It's Working Again!

[essayfaire]

So this lovely Estie that I was given has been clogged and I have not been able to get it to write for a number of months. It had been leaking a little bit (which I ascribed to my inexperience with eyedropper-filling a used cartouche), and I had put a bit of silicone grease around the places where the body connects to the nib unit. Then I couldn't get it to write at all.

 

Usually, when I am doing my pen maintenance, I will fiddle with it a bit. Yesterday, on a lark, I placed its nib on a paper towel that I had just used to blot up a bit of ginger tea. Although I had previously tried capillary action, for some reason this time the ink began to flow again.

 

I don't know if it was the ginger, time or something else, but I am quite grateful to have this pen working again as it is a pleasure to use and had been very reliable.

 

 

[PAKMAN]

It's always nice to bring an old friend back into active use! Congrats!

[essayfaire]

It's always nice to bring an old friend back into active use! Congrats!

Thank you! It's actually a new old friend, as I've had it less than a year even though it isn't a new pen.

[PaFitch]

You mentioned the use of silicone. It brings both blessings and curses. A loose smear where it shouldn't be can prevent a pen from working just as a careful application helps a pen write (e.g. a light application to a snorkel shaft).

 

A pen that works is always a delight. Sometimes figuring out how to make a pen write can be a delight too.

[gweimer1]

Very cool! Is that an Esterbrook A-101? I like those.

[essayfaire]

Very cool! Is that an Esterbrook A-101? I like those.

I got it from you! I like it very much, which is why I was sad when I suddenly started having problems with it. It seems to be behaving again now.

[Estycollector]

I got it from you! I like it very much, which is why I was sad when I suddenly started having problems with it. It seems to be behaving again now.

[essayfaire]

So now it isn't working again, I'm afraid. I flushed it and tried to make it happy, but I fear it may have a crack somewhere. Here are some pictures; I'm not sure if the divot in the feed section is normal for Esties or not. Any advice?