Converting A Pen Into A Fountain Pen

[Poetman]

I have a beautiful brown marbled roller ball pen that I always wished was a FP instead of a roller. It has a nice weight, a screw top, and is simply nice. A waterman cartridge fits in perfectly, and the converter fits also, but does not push down very much. In any case, I imagined that one could merely cut the existing nib area down a bit to make room for an interchangeable feed/nib for a FP. Are there any pen technicians who perform such work. I don't have the right tools, but I'm sure it would be very easy to accomplish. Can you all suggest any resources I could contact?

 

Thanks!

[Ted A]

check the Pen Turning Forum. You probably could find someone there who would do it.

[Sasha Royale]

Can you be more specific about the make and model ? Some pens have interchangable

BP / FP sections. The Sheaffer No Nonsense comes to mind. Otherwise, it might an expensive

custom job. Is there something similar in current production ? Have you considered one of those ?

 

Please let us know what you find. Good hunting.

[Poetman]

This is a no-name model. I bought it years ago from Barnes and Noble for 5 or 10 dollars---an unbelievable steal for a hefty, beautiful brown marble with a screw cap. It's really a beautiful pen. I'll post some photos Monday.

[ChrisPaul]

Sometimes, if the same style pen comes in both a rollerball and a fountain pen version, you can buy a nib/section unit and screw it into a rollerball barrel. I did that with a Cross Townsend rollerball. Montgomery Pens sells Cross nib units, and I bought a Townsend nib there. The only problem is that the Cross Townsend converter won't fit in the rollerball barrel, so I can only use a cartridge.

 

If you can find a brand name anywhere on the pen (or someone recognizes the brand from a photo), maybe you can buy a nib unit from the maker or from another vendor, like Montgomery, and just screw the nib unit into the rollerball barrel.

 

Hope this is helpful.

[Poetman]

Thanks for the suggestion, but this is merely a no name rollerball purchased at Barnes and Noble years ago. How can you tell if a rollerball and fountain pen are interchangeable like your Cross? I have a sonnet RB that I would with to a FP if it was as easy as you suggest.