Stackable Double-Ended Geha Ink Cartridges, Huh?

[lamder]

Hi all,

 

One would think that the humble ink cartridge is a fairly simple concept, but the Geha branded cartridges that accompanied my purchase of some NOS Geha school FPs got me totally stumped.

 

 

Above is a picture of what looks like a two cartridge system shown in their assembled and disassembled forms. Each system features two identical short cartridges that look very similar to other regular short international cartridges. However, besides sporting the regular short neck with a bead that can be pushed into the cartridge, each cartridge also has a wider opening at the other end that is just wide enough to receive the narrow neck of another cartridge of the same kind. Two of the 4 cartridges I received has the wide end open, and the other two has some kind of cap that sealed up with the wide end. Both cartridges also fits snugly into a metal sleeve, which I presume was provided to give proper support to the stacked configuration. Does anyone have any information on this system?

 

It would appear that a cartridge with the narrow end opened coupled with another that has both ends open would make a nice pair with twice the ink capacity of just one cartridge. What further puzzles me was that the narrow end actually does not fit into my Geha 711F FP. Instead the feed tube only fits into the wide opening. Does that mean these cartridges are designed to be used in either one of two different orientations? And using the only orientation that works for my pen, should I be concerned that all that is preventing narrow end from leaking is a tiny plastic bead?

 

Cheers,

Sam

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

Geha fit Geha on one end, Pelikan on the other. Pelikan was a Pelikan/international cartridge.

 

When Pelikan's new then in 1990 owner bought Pelikan, he also bought up Geha's pen division. So no more Geha cartridges.

Geha school pens were the major then German comp to Pelikan's school pens.

 

Geha made the first German cartridge pen.

 

It is said if you use a Lamy cartridge, in reverse it will work with Geha.

I only have piston Gehas.

 

There is some where cartridges being made lately that will fit Geha. In I have no Geha cartridge pens,....sorry I didn't pay attention to where to get them.

Edited October 10, 2014 by Bo Bo Olson

[richardandtracy]

Best to re-fill the cartridge with a syringe. They are not common any more. No, I'll re-phrase that, they were never very common, and they are now getting to be really rather difficult to obtain in the UK.

 

I did a quick review of mine in 2008 here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/52501-geha-school-pen/

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[lamder]

Geha fit Geha on one end, Pelikan on the other. Pelikan was a Pelikan/international cartridge.

 

When Pelikan's new then in 1990 owner bought Pelikan, he also bought up Geha's pen division. So no more Geha cartridges.

Geha school pens were the major then German comp to Pelikan's school pens.

 

It is said if you use a Lamy cartridge, in reverse it will work with Geha.

I only have piston Gehas.

 

There is some where cartridges being made lately that will fit Geha. In I have no Geha cartridge pens,....sorry I didn't pay attention to where to get them.

 

Thanks Bo Bo, somehow I knew you will come to the rescue on this :-). I read somewhere that Geha cartridges have proprietary openings so I wanted to make sure I received the correct ones for the FP I got. The wide end appears to fit, and given your explanation it makes sense now. I thought it is pretty neat that Geha made a cartridge that had both a proprietary and standard end. I think it is even neater that the narrow neck of the standard end fits right into the hole of the wide end, allowing one to combine two cartridges into one.

 

I am not too familiar with Lamy cartridges (or any brand of cartridges for that matter). Do you mean that Lamy cartridges also has two openings and one fits the Geha. Having a readily available source of any kind of ink reservoir compatible with this pen would be awesome.

Edited October 11, 2014 by lamder

[lamder]

Best to re-fill the cartridge with a syringe. They are not common any more. No, I'll re-phrase that, they were never very common, and they are now getting to be really rather difficult to obtain in the UK.

 

I did a quick review of mine in 2008 here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/52501-geha-school-pen/

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

Until I find a reliable converter that fits this pen, I plan to guard these cartridges like gold and syringe fill them just as you suggested.

As for a converter solution, looks like someone jumped through some hoops to mod a Cross converter a while ago: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/185420-a-converter-for-my-old-geha-school-pen/

Edited October 11, 2014 by lamder

[basterma]

If you do use a syringe, be careful not to knock the glass bead at the international end of the cartridge. Great way to waste a hard to find cartridge...

[mirosc]

Just like the others told about how to use these...

 

Back in time there were quite fierce "schoolyard wars" about the right fountain pen. Geha was the dark side of the force, Pelikan (me, too) the good guys. I think the Geha guys tell it the other way around. Still Geha had two great contraptions that we really envied without admitting it: the pushing knob in the feed for the extra ink reservoir and the metal sleeve for stacking cartridges. We Pelikan guys simply had to put the extra cartridge into the barrel, the Geha guys had this lovely sleeve that kept everything neat and tight.

What a relief to know that they had to use the cartridge with the wrong side. They really had it all backwards...

 

Later Lamy came up with their own school pen (the Safari) and messed things up. But Geha didn't survive anyway, what a pity.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Pelikan killed Geha...that opened the school market for the Safari.

[mirosc]

Pelikan killed Geha...that opened the school market for the Safari.

Not quite. The Safari came out in 1980 when Geha was already weakened by wrong decisions (not only fountain pen related). Only in 1990 Pelikan bought Geha and shut it down bit by bit in the following years.

[lamder]

If you do use a syringe, be careful not to knock the glass bead at the international end of the cartridge. Great way to waste a hard to find cartridge...

 

Funny you mentioned this. I was so intriqued by the double-endedness of the cartridge I started messing around a few days ago. In the process I popped the bead of one into the cartridge but fortunately enough was able to use a skinny metal tubing to push it back to stopper the end. It appears the popping of the wider opening cannot be undone, however.

[lamder]

Just like the others told about how to use these...

 

Back in time there were quite fierce "schoolyard wars" about the right fountain pen. Geha was the dark side of the force, Pelikan (me, too) the good guys. I think the Geha guys tell it the other way around. Still Geha had two great contraptions that we really envied without admitting it: the pushing knob in the feed for the extra ink reservoir and the metal sleeve for stacking cartridges. We Pelikan guys simply had to put the extra cartridge into the barrel, the Geha guys had this lovely sleeve that kept everything neat and tight.

What a relief to know that they had to use the cartridge with the wrong side. They really had it all backwards...

 

Later Lamy came up with their own school pen (the Safari) and messed things up. But Geha didn't survive anyway, what a pity.

 

Thanks for the cool recollections of the good o' days. I am very impressed with how well these cartridge pens performed. They wrote very smooth, have consistent flow, and the nibs on them are very tolerant of a relatively wide range of hand pressure, pen angle and nib orientation. I can see how they would have made really good introductory school pens back in the day.

 

So, I am still a little confused about the orange thing at the back of the feed. What is it supposed to do? I feel like if I am to go to the dark side I need to fully harness the force :-)

[mirosc]

 

It appears the popping of the wider opening cannot be undone, however.

The bead (mostly plastic, only sometimes metal or glass) is only on the international side of the pens. The proprietary Geha side usually is only some thin plastic which is ripped out when inserting the cartridge (that's the reason why it is shaped like a funnel (unlike the international end) because that thin plastic needed a bit protection)

 

So, I am still a little confused about the orange thing at the back of the feed. What is it supposed to do? I feel like if I am to go to the dark side I need to fully harness the force :-)

 

You mean that little square knob on the feed? Geha has a special system for their ink reservoir. When the cartridge is empty and you're only scratching on the paper you push that little knob towards the barrel (with your fingernail or the cap). This opens an additional ink reservoir and you can write two more pages. When you insert a new cartridge it is filled again and the knob comes forward again. Very cool! Even some of their piston fillers have this system - at least several of my Goldschwinge with the winglike nibs.

[austollie]

I know this is an old thread, but my first vintage Geha just arrived (a special edition Jeans model). I can confirm that using a Lamy cartridge 'the wrong way around' works really well. Because the lamy cartridges made today have a little lip at the end as well as a slight protrusion at the centre, I sanded down the lip with abrasive paper and flattened the central protrusion with my mini drill. After that, it inserted into the pen without a problem.

 

I am a keen collector of vintage Pelikano pens, but now I can finally write with the product of Pelikan's number one competitor (before Geha went bust and was bought out by Pelikan- no more special cartridges after that). I vaguely remember Geha pens from when I was at school in Germany (when I started school, every kid had the same pen, a Pelikano Series 4), but I've never owned one. There is something quirky about inserting a cartridge in reverse and having a reserve tank. Geha's approach to cartridges must have been driven by a desire to see only proprietary cartridges used in its pens.

 

Ollie