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New to the forum but I am in love with Esterbrooks. I found my first one in the wild last week at an antique store in a small "1 horse" town. The owner still had the original box and instructions and it comes with a sunburst 3550 nib. It had one bad scratch on it other than it seemed to be in near perfect condition. So the $25 price tag was easy for me. The sac was still intact when I opened it up, but I replaced it cleaned the feed, and was able to remove the scratch. It is now polished and writes well. Wanted to share with you all my find being one of my first posts.

I recently found this Esterbrook Model B Dollar Pen. I bought the pen for $10 and should have taken "before" pictures so you could see what I was dealing with. The Clip: As purchased, the clip looked as though it was caked with ink. It wasn't ink...it was corrosion. Spending a lot of time in the ultrasonic improved things but, ultimately, I used a wad of "Never Dull" to clean up the clip. At some point in the process it occurred to me that, "hey..the clip is supposed to be stainless steel. What is this corrosion doing on stainless steel?" (I went to college). I grabbed a magnet and tested the clip. The magnet would support the weight of the entire cap from the top of the clip. I tested my two other Dollar Pens...no magnetic attraction. Discovering this caused me to initially postulate that this pen was from sometime during WWII. It is my understanding that Esterbrook transitioned to plated steel furniture during the war and even dispensed with the cap ring. But wait! This pen has a cap ring and it is not of steel as it is not attracted to the magnet...and then there's the lever... The Lever: The lever appears to be stainless steel. It also is not your typical Dollar Pen lever at all. It is a lever like one would see on a J Series pen as it has the groove down its center. Based on this, I have modified my theory and am now postulating that this pen is from either the early war years, before the cap ring was eliminated or (more likely) the late war years when material restrictions were relaxed and during the time when the Dollar Pen was about to be phased out for the transition to the J Series. I am not an Esterbrook collector and am not familiar with all of the variants out there. At the present time, I own three SJs, an LJ, two Model Bs (including this one) and a Model H. I would appreciate the input of those of you more familiar with Esterbrooks from the 1930s and 40s. Oh...the nib is a "hard floor victim" 2886. I have a replacement on the way here as I write this. Cliff

I recently got an Estie Dollar Pen on eBay with an 8668 nib, listed among some more mundane Esterbrooks by a non-collector antique dealer who's probably wondering why this pen went for 5 times what the others achieved. I've been going to pen shows for 12 years, the last few as a dealer, with an interest in Esterbrooks, and I'd never encountered an 8000-series nib before. The 8000's are made of a palladium/silver alloy, a World War II artifact from when steel was a critical wartime material and silver and palladium weren't. The nib is black with tarnish, much darker than the photo. I'm curious as to whether the lever, as shiny black as the nib, is also silver/palladium. The lever has a groove running down the middle, like J's and SJs, and unlike the plain flat design of other dollar pen levers, but it has the dollar pen spade bottom rather than the later round bottoms. It's also about 1mm higher on the body than a 30's pen. The cap has a steel clip assembly and looks like a normal dollar pen cap. Could this be a wartime pen? The '40s are really late for a Dollar Pen, but all the pen companies were desperate for product, and I could see them ransacking back rooms and repair parts inventories to see if they could Frankenstein some pens they could sell. If all they needed was a lever, they could get a new palladium/silver one from current production, and the cap would be a prewar backroom find. A few practical questions. Should I remove the tarnish? If yes, Simichrome or Sunshine cloth? How much is the nib worth? Leaving out rarity and collectibility, palladium is now going for almost $3K per ounce, so intrinsic value rears its' ugly head.

At the flea market today I bought a typical silver/grey Esterbrook dollar pen. It had what appeared to be some dried ink on the portion of the barrel covered by the cap. No big deal I thought. A little light cleaning in the ultrasonic cleaner would remove it. When I got home I put it in the ultrasonic cleaner and set the timer for 10 minutes. I checked after the cycle was over and found that the water had turned a turquoise color, but the stain was still there. I did not change the water as I typically do, and set the cycle for another 10 minutes. I went back about an hour later to check. The water was much darker and I could not see the parts. I reached in and was shocked to see that the plastic had changed to the uniform teal color you see in the pic below. I wiped the parts down with a cloth, expecting the color to wipe away, but it did not. The entire pen is now stained. However, I quite like the color. Has anyone had a similar experience?

I bought my first fountain pen at an antique stores a few weeks back. I opened it right when I got home, and found that the section and feed were completely shattered, with the nib rattling around in the cap. I (with difficulty) pulled the section out and found the ink sac to be completely deteriorated, and the rubber plug at the bottom (this being the twist-filler model) to be deteriorated beyond repair. The pen is missing its clip and has a few scratches on the barrel, and the brass on the inside of the barrel where the section was fitted is greenish and slightly corroded. My question is this: how can I reconstruct this pen? It's the perfect shape and balance for me and I love the color. I've been looking up nib units from other brands that might fit (as trying to find another Ingersoll dollar pen is out of the question it seems) and the closest contender has been the Sheaffer No-Nonsense section / nib unit ensemble. Then there's the matter of the plug. I'd have to find a replacement for that as wel. The clip is gone too, but I actually like the way it looks without it. What sections / nib units could I use with my Ingersoll dollar pen? I've resigned myself to making a frankenpen, I just want a section that fits and a nib that isn't too bad. Thanks! The place where the section should be: http://i.imgur.com/HuHBNi6.jpg The complete pen: http://i.imgur.com/vRlL27Q.jpg

http://goo.gl/ZwiWHs "You are bidding on a Very Nice Vintage Black Esterbrook Fountain Pen! Pen Manufacturer: Esterbrook Nib Details: 2442 Oblique Nib Condition of Pen: Very Nice Used Condition Fill Style / System: Lever filler appears to be working" Cost me $18.50 including shipping. I'm no nib expert but I think a 2442 is worth that by itself. YAY ME!

Did Esterbrook ever put gold plated/filled bands on dollar pens? Or could it be that they were brass and all the plating is gone?