How to replace an Esterbrook Sac

[Sasha Royale]

Thank you, Just-Plain-Steve !

 

I save you tutorial to my computer for future reference.

 

I think I will get some #16 sacs, etc. to keep on hand. I will wait for a dull boring day to try it on my three or four

non-functioning Esties.

[Larry Barrieau]

Hi Everyone, Two and a half months ago I found out that there are people who use and collect fountain pens. (My last fountain pen was in 1958 when a cartridge fountain pen was required in school.) I found this place and became fascinated with them. A couple of weeks ago I got this LJ at Ebay and decided to take a crack at it. I am not very mechanically minded so I wasn't sure about it. But I read all that I could here and in 'da book' and around the net. This one was tough, I soaked and heated for three days and nothing was budging. On the fourth day I heard a delightful little 'scrinch' and the section moved and then slid out. I held it in the air like in the Lion King and did a little dance. The only difficult part after that was getting the sac over the nipple because my bumbling hand seemed too large. But I did it.

 

I'd like to thank all of you for the help. Your questions and answers were the keys to my success.

 

I now have two Esties one of which is the loaner from this forum. It's a pretty red J and writes wonderfully. I'll hate to give it back next week. Thank you Bruce and Anthony.

[OcalaFlGuy]

That's a pretty one Larry, welcome to Estieville!

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[Larry Barrieau]

Thanks Bruce, I may go through a lot of pens in this hobby but this one will stay.

[mcc1701]

I just wanted to say how helpful this post was to me. A month or so ago, I picked up a forest green Esterbrook J with a dessicated sac. A week later, I picked up a red on on fleabay. Up until a couple of weeks ago, I had never done any fountain pen repairs, but after this detailed post, I felt (rightly) confident that I could do it myself. I don't have any pictures of my repairs, but I do have the joy of having two working beautiful Esties because of this post.

[scrivelry]

Thanks to everyone's advice in this thread, I resacced a pen last night. Well, ten, actually, because that's how many sacs I had. Four were Esties.I was a little nervous to begin with, but as I followed people's hints and directions it all worked out.

 

I had all of these opened up ahead of time. I have other, more stubborn pens that will need more coaxing.

[madden11]

I was influenced by peer pen-pressure to get an Esterbrook. I kept seeing them on this forum and just HAD to get my hands on one. I finally found one on ebay, placed my bid and won! I am still a new born babe in the fountain pen world, having acquired my very first one just over a month and half ago. Well, the Estie arrived yesterday, and I looked it over with a rather stupefied look on my face, having NO idea what to do with it. I know nothing of sacs and levers. I found out after a quick search, that the black crusty stuff falling out of the barrel every time I raised the "little thingy" on the side, was a fossilized sac. I have never done any tweaking or fixing or resaccing of any pen. This is only my second vintage pen, and I'm excited to start using it, but very nervous about the whole sac thing. I guess my question is...What do I do now? Do I start with buying a #16 sac? Do I need those forceps? Please help!!!

[mcc1701]

  On 3/23/2014 at 8:42 PM, madden11 said:

I was influenced by peer pen-pressure to get an Esterbrook. I kept seeing them on this forum and just HAD to get my hands on one. I finally found one on ebay, placed my bid and won! I am still a new born babe in the fountain pen world, having acquired my very first one just over a month and half ago. Well, the Estie arrived yesterday, and I looked it over with a rather stupefied look on my face, having NO idea what to do with it. I know nothing of sacs and levers. I found out after a quick search, that the black crusty stuff falling out of the barrel every time I raised the "little thingy" on the side, was a fossilized sac. I have never done any tweaking or fixing or resaccing of any pen. This is only my second vintage pen, and I'm excited to start using it, but very nervous about the whole sac thing. I guess my question is...What do I do now? Do I start with buying a #16 sac? Do I need those forceps? Please help!!!

 

If it is a dried sac you have, then you may not need forceps to remove the old sac. You might have to shake out the little pieces out, but you would only need forceps or tweezers if the sac has softened and stuck to the inside of the barrel.

 

You do need a #16 sac, orange shellac, and pure talc (NOT BABY POWDER OR TALCUM POWDER! These have oils added to them, and oil and latex does not mix). I got my supplies (sacs, shellac, and talc) from http://fountainpensacs.com/cement.html. There are probably other places to purchase supplies, but this supplier was quick and on the recipt was a hand written note wishing me luck with my repairs.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Madden, you can probably do without the forceps especially if the j-bar is in the correct position and not rusty. You could probably get a j-bar out with a piece of coat hanger if you had to.

 

Odds are a couple light raps open end down on the table will shake out most of the chips. If there is a sac tray inside, don't mess with it.

 

This thread tells you most of what you need to do, the OP did an exemplary job with it.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[Guest Ray Cornett]

My first sac job was an Esterbrook dollar pen a couple months ago. The sac came out 90-95% in one piece. The J bar was still shiny brass. Same goes for a Sheaffer Fineline I did the same night. I was so lucky. All in all I had them both done in about 10 minutes. I would have been faster but I fumbled a little with the sac at first. But lever fillers are by far the most simple sac jobs.

Edited March 24, 2014 by Ray Cornett

[FarmBoy]

For what it is worth, Esterbrook J-bars are steel, not brass.

Edited March 24, 2014 by FarmBoy

[Guest Ray Cornett]

  On 3/24/2014 at 6:48 AM, FarmBoy said:

For what it is worth, Esterbrook J-bars are steel, not brass.

Guess maybe it was stained then? It definitely had a brass color to it as you can see on the top edge. Or maybe it had been replaced decades ago?

[OcalaFlGuy]

  On 3/24/2014 at 9:02 AM, Ray Cornett said:

Guess maybe it was stained then? It definitely had a brass color to it as you can see on the top edge. Or maybe it had been replaced decades ago?

 

  On 3/24/2014 at 6:48 AM, FarmBoy said:

For what it is worth, Esterbrook J-bars are steel, not brass.

 

The emphasis being on "Esterbrook" j-bar. I'm not sure that is one of those. (Closer up pic?) It looks wider than it should be

 

Might have gotten it from the same place they found those funky white sacs...

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[Guest Ray Cornett]

  On 3/24/2014 at 3:21 PM, OcalaFlGuy said:

 

 

The emphasis being on "Esterbrook" j-bar. I'm not sure that is one of those. (Closer up pic?) It looks wider than it should be

 

Might have gotten it from the same place they found those funky white sacs...

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

If this is not an original J bar the replacement had to have been done decades ago. The pen was found in a box of other pens and pencils in my fiances fathers house after he passed. They were most likely his mothers pens. The sac was hard as a rock and the J bar was frozen until the sac came out so anything done to it was in no way recent.I would get a better picture but I finished it a couple months ago.

[madden11]

Thanks for your help guys. I'm off to get some Estie accessories. And perhaps pick up an additional pen that I've been eyeing. It's identical to the one I have, but has been restored and a new bladder (is that the same thing as a sac? Good Lord, I'm Estie-ignorant!) Anyway, I cant wait to get my first one all sac'd up and inked up and ready to show off!

[xian112]

Used this tutorial last weekend to good effect. Thanks.

[Hardcase]

What an excellent tutorial! I replaced the sac in this desk pen in just a few minutes. Fighting to separate the barrel from the section was the hardest part!

 

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o715/drew_dunn1/desk_pen_zps2922ed32.jpg

 

(Wow, that is one grimy keyboard!)

[Uncle Bud]

Hi Chiro75,

 

This has REALLY helped me on my first estie sac replacement. Instructions were super clear and made the job, except getting the section off really easy, that section was a drag though, took ages. Thanks again.

[Chiro75]

I'm so glad people are finding my instructions useful, still! Thanks for the feedback!

[Auspice]

I need to buy the things to replace the sac on the A101 I picked up for $12. so nervous about doing so!