Where are the Vintage Esterbrook fans?

[antoniosz]

A hell of a workhorse J with 9968 (broad) 

[Anaxyrus]

Here are mine. Copper LJ, Gray J, Red J, and Blue transitional. I also have a root beer Copper J but no pick yet.

 

[pajaro]

I was using my M2 with the 9312 today.  I hadn't used it in years, and its quality of never drying up is appreciated.  I think I have $55 into this:  $18 for the M2 and $37 for the 9312 nib.  I was just learning about Esterbrook when I bought these items.  I am gtrateful to the people who pointed out what nibs to look for.

 

I do think the 2442 Falcon Stub is almost better than the 9312 for line variation.  I have the 2442 in another M2.  I was using both of them today.  

 

[corgicoupe]

I'm curious, Paul. What is it about the M2 that you prefer it over the J pens?

BTW, I agree that those two nibs are great. 2048 & 9314s are also nice to use,

[Misfit]

I have 5 right now. 
The red SJ has a 2668 nib

The copper J  has a 2968 nib

The transitional green J has a 9788 nib

The transitional gray J has a 2442 Falcon nib

The black Bell System Property LJ has a 2314-M nib which is my favorite of what I own. 
 

I need a blue version, so they need to stop following Farm Boy home, and follow me home. 

[Estycollector]

Just inked up the '34 Dollar 3556 nib with Serenity Blue. There is no better writer amoung my collection. 

[pajaro]

12 hours ago, corgicoupe said:

I'm curious, Paul. What is it about the M2 that you prefer it over the J pens?

BTW, I agree that those two nibs are great. 2048 & 9314s are also nice to use,

I like squeeze fillers like the M2 and the Parker 51 better than lever fillers.  When I was a kid I bought a few Wearever lever fillers, and the sacs failed within days.  Also the levers tend to get under my fingernails,which I don't like.  I also like the Esterbrook pump fillers, which fill in a similar way as the Sheaffer Touchdown fillers:  unscrew the blind cap, pull it back, put the nib in the ink, pushin the blind cap all the way and screw it back in.  I find the squeeze fillers to my liking.  I bought several M2s, including some NOS pens.

[pajaro]

Most of the Esterbrook fans I knew or whose posts I saw back around ten years ago don't seem to be around.  Some are still around, and some new fans have appeared in the interim.  

 

[inkstainedruth]

16 hours ago, Misfit said:

I have 5 right now. 
The red SJ has a 2668 nib

The copper J  has a 2968 nib

The transitional green J has a 9788 nib

The transitional gray J has a 2442 Falcon nib

The black Bell System Property LJ has a 2314-M nib which is my favorite of what I own. 
 

I need a blue version, so they need to stop following Farm Boy home, and follow me home. 

Yes, you definitely need a one of the blue "Mackeral" ones.  I think it's the prettiest color.  

Not overly enamored of the Icicles, though other people go "ooh-ah" over them.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Estycollector]

 I restored a blue J and found a matching pencil for my eldest. Besides grey and black, the blue is my favorite. 

[Misfit]

I was really lucky today, and won an eBay auction for a Blue Esterbrook J pen with a 2314-B nib for $26.00 plus $4.20 shipping.  And the seller might fill it with Diamine Writer’s Blood. 
 

This makes the difficult parts of today balance out.  I try not to count on my eBay purchases until I get the item. Wow though, the right color, an amazing nib for a good price. Esterbrook happiness. 

[Anaxyrus]

Congrats. The blue are gorgeous.

[pajaro]

Congrats.  The 2314-B is a Relief Broad Stub.  The Relief nibs are left obliques, the slant looking like the toes of your left foot.  These nibs write with some interesting line variation, and they are nice.

[Misfit]

Thank you. I have a 2314-M that I enjoy using very much. That’s what made winning the auction even better. The nib alone is worth $26, or more. 

[Aelfattrum]

picked up a couple of Esterbrook double-jewels recently:

 

[Sesheta]

I lost several of my Esties at the start of lockdown. I was so stressed about getting on and off the train to get home they must have fallen out of my pocket in their case. I lost a little blue SJ that was my first England marked pen and came with a broken nib from Northern Ireland which seemed kind of appropriate, a solid red Lj that I had got on starting back to uni and a silver SJ. I was absolutely gutted. The blue one in particular was one of my workhorses and one of the first I got when I was looking into a shorthand pen for court reporting. So of course I've had to replace them. I found a solid blue SJ to replace my blue one and I'm waiting on a red England icicle. I'll take pictures of the whole collection when I've resacced that one. I have 4 sjs, 3 ljs, a pencil and a dollar pencil.

[pajaro]

That's a nice group you have left.  I haven't written with any of mine in years, SJs, LJs, Js, a nurse pen, purse pen and pump fillers and desk pens.  I just like to look at them.

 

[Sesheta]

Ooh lovely. I'd love to get my hands on a purse pen at some point. My Esties are my workhorses. I used them when I was a journalist and I still use them all the time now. Originally I needed three as a full day in court would run through the ink and it's just kind of grown. They're such beautiful pens. I'm enjoying discovering more about the England made ones since we moved back here (lived in Ireland for years). The pencils I use for library work where I can't use ink pens (I'm doing a PhD in history at the moment). The copper (which is engraved for the Cambridge Copper Co which AFAIK was pretty much across the road from the Esterbrook factory) and the red dollar has red lead for annotations. I always get compliments on them but I'm a lot less likely to carry them everywhere now after losing the case.

[Runnin_Ute]

Just finished a fill of Edelstein Aventurine in the black J with 9550. Just filled the gray J with Diamine Silver Fox. It has the 2464 manifold broad in it right now.

[pajaro]

I actually wrote some notes today with a burgundy Esterbrook Phaeton.  It had some green ink in it and wrote after years idle.