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KrazyIvan
April 30th, 2013, 03:04 PM
Okay, so I failed on the Waterman repair. I need something to boost my confidence. :p

I bought an Esterbrook J that is going to need a new cap jewel. I bought it more for the nib as it has a 3556 and I think those just look cool. Already read up on the replacement process but I need a spare jewel. Anyone know where I can find a large cap jewel? I don't have any donor pens.

It may need a new sac and I have those supplies already. :)

pajaro
April 30th, 2013, 04:47 PM
Bruce, the guy from Ocala, FL, wrote on FPN that replacing the cap jewel was a really difficult job. Without a donor pen, there is no supply of jewels. You might make your own, like the copper ones Bruce had on his copper J. If you did it should look great.

KrazyIvan
April 30th, 2013, 08:29 PM
Bruce, the guy from Ocala, FL, wrote on FPN that replacing the cap jewel was a really difficult job. Without a donor pen, there is no supply of jewels. You might make your own, like the copper ones Bruce had on his copper J. If you did it should look great.

This is a blue one, not sure how that would look. I'm up for the challenge. Just need the donor parts. I think I might have a source.

OcalaFlGuy
April 30th, 2013, 09:21 PM
If all you are doing is installing a new push in jewel, and you got the old one out (or it was already out) without snapping off the stem In the hole,
the "new" jewel just taps in lightly with a mallet and rubber pad.

The hard part is going to be finding a replacement jewel. Generally, there are none, unless from a donor cap. Therein the plot does indeed thicken.
There are some that advocate lightly prying the edge of the jewel up bit by bit until it comes off/out. These are those people who are Lucky and get
their Christmas shopping done by Labor Day. :p Most of us aren't them. OUR odds are much higher that we'll snap the button of the jewel prying it off.

The correct way to remove the donor jewel is to remove the inner cap and knock out the jewel from inside the cap with a nib knockout set-up. It's not
Estie brain surgery (that would be replacing the clip) it's just a bit involved as it requires at the least some homemade repair tools to extract the inner cap.

The Copper jewels were one offs by Farmboy. IF he would make more, they probably wouldn't be cheap.

Tyler Dahl did some remarkable repairs refashioning a new major chipped off portion of a cracked jewel from colored epoxy . The new piece was undetectable when finished. It might be possible to mold a jewel button out of colored epoxy and mill it by hand with small files/Dremel. I have also heard of semi-precious stones that have been fashioned into replacement, probably glued in jewels.

The real answer is to not buy pens without decent jewels as there are still more than enough out there to accomplish that. Unless you are buying
one really cheap to harvest other parts.

HTH,

Bruce in Ocala, FL

KrazyIvan
May 1st, 2013, 12:03 PM
I bought the pen for the nib. At $18 shipped for the whole pen, I don't think I did too bad considering the latest price I could find on a 3556 nib was $25. I do not care that the jewel is chipped. I just figured if I could fix it, I would have another Blue J to add to my collection and some experience under my belt. :D If anything, I'll try that epoxy rebuild that Tyler did. I forgot about that one and do remember reading about it on FPN.

OakIris
May 2nd, 2013, 07:27 AM
Here is a link to Brian Anderson's tips about replacing Esterbrook jewels, in case you need more info about it: http://www.esterbrook.net/repair.shtml

I imagine you want to replace the jewel with the "real thing" but if you are willing to have a bit of a Frankenpen in order to make the pen look more complete, you can always go to a hobby place like Michaels and pick up some acrylic (or metal) gemstones used in crafts that might just work for your pen, something like this (only a color to match or complement your Estie):

2312

Glue it on, and voila! You bought the pen for its nib not its appearance so this suggestion might work for you. Of course, if you want to restore it back to original state, you could place a wanted ad here for the jewel, or a cap from someone's parts drawer, or....

Hope you are able to find - or make out of epoxy - the jewel that you want, KrazyIvan.

Holly

Maja
May 3rd, 2013, 07:06 PM
That is so cool, Oakiris!
:cool:

I bought a green Esterbrook J at an antique show and it was missing its barrel jewel. I replaced the sac but I was still paranoid about ink leaking :rolleyes:..... so used some "Mighty Putty" to create a flat jewel (no way you could confuse it with a proper Estie jewel) and painted it with some black nail polish.

KrazyIvan
May 3rd, 2013, 07:08 PM
The Estie arrived today. Sack is fried. The jewel is chipped but this is the deepest, darkest Blue Estie I have seen. Love it!

cwent2
May 3rd, 2013, 07:26 PM
Picture??

KrazyIvan
May 3rd, 2013, 07:32 PM
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8117/8706437866_b9bd4d0987_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8706437866/)
Blue Estie arrived today. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8706437866/) by IvanRomero (http://www.flickr.com/people/ivan_romero/), on Flickr

cwent2
May 3rd, 2013, 07:50 PM
Very nice, picture probably does not do it justice though - you said deep blue. Have you dipped it to try the nib?

KrazyIvan
May 3rd, 2013, 07:54 PM
It's more the color of the barrel. Light is making the cap look off. The nib is dirty so I don't want to dip it until I can get it cleaned up.

cwent2
May 3rd, 2013, 11:38 PM
It's more the color of the barrel. Light is making the cap look off. The nib is dirty so I don't want to dip it until I can get it cleaned up.

I understand, looks sweet

KrazyIvan
May 4th, 2013, 01:15 PM
Here it is next to my other Blue Estie. The difference is more apparent.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8541/8707079467_4345bb8bbc_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8707079467/)
The difference in the blue is amazing. Love the deep blue color on this Esterbrook #fountainpen (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8707079467/) by IvanRomero (http://www.flickr.com/people/ivan_romero/), on Flickr

cwent2
May 4th, 2013, 05:14 PM
Wow, are these two from the same era?

KrazyIvan
May 4th, 2013, 05:40 PM
Wow, are these two from the same era?

I have no idea. And they are SJ's not J's as I previously thought. Section is out but I can see the ossified sac still in one piece inside the barrel.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8270/8707871837_082f54bdc6_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8707871837/)
Success in Esterbrook section removal. Sac is totally intact but ossified inside the barrel. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8707871837/) by IvanRomero (http://www.flickr.com/people/ivan_romero/), on Flickr

gweddig
May 4th, 2013, 10:09 PM
I've been working on a crimping system for my Esterbrook clip/grommets. I don't really have many jewels to play with but I did pick up some grommets and I'm working on my clip tightening techniques. In my limited experience replacing the compression jewels has been pretty successful as long as the clip is tight, if it isn't, then the complexity (of tightening the clip) just got a lot higher. Threaded jewels are also several orders of magnitude harder for me as there seems to be a high probability of breaking the jewel off the post.

If it were me I would enjoy using it with the broken jewel, one will eventually come along. Besides that color will distract you from noticing the minor flaws anyway, what a beauty.

--greg

Farmboy
May 4th, 2013, 10:49 PM
Jewels come from donor pens. The going rate for a barrel with jewel was around a ten spot at the last show I attended. The sad thing is you just can't repair them all and some pens donate to others.

The only safe way to remove the jewel is knocking it out from the back though you need to be aware of the occasional threaded jewel before heading to the knockout block.

If you are into plastic repair, you can repair those small chips by making a resin from a donor jewel and building up the void one layer at a time.

I suppose some would call your pen a rootbeer blue. Your picture shows how the color can vary, I've seen blues so faint they look almost grey and some that almost appear purple.

FarmBoy

KrazyIvan
May 5th, 2013, 06:17 AM
I will be on the lookout for a donor cap. The chipping goes around the jewel almost 3/4 of the way. I forgot to take a picture of it. I ended up finishing the sac repair last night and have it with me this morning at work.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8401/8709424694_26c828a67d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8709424694/)
Writing Test. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8709424694/) by IvanRomero (http://www.flickr.com/people/ivan_romero/), on Flickr

Brian Anderson
May 24th, 2013, 01:46 PM
I suppose some would call your pen a rootbeer blue.

:confused:

Oh boy, here we go. :)

Jewel repair is indeed possible, like everyone has indicated, the problem really lies with the full size J. Usually, if you find a cap with a good jewel, it is attached to a good pen. If the clip is loose on the pen then you've got another area of problems, and I would simply designate the pen as a parts pen at this point as you're going to spend too much money either paying someone to do the job or finding the parts and making the tools to get it working correctly.

Now, that being said, if it is a barrel jewel or a LJ or SJ, then that is definitely an easier job, those are all the same size, so you can easily find a cracked or otherwise bad barrel to rob the barrel end jewel from.

Brian

KrazyIvan
May 24th, 2013, 01:59 PM
Hi Brian, it is an LJ. The deep blue makes it worth it to me to keep it. I'm doing okay without a perfect cap jewel and enjoying the Osmiroid medium italic I bought from your shop.