Esterbrook Cartridge Pens

[FarmBoy]

Someone asked me a while back about cartridges for Esterbrook pens. I shared this privately with a few others and it seems to have generated more interest that I thought it would.

 

The boxes are each part full but the ink is long since dried up. The larger boxes had one set of the adapters shown along with 12 cartridges The smaller box had no adapters and the cartridges have flat bottoms instead of the one pictured with the little pin molded into the top. The red pen is uninked as far as I know, the blue one had just ran out of ink and needed a cleaning before going back in the drawer.

 

I do on occasion use an Esterbrook cartridge pen. The cartridges are hard to come by and I don't think there is a modern replacement that works well. If you find them I recommend cleaning them and refilling with your favorite ink.

 

(Edit: With any luck the picture will post this time.)

 

Todd

Edited April 14, 2007 by FarmBoy

[randyholhut]

It's not a perfect fit, but the old style Sheaffer Skrip cartridges (the Fort Madison ones without the color coded plastic on the end) work with the CA 101.

 

Start them in a regular Sheaffer cartridge pen by dropping them in the barrel, screwing in the nib section and punching the top cap. Then remove the cart from the Sheaffer and slide it on, to the plastic nozzle on the end of the 101 nib section. The Estie is a little wider than the Sheaffer, but it slides on and stays there.

 

They won't work as well the second time around if you try to refill the cartridges but it's good the first time around. Since Sheaffer cartridges are much easier to come by, it's a nice hack to keep these pens going.

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't work on the Estie Cartridge pen like the one in the above picture. The Sheaffer cart is a hair too wide.

 

[Brian Anderson]

Now we know what that little yellow nipple is on the end of some estie carts, it's there for the spacers!

 

You learn something every day. Thanks for posting the pic for all Todd!

 

Best-

Brian

[roguesw]

I just got this pen from an auction and i found it has a 2668 Nib with a lot of tipping on it. Is the nib a renew point i tried to take it apart but it doesnt seem to want to move, i hesitate to apply more force.

thanks

Des

[sleek_lover]

It's not a perfect fit, but the old style Sheaffer Skrip cartridges (the Fort Madison ones without the color coded plastic on the end) work with the CA 101.

 

Start them in a regular Sheaffer cartridge pen by dropping them in the barrel, screwing in the nib section and punching the top cap. Then remove the cart from the Sheaffer and slide it on, to the plastic nozzle on the end of the 101 nib section. The Estie is a little wider than the Sheaffer, but it slides on and stays there.

 

They won't work as well the second time around if you try to refill the cartridges but it's good the first time around. Since Sheaffer cartridges are much easier to come by, it's a nice hack to keep these pens going.

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't work on the Estie Cartridge pen like the one in the above picture. The Sheaffer cart is a hair too wide.

 

Nice to see my trick back in print...

 

That said...er...I have been using the same modified Sheaf carts on two different pens for about 2 years...average of 3 refills each per year (hey, I gotta lotta pens and the rotation is sorta long...keep watch in MARKETPLACE..). Ya just hafta be careful and gentle when removing and replacing the cart. The least ham-handedness will screw the cart up big-time..

 

Bill

Edited June 9, 2007 by paircon01

[Rabbit]

I just got this pen from an auction and i found it has a 2668 Nib with a lot of tipping on it. Is the nib a renew point i tried to take it apart but it doesnt seem to want to move, i hesitate to apply more force.

thanks

Des

Des,

 

I have one of these pens at home, but I am not at home right now to look at it. However, as far as I know, if it says 2668, it's definitely a Renew point (unless someone else out there is using a 4 digit number system.) If I had my pen with me, I'd take a closer look to make sure the section has the same threading as usual, but I assume it does.

 

The tipping on a 2668 is actually steel, but since it looks hefty, it's likely in good shape and should be pretty smooth if the tines are aligned correctly and no other damage exists.

 

As far as removing the renew point, sometimes they get stuck in the section if ink was allowed to dry in the pen. If the nib doesn't want to unscrew with comfortable pressure, you may need to try soaking the nib and section in some water for a few hours (or even over night) which will hopefully loosen up some of that dried ink. (Other people have suggested an ammonia in water solution, but I haven't tried that so I don't feel qualified to talk further about that. And another alternative is to give it a quick run through an ultrasonic bath, but most people don't have an ultrasonic cleaner.)

 

Hope that helps!

 

--Stephen

Edited June 10, 2007 by Rabbit

[sleek_lover]

I just got this pen from an auction and i found it has a 2668 Nib with a lot of tipping on it. Is the nib a renew point i tried to take it apart but it doesnt seem to want to move, i hesitate to apply more force.

thanks

Des

Des,

 

I have one of these pens at home, but I am not at home right now to look at it. However, as far as I know, if it says 2668, it's definitely a Renew point (unless someone else out there is using a 4 digit number system.) If I had my pen with me, I'd take a closer look to make sure the section has the same threading as usual, but I assume it does.

 

The tipping on a 2668 is actually steel, but since it looks hefty, it's likely in good shape and should be pretty smooth if the tines are aligned correctly and no other damage exists.

 

As far as removing the renew point, sometimes they get stuck in the section if ink was allowed to dry in the pen. If the nib doesn't want to unscrew with comfortable pressure, you may need to try soaking the nib and section in some water for a few hours (or even over night) which will hopefully loosen up some of that dried ink. (Other people have suggested an ammonia in water solution, but I haven't tried that so I don't feel qualified to talk further about that. And another alternative is to give it a quick run through an ultrasonic bath, but most people don't have an ultrasonic cleaner.)

 

Hope that helps!

 

--Stephen

 

Stephen..

Good advise...

One trick I find works for me is to use the spray attachment on the kitchen faucet. Not too high a pressure, by the way...especially when the cafe curtains are white and Peg is in a fussy mood...not a good idea. Warm water and about a minute should do the trick...

 

Bill

[smodak]

Someone asked me a while back about cartridges for Esterbrook pens. I shared this privately with a few others and it seems to have generated more interest that I thought it would.

 

The boxes are each part full but the ink is long since dried up. The larger boxes had one set of the adapters shown along with 12 cartridges The smaller box had no adapters and the cartridges have flat bottoms instead of the one pictured with the little pin molded into the top. The red pen is uninked as far as I know, the blue one had just ran out of ink and needed a cleaning before going back in the drawer.

 

I do on occasion use an Esterbrook cartridge pen. The cartridges are hard to come by and I don't think there is a modern replacement that works well. If you find them I recommend cleaning them and refilling with your favorite ink.

 

(Edit: With any luck the picture will post this time.)

 

Todd

 

 

I received the exact same pen and purchased the exact same cartridge. I just can't figure out how to insert the cartridge in teh pen. Where does the yellow end go?

[FarmBoy]

Someone asked me a while back about cartridges for Esterbrook pens. I shared this privately with a few others and it seems to have generated more interest that I thought it would.

 

The boxes are each part full but the ink is long since dried up. The larger boxes had one set of the adapters shown along with 12 cartridges The smaller box had no adapters and the cartridges have flat bottoms instead of the one pictured with the little pin molded into the top. The red pen is uninked as far as I know, the blue one had just ran out of ink and needed a cleaning before going back in the drawer.

 

I do on occasion use an Esterbrook cartridge pen. The cartridges are hard to come by and I don't think there is a modern replacement that works well. If you find them I recommend cleaning them and refilling with your favorite ink.

 

(Edit: With any luck the picture will post this time.)

 

Todd

 

 

I received the exact same pen and purchased the exact same cartridge. I just can't figure out how to insert the cartridge in teh pen. Where does the yellow end go?

The yellow end goes into the barrel first for a Dollar Pen. The spacers would fit on the yellow tip to make the cartridge work in other pens.

 

I still use one of these occasionally but I stick in an 8xxx nib for variety.

 

FB

[smodak]

Someone asked me a while back about cartridges for Esterbrook pens. I shared this privately with a few others and it seems to have generated more interest that I thought it would.

 

The boxes are each part full but the ink is long since dried up. The larger boxes had one set of the adapters shown along with 12 cartridges The smaller box had no adapters and the cartridges have flat bottoms instead of the one pictured with the little pin molded into the top. The red pen is uninked as far as I know, the blue one had just ran out of ink and needed a cleaning before going back in the drawer.

 

I do on occasion use an Esterbrook cartridge pen. The cartridges are hard to come by and I don't think there is a modern replacement that works well. If you find them I recommend cleaning them and refilling with your favorite ink.

 

(Edit: With any luck the picture will post this time.)

 

Todd

 

 

I received the exact same pen and purchased the exact same cartridge. I just can't figure out how to insert the cartridge in teh pen. Where does the yellow end go?

The yellow end goes into the barrel first for a Dollar Pen. The spacers would fit on the yellow tip to make the cartridge work in other pens.

 

I still use one of these occasionally but I stick in an 8xxx nib for variety.

 

FB

 

 

So, Do I need to make a hole (pierce) at the other end (non yello end) ? Because The tappered part of the nib assembly does not seem to be strong enough to make a hole automatically. Thanks.

[smodak]

Someone asked me a while back about cartridges for Esterbrook pens. I shared this privately with a few others and it seems to have generated more interest that I thought it would.

 

The boxes are each part full but the ink is long since dried up. The larger boxes had one set of the adapters shown along with 12 cartridges The smaller box had no adapters and the cartridges have flat bottoms instead of the one pictured with the little pin molded into the top. The red pen is uninked as far as I know, the blue one had just ran out of ink and needed a cleaning before going back in the drawer.

 

I do on occasion use an Esterbrook cartridge pen. The cartridges are hard to come by and I don't think there is a modern replacement that works well. If you find them I recommend cleaning them and refilling with your favorite ink.

 

(Edit: With any luck the picture will post this time.)

 

Todd

 

 

I received the exact same pen and purchased the exact same cartridge. I just can't figure out how to insert the cartridge in teh pen. Where does the yellow end go?

The yellow end goes into the barrel first for a Dollar Pen. The spacers would fit on the yellow tip to make the cartridge work in other pens.

 

I still use one of these occasionally but I stick in an 8xxx nib for variety.

 

FB

 

 

So, Do I need to make a hole (pierce) at the other end (non yello end) ? Because The tappered part of the nib assembly does not seem to be strong enough to make a hole automatically. Thanks.

Never Mind. Fogured it out. Thanks a lot for all your help. The picture at the beiging of this post is AWESOME.

[smodak]

From the dollar pen, how do you remove the nib and the feed for rinsing and or / cleaning? Is it screwed in or just a friction fit?

[jbb]

I've got a bunch of these cartridges... no pen for them... just some dried out cartridges.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5503169546_90bd512f54_b.jpg

[smodak]

I've got a bunch of these cartridges... no pen for them... just some dried out cartridges.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5503169546_90bd512f54_b.jpg

I will by them from you if they are cheap . How much do you want? PM me.

[Federalist Pens]

I have had success with Wearever carts in my Safari pens. Of course, these are also out of production and hard to come by....

(seem to be more available though!)

 

Frank

[fpman]

I hadn't thought to try Wearever cartridges but the Wearever cartridges I have leak like sieves - they don't appear to have crack or holes in them so I'm guessing they are leaking from where they attach to the nib section. Perhaps the hole is too wide now. That might work out with the Esterbrooks.

 

BTW - the pens I have with the larger cartridge (with the yellow pin) don't have the spacers (I've never seen one before today); what's the peril if you use them in a pen minus the spacer, they come loose?

[Autopoint]

....what's the peril if you use them in a pen minus the spacer, they come loose?

 

I don't use the (fairly hard to find) plastic Esterbrook spacers, even when I have them. I've found that - as I'm basically a pencil guy - a short piece of rubber pencil eraser works just as well as the Esterbrook spacers. In fact, I can get the fit tight as I want (I think that's a beer hall song!) just by using an appropriate length of rubber eraser up behind the cartridge, in the barrel. That virtually assures me that no matter how often I reuse a cartridge, the cartridge will stay firmly in place and most likely not leak while in my pocket. Note this is the same method used by Esterbrook in some of the J series barrels, to fit the Jbar to the longer pen barrels. Of course, YMMV.

- - - Happy reusin', Jim

[FarmBoy]

Just to add to the confusion, there are three different types of Esterbrook cartridges that I'm aware of.

 

The ones I pictured are the Universal and they have the small tip and the spacers.

 

There is the Twin cartridge which was used is the 101 and Safari pens (Posted by JBB). These were much smaller and you inserted two (one upside down) in the barrel. The second cartridge was the spacer. To use the Universal cartridge you added the blue spacer to make it the same length as two Twins.

 

The third cartridge is sans tip and is slightly longer to make the overall length the same as the Universal. I believe this is referred to as the Standard cartridge.

 

Esterbrook touted that its Universal cartridge would work in other makes of pens by adding the spacers as needed.

 

There was also a Aero like converter. As I have only seen these with Phaeton 300s. In the box with a 300 would have been one converter and two cartridges. As mentioned elsewhere, the converters usually seem to be MIA.

 

In the old days one would often find the little spacers in the barrels of pens but no cartridges. Now and then you would find someone with a pile of pens and in the box would be all sorts of the spacers, now we do good to find an empty cartridge or two.

[smodak]

Just to add to the confusion, there are three different types of Esterbrook cartridges that I'm aware of.

 

The ones I pictured are the Universal and they have the small tip and the spacers.

 

There is the Twin cartridge which was used is the 101 and Safari pens (Posted by JBB). These were much smaller and you inserted two (one upside down) in the barrel. The second cartridge was the spacer. To use the Universal cartridge you added the blue spacer to make it the same length as two Twins.

 

The third cartridge is sans tip and is slightly longer to make the overall length the same as the Universal. I believe this is referred to as the Standard cartridge.

 

Esterbrook touted that its Universal cartridge would work in other makes of pens by adding the spacers as needed.

 

There was also a Aero like converter. As I have only seen these with Phaeton 300s. In the box with a 300 would have been one converter and two cartridges. As mentioned elsewhere, the converters usually seem to be MIA.

 

In the old days one would often find the little spacers in the barrels of pens but no cartridges. Now and then you would find someone with a pile of pens and in the box would be all sorts of the spacers, now we do good to find an empty cartridge or two.

 

Uh oh - are you saying that the cartridges that I purchased from jbb are not going to work in the CX-100?

[FarmBoy]

They will work you just put need to put a spacer in the pen to hold the cartridge tight. If I remember correctly two cartridges will be slightly to long for your pen but try it first. The cartridges would go in the pen with the yellow discs touching. You can make a spacer from an stick eraser or other similar sized rod if needed. Just estimate the size you need based on how far open the pen is after you try two cartridges.

 

Let the pen pierce the cartridge. When your spacer is correct the cartridge will be held snug against the section.