Look What Showed Up With The Christmas Company!

[essayfaire]

Hi everyone,

 

I was so excited after winning a lovely Estie J firm fine from gweimer1' s generous PIF; I told my family about it. My mother showed up for Christmas to show (possible give?) two Esties that she had found but hadn't used in years even though she loved them. The silver one is mine. Her's are both relief oblique nibs. One I believe is an A101, as it doesn't have a lever-fill. The other seems slimmer but the same length as my J, so I'm not sure what model it is. My mother believes she had one and then bought the other one for herself as a special present.

 

I'm trying to figure out which pen is older, and as I'm a fine nib type of person, how a relief nib differs from a normal oblique.

 

I love a good Christmas pen mystery! The cap on the A101 has a crack, but otherwise the pens seem to be in good shape; I'm going to try to get them inked up today. Wonder if I need to flush first... it's been decades since they had any ink in them.

[gweimer1]

Nice pens. The blue one is an icicle, and looks to be an LJ. The green one is an A101 if it's a squeeze fill, and a CA101 if it takes a cartridge. I love the A101 pens. What nibs are on them?

[essayfaire]

Nice pens. The blue one is an icicle, and looks to be an LJ. The green one is an A101 if it's a squeeze fill, and a CA101 if it takes a cartridge. I love the A101 pens. What nibs are on them?

The green (A101) is a 2314B (relief broad oblique) and the other I believe was a 2314M (I successfully inked that one up and it is now in my mother's purse). I'm not quite sure what the difference between a "relief" oblique is and a regular oblique; they both look fat and uneven relative to all my pens!

 

I plan on flushing the icicle today and seeing if I have better luck inking it up. If I don't, I may need to send it somewhere to get repaired.

[melissa59]

essayfaire, it is quite likely that your pen just needs a new sac. It is supposedly easy to this yourself but I've not yet tried on my own pens for fear of breaking something.

 

gweimer1, do the icicle pens ever come in a standard J size, either in the double jewel or transitional?

 

Edited to add an Esterbrook pen restoration video link:

Edited December 24, 2019 by melissa59

[corgicoupe]

I believe icicles are all LJ size. Gary Weimer might be willing to restore it for you; if not, Danny Fudge at TheWritePen would be a good choice.

[gweimer1]

If you need it restored, I can do that. Just PM me if interested.

[antoniosz]

I believe icicles are all LJ size. Gary Weimer might be willing to restore it for you; if not, Danny Fudge at TheWritePen would be a good choice.

There are short (SJ) icicles also. Actually less frequent than their longer siblings

[corgicoupe]

But they are all skinny.

[corgicoupe]

gweimer knows his Esterbrooks, so that would be an excellent choice.

[essayfaire]

Thank y'all. I don't trust myself to fix the pen. I will be sending it off. Danny Fudge did a fine job on a vintage Parker for me, but I think the Estie will head to Gweimer.

[corgicoupe]

Since Gary offered, I think you've made a wise choice.

[essayfaire]

Since Gary offered, I think you've made a wise choice.

It's very clear that he's an Estie expert! I was able to get the LJ (if that's what it is) working for my mother, so at least she has one to play with in the meantime.