The Esterbrook J (and close relatives)

(Ron Gilmour is a fountain pen enthusiast, would-be calligrapher, and librarian. You can find him online at Twitter @gilmour70 and Instagram.)

If there is a Lamy Safari of the vintage fountain pen world, it would probably be the Esterbrook J. Like the Safari, it's inexpensive, comes in a variety of attractive colors, and has easily swappable nibs.

The pen's name comes from the shape of the internal piece that depresses the ink sac when the lever is moved. There are three size variants of the J: the classic J (the largest), the LJ (a bit thinner), and the SJ (both thinner and shorter). You'll also sometimes see models referred to as "transitional," which are basically like the J, but with a slightly different shape and no jewel at the back end of the pen barrel.

(Vocabulary note: "Jewel" refers to ornamental bits at the top of caps or the back end of the pen barrel. They are often strikingly un-jewel-like, as in the Esterbrook J, where they are discs of black plastic.)

This may be a good opportunity to mention something about sizes in vintage pens: they may be smaller than what you're used to. While there were oversize pens produced in Days of Yore, these were less common and so will be more expensive now. Many vintage pens fall in the size range of the Pelikan M2xx/4xx models, which is about the size of the Esterbrook J. If you're used to the larger end of the modern pen spectrum, you may be surprised by the small size and light weight of Esterbrooks and many other vintage pens.

The design of the pen is basic, maybe a little bland, but the celluloid of which they are made is beautiful. The black model looks like most black pens, but the colored ones are amazingly complex, exhibiting depth, vibrancy, texture to rival many far more expensive modern pens. The colors vary a lot. Saying that you have a green Esty isn't saying much: depending on factors either intrinsic to the original manufacture or the storage conditions in which the pen was kept, the greens can vary from sage to pale mint to olive. And the patterning of the material can vary, even on the same pen, from a smooth streakiness to a pronounced rippled appearance sometimes called "snakeskin."

Buying an Esterbrook

These may be the most plentiful vintage pens out there, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding one. Keep an eye on the classified sections of fountain pen websites. If you get impatient, you might even try your luck on an online auction site--just remember to buy from actual pen dealers.

The main thing you'll want to be clear about with a purchase is the condition of the sac. Assuming you're not looking to get into pen repair as a hobby, you'll want a pen in which the sac has been recently replaced, ideally by the person who is selling you the pen. Ink sacs break down and you don't want to find that your new-to-you Esty is full of crunchy bits of ossified sac material and dried ink.

Filling Your Esterbrook

The Esterbrook J and its relatives are lever fillers. There's a little lever on the outside of the pen body. When you open the lever, the "J bar" inside the pen squeezes the sac and air is forced out through the nib. When you return the lever to its flush position, the ink sac is released and re-inflates, drawing in ink.

All you need to do is stick the nib in a bottle of ink, making sure that the entire nib is submerged. Open the lever (you should see or hear bubbling as air is forced out). Now close the lever, leaving the pen in place for a few seconds to allow time for the ink to be drawn up. Repeat this process to get a more complete fill. Wipe off the nib and grip section with a paper towel and you're ready to write.

Cleaning your Esterbrook

Thanks to the removable nib units, Esterbrooks are easier to clean than many other sac-filling pens. If you're a patient person, you can submerge the nib in water and pump the lever gently until the water comes out clean. If you're more thorough or less patient, you can remove the nib unit and rinse out the inside of the sac directly. You might try using a blunt syringe to shoot water into the sac, but, of course, don't poke the sac.

About Those Nibs

You know how you might go into a coffee shop and order something like a full-fat, half-caf, hazelnut latte with an extra shot of vanilla? (Not my thing, but I've seen people do this.) Customization is fun! You're not just ordering a generic cup of Joe--you're ordering this highly specialized drink that you experience as uniquely yours.

Esterbrook figured out this customization thing long before Starbucks. Their interchangeable "Re-New Point" nibs come in dozens of varieties, tailored to specific purposes. They even offered nibs specifically for use with the Gregg shorthand system of writing. The nibs are all steel, but for the most part are of high quality. I've heard of duds, but since new ones are so readily available, even if you have the bad luck of getting an Esty with a bum nib, you can replace it fairly cheaply.

The nib types are designated by four digit numbers. There are patterns to these codes, but I've never bothered to learn them. Just look them up on a chart like this one. The common nib types, like the 2556 "firm fine" on my copper J, are often available for under $10 US, while more exotic nib types like flex and stub nibs can be more expensive.

The nibs work a lot like those on modern Pelikan pens. The nibs and feeds are assembled into units, so you can just screw out the whole nib/feed assembly and screw in a new one. As you do this, grip the nib firmly near the base to avoid twisting the tines.

Further Reading

• Richard Binder's profile page on the Esterbrook Model J Family
• Brian Anderson's Esterbrook.net

Festercrook, the Modern Esterbrook

Phil Olin has added his name to the ever growing list of people on the receiving end of what I like to call the "Robert Rosenberg Experience."

Read Phil's article to learn what many of us in this community have already experienced first hand.

And if you want an Esterbrook Pen, please buy vintage!

Esterbrook SJ Fountain Pen Review

The Esterbrook SJ is the second of the two Esterbrooks I bought at the 2014 Atlanta Pen Show back in April. The first was an Esterbrook Dollar Pen, which I talked about back in May. Like I said then, Esterbrooks weren't on my list when I went to the show, but they snagged me while I was there, and now I'm pretty sure I've caught the bug.

Quick recap

Both of these pens were purchased from Carl Daniel, which I heartily recommend. Carl was friendly, helpful, and taught me a lot about these pens in the few minutes we spoke. He had dozens of Esterbrooks on display at his table, and it took me two or three passes to decide which ones I wanted. More accurately, it started off as picking one pen, but I failed at that goal and ended up deciding on two.

The SJ was the second pen that I picked up from Carl. I had already nabbed the Dollar Pen and spent several minutes looking at and handling the SJ models he had. For some reason, I enjoyed the size and weight of the SJ models compared to the regular J models. After that, I just had to narrow down the color. In the running was a blue, copper, and red model. I ended up going with the red because it caught my attention more out of the bunch. Today, I'm still extremely satisfied with my choice of color, but I'll definitely be expanding my collection to include other nice colors.

The pen

This particular pen came with a 1554 nib installed, which is a really fine nib originally meant for accounting work. With a regular grip and pressure, the line is very similar to a Japanese fine. I guess they designed the fine line to write in those tiny ledger lines. At any rate, it's a great nib considering how old it is. It isn't a new-from-stock nib like my other one, and it's also seen better days. It appears to have some damage to the point, but nothing that causes any performance problems. It's just a bit scratchy on some papers, which is normal anyway given the super-fine point.

Since it's such a fine nib, I don't use it nearly as much as my Dollar Pen. I prefer a smoother, larger nib when doing general writing, so I typically reserve this pen for more detailed stuff. With that said, I really want to find a new nib for the SJ because I want to use it more. Since the nibs are easily swapped, I can find something that suits my writing style and add this pen to the daily rotation.

With any Esterbrook, it can be difficult to pin-point an exact year of production, but this SJ was probably made somewhere between 1948 and the late '50s. Either way, it's doing a remarkable job of staying relevant and delightful. It still blows my mind that a pen this old can still be such an excellent writing instrument.

Size

The SJ is longer and slimmer than the Dollar Pen. The only other fountain pen that has a comparable width is the Hero 529, which the Esterbrook blows out of the water. Personally, I love the form factor. There are times when writing that I wonder if the larger cousin, the J, would fit my hands better, but I can't get over how sleek and modern the SJ design is.

The SJ is just a bit taller than the Dollar Pen, which means it's a small pen. Once posted, both pens are almost identical in overall length. They both feel spectacular in-hand.

Filling mechanism

Like the Dollar Pen, the SJ has a lever filling mechanism. It works just as well as the Dollar Pen, if not a bit better since the lever has more of a grip to it. The SJ lever has a semi-circle shape at the end, while the Dollar Pen has a flat, short grip. My clumsy fingers can operate the SJ lever much easier.

Again, it doesn't hold much ink, but that's not a big deal. At any rate, it's fun to fill and is hassle- and mess-free.

Writing

I've touched on it a bit already, but I'll go into some more detail about the writing experience with this pen and nib.

The nib is super-fine, and makes a crisp, sharp line. I currently have it inked with Iroshizuku kon-peki, which works flawlessly on all the paper I own. I've never had problems with it being clogged, skipping, or drying after a few minutes of uncapped rest. The ink does tend to become extremely saturated and thick if left for more than a week in the pen. That being the case, it gets cleaned pretty often.

Apart from being scratchy, the nib does a beautiful job. It's firm and dependable. From the naked eye, it looks like the point has a small slant to it. This creates an italic effect on some papers. It probably wasn't designed this way, but I love it.

This is a great pen, but I don't use it as much as I would like because of the nib. Super-fine nibs are useful in certain situations (for me), but I prefer something like a fine or medium for most writing. If I can find one, I'd love to swap the nib out for an Esterbrook stub nib of some kind. I hear those are really difficult to acquire, but I'll keep my eyes open for one.

Overall

The SJ is a fantastic pen, and I'm so pleased that I bought it back in April. I went from knowing nearly nothing about Esterbrooks to becoming a fan of the brand and learning everything I can about them. It's so interesting to show people these pens and hear them talk about how they remember one that their parents used or that they personally used when they were young. These pens are a legacy, and it's really awesome to own and use a part of history. And, at the end of the day, it's still just a pen, and it does that job remarkably well.

(You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution, Twitter, and App.net.)