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What's Your Favorite Vintage Esterbrook Nib?


donnweinberg

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You realize of course, that we're never going to find them again after this. Maybe I should delete my post....

 

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"Respect science, respect nature, respect all people (s),"

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You realize of course, that we're never going to find them again after this. Maybe I should delete my post....

 

I think I still have a box. Maybe I should start selling. :lol:

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There's a 9461 on eBay for $13 plus shipping.

"Respect science, respect nature, respect all people (s),"

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I think I still have a box. Maybe I should start selling. :lol:

 

Only if you're not going to accumulate any more Esterbrooks. Fat chance.

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1551 Student. Cheap and cheerful and darn near bulletproof.

"how do I know what I think until I write it down?"

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The 6668 and the 8999.

 

There is also a ball point renew point that is quite nice.

San Francisco International Pen Show - The next “Funnest Pen Show” is on schedule for August 23-24-25, 2024.  Watch the show website for registration details. 
 

My PM box is usually full. Just email me: my last name at the google mail address.

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The 6668 and the 8999.

 

There is also a ball point renew point that is quite nice.

What do you use for refills. I think I had to use an adapter Bamapen 3-D printed with a small modern refill that worked OK.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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There are so many! Here are a few.

 

10 Commercial is a good shoulder pen, but not common

11 Albata (but very rare)

14 Bank pen has great action, especially the earlier ones

Of course the 048 Falcon

123 as a general pen

149 Pacific Railroad (though I like the original better than Esterbrook's copy)

128 EF elastic pen

239 Chancellor and 442 Jackson are my favorite stubs

256 Tecumseh is quite nice but very uncommon

453 Business and College has very nice spring and high durability for a medium point

477 Postal is my favorite turned-up point

The 556 and 571 Vertical Writers and 761 Natural Slant are great semi-firm all-arounders

854 Spoon just is fun to write with.

 

“When the historians of education do equal and exact justice to all who have contributed toward educational progress, they will devote several pages to those revolutionists who invented steel pens and blackboards.” V.T. Thayer, 1928

Check out my Steel Pen Blog

"No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the mistake is to do it solemnly."

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What's your favorite nib for an Esterbrook fountain pen, Andrew? The 9048?

Baptiste knew how to make a short job long

For love of it. And yet not waste time either.

Robert Frost

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Actually, it's 9556, with a specific 1555 Gregg whose tip was broken off and smoothed into a stub by someone a long time ago, in a close second. I have a fairly flexible (for an Estie fountain pen nib) 9048, but I'm spoiled by dip pens and I can't enjoy it as a flexible nib.

 

“When the historians of education do equal and exact justice to all who have contributed toward educational progress, they will devote several pages to those revolutionists who invented steel pens and blackboards.” V.T. Thayer, 1928

Check out my Steel Pen Blog

"No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the mistake is to do it solemnly."

-Montaigne

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Actually, it's 9556, with a specific 1555 Gregg whose tip was broken off and smoothed into a stub by someone a long time ago, in a close second. I have a fairly flexible (for an Estie fountain pen nib) 9048, but I'm spoiled by dip pens and I can't enjoy it as a flexible nib.

I find that my 2048 has more flex than my 9048. I'm not sure why. I need to get back to playing with the dip pens again.

Baptiste knew how to make a short job long

For love of it. And yet not waste time either.

Robert Frost

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Actually, it's 9556, with a specific 1555 Gregg whose tip was broken off and smoothed into a stub by someone a long time ago, in a close second. I have a fairly flexible (for an Estie fountain pen nib) 9048, but I'm spoiled by dip pens and I can't enjoy it as a flexible nib.

 

The Esterbrook "flex" renew point nibs really don't have anything that you would call flex. If you look for the wartime "teardrop" nibs, they have a much thinner profile, and also a decent amount of flex. I have one of those in the 9048 nib (gold plated to boot), and it really does have flex to it.

 

fpn_1498613141__esterbrook_nibs_5.jpg

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Has anyone named the 2442 Falcon as their favorite?

"Respect science, respect nature, respect all people (s),"

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I was just about to mention that it is one of my favorites.

Baptiste knew how to make a short job long

For love of it. And yet not waste time either.

Robert Frost

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I'd go for the 2442, but it is based on the #442 Jackson rather than the 048 Falcon, my favorite. What's the FP nib based on the 048? Would it be either the 2048 or 9048? I am curious if the FP nibs are as flexible as the 048?

Edited by Estycollector

"Respect science, respect nature, respect all people (s),"

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I'd go for the 2442, but it is based on the #442 Jackson rather than the 048 Falcon, my favorite. What's the FP nib based on the 048? Would it be either the 2048 or 9048? I am curious if the FP nibs are as flexible as the 048?

 

The 2048 is the closest to the 048. The 9048 has no physical resemblance to either. See my comments above - the FP "flex" nibs really don't have anything you would consider flex. The wartime nibs (left nib in the photo above) have some flex, even on nibs that aren't supposed to be. I have one of those in a 9048, and it really is what you would call a flex nib. I just don't use it ever, because it is a gold-plated nib on a prototype pen.

 

fpn_1573491614__esterbrook_prototypes_4.

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Most of the renew points are loosely based on their dip pen predecessors. People knew the numbers of their favorite pens and so Esterbrook hoped they would gravitate to the fountain pen equivalent. None of the stainless steel nibs, even the SS dip nibs that Esterbrook made, can come close to the flex of the steel pen equivalents. But then they are much smoother and easier to write with, and don't corrode.

 

“When the historians of education do equal and exact justice to all who have contributed toward educational progress, they will devote several pages to those revolutionists who invented steel pens and blackboards.” V.T. Thayer, 1928

Check out my Steel Pen Blog

"No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the mistake is to do it solemnly."

-Montaigne

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