Esterbrook Novice With A "j": Thoughts On Section Orientation, Osmiroid Nib Unit, Etc

[Seele]

Esterbrooks tend to be scarce here in Australia, a friendly dealer has a J but capless (which I did not get), but today I picked up am English-built red J without nib unit from another dealer; he was cleaning the nib unit but it rolled off the edge of his desk so he will look for it in due course, before the vacuum cleaner snatches it, hopefully!

 

Right now I have an Osmiroid nib unit, marked "Broad" but is markedly left oblique; I do not know if it was worn down to be as such but the corners feel a bit sharp, for what it's worth. When I screw it into the section front, the orientation of the nib turns past the line in line with the fill lever. As I do not have original Esterbrook nib units, I do not know if they all fit a section with consistent alignment; I would be very grateful if my experienced fellow correspondents can enlighten me on this.

 

A bit of soul-searching makes me think that the Osmiroid nib unit might not be the most suitable for my purpose, I suspect something a bit more pedestrian such as a 9556 or something along the line; it might be a bit of a wild goose chase here though.

[Grayspoole]

Hello-

 

Also very much a novice, but I have been using my Esterbrook J with a selection of Esterbrook and Osmiroid nibs and I like it very much. The Osmiroid nibs do screw into the section more deeply than the Esterbrook nibs, and look a little small for the pen, but if you are seeking function over looks, they are fine.

 

Osmiroid labeled their oblique nibs so if your broad nib isn't, it may have been modified. It could work for calligraphy but you will probably want some other nibs. Ebay is a good source.

 

Enjoy your Esterbrook J!

[Seele]

Grayspoole, thanks for your information. While I can strip the pen easily, it seems like I better wait for having an original Esterbrook nib unit at hand before final assembly, if their fitting into the section is of a high level of precision.

 

I looked at eBay for nib units but they would end up more than just a couple of times the cost of the pen itself, including the rebuilding work. I hope the original seller can find the missing nib unit and it's of a suitable style, or the other vendor still has that one without cap and willing to sell at a good price: fingers crossed!

[alanlight]

The section fits into the pen barrel by friction, and can be removed and re-aligned to your liking. Personally, I like the lever aligned with the underside of the nib.

[Grayspoole]

While I can strip the pen easily, it seems like I better wait for having an original Esterbrook nib unit at hand before final assembly, if their fitting into the section is of a high level of precision.

The Esterbrook nibs screw into the section as well--there is no need to remove the section to use either the Esterbrook or the Osmiroid screw in nibs with the J pen. The threads on the older Osmiroid nibs fit the Easterbrook section just fine, there is no leakage, but the nib is smaller. The newer Osmiroid Easy Change nibs, which are fixed to a long section of their own will not work on the Esterbrook J.

[Seele]

Grayspoole,

 

What I mean is that, if I just shellac the section into the barrel after sac replacement without having a nib unit at hand, there is a good chance that the nib would not align with the fill lever for both aesthetic and practical reasons: not a good thing to have the lever at the bottom scratching your hand.

 

So here's the point: imagine I have an Esterbrook nib unit fitted to the section, and then fitted the section into the barrel with the correct alignment, switching out the nib unit with another Esterbrook one would still preserve this alignment, as long as the components were made to a very high level of precision. As the Osmiroid nib unit screws deeper into the section, this alignment would be lost as the nib would be a few degrees to the left, but I suppose all compatible Osmiroid nib units would be off by the same amount too.

[alanlight]

Do NOT shellac the section to the barrel.

If you're interested in restoring Esterbrooks, this video goes into some detail on the process.

 

[corgicoupe]

I would not shellac the section into the barrel; you may need to replace the sac at a later date and removal would be much more difficult. The friction fit is by design.

[Seele]

alanlight and corgicoupe,

 

Interesting to see that the section is not attached to the barrel with an adhesive (shellac); I gave it a try and it eventually came off, the old sac has since detached from the back of the section, and thankfully still in one piece rather than turned into little shards. As for using shellac to fix the section to the barrel, it's pretty much a standard practice, so I was surprised to learn that Esterbrooks did not use that.

[Hobiwan]

I also like the point aligned with the lever. That's easily done by just screwing the point securely into the section after putting in the new sac, then aligning it with the lever when reinstalling the section to the barrel. Shellac is not needed, as the fit is secure enough to withstand the stress.

 

I also like having the clip aligned with the lever, but haven't had much luck with that ....

[FarmBoy]

But we all realize that at manufacture and first sale there was no specific orientation of nib lever and/or clip. Don’t we?

[Cris56]

Hi Seele, Im in Corlette just north of Newcastle. Do not seal the section with shellac. Bad, bad, bad. Section is friction fit. What size nib are you after? I may have one you like, I have some Esterbrook and a couple of Osmiroid ones. Send me a PM. I recently restored a Dubonet Red J, new sac, polish and thorough clean with a selection of nibs for a friend in Queensland.

Edited December 7, 2019 by Cris56