My first Estie

[Ghost Writer]

Welcome to Estieville! Looks like you got a really nice pen as your first Estie and +1 on your custom case. Great idea!

[OcalaFlGuy]

dragos.mocanu Please consider putting a small label on the outside of your case with your last name and phone number on it. Especially if the case ever leaves your house.

 

I would rather hear that you were glad you did later on than hear you wish you had...

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[dragos.mocanu]

dragos.mocanu Please consider putting a small label on the outside of your case with your last name and phone number on it. Especially if the case ever leaves your house.

 

I would rather hear that you were glad you did later on than hear you wish you had...

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

Thanks for the compliment but I really don't know what good it would do. If I lose it (God forbid)and anyone finds it, I don't think they would return it...

Edited February 21, 2013 by dragos.mocanu

[ZachWasniak]

I just ordered my first Estie a couple hours ago. It's a 1950 Mother of Pearl... Hopefully I like it!

[pajaro]

I just ordered my first Estie a couple hours ago. It's a 1950 Mother of Pearl... Hopefully I like it!

Oh, you'll like it. You will find it's versatility and the variety of nibs it can take to be awesome. If I had discovered these before Parker 51s, Montblanc 144s and 146s and Pelikans, I wouldn't have bought any of them, probably. Pelikan had a good idea with interchangeable nibs, but Esterbrook made superb nibs that are affordable. You'll like it.

[Rob G]

Well, here it is, four years after starting this thread... I haven't posted for quite a while.

 

I did wind up buying all of the colors, and I have quite a batch of nibs, as well. To tell you the truth, I'd give most of them away, if someone would come and get them (I do not deliver!), because I've settled on these three Js, which I still use all of the time.

 

1. Red with 9460.

2. Blue with 9968.

3. Black "Ma Bell" with 9668. (My favorite.)

 

They are all hand-ground by me to a cursive-italic config, and all of them are smoother than a baby's butt.

Edited March 9, 2013 by Rob G

[shakin_jake]

Interesting that you ground the nibs Rob. BTW, the pen I use 95% of the time is a Pilot 78G with the B (stub) nib. I just like the way it writes. I don't compose letters with it, I use it to sign simple things like cc reciepts, make grocery lists or general notes to myself

 

I have to ask...since you have three different nibs onm your j series pens, do they write differently from one another although they're ground the same?

 

 

And if you don't mind answering...how did you go about grinding the nibs down? I'm going to guess you did it by hand using sandpaper of sorts...something extremely fine taking your time?

 

 

Best,

 

 

Jake

Reddick Fla.

[Rob G]

I have to ask...since you have three different nibs onm your j series pens, do they write differently from one another although they're ground the same?

 

And if you don't mind answering...how did you go about grinding the nibs down? I'm going to guess you did it by hand using sandpaper of sorts...something extremely fine taking your time?

 

I use GatorGrit 1500 wet/dry sandpaper for the rough cut, and 3M Microfinishing Film 362L (9 micron) for the finishing, both on a hard flat surface. The 1500 comes from the local hardware store; the 3M from John Neal, Bookseller. Instructions can be found here.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Rob G

[shakin_jake]

Thanks for the link Rob, that looks like somthing well within my grasp, in that I have hones I use for maintaining straight razor edges, including lapping film I could use at the end for polishing

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5325/6954004140_7c7426c616_c.jpg

 

 

 

Best,

 

 

Jake

Reddick Fla.

[Inkysloth]

Having read that Esterbrook nibs were interchangeable with Osmiroid - and I found a working Osmiroid 65 at a local fleamarket - I ordered an Esterbrook 1555 nib which arrived yesterday, and writes beautifully,

 

Of course that led to me combing Ebay, and whilst I was awake in the middle of the night I had "just one quick look" and saw this one: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/e11003.m43.l3160/7?euid=f5d3c48754584445ab486f428551c623&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D370773939841%26ssPageName%3DADME%3AB%3AEOIBSA%3AGB%3A3160

 

I won that bid, so now I just have to wait... That looks like an Esterbrook J to me - is that correct?

 

I'm well amd truly bitten by the vintage pen bug.

[shakin_jake]

Having read that Esterbrook nibs were interchangeable with Osmiroid - and I found a working Osmiroid 65 at a local fleamarket - I ordered an Esterbrook 1555 nib which arrived yesterday, and writes beautifully,Of course that led to me combing Ebay, and whilst I was awake in the middle of the night I had "just one quick look" and saw this one: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/e11003.m43.l3160/7?euid=f5d3c48754584445ab486f428551c623&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D370773939841%26ssPageName%3DADME%3AB%3AEOIBSA%3AGB%3A3160I won that bid, so now I just have to wait... That looks like an Esterbrook J to me - is that correct?I'm well amd truly bitten by the vintage pen bug.

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6210/6105523274_f9e57b1749_z.jpg

 

 

looks an awful lot like my J doesn't it?

 

cept' perhaps the base of the filler lever on mine is round, yours has a different shape at the base of the filler lever, and although the photo I posted here does not show a clear view of the clip...it's the same as yours

 

Do enjoy writing with your Estie!

 

 

 

Best,

 

 

Jake

Reddick Fla.

[Inkysloth]

 

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6210/6105523274_f9e57b1749_z.jpg

 

looks an awful lot like my J doesn't it?

 

cept' perhaps the base of the filler lever on mine is round, yours has a different shape at the base of the filler lever, and although the photo I posted here does not show a clear view of the clip...it's the same as yours

 

Do enjoy writing with your Estie!

 

Best,

 

Jake

Reddick Fla.

 

It does indeed!

 

The nib feed looks to extend beyond the tip of the nib... if this isn't something I can repair myself I'm glad the nibs are easily replaced!

 

Thanks Jake I'm really looking forward to it arriving. I'm trying to work out what ink I should fill it with. And what I need to stick on Ebay next to fund my habit!

 

Best wishes

 

Robin

[Unkas]

I knew I never should have gone to this forum

 

Now I have a sudden craving for lever fillers and especially red Esterbrooks!

 

I'll have to see if I can hunt one down with a XF/F nib on the bay and hopefully find one that ships to Sweden and doesn't end in the middle of the night :roflmho:

[TheGreatRoe]

I ordered my first Esterbrook off the FPN classifieds about 4 weeks ago--a Dollar Pen with a 1550--but as it's coming from Poland, it's not here yet. So this past week I ordered another one, this time a J with a 9556. And since that one was only in Pennsylvania it got here much faster.

 

So here is my first Esterbrook, and my first vintage pen.

http://www.dcroe.com/images/EstieJ.jpg

[Unkas]

I ordered my first Esterbrook off the FPN classifieds about 4 weeks ago--a Dollar Pen with a 1550--but as it's coming from Poland, it's not here yet. So this past week I ordered another one, this time a J with a 9556. And since that one was only in Pennsylvania it got here much faster.

 

So here is my first Esterbrook, and my first vintage pen.

http://www.dcroe.com/images/EstieJ.jpg

 

Congratulations on a very beautiful vintage pen! I love the red

 

I hope it writes as well as it looks!

[danleaf]

So today has changed my life.

 

the first time I have held, owned and written with an Esterbrook !!

 

so great, they really are a warm cookie on a rainy day.

 

http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/936228_522935697752351_470535928_n.jpg

[BernieC]

So I too was bitten by the Esterbrook bug and got my first from E Bay. It is an SJ with a 9550 nib. It was totally gummed up with ink and the sac was toast. A good soak in ammonia and water got rid of the ink easily enough and today the new sac, talc and shellac arrived.

To my astonishment the section was easily removed and cleaned. Getting the old sac remains out of the barrel required another soaking and some prodding with a dental pick, but it is now squeaky clean.

I just finished the re-sac and will ink it tomorrow for its reincarnation and it will more than likely end up in my rotation. The ink will probably be Private Reserve Gray Flannel.

Totally addicted to fountain pens so I know there will be other Esterbrooks in my future.

BernieC

[flyingfox]

I have heard so much about Estie, and was certainly curious, but never had an up-close and personal encounter.

Then- at a flea market in the area today, here!!!

 

 

The price was right, and I just did not have it in me to resist it. Yes- my self-control has a tendency to desert me at a critical moment.

 

I opened up the pen after I came home, and saw that the sac definitely needs to be replaced.

 

Still- I just love my fist Estie and cannot wait to be able to use it!!!

I think it is a J. The nib, incidentally, is 9788, flexible medium.

 

 

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

That a very wanted color And nib. You did Very Well for your first one!

 

Could I ask what you gave for it?

 

One of my Fab(est) Four is a Root Beer J with a ground CI nib in it.

 

PS; You DID ask the seller if he came there often with pens didn't you?

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

Edited June 8, 2013 by OcalaFlGuy

[flyingfox]

Bruce,

 

It was a beginner's luck for sure. When I was looking at it there, I didn't remember the numbers/ nibs I wanted, but Flexible Medium was one of the nibs I was definitely interested in. I was very happy when I came home and saw the chart. I paid $20.- for it (the original price on the tag was $30.-) which seems to be in the reasonable range, at least according to fleaBay.

 

The thing is- the Flea market at that location happens only twice a year. The seller told me that he comes to most of the Flea Markets in the area as well. He mainly sells jewerly and it was the only pen he had, but he told me that he comes across pens once inawhile. And yes, I will definitely be looking for him in the future.