Thank you so much for posting the video. I followed you instructions and managed to buy the parts and repair my old Esterbrook J pen. Mine is a red colored. It's writing perfectly.
Thanks. I use a Panasonic VX981K and I'm really happy with it. A nice little camera. Would recommend. www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Camcorder-HC-VX981K-2-3-Inch-Smartphone/dp/B01A60SYRE?th=1
The video was a great help; we were asked by a client to get her Dad's pen working again, as it had not been used for years. We don't normally fix fountain pens, but her story behind the pen meant we had to try it, so thank you for sharing this information. Richard of Irish Pens.
The double jewel J series started production in 1948. Based on the lever, it's from 1948-52. I'm kind of obsessed with the old Esterbrook pens. 😁 My first Esterbrook was a grey double jewel J, with the 2668 firm medium that seems to have been their default one for a lot of them. (Was even used by Presidents signing bills and such, through the Lyndon Johnson administration.) Another clue that this is an earlier production one is the patterning. From the "Dollar" A,B and H through the early double jewel J series, it's streaky and rippled with great chatoyance. This is definitely one of those beauties. Almost indestructible and very easy to restore, as you showed. The original sac can be still usable for a lot of them. Kind of ruins the claim that latex sacs only last about a decade or so. I have a hard rubber A with a still usable sac still imprinted with "Esterbrook." And the replacement sacs are still made on the original White Rubber Company machinery, to the same standard, with the same latex recipe, so I'd expect that one to work for a very long time.😉 Nice work!
@legendsofhollywu6517 Soak it. Nib down, no deeper than the section. Probably "glued in" with dried ink. Don't go deeper, or you can rust some of the internal parts, like the J bar. You might have one that still works. A number of the Esterbrook pens have functional sacs even as old as the 1930s. If not, it's super easy to get working. Section is pressure fitted (don't remove it without the nib unit. They will break. ) sac is a number 16 standard and easy to install. There are plenty of helpful videos on this. Try the lever. Doesn't want to move, or you hear crunching, like breaking plastic, you need a new sac. Moves super easy, it's already shattered and mostly gone. You feel rubber band type resistance, it's probably still good.
I own an olive green J with a 9460 medium nib. It writes very well and is one of my favorite fountain pens. The Esterbrook rates just below my 1945 Parker 51 Vacumatic in smoothness.
Question: If you want the nib and lever lined up, wouldn't you install the nib before putting the sac and section back into the pen? I know you can twist the section to line it up, but doing so risks twisting the sac. Nice pen, by the way. Identical to one of my Esterbrook J's. (my second is the "copper" color) Mine has a 6461 Rigid Extra fine nib installed. I have a couple other nibs, but this and the 9556 in the copper pen are my favorites ... so far ... Perhaps "someday" I will find a 9000 or war time 8000 fine/medium or extra fine/fine flex nib for one or both. I forget the exact nib numbers. What inks do you use in your J's?
That's a good point about lining up the nib and the lever. I wasn't thinking about that at the time, but it's an important issue. I'm mainly a Diamine and Private Reserve guy. Mainly Diamine Presidential Blue in this J. What inks do you like?
@@neoflexycurrentOriginally, a lot of vintage pens, the nib was lined up with the imprint, meaning that the lever generally faced down when used. Just how they did things. 😁 Inks? Really, most should be fine, except for Iroshizoku, which is alkaline which reportedly degrades the sacs. With proper maintenance, I've even used shimmer ink from Diamine and Colorverse, and regularly use even vintage iron gall ink (was a common type for the time this was made, and it's still around after 70+ years.) So, enjoy most inks!😁 (Vintage "with Solv-X" Parker Quink works great for keeping them clean. That was made from around the 1940s, with even colors not black or blue still looking good, through at least the 1960s. Vintage inks are generally still good, even those that are almost 100 years old. Not as many exciting colors as today, but still safe to use, and works with a lot of different types of paper (not just "fountain pen friendly.") Really, with Sheaffer, Waterman and Parker Quink of today, they're still pretty much the same formula, with the exception of the "RC-35" Sheaffer's Skrip had, that fluoresces under black light so you can recover the writing even if the dye was washed away, and the phenol that most used for a fungicide. Government got it banned in ink, but it's still in Chloraseptic. Go figure. Phenol is the smell you might associate with vintage inks, and was a great fungicide, why so many still are good to use.
I see them in antique stores pretty often, usually no more than 20 or 30 bucks. The sac and shellac are relatively inexpensive. So it's definitely accessible! Thanks for watching!
