Editing The Pen Addict 43/transcript (section)

== Estherbrook J ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. But, uh, what's wonderful about the Estherbrook J is not only are they relatively cheap, um, you know, probably 30 to $50 for a model that's going to be in great condition. Um, but, um, the nibs, it's got interchangeable nibs and there were a wealth of nibs, uh, available for it. Just about every size style configuration you can imagine. Um, it was meant to be, you know, kind of used for any purpose. So they made like, you know, extra, extra fine accountant nibs and, you know, uh, you know, various stubs with various degrees of flex and everything else. And you could spend, uh, you've spent hours, days just kind of researching. Estherbrook J nibs, because I think, I mean, they literally made like a couple hundred different, different nibs over the life of the, of the brand. I'm, I'm probably exaggerating that some somewhat, but it seems that way. Um, and you're going to have to forgive me because I'm going to have to get up and away from the mic here for just a second because I can't read that number because, well, like I explained, I am old. I forget what this is. Okay. So the nib I have on this one, and this is a, um, kind of the copper burst color. It's got this kind of nice kind of, uh, you know, I don't know, Ripley effect, um, copper color. Um, and, uh, I use a private, um, reserve, uh, copper brown or something like that, uh, in this one. Um, this is the nine five five six, uh, uh, stir brook nib and, uh, nib chart. Uh, yes. Fine writing records and charts.

'''Patrick Rhone:''' So you're like, you can, you can look up the number on the nib and, and see what that nib was, uh, created for a insult as originally. Uh, that is correct.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' As a matter of fact, I'm actually, uh, on a, on a link here and I will, uh, shoot this over to Michael for the, uh, for the show notes. Now that's pretty cool. Give me a second. Um, but, uh, this is the list of all of the nibs going from 1314, uh, which was a flexible stub all the way to 9968, which was a firm, broad script. Yeah.

'''Patrick Rhone:''' This is going to cause me a problem, Patrick. I don't know if I should have had you on, you know, I was, I was giving a hard time about spending his money and now here you go.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, cause here's the thing, right? And that is that all you need is the one, the one pen and all your money is going to dive deep into all the various nibs you can get. But, but the nibs are going to be like, you know, uh, five bucks, 10 bucks, you know, here and there. Right. But it's, it's, they're going to nickel and dime you to death.

'''Patrick Rhone:''' That level of, that level of customization is, is awesome. That really speaks to me. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And, and, uh, you know, it really is a super easy to change, uh, to change out the nib and, and, uh, you know, switch things up whenever you want. I only have this one nib on it and because it's perfect for me. Uh, this is actually probably one of my best writers amongst the vintages go. Um, the, uh, other final one, cause you know, we're running short on time and I want to, want to make sure I get everything in here. Uh, the other one is, um, the Parker vacuummatic series, um, you know, which they made in like the thirties and forties. Um, uh, they are just, they're beautiful pens. Um, they come in, uh, a variety of kind of barrel sizes and, uh, and, and links.

'''Patrick Rhone:''' Uh, is, is that the one with like the, the horizontal circles around that are all different colors? Is that one?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, yeah, they actually made them, uh, with kind of, um, the, the horizontal, uh, striping and, and, uh, you know, with the kind of mother purling stuff along the barrel. But they also made it in the vertical. Mine's one of the, one of the verticals and it really depends on the, the year and, uh, and, and the model and, and things like that. Um, but the, uh, I'm going to see if I, they're really good.

'''Patrick Rhone:''' They're, uh, yeah, I, I was trying to put two and two together just from what I've been, been looking at. Those are really attractive pens. I mean, they really, you know, there's not a lot of pens these days that, that really look that good. I mean, it's kind of a, a unique style. I know there's definitely, you know, other pens have tried to copy that. And actually Pelican makes a nice vertical, you know, kind of a stripe pen that's really pretty and really, all the colors really pop from the, the inlays and things like that. But those, uh, vacuumatics are really cool looking.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. Just gorgeous, gorgeous pens. Um, but, uh, and with a unique, the reason they're called the vacuum, vacuum attic is because they, they kind of pioneered that, um, that vacuum piston fill. Um, uh, and so one of the things you do kind of have to be wary of, uh, you know, when, when buying these things is you want to make sure that, that, that, um, you know, that, that those mechanics are in good working order. Um, certainly what can happen is if they are stored and, you know, kind of the ink dries up in there and whatnot, um, you know, they can, they can become problematic is I guess all I'm, all I'm trying to say. And so you want to definitely, that's one that you don't want to just, uh, find someone on eBay and, you know, buy. You probably want to go to one of the very active fountain pen forums and buy it from someone there. Someone who's also a fountain pen aficionado, who's going to be upfront with you about its condition and working order is keep in mind. These are, you know, largely made in the, uh, late thirties, early forties. And so, you know, they're fairly old pens.

'''Patrick Rhone:''' Yeah, that's exactly. I agree with that completely. Cause I'm looking at, I've been trying to do my research online for the ones that I want. And then when I go, I'm an, there's an Atlanta pen show in April, then I can go to some of these vendors and, you know, make sure I'm getting a good one that's been, you know, either rebuilt on the inside or restored properly. And that, you know, there's no micro cracks or, you know, the, the ink sack is, you know, attached properly and, and things like that. Cause yeah, I mean, these pens are 50, 60, 70 years old in, in most, in most cases. So, I mean, there's just going to be some inherent problems with there. So I'm going to buy it from someone reputable where I can get it in my hand and know that I'm getting a, getting something that's going to work properly. Right.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, and one of the other nice things is if you want to get into this, you find you enjoy it and you find that you, you know, that vintage pens are something that you're interested in participating in these forms and these networks will hook you up with folks that are, you know, I mean, that are professional pen restorers. Right. And so, I mean, you know, and it can, it can get expensive. Sure. But, you know, you might pay 30, 40 bucks for, for a pen and yeah, there, let's just say you paid, you know, 25, 30, knowing that you, that it's going to be in not the greatest working order. You know, you could send it off to somebody for the cost of shipping plus, you know, 50 bucks, you know, or whatever their charges are, you know, have it restored to, you know, as good as new or, you know, as close as you're going to get with a 70 year old pen, 80 year old pen, 90 year old pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. You know, for, for, I think a good investment and well taken care of, well restored. There's no reason why any of these pens should not continue to work just as well for another 90 years. You should be able to pass these down to your children and say, hey, here's what a pen used to look like. Yeah. Remember those? Remember the days before our voices and fingers? No, you don't. Well, this is what it was like. We had to write with these things on something called paper. I know. It was a true hardship. Yeah.

'''Patrick Rhone:''' Both, both of us have daughters that are about the same age. I know they, you know, we've never talked about it and maybe that's a whole nother episode. We'll have to have you back on, but, you know, trying to get my daughter, you know, I always make sure she's got pens and paper. That's like a huge, huge deal for me. And I know, I know knowing you, I know it's probably the same way with you, but yeah, that's, that's a, that's a whole nother tangent for a, for a whole nother day. It certainly is.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It certainly is. But I mean, the, the nice thing is, is that for the same amount of money that I'm about to spend on a bottle of ink, you could get a, you can get a 50, 60 year old fountain pen. Right. That's great. That's in great working order. Right. And so the, you know, a lot of people think, oh, gosh, it's so expensive. No, it's really, it's really not. It's, it's actually quite affordable. I mean, certainly there are, there are vintage pens that will set you back two, three, four thousand dollars. Sure. You know, limited edition, you know, certain age, you know, certain pedigree, whatever.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know, but guess what? There are brand new pens that are, they'll set you back that. Right. You know, I can, I could show you a thousand dollar mop block. Right. Right. You know, I mean, if you're going to get one of, I mean, you're going to spend a few hundred dollars for, for, you know, for a Namiki vanishing point.