Esterbrook Flexible 9048

April 4, 2005

Hey Everyone,

Walking through a local antique store, I found a few pens and stuff that were going to be thrown out. A few broken caps and barells, amongs the junk were 2 Esterbrook nibs. Both 9048, one is in great codition, the other one is a bit scratchy. So under the mricoscope, I see that the right tine i lower than the left one. Is this fixable or should I just keep it for show?

Any ideas?

Regards,

April 4, 2005

Hi Angelo,

It depends. A 9048 is a flexible fine, so it is the holy grail of Esterbrook flexdom . Is the tine actually shorter, or bent up or down? In the latter case, it is fixable, in the former, you could consider making both the same lenght, and turn it into a flexible stub without tipping.

Just some wild ideas here, HTH.

Kind regards, Wim

April 4, 2005

So I take it I stumbled into a good thing!

SO, how do I clip it to make it into a flex-stub? I would hate to ruin it!

April 4, 2005

Hi Angelo,

You'll need a very fine Arkansa stone, as fine as you can get (2500-4000 grit) and some high grit mylar, like 8000, 10000 and 12000 (or higher).

You carefully grind away the tine that is longer now, until both are the same length, and straight.

Next you follow the article on Glen Marcus' pages: Nib shaping and grinding. Just use the mylar in stead of the crocus paper, and apply in climbing grit number.

All the other ingredients are mentioned here as well, like a decent loupe. I recommend the PEAK New 22X. I don't htink there is a better one for the price.

HTH, kind regards, Wim

http://members.shaw.ca/feynn/ · April 4, 2005

Angelo - The 9048 in't quite the holy grail of Esterbrook nibs but it's close, the flexible medium nibs are much harder to come by.

If the misalignment is minor then straightening it isn't terribly difficult and I say that with the disclaimer that I straighten nibs for a living so have done a lot of this kind of work.

You should be able to straighten the misaligned nib with the use of nothing more than your fingernail and gentle pressure to move the misaligned tine into line with the other. In this case you would want to move the higher left tine down as the right tine seems to be in proper position to the feed. It is a matter of pushing down the higher tine a little and then checking to see it's position and then making further gradual adjustments. You also want to push the nib straight down and not exert any lateral pressure.

Many of these nibs can also benefit from a little careful smoothing with high grit mylar to make them perform even better.

As far as making it into a flex stub goes, the 9048 is almost an extra fine nib and there isn't a lot of tipping to work with... this is where a med flex nib would be ideal as these have more abundant tipping and the resulting stub would offer more variation and be much smoother.

Another note on the 9048's... there are some variances in production as I have had 9048's that are at best, semi flex, while others have approached full flex in the behaviour.

April 4, 2005

Hey Keith,

The 9048 may be more common than the medium, but for Copperplate and whatever else was derived from that, I think a fine superflex is the best nib to have. I wasn't talking from the viewpoint of rarity, but from the viewpoint of flexiness.

And yes, if it is only bent, it is easily fixable, as you indicate. The answer on my question seemed to imply damage, as in tip broken off, hence my reply about stubbing.

Kind regards, Wim

http://members.shaw.ca/feynn/ · April 4, 2005

No disagreement from me Wim... if damaged the nib would have some potential to become a flex stub whereas the med flex nibs can become flex stubs and still retain most of their tipping which equals a smoother, longer lasting nib.

The Esterbrook 9048 is my favourite, it's not a superflex or even a truly flexible nib but a great semi flex nib that is capable of beautiful variation

April 5, 2005

Ok, how about stirring up the pot here, here's my vote for best 'flexible' nib, the 9128. Interestingly enough I find more of these in English made pens than US. Not as scratchy as the 9048, and just as flexible.

Best-

Brian

April 6, 2005

so brian, how about sending me one of each to test that theory? i have a couple of nice j's that i could use for a good side-by-side comparison.

April 6, 2005

Sounds like it'd make for a good review. I'll have to ink up oe of each and give it the old writing test. Probably won't happen till the end of the week, but should be fun.

Best-

Brian

April 9, 2005

Hey Everyone,

Thanx for the comments and sugestions from everyone. Today I went digging around at other antique stores near Oak Park, IL and hit paydirt again, this time I had to pay for my finds but who cares! I found a dip-less pen with a broken tapper it had on it a 3556 nib! The guy also had a 9668 as well. I payed 5.00 for both and he threw in from his "never-going-to-sell box" a 1942 Avon-Straton FP, Pencil and Knife set in green pearl with brown striping. Nothing fancy, but in great condition. As some of you already know, I am a sucker for junk pens!

Well, I find that the 9668 nib is more to my liking than the 9048. Not as flexible, but I do see some flexing in my writing, lot easier to control as well. So, having said this, I put to you guys the other 9048, the one with the scratchie tine at anyones disposal for trade on any other Estie nib. I would love to try and repair it, or even grind it down, but with the baby I do not have a steady hand nor the patience to work on a little thing that requires some patience, like a nib. I would hate to destroy it, so if anyone is interedted let me know!

Best Regards To All, as always!

http://members.shaw.ca/feynn/ · April 9, 2005

Angelo -

I'll be happy to swap that 9048 for something else... how about a custom Estie stub for the 9048?

If the tipping is good I'll straighten things out and if not, I'll make a flexible fine stub from it.

You can PM me at your liesure on this.

May 3, 2011

I just picked up today a Esterbrook J double jewel for $15 at an antique store with the medium flex 9788 nib.

May 3, 2011

For God sake Ángelo,just aligne the tines and thats all, and twist it with the soft bland side of your finger tips not with your nails. I have one, The 9048 is scratchy by nature but dont worry just dont stick it so much in the paper once you inked it. Greetings.