How to replace an Esterbrook Sac

[OakIris]

Congratulations, hankosaurus and Jon for successfully resacing your pens. I am an old hand at this now, having resaced all of 3 pens. I still approach it with some trepidation - the scary part being removing the section to get to the sac - but this thread and the great tutorial certainly took the mystery away and encouraged me to give it a try in the first place.

 

@pen2paper - I am not sure I will ever work on any fountain pens except "easy" lever fillers so I admire your bravery and wish you all the best with your Snorkel repair. I imagine you have already seen this or have other resources, but just in case, here is a thread that might be useful: Sheaffer Snorkel Repair

 

Holly

[JonSzanto]

Number Two is in the bag! And I'm still not going the easy route with an Estie - last night it was putting a sac in an amazing little Conklin Endura ringtop in wood grain HR. The pen, capped is only 4.5 inches long, the sac ended up just about 2.2 inches in length. Won't hold a lot of ink, but it has the most *amazing* flexible 14k nib:

 

 

I've got a very small, light-weight vise that I can clamp to the desk. I wrap the section in some 'spider-web' foam (used for non-skid purposes), which allows me to hold it still without putting undue pressure on it, wipe on the shellac, stretch the end of the sac over the nipple, make sure it is straight, and I'm done! Far less problem than I thought! Yay for Easy Pen Restoration!

[OakIris]

Beautiful looking pen, Jon, and an equally lovely nib. Congratulations!

 

Talk about small ink capacity - I have a Wahl-Eversharp Bantam bulb filler, I think the bulb (sac) is about an inch long - maybe? Not much ink at all, but the pen has a lovely fine gold nib and writes very, very smoothly. No flex, though, at least that I have seen. I actually sent this to Danny Fudge for repair, wanted the pen checked out as it had been sitting unused for probably 70+ years. (I inherited it from my father's family, have no idea when it was last used.) Other than the of course thoroughly desicated sac, everything was fine. Now I know how easy it will be if I ever have to replace the sac again, especially since you don't even have to worry about removing the section on these bulb fillers.

 

I like your use of the vise to hold the section while you install the sac and may have to look further into that. Any brand or size that you recommend?

 

Holly

[danleaf]

Thanks so much ...@-----}-------- i have just repaird my first three esties... total of 7 in my family...

 

they all have names.

 

green big estie, grey big estie, big blue, fine red estie, and unique copper estie,

then littl' blue and littl' grey.

 

wawawa

 

http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/482642_522922537753667_511085945_n.jpg

[Shadefang]

This thread's been amazingly helpful. Managed to get my pen apart and the old sac removed, which seems like it'd be the hard part for me (will find out later). Just need to order a sac and some shellac, assuming I can get the nib cleaned out.

[ac12]

Thanks for the good instructions.

I am getting ready to do my first sac replacement.

To me the unknown old sac in the pen is better replaced than used and then later it springs a leak.

I used an Ungar heat gun to remove the section, but I'm going to get an embossing heat gun. The Ungar produces too much heat, as it is meant for heat shrink tubing.

 

Also thanks for how to "watch" a topic.

Now I don't have to keep extra tabs open in my browser.

[HenryH]

freddy77: I had a Wearever lever filler purchased new in late 1970's that suddenly started to drool ink. Took it apart; sac was perfectly pliable, I saw nothing untoward until I bent the sac 90 degrees to the nipple and noticed a slight defect - there was a tear right where the sac stretches over the nipple - at the point of greatest stress - that was allowing a a small amout of air to bleed in, and thus ink to bleed out through the feed. Re-sac'd and fine.

The take away here is that depending on the quality of the "rubber" the material of the unstressed sac may remain pliable but may not withstand stress too well - i.e. stretching over the nipple, and that will be the point where it breaks, even though the unstressed part remains flexible.

[Chiro75]

What is meant by "CAUTION! Resacing pens causes them to shrink and lighten. Dramatically!"?

 

Does the barrel actually shrink?

 

 

Sorry, lame attempt at humor. You'll notice the pen I started the tutorial with was a black J and then I switched to a putty colored purse pen (SJ), so I was kidding that it got lighter and shrank. Lame, I know. LOL

[Chiro75]

BTW what is did you mean by "non-blowed" PET bottle? I get the PET part, but "non-blowed" has me a little confused.

 

Catching up on questions a year late. I guess I need to check this discussion once in a while! LOLOL

 

I meant what are called "plastic bottle preforms" because these are heated and blown out to form 2-liter (or other size) plastic bottles. They are like nice, solid, capped, plastic test tubes, more or less. Regular soda caps from 2-liter bottles fit on them. Here's a link to see what the heck I am talking about...

 

http://www.teachersource.com/product/preforms-and-caps/chemistry

[rcksil]

Just read this since I am planning on trying to do one. Thanks for the tutorial.

 

Rick

[ac12]

freddy77: I had a Wearever lever filler purchased new in late 1970's that suddenly started to drool ink. Took it apart; sac was perfectly pliable, I saw nothing untoward until I bent the sac 90 degrees to the nipple and noticed a slight defect - there was a tear right where the sac stretches over the nipple - at the point of greatest stress - that was allowing a a small amout of air to bleed in, and thus ink to bleed out through the feed. Re-sac'd and fine.

The take away here is that depending on the quality of the "rubber" the material of the unstressed sac may remain pliable but may not withstand stress too well - i.e. stretching over the nipple, and that will be the point where it breaks, even though the unstressed part remains flexible.

 

Henry

That thought has gotten me to change my thinking. Now ALL old sac pens that I buy get their sac replaced.

This way, I KNOW that I have a good sac on the pen, and don't have to worry about the sac failing for the next 15 years.

I figure the hardest part was pulling the section, to inspect the sac. If I went to all that trouble, replacing the sac is just a bit more work, and gives me more peace of mind.

[OcalaFlGuy]

freddy77: I had a Wearever lever filler purchased new in late 1970's that suddenly started to drool ink. Took it apart; sac was perfectly pliable, I saw nothing untoward until I bent the sac 90 degrees to the nipple and noticed a slight defect - there was a tear right where the sac stretches over the nipple - at the point of greatest stress - that was allowing a a small amout of air to bleed in, and thus ink to bleed out through the feed. Re-sac'd and fine.

The take away here is that depending on the quality of the "rubber" the material of the unstressed sac may remain pliable but may not withstand stress too well - i.e. stretching over the nipple, and that will be the point where it breaks, even though the unstressed part remains flexible.

 

 

 

Henry

That thought has gotten me to change my thinking. Now ALL old sac pens that I buy get their sac replaced.

This way, I KNOW that I have a good sac on the pen, and don't have to worry about the sac failing for the next 15 years.

I figure the hardest part was pulling the section, to inspect the sac. If I went to all that trouble, replacing the sac is just a bit more work, and gives me more peace of mind.

 

Re; Henry's post. If you'll search Estieville for "pressure test" you should bump into how I pressure test my used pen sacs. Easy Peasy. I think it would have caught this defect as it has caught similar "hidden" sac issues for me. I am confident that sacs that pass are safe at least for the immediate future.

 

Resac every new arrival is The Gospel According to Kathleen, one of the regulars here. I won't say that I fully subscribe myself, but I sure can't argue against it.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[remaker]

I'm curious to know if the nib unit is made to be taken apart? Can you separate the nib and feed from the collar, say to swap out the nib with another estie nib?

[pajaro]

You have to knock the nib and feed out of the collar using a knock-out block, a block of wood with different sizes of holes drilled through. Best to put the nib into a spare section. Select a hole in the block that's smaller than the section but large enough for the feed and nib to fall through, and the block has to be thicker than the length of the nib, or else it gets smashed. Use a punch and hammer to knock the feed out.

[ac12]

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I'm curious to know if the nib unit is made to be taken apart? Can you separate the nib and feed from the collar, say to swap out the nib with another estie nib?

 

The nib unit is NOT made to be taken apart.

But it can be.

HOWEVER, the problem is that some of nib units are secured by either a pin or a crimp into a notch in the feed.

The ones secured by a pin, need to have the pin removed first.

The crimp in the notch you might get away with knocking thru it.

 

You have to knock the nib and feed out of the collar using a knock-out block, a block of wood with different sizes of holes drilled through. Best to put the nib into a spare section. Select a hole in the block that's smaller than the section but large enough for the feed and nib to fall through, and the block has to be thicker than the length of the nib, or else it gets smashed. Use a punch and hammer to knock the feed out.

 

Almost exactly as pajaro said.

I would add the following 2 steps.

 

Step 1 - Remove the securing pin, if it is in the nib assembly.

Step 2 - Soak the collar of the nib assembly in HOT water to make it softer and more pliable when you knock out the feed.

 

I would say you NEED to put the nib assembly into a spare section. The nib collar is too small to support in a knock out block, so you need the section to support the collar in the knock out block.

 

[pajaro]

 

Almost exactly as pajaro said.

I would add the following 2 steps.

 

Step 1 - Remove the securing pin, if it is in the nib assembly.

Step 2 - Soak the collar of the nib assembly in HOT water to make it softer and more pliable when you knock out the feed.

 

I would say you NEED to put the nib assembly into a spare section. The nib collar is too small to support in a knock out block, so you need the section to support the collar in the knock out block.

 

The pin is obvious if present, and these are uncommon and old.

 

I have to add about the collar with the pin that these are older, less common nibs. I would rather buy a new NOS nib and knock the feed and nib out of it than fool around with the old pinned collars. Also, if you replace one of those old nibs with a newer nib if, say the nib is worn down, you are making a configuration that is incorrect. Better to just save the old spent nib in the pinned collar as a display and use a new nib. When you buy these nibs they normally come in a nib/feed/collar unit. No reason to go tearing up a nice artifact.

 

 

 

I would skip the hot water and softening of the collar lest the knocking out rip it in a softened state.

Edited February 18, 2014 by pajaro

[ac12]

< I would skip the hot water and softening of the collar lest the knocking out rip it in a softened state. >

 

I agree, that is a risk of softening the collar.

But I was advised that some of the collars have hardened and could crack if not softened.

I guess a visual might give you a clue as to which way to go, heat to soften or not.

 

The other option is to heat the collar and see if you can pull the nib out of the softened collar, then try to rotate the feed so the notch is not holding the feed in the collar. I have not tried this one yet. But maybe will try it on one of my junkers.

Edited February 18, 2014 by ac12

[pajaro]

I am more concerned about the possibility of overheating than damage from gently tapping out the nib and feed when the collar is tightly held by the spare section.

 

Good luck with your experiments with heating the collar to pull the nib and feed out. I tried that at first, because Esterbrook fans seem to like heat for everything. I couldn't remove the nib and feed, though. I stopped short of softening the collar, out of concern that the threads would be deformed.

[TheLacOperon]

What can you substitute for shellac??

[welch]

What can you substitute for shellac??

 

If you can find shellac, don't bother searching for substitutes. In the US, look on-line for:

 

- Brian and Lisa Anderson, moderators of this forum

- Pendemonium

- Ron Zorn (MainStreet Pens)

- Richard Binder's Nashua Pen Spa (probably)

 

Ron Z sells a sticky concoction he calls "thread sealant", but it's not made for attaching an ink sac to a section nipple. Shellac goes on, sticks, and dries. Thread sealant stays sticky for a long time.