As for Esterbrook collar assemblies being tight...

[Jon Szanto]

Well, I had a new one today.

I wanted to use a black Transitional that had a 2442 nib in it for a particular ink, but I wanted to do a thorough cleaning. I went to unscrew the nib. Wouldn't budge. At all. Worked at it a bit, nothing. Soaked it overnight. Nada. Took it for a spin in the ultrasonic cleaner.

I was carefully trying to unthread the nib from the section, and it started to turn, and then before I knew it I had the feed and the nib in my hand - not broken, mind you - and the collar still stuck in the section. Honestly, I don't have a clue as to what I'll do at this point, Which, for me, always means to clean it up, dry it off, and put it in a little bag with a note as to what state it's in, and come back to it later.

Pretty neat to see just the nib and the feed in my hand, though!

[KrazyIvan]

I am trying to remember who posted a similar happening with an Esterbrook and how they removed the collar. It was some time ago and on FPN. Tyler Dahl comes to mind.

[Scrawler]

This has also happened to me, but my own fault for experimenting. To remove the sleeve I placed the section only in an ultrasonic cleaner, using a solution that included a drop of detergent. This is to work its way into the threads and remove the ink that is gluing it. Then I got a steel push rod that was a very tight fit and pushed it in and turned at the same time. It got it out. Those assemblies should not fail unless they have been messed with. The feed is held into the collar either with a pin(earlier) or a crimp(later). If that pin or crimp have not been touched this should not be able to happen. I have removed a lot of feeds and rebuilt the assemblies, frequently with non-Esterbrook nibs. The whole issue of fixing these assemblies or taking them apart is complicated by 3 kinds of plastic used for the collars and 2 methods of fixing the feed to the collar (crimp or pin). Some people who mess with these nibs (me) also use Venus (friction fit) parts. Those that have been reassembled by friction fit only are the ones prone to coming apart like this. If you cannot re-pin or re-crimp it, you should use a drop of shellac to glue the feed to the collar. Be careful to keep all shellac away from the air and ink channels.

[Brian Anderson]

If the nib and feed come out with the collar still in the section then you probably have a lost cause. Someone may have shellacked the nib unit in the section. Now if you have removed this before, it could have been on its way out to begin with, and a little extra dried ink may have let it loose when you pulled. Either try an eraser from a pencil to see if you can get it to turn, or worst case, just break it out with a dental pick or similar instrument, then get a collar from a bad renew-point (you probably have one lying around somewhere) and put it on in its place. If you get it out and put it back on it is possible it will come off again.

[ac12]

This just happened to me on a M2, and I had to do just what Brian said.
I used a dental pick to gradually peel the collar out of the section, thread by thread. It was painfully slow, and painful to my fingers, but I got the collar out...in pieces.
In my case when I tried to screw in a new nib assembly, it was tight, leading me to think that the section had shrunk down onto the collar.

[pajaro]

I used a small pair of needlenose pliers with a 90 degree curve. Put them into the collar and held them open against the collar. I was able to turn it out of the section. This has happened while Frankenpenning as some nib and feed combinations aren't tight enough in the collar.

[ac12]

Speaking of this, I have a different question.
How do I uncrimp a collar to remove the feed & nib?
For 2 reasons,
- Ease of straightening a bent nib.
- Replacing the Esterbrook nib with another nib.

[Scrawler]

Speaking of this, I have a different question.
How do I uncrimp a collar to remove the feed & nib?
For 2 reasons,
- Ease of straightening a bent nib.
- Replacing the Esterbrook nib with another nib.
If you are sure it is the crimped kind and not the pinned kind, then do as follows: Obtain a spare section and screw the nib assembly in. Get a block of wood and drill a hole just a bit smaller than the section. Make sure that the bottom of the hole is over empty space, say by clamping it in a vice. Then take a bar of metal (an old drill bit can be used) that fits inside the collar. Then gently tap the bar down with a hammer. With practice you will get confidence and be able to get it out in one strike.

[ac12]

So the feed will just be pushed past the crimp.
I was afraid of damaging the collar or feed, as the notch in the feed gets pushed into the crimp.

I have a knock out block and set of punches.
That was a lucky estate sale find.

[Scrawler]

So the feed will just be pushed past the crimp.
I was afraid of damaging the collar or feed, as the notch in the feed gets pushed into the crimp.

I have a knock out block and set of punches.
That was a lucky estate sale find.
Yes. It does take a bit of practice to get the striking force right, but once you have the feel of it, you will be knocking them out like a champ. There were 3 kinds of plastic used at different times. The green on the 9xxx series seems to be a little less pliable than the black ones, but they do still stretch enough that a confident strike will push it past the notch and allow the collar to spring back with no problems. Good luck with this and I am sure that you will soon be joining the club of gold nibbed Estie owners.

[pajaro]

The above is perfect advice. One thing I did for convenience was to drill the hole smaller than the section into my N-scale train board. I put a large box under the hole, and then I could work on Esties while running my N-scale trains. Canadian National seargent stripe orange, white and black F3s ABBBA with CN passenger train, CN green and black passenger train pulled by CN green F3 ABBA, et alia. Thomas the tank pulling old time English freight cars is a lot of fun too.

[Scrawler]

Incidentally, the plastic used on the Venus nib assemblies is more pliable than the earlier Esterbrook ones, so you can use them with confidence when making an alternative assembly.

[ac12]

@Pajaro
Southern Pacific late steam/early diesel here.
But I don't have the real estate to run my big steam, the cab forwards. I use 1st generation B-truck diesels (GP-9, F3, Alco FA/FB), and a few smaller steam engines (consolidations). Right now the layout is on its side in the garage, just waiting to come back into the house.

@Scrawler
After I saw a pix of one, that is my goal, to put a gold nib into one (or more) of my Esties.

[pajaro]

@ Scrawler, Thanks for the tip about the Venus collars.

@ac12, the only steam I have is Kato Mikado, Thomas and Henry. I like late steam and early diesel. Have SP Daylight passenger set with the Kato articulated cars. Too long for the 4 X 8 layout.

[ac12]

@pajaro
Same problem with me, my BIG steam cannot make it around my 12"r curves. So they are only for display. :(
I use the short Arnold passenger cars, cuz the standard 85' cars hang out over the curves too much.

@Scrawler
The trick to find a Venus nib assembly.
Anderson's has been out of them since I started looking about a month ago.