Esterbrook SJ w/ 2886 nib

[gillyohan]

I received an Esterbrook SJ w/ 2668 nib from this forum about a week ago. It's my first and only vintage pen at the moment, and it's been fun writing with it.

Appearance, Design, Size:
This pen is very light and pretty small. It is shorter than my Pelikan m205 and thinner than my Sailor Sapporo. The shape, though, isn't unpleasant, so it's nice to hold. So far, it's not a very comfortable size for long writing sessions, but it's great for shorter sessions. Daniel polished it, so it's very smooth. The cap screws on and posts well.

Filling System:
It's a lever fill. It's my first one, and I don't much about them. It seems to be working fine, and holds ink well. It has a new sac, so I'm expecting to last a good while.

Nib:
The 2668 nib is a steel medium nib. Not much flex, but it's a bit springy. The tines are misaligned, causing some scratchiness on the left stroke. Fortunately, replacement nibs are pretty cheap and easy to find.

Conclusion:
I was always afraid that vintage pens would be super fragile, but this pen is pretty sturdy-feeling. It really has a lot of character. I think I may look for this pen in a J size, which is supposed to be a bit larger all around. It would definitely make a good pocket pen, since it fits even in shallow shirt pockets.

Thank you, Fountain Pen Geeks!

Pen shots:






Pen in hand:


Compared to Pelikan m205 and Sailor Sapporo capped and uncapped:




Lame writing sample (just a comparison):

[Rabbit]

That's a great pen for your first vintage. Like you pointed out, Esterbrooks are very strong. Some vintage pens can be quite fragile, but Esterbrooks are among the most durable. The larger J size should definitely give you the advantages you seek in a larger pen if you think the SJ is a bit small. Esterbrooks are some of the easiest vintage pens to repair too, so if you're interested in learning basic pen repair, any typical eBay find should be good. Be careful though, once you start buying a couple Esterbrooks, it's easy to suddenly have so many of them that you don't know where to put them all!

--Stephen

[gillyohan]

Stephen - Where in Kentucky are you? I'm in Louisville.

[penspouse]

Nice pen. the J is a more friendly size if you want a little bigger. I like the shortness of the SJ, but I like the girth of the J better.

[eriquito]

gillyohan! Great review and wonderful photographs! The pen never looked so good =)

Be careful though, once you start buying a couple Esterbrooks, it's easy to suddenly have so many of them that you don't know where to put them all!

Here, here! They multiply very quickly! Before you know it, you'll be giving them away at pen forums =)

Eric
Son of Ragnar

[Rabbit]

Stephen - Where in Kentucky are you? I'm in Louisville.

Great to hear! I live in Lexington, and as of right now I work in Richmond and Stanford. I grew up in Frankfort and go back there often to visit friends and family. Occasionally I do make it to Louisville though--lots of fun things to do there.

--Stephen

[gillyohan]

Great to hear! I live in Lexington, and as of right now I work in Richmond and Stanford. I grew up in Frankfort and go back there often to visit friends and family. Occasionally I do make it to Louisville though--lots of fun things to do there.

--Stephen

There is a fp user meet up tomorrow in Louisville if you are interested. It's at 10:30am and will go for at least a couple of hours. Let me know if you are interested in coming out.

[dannzeman]

Great review and fantastic pictures!
I'm sorry the tines aren't aligned. I usually check for that and can't believe I let it out the door that way.
I agree with Rabbit, that Esties are great for learning basic pen repair. If you're interested let me know and I can send get you the info on the sacs you'll need.

[SProctor]

Hey Stephen,

Though I am currently in Texas and moving to Minnesota. I am originally from Lexington! My mom & sister live in Georgetown these days... I graduated high school in Lex. Went to EKU for a while there in Richmond and worked at UK after I got out of the Navy. I sure do miss the area a lot and plan to visit later this summer. Great to have you here with us!

Very Best Wishes,

Stephen P.

[Rabbit]

There is a fp user meet up tomorrow in Louisville if you are interested. It's at 10:30am and will go for at least a couple of hours. Let me know if you are interested in coming out.

Ahh yes, I knew about this, but I'm not going to make it to this one. Hopefully the meeting will go well though and everyone will want to have another one later! I'd like to put together a little Esterbrook display for a future meeting if you think people would be interested. It would include an example of each model (excluding a handful that I don't have...yet) and some information about them. There's another Esterbrook collector that I know about around here--he may be going tomorrow, not sure. If he doesn't already show off all the cool models, maybe I'll contact him in the future and see if he wants to go in on this with me. Between him and me, we could probably cover most of the important things. Do you think people would be interested in seeing something like that?

Though I am currently in Texas and moving to Minnesota. I am originally from Lexington! My mom & sister live in Georgetown these days... I graduated high school in Lex. Went to EKU for a while there in Richmond and worked at UK after I got out of the Navy. I sure do miss the area a lot and plan to visit later this summer. Great to have you here with us!

Good to hear! I've been in Lexington for about 9 years now, 8 of which were for school. Still trying to decide where i want to take my career so as of right now I'm staying here, but could move around later. My wife works in Lexington and is from Paris, KY.

--Stephen

[gillyohan]

Great review and fantastic pictures!
I'm sorry the tines aren't aligned. I usually check for that and can't believe I let it out the door that way.
I agree with Rabbit, that Esties are great for learning basic pen repair. If you're interested let me know and I can send get you the info on the sacs you'll need.

No problem. Fortunately, if I rotate the pen just a bit, it will write very smooth. Basically, the sweet spot is just smaller than one would normally find on a medium nib.

I would definitely be interested in getting some of that info from you. Thanks again!

[gillyohan]

Ahh yes, I knew about this, but I'm not going to make it to this one. Hopefully the meeting will go well though and everyone will want to have another one later! I'd like to put together a little Esterbrook display for a future meeting if you think people would be interested. It would include an example of each model (excluding a handful that I don't have...yet) and some information about them. There's another Esterbrook collector that I know about around here--he may be going tomorrow, not sure. If he doesn't already show off all the cool models, maybe I'll contact him in the future and see if he wants to go in on this with me. Between him and me, we could probably cover most of the important things. Do you think people would be interested in seeing something like that?

--Stephen

I know I would be very interested in seeing an Esterbrook display. I know it took actually holding and writing with one to convince me that vintage pens were a viable option for me.

[Okami]

Nice review. Esties are great pens, I recently inherited a batch of 5 from a friend in the UK who hates them.

[Kelly G]

Esties are great pens; tough as nails and easy to restore. I have your SJ's big brother, the J Dubonnet Red setting right beside my computer as I type - with a 2668 nib as well. I came across this pen in a local antique shop and the sac seemed pliable but I opened it up anyway and, it still has the original Esterbrook sac! I decided to see how long that sac would last. That's been three and 1/2 years ago and it is still going strong! I keep it inked all the time and it is one of my most reliable and smooth writing pens. Although for a Medium nib, it writes a fairly wide, wet line. But what a cool pen. At least 50 years old and all I had to do was flush and fill it.

Snag a J sized Estie - you can't go wrong. Or better yet, get a Transitional J - with the flat bottom - they are my favorite.