Just bought an Esterbrook J, and this was exactly the information I need to identify which one I have (when it gets here). Thanks for sharing your incredible knowledge, Stef!
I've just inherited my great grandmother's black Esterbrook LJ with a perfect working/soft bladder inside. I must say, I have a few very expensive fountain pens, but this one is my new favourite and still writes like butter, and with beautiful line variation. It's the perfect size for my pocket (5 in exactly, when capped), and as I said, has beautiful line variation from thin to thick without being an overly flexible "calligraphy" nib. Thanks for the video and in helping me identify my great grandma's pen!
Thank you. I was looking for this information. Some of the other videos I found were a bit confusing. This was very clear and well-presented. Again, thanks.
I received one as a gift from a friend, with 2 vintage nibs. Thank you very much for a very clear explanation of how to identify the different sizes: this video was excellent!
I was watching Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" and Tippi Hedren's character used an Esterbrook J fountain pen (green) to write "To Cathy" on the front of a birthday card. Cool, huh?
Only being into the fountain pen hobby for about 6 months now I just started dipping my toes into Vintage pens. Just this month I bought my first vintage pens, the first was a Waterman Crusader with an open 5A nib that I had to resack which was my first venture into doing anything to a vintage pen, It turned out good but the nib needs some work as it hard starts quite a bit. And then the 3 vintage pens in a lot which ended up being A fineline, a wearever, and an Esterbrook. The finline ended up being cracked on the threads where the section goes into the pen body but I did some makeshift repairs to hopefully keep it from getting worse. And the wearever is nice but feels kind of cheap. The Esterbrook needed a bladder so I took the nib unit out and let it soak overnight as the section was stuck into the pen good and then the next day carefully used my heating gun to heat the section up to around 140 degrees (using a turkey thermometer lol) and replaced the sack and put it back together and let it dry over night. When I tried the pen the next day I fell in love. Out of the vintage pens I have so far even including the Waterman with the gold nib I love this little Esterbrook! I had no idea what model it was though so thank you for this video! Using my cheap Harborfreight analog calipers the pen is about 120 mm capped so I would guess then it is the SJ model or the same as the grey one you have in the video other than mine is the later version with the Esterbrook and the R symbol and Made in USA and mine is plain black. The only thing I don't love about the pen is the section is very thin and my hand cramps after a while with such a thin section, so now I want to find a standard J model. I love the watermen pen I had also because the nib is nice and soft and its a stub but the waterman body feels very cheap, the esterbrook feel like a solid pen. I think I am addicted to these esterbrook pens, I will have to get a Model J and see how the pen feels in my hand compared to my small version as like I said the section is just a little to thin. Very Nice video and thank you for the information, always nice to see good informational videos online.
+Gamingoodz Sounds like you have busy, well done. Why not try and collect all the Esterbrook models and colours. There are some lovely examples out there.
Yes I have been :) , I would love to collect a bunch of them but I'm always broke. I went back to school here at 30 yrs old and just dont have the time for work while going through school so money is always very tight with no guaranteed income. I try to keep an eye on eBay constantly for deals of maybe someone selling one for super cheap that I can fix up but those seem to get snatched up very quickly but folks in the business of repairing and selling vintage pens.
Grandmia Pens The Sheaffer's Snorkel I got has the two tone 14k nib not the Palladium silver that was shown in your video. After watching your video on servicing the Snorkel pen I was wondering how you generally apply heat to loosen the shellac without damaging the pen. I have yet to see a video where the actual heating process is shown. Any thing you could share would be great.
Mob Mentality Take a look at other videos, i do actually show how to apply heat to remove the section. It maybe a different pen but the procedure is the same.
Thank you for the information. Mine have "R" after "Esterbrook" but also "made in U.S.A." Were they also made around the same time period? in the second lone. I restored two red ones of the same series, a standard J and one with thinner barrel (LJ), 15 years ago and filled them with Widow Maker red ink. Yesterday I took them out and started to use them again. The body can be polished for a shiny newish look. The vintage nibs, although steel, have slight flex, so not as smooth as the modern replaceable Lamy nibs I have even after grinding but give a little line variation. I think I got 5 Esterbrook pens as a lot from an ebay seller in the states and ruined one during restoration.
How do you know if your "J" is a transitional? My two are double jeweled, full size "J" pens. Both have "ESTERBROOK ®" over "MADE IN USA" engraved (or molded) on the barrel. I have the same green as yours, and the copper colored. Nibs are a 9461 Rigid Fine (copper) and a 2556 Firm Fine in the green. (I have a 9556 Firm Fine, but it is 180° off of lining up with the feed lever. The 2556 lines up with the feed lever, so I use it. The 9461 also lines up with the fill lever. I use Noodlers Bulletproof Black in the copper colored pen. Noodlers 54th MASS. Blue-Black is in the green. (until I find a waterproof/water resistant green-black ink.) They are two of my favorite vintage user fountain pens that I have.
You covered them well. 😁 My first fountain pen was a grey double jewel Esterbrook J (I forget what nib. It was 1983. 😁) And it's gotten me into trying to collect them, from the "Dollar" pens through the double jewel J series and the C series purse pens. (Not sure if I'll get into the Deluxe or newer, as the plastic just isn't that good. An issue that kind of started around the time of the C series purse pens...) Some lovely examples!
I just got into repairing vintage FP. Making some mistakes but learning. Strangely I find pen repair extremely relaxing and satisfying. Do find this also? Thanks.
Enjoyed your detailed look at this classic.
chrisrap52 Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
Just bought an Esterbrook J, and this was exactly the information I need to identify which one I have (when it gets here). Thanks for sharing your incredible knowledge, Stef!
Glad I could help! Enjoy your pen.
I've just inherited my great grandmother's black Esterbrook LJ with a perfect working/soft bladder inside. I must say, I have a few very expensive fountain pens, but this one is my new favourite and still writes like butter, and with beautiful line variation. It's the perfect size for my pocket (5 in exactly, when capped), and as I said, has beautiful line variation from thin to thick without being an overly flexible "calligraphy" nib. Thanks for the video and in helping me identify my great grandma's pen!
Im glad it was helpful for you, keep enjoying the pen. Thanks for watching.
Thank you. I was looking for this information. Some of the other videos I found were a bit confusing. This was very clear and well-presented. Again, thanks.
Im glad it was useful to you, thanks for watching.
I received one as a gift from a friend, with 2 vintage nibs. Thank you very much for a very clear explanation of how to identify the different sizes: this video was excellent!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching.
I was watching Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" and Tippi Hedren's character used an Esterbrook J fountain pen (green) to write "To Cathy" on the front of a birthday card. Cool, huh?
That's interesting and very observant, well done.
You helped me so much! Thank you
Im glad i have been of help to you Michele.
Exactly what I wanted to know.
Here I was thinking that the "L" stood for LONG...
Thanx.
Im glad it was useful to you. Thanks for watching.
Only being into the fountain pen hobby for about 6 months now I just started dipping my toes into Vintage pens. Just this month I bought my first vintage pens, the first was a Waterman Crusader with an open 5A nib that I had to resack which was my first venture into doing anything to a vintage pen, It turned out good but the nib needs some work as it hard starts quite a bit. And then the 3 vintage pens in a lot which ended up being A fineline, a wearever, and an Esterbrook. The finline ended up being cracked on the threads where the section goes into the pen body but I did some makeshift repairs to hopefully keep it from getting worse. And the wearever is nice but feels kind of cheap. The Esterbrook needed a bladder so I took the nib unit out and let it soak overnight as the section was stuck into the pen good and then the next day carefully used my heating gun to heat the section up to around 140 degrees (using a turkey thermometer lol) and replaced the sack and put it back together and let it dry over night. When I tried the pen the next day I fell in love. Out of the vintage pens I have so far even including the Waterman with the gold nib I love this little Esterbrook! I had no idea what model it was though so thank you for this video! Using my cheap Harborfreight analog calipers the pen is about 120 mm capped so I would guess then it is the SJ model or the same as the grey one you have in the video other than mine is the later version with the Esterbrook and the R symbol and Made in USA and mine is plain black. The only thing I don't love about the pen is the section is very thin and my hand cramps after a while with such a thin section, so now I want to find a standard J model. I love the watermen pen I had also because the nib is nice and soft and its a stub but the waterman body feels very cheap, the esterbrook feel like a solid pen. I think I am addicted to these esterbrook pens, I will have to get a Model J and see how the pen feels in my hand compared to my small version as like I said the section is just a little to thin. Very Nice video and thank you for the information, always nice to see good informational videos online.
+Gamingoodz Sounds like you have busy, well done. Why not try and collect all the Esterbrook models and colours. There are some lovely examples out there.
Yes I have been :) , I would love to collect a bunch of them but I'm always broke. I went back to school here at 30 yrs old and just dont have the time for work while going through school so money is always very tight with no guaranteed income. I try to keep an eye on eBay constantly for deals of maybe someone selling one for super cheap that I can fix up but those seem to get snatched up very quickly but folks in the business of repairing and selling vintage pens.
Excellent video very helpful. I'm still considering getting the 9128 nib for my copper J.
Mob Mentality Glad you enjoyed it. Stop considering the nib and go for it and enjoy it.
Mob Mentality Ahh ! A Sheaffer Snorkel that's not a bad trade off.
Grandmia Pens The Sheaffer's Snorkel I got has the two tone 14k nib not the Palladium silver that was shown in your video. After watching your video on servicing the Snorkel pen I was wondering how you generally apply heat to loosen the shellac without damaging the pen. I have yet to see a video where the actual heating process is shown. Any thing you could share would be great.
Mob Mentality Take a look at other videos, i do actually show how to apply heat to remove the section. It maybe a different pen but the procedure is the same.
Thank you for the information. Mine have "R" after "Esterbrook" but also "made in U.S.A." Were they also made around the same time period? in the second lone. I restored two red ones of the same series, a standard J and one with thinner barrel (LJ), 15 years ago and filled them with Widow Maker red ink. Yesterday I took them out and started to use them again. The body can be polished for a shiny newish look. The vintage nibs, although steel, have slight flex, so not as smooth as the modern replaceable Lamy nibs I have even after grinding but give a little line variation. I think I got 5 Esterbrook pens as a lot from an ebay seller in the states and ruined one during restoration.
Thanks for watching. Yes use them and enjoy them as they were intended to be used. Good luck.
How do you know if your "J" is a transitional?
My two are double jeweled, full size "J" pens. Both have "ESTERBROOK ®" over "MADE IN USA" engraved (or molded) on the barrel.
I have the same green as yours, and the copper colored.
Nibs are a 9461 Rigid Fine (copper) and a 2556 Firm Fine in the green. (I have a 9556 Firm Fine, but it is 180° off of lining up with the feed lever. The 2556 lines up with the feed lever, so I use it. The 9461 also lines up with the fill lever.
I use Noodlers Bulletproof Black in the copper colored pen. Noodlers 54th MASS. Blue-Black is in the green. (until I find a waterproof/water resistant green-black ink.)
They are two of my favorite vintage user fountain pens that I have.
Esterbrook pens are great to collect and use so enjoy your pens. Thanks
You covered them well. 😁
My first fountain pen was a grey double jewel Esterbrook J (I forget what nib. It was 1983. 😁) And it's gotten me into trying to collect them, from the "Dollar" pens through the double jewel J series and the C series purse pens. (Not sure if I'll get into the Deluxe or newer, as the plastic just isn't that good. An issue that kind of started around the time of the C series purse pens...)
Some lovely examples!
Thanks Paul, it sound like you have an interesting collection so well done. Enjoy your pens.
Very helpful video. Thanks! Great looking pens as well!
Glad it was helpful Tim. Thanks for watching.
I just got into repairing vintage FP. Making some mistakes but learning. Strangely I find pen repair extremely relaxing and satisfying. Do find this also? Thanks.
Hi Stan, i hope your not making the mistakes with expensive pens ? Practice with cheap pens first. Good luck.
I have the silver one I really wish I had the green one also because I have the matching mechanical pencil
They are great pens Mark, im sure you will find yourself a green one soon. Good luck.
Grandmia Pens I found one in great condition. It will arrive tomorrow. My set will be completed!!
if you don't mind me asking what brand of ink were you using in this video?
The same ink i have always used, my own mix of vintage Parker Quink. Thanks.
Grandmia Pens thank you. beautiful ink!
Grandmia Pens I just picked up one of these pens. thank you for the informative video.
Thank you for watching.
Thats great, enjoy your new pen.
What is length is J version when capped?
Sorry i do not have one available to measure. A search online will give you your answer. Good luck.
Beautiful
Thank you! Cheers!
Mine is made in USA, not England...
Yes they were made in USA as well as England so not to worry.