most pens.

2. Watermans have a lever box that complicates matters if there are problems. Just be aware of that.

3. Don't trust a vintage sac even if it seems ok; they can fail spectacularly.

4. There some great vintage lever fillers, I'm particularly fond of Sheaffers. They are solid with great nibs.

5. Enjoy the journey!

[ehemem]

Just another vote for an Esterbrook J.

[JakobS]

The best prices will be found with unrestored lever fill pens, many times the only restoration is removing an old sac, and applying a new sac, which is pretty easily to do. It might also entail replacing a broken J bar or pressure bar which is a little more tricky but still pretty easily. The cost of these supplies totals ~ $8 USD, so is a small investment to bring back many a great pen.

 

I am not sure Japan made very many lever fill pens, the Japanese vintage pens of that time period appear to use a number of other filling systems.

 

Esterbrooks are great, most of my fountain pen collection in fact. The Wahl Eversharp Skyline, Sheaffer Balances, Conway Stewart, and Mabie Todd (Swan) would be a few others to look into as well.

Edited April 2, 2017 by JakobS

[welch]

Yes, start with an Esterbrook. Check the Esterbrook forum for instructions on replacing a sac. As mentioned above, assume the sac is dead unless you know that it has been replaced.

 

Not yet mentioned: buy a barrel of "third tier pens" on Ebay. What are third tier pens? Read Richard Binder's Glosspopedia entry on "third tier pens". Look for the pen-makers he mentions.

 

Going back eight or ten years, I found that sellers often sold a half-dozen third-tier pens in one clump. None would be great pens, but they were inexpensive, and it was fun to practice re-saccing them. In addition to improving my skill, I got to see, and to see the insides, of mass-market pens from seventy or eighty years ago.

 

Then move on to Eversharp Skylines and Symphonies. Eversharp made great nibs, but stuck with the lever filling system. The Skyline will write nicely but they are brittle by now.

Edited April 2, 2017 by welch

[PS104]

Usually I stay away from lever fillers but I've come across some Esterbrooks I have. Flushed out one, filled it with Parker Quink and it writes like a champ. Smooth writing with no start-up hesitation

It was my first pen in elementary school and is my first love.

Currently flushing out the others to get them in usable condition.

Still have to try to re-sac one but that's in the future.

[Drone]

Hello Arkamas,

 

This may not matter to you, but it does to me... It is not uncommon to find a lever-filler with the lever and nib mis-aligned. Make sure to check this before buying a lever fill pen. It is possible to re-align the nib and lever yourself, but it can be difficult with some pens and you risk damage. It is better to buy the pen from a reputable seller who will make sure the pen has a good sac and the lever and nib are aligned.

There is nothing functionally wrong with a lever and nib that don't line-up, provided the sac is intact. Where you can run into trouble is if the sac breaks when you are writing or filling the pen. If the sac breaks and the lever is on the bottom of the pen while you are holding it, the ink will dump out all over the place (yuk). However if the lever is pointing up as it likely would be if aligned with the nib, then the leak will probably be controllable. Some pen manufacturers tried to minimize this risk somewhat by enclosing the lever in a so-called "lever-box" that was embedded into the barrel.

 

As for a first lever-fill pen, here are some thoughts...

 

1. Sheaffer's pens from the U.S. are a solid choice in my opinion. Balance, Valiant, etc. Great pens. Buy restored from a reputable seller. You will have a pen that will last for many years. Keep in-mind many Sheaffer's pens come in different sizes; oversize, standard, and junior for example. Earlier pens are made of celluloid, which can discolor and requires a bit of care when handling. Celluloid is flammable cracks easily, and should be kept away from long term exposure to sunlight, heat and water. Also, celluloid smells a bit of camphor.

 

2. Esterbrook pens from the U.S. are still somewhat affordable but not like they used to be. I recommend starting with the double-jewel J series pens which come in three sizes: J (full sized), LJ (same length as J but thinner), and SJ (demi size). It is not uncommon to find an Esterbrook J with ink stains. Esterbrook pens scratch easily but polish-up well if you know what you are doing. However, even though you might find a nice shiny Esterbrook J, the brand marks on the pen may have been polished off. The steel "Renew-Point" nib units are screw-in. This is a good and a bad thing. The good thing is you can screw in a different nib. The bad thing is if you screw in a new nib, the chances are the nib and lever will no longer line-up. This means you will have to manually re-align them - a process that risks damaging the pen. Stay with the 9XXX series nib units, they're the ones with actual nib tipping. The Firm Medium 9688 nib is quite common and a good first choice. Try to buy New-Old-Stock (NOS) Esterbrook nib units still in the box, not used nib units. It is not uncommon to run across an un-restored Esterbrook lever-filler where the internal parts have rusted away. Fortunately you can find after-market replacement parts and sacs for sale online. The shape of the Esterbrook level can vary (e.g., spoon or spade-shaped, etc.) The shape of the lever is just for interest as a collectable detail and has nothing to do with how it functions.

 

Here is a list of the different Esterbrook "Renew-Point" screw-in nib units from Anderson Pens:

 

https://www.andersonpens.com/Articles.asp?ID=256

 

Here's a site will more information on Esterbrook pens in-general:

 

http://esterbrook.net/

 

This page is specific to the Esterbrook Double-Jewel J's (which I recommend):

 

http://www.esterbrook.net/j3.shtml

 

3. Eversharp, typically Skyline pens. I generally steer clear of Eversharp Skylines. Skyline pen prices used to be affordable, but not so much any more. Skyline pens come in different sizes, and the sizes often vary even amongst the demi, standard, and executive lines. So it is hard to know what you're getting unless you buy in-person. Skyline pens almost always suffer from bad brassing of the levers and clips. It is not uncommon to end-up with a Skyline where the cap will not post squarely, at-least not without a lot of fiddling with it. (Like a mis-aligned lever and nib, I hate a crooked cap when posted!) Skyline nibs are all over the map in terms of flexibility - from outright nails to quite flexible. Again, it's luck of the draw what you end up with.

 

This page on Richard Binder's site has more on the Eversharp Skyline pens. (Warning, you must enable JavaScript in your browser to view this page):

 

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/profiles/skyline.htm

 

4. Waterman. Waterman pens can be hit or miss. Some are real gems - some are kind of cheap, especially the later post WWII pens. Waterman was a U.S. company based originally in New York. However, I seem to find these pens showing up in the U.K. pretty often.

 

5. Mabie Todd Co. started in the U.S. but eventually had operations in the U.K. too, so you can find these pens popping-up on both sides of the Atlantic. These pens will be branded Swan or Blackbird. Many of these pens are made of hard rubber (a.k.a. Ebonite) and can oxidize to a brownish color. I strongly recommend that if you buy a Mabie Todd pen, you buy it restored from a reputable reseller. These pens can be quite expensive, especially for the larger pens with flexible nibs and/or pens that have un-oxidized original black chased hard rubber or mottled red hard rubber. Many Mabie Todd pens are quite small, so be careful when buying online. Try to buy in-person.

 

Here's a brief history of the Mabie Todd Company:

 

http://www.mabietoddpenlists.co.uk/page14.html

 

6. Conway Stewart was a U.K. based company. Vintage Conway Stewart pens, like Waterman pens run the gamut from wonderful to so-so with the later post WWII pens falling off in quality. The original Conway Stewart company went out of businesses in the 1970's. The company brand was resurrected in the 1990's in the U.K. and unlike most of these modern "Retread" fountain pen companies, the "New" Conway Stewart company produced some very nice pens. However a couple of years ago, the new Conway Stewart company also went under. But if my whiskey-soaked memory serves, I seem to remember some high-end lever-fill Conway Stewart pens that came out not long before the company folded. Look around for a Conway Stewart "Churchill" model pen online and see if you can afford it.

 

7. Delta. Delta is a high-end Italian modern pen manufacturer. They still make some limited-edition lever fill pens today. I don't think there are any Delta lever-fillers in their standard product line. If you can find a Delta lever-filler, expect to pay quite a bit for it.

 

8. Parker. Parker was really not known for lever fillers. Almost all vintage Parker pens were either vacuum or aerometric fillers. There was a Parker pen named the Parkette that was a lever filler. Maybe there were others, I dunno.

 

Have Fun David

[praxim]

I like the range of options in Drone's post, and you can add Onoto lever fillers (there are quite a few) to the list as well. With that list, you may have so many options that you completely fail to do the usual thing with an (otherwise perfectly good ) Esterbrook.

 

Sometimes I get bored with rounding up the usual suspects.

[sidthecat]

I'm sorry: Esterbrooks are (bleep).

They may be bulletproof, but they are nails. Even when they say they're flex they're not. If you don't care, go ahead, but if I went to the trouble of investing in an obsolete and dickey technology, I'd want the compensation of making pretty marks with it.

Any other advice, see above.

[Kelly G]

There are the Conway Stewart Marlborough Limited and Regular Edition series pens which were available as lever fillers. The Limited Edition were in a choice of four ebonite colors, the Regular Edition were in a choice of five resin colors, all with 18K nibs.

 

They were a bit pricey, originally retailing for $700 and $615 respectively. You can find them cheaper these days.

[JakobS]

I'm sorry: Esterbrooks are (bleep).

They may be bulletproof, but they are nails. Even when they say they're flex they're not. If you don't care, go ahead, but if I went to the trouble of investing in an obsolete and dickey technology, I'd want the compensation of making pretty marks with it.

Any other advice, see above.

Most everyone who is into vintage lever fillers are not into full flex nibs, nor was that a dominant type of nib during their manufacture. You can create "pretty marks" with most any of the renew points that are available, not simply within the half dozen oblique italics (2314/9314 F,M,B ), few stubs, or half dozen semi-flex nibs within the line. Their oblique nibs are fantastic, and provide far crisper lines than many modern stubs while still being very smooth. Vintage pens offer many nibs, but also many different materials and filling systems you cannot find in modern pens, the point of finding and using them broadly would miss a whole lot of interesting pens if singualrly limited to those with nibs that flex.

 

Handwriting is not spencerian, copperplate, or some type of cursive only, its italic, unical, running hand, and many other broad edged nib types as well. To say nothing of having a beautiful printed hand for simple communication. A beautiful hand is of course subjective, but its not limited to what flex, in whatever variety, can only offer.

Edited April 3, 2017 by JakobS

[Kelly G]

Most everyone who is into vintage lever fillers are not into full flex nibs, nor was that a dominant type of nib during their manufacture. You can create "pretty marks" with most any of the renew points that are available, not simply within the half dozen oblique italics (2314/9314 F,M,B ), few stubs, or half dozen semi-flex nibs within the line. Their oblique nibs are fantastic, and provide far crisper lines than many modern stubs while still being very smooth. Vintage pens offer many nibs, but also many different material and filling systems you cannot find in modern pens, the point of finding and using them broadly would miss a whole lot of interesting pens if singualrly limited to those with nibs that flex.

Handwriting is not spencerian, copperplate, or some type of cursive only, its italic, unical, running hand, and many other broad edged nib types as well. To say nothing of having a beautiful printed hand for simple communication. A beautiful hand is of course subjective, but its not limited to what flex in whatever variety can only offer.

+1

[inkstainedruth]

A quick comment on Drone said about Eversharps. There's more to the vintage ones than just the Skylines. I have what I *think* is a Symphony (a later model than Skylines), which I filled by accident without checking the sac and lever first (I had meant to grab the Sheaffer Balance Oversize, which I knew had been repaired) a while back, and the Eversharp wrote like a champ. It is a slimmer pen than Skylines, so that might be a consideration.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Driften]

I know its not a lever fill, but in a modern pen you might consider the Conklin crescent filler. Same idea that actually came earlier and its currently made.

[rwilsonedn]

Esterbrooks are popular, and therefore priced well above their quality level, IMHO. There are many other equally nice vintage lever-fillers, including Wearevers and many third-tier varieties under different names, at prices quite a bit below the price of Estis. Many of them are quite beautiful compared to the "if you've seen one you've seen them all" Estis. If you want to learn to refurbish lever-fill pens, you might want to start with some of those alternatives. They are generally easier to work on, and you don't have so much money at stake while you are learning.

ron

[cleosmama]

I've had good experience with Esterbrook lever-fillers, too. I bought a couple from Midnight Pens on Etsy (Gary), whose pens are carefully revived and restored. You can find cheap ones on Ebay, too, but I usually send them out to Danny Fudge before writing with them (at some point I am going to learn to change a sac myself). What I like about Esterbrooks is that they have a wide choice of nibs.

[inkstainedruth]

I've had good experience with Esterbrook lever-fillers, too. I bought a couple from Midnight Pens on Etsy (Gary), whose pens are carefully revived and restored. You can find cheap ones on Ebay, too, but I usually send them out to Danny Fudge before writing with them (at some point I am going to learn to change a sac myself). What I like about Esterbrooks is that they have a wide choice of nibs.

 

And, more importantly, that the nib units are interchangeable between models (and IIRC, Venus and Osmiroid nibs will also fit).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[PaulS]

The two most important considerations, whether lever fill or any one of several other systems for sucking up ink, are ......the nib and the looks of a pen - how something writes and what we see each time we pick the thing up, are what we have to live with. ....... function and form, perhaps.

The body of a pen might be run of the mill, but if the nib is a cracker and writes like a dream, you will love it, even better if the colour scheme is appealing - but I'd take a guess that most folk would rate nib performance as the most important criteria for writing.

Most of the fun of pen collecting is experimentation and trying out pens for ourselves, and I'd suggest that confining the choice to l.f. is too restrictive, and although they're functionally simply pens, there are b.f. pens that are simpler still.

 

This particular limitation will rule out all Parker pens - unless the choice is confined to either of the two Parkette models - and there are some great vintage pens from that factory that you'd miss out on........... avoid the modern nails though.

I'd also repeat the comment about the lever boxes on Waterman's - not necessarily known to fail, but the box does potentially make for added complication

 

Enjoy trying out a few pens - whether l.f. or other types and have fun on the way. Have to say that I don't understand why re-sacing should be avoided by some folk - must be the most simple of pen jobs.

 

P.S. I love a bit of flex, so my choice would be a M.T/Swan.

P.P.S. when I first read the subject heading, I assumed this was a discussion regarding the mechanics of removing a lever and bar

Edited April 3, 2017 by PaulS

[Arkamas]

Quite a bit of information here. Thanks! I figured exploring this area of FPs would be new ground and it seems to be so. Learning more about restoration and repair is becoming quite interesting and I'm sure it yields some satisfaction when you finish a project.

I've looked into the Esterbrook J series pens and there seem to be quite a few options around but for some reason I can't really get into the flashier body design of the double jeweled models. I've seen a couple of plain black, transitional, single jewel models that are a bit closer to what I like in the aesthetics of a pen. Conway Stewart seems to have some very nice models but unfortunately are too far up the price ladder for me, which seems to be a crux for acquiring many of the lever fillers I've seen. I'll have to keep researching off of what I've learned here when I really get serious about finding one, but it seems like it may be a matter of waiting for just the right pen to come along.