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A Better International Converter


smiorgan

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My new Kaweco Dia2 is great, except for the converter. It mostly does the job but with the feed gets starved of ink sometimes, I think owing to surface tension of the ink itself (Diamine Salamander and CP Deep Dark Orange so far). A couple of times I've had to unscrew the pen to prime the feed.

 

Obviously one solution is to use a different ink. Herbin cartridges work very well. However I noticed that the Pilot CON50 converter apparently includes an agitator -- obviously this is a proprietary design for Pilot, but are there international converters with a similar mechanism?

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Normally no however you can make an aerometric type converter out of the standard short cartridge which has a tiny marble when you use it

But you can also dismantle the converter provided it can be dismantled in the first place and put in a small marble made of plastic from any craft shop

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You need an object with MASS.

A plastic ball does not have enough mass to fall through and break the surface tension. I have a couple converters with plastic balls in them, and the ink still gets stuck in the back of the converter, with the plastic ball in the ink.

Glass may or may not have enough mass.

A stainless steel ball is my choice.

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

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  • 3 months later...

I've read the Montblanc converter contains an agitator, how does that fair ?

 

Looking at pictures I note it has a screw thread on the outisde of the converter, any problems with fitting it to none Montblanc pens ? A Visconti Remrandt and Kaweco Student in my case

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You need an object with MASS.

A plastic ball does not have enough mass to fall through and break the surface tension. I have a couple converters with plastic balls in them, and the ink still gets stuck in the back of the converter, with the plastic ball in the ink.

Glass may or may not have enough mass.

A stainless steel ball is my choice.

I agree with that. In some converters that have an agitator -read: little ball- the ball is either to small or to light (I don't know) or both. Which means sometimes it will be able to break the surface tension, but sometimes it won't.

I've also been pondering waht to put in instead. I'm afraid a steel ball (from a ball bearing maybe) would catch rust after a short time.

Glass would be nice, but where am I to find a glass ball that small?

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The kaweco cartridges come with a little ball inside.

 

My first stab at it would be to cut open a used Kaweco cartridge and retrieve the ball.

 

Then dismantle your dia2 converter and put the ball in there and put it back together. It is meant to agitate the ink inside and would go a long way in addressing your issue. It may not fully resolve the issue though.

 

The other option is to go for a different ink, I personally use sailor jentle inks in my kaweco converter and Ive never had any issues.

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I agree with that. In some converters that have an agitator -read: little ball- the ball is either to small or to light (I don't know) or both. Which means sometimes it will be able to break the surface tension, but sometimes it won't.

I've also been pondering waht to put in instead. I'm afraid a steel ball (from a ball bearing maybe) would catch rust after a short time.

Glass would be nice, but where am I to find a glass ball that small?

 

Ordinary steel might rust, but stainless steel likely would not. Do you have a source for tiny ball bearings?

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I have a couple of international converters that feel like they are made out of glass, not plastic. I think they are Schmidt brand from Germany. These converters seem to flow better than their plastic counterparts. My converters are more than ten years old, so I can't say if they are being made any more. You might want to ask your vendor if the converter is glass before buying. If you are buying in person, you should be able to easily tell if the converter is glass instead of plastic, it will be noticeably heavier.

 

If you have some silicone lubricant, you can try lubricating the converter piston. The lubricant may help the ink flow better, plus the piston will operate smoother. Some international size converters can be disassembled by unscrewing the cap that holds the piston screw. Remove the piston and apply a finger tip of lubricant to the piston then run it up and down in the piston to coat it.

 

If you can find a pack of Pilot "Mixable Colour" Ink Cartridges for the Pilot Parallel Pen, the cartridges have a stainless steel ball inside them. You might try putting the steel ball from the parallel pen cartridge inside your converter and see if that will improve flow.

 

Some cheap Chinese pens I have run across have converters with little steel springs in them to break up surface tension. You might be able to transplant the spring from one of those.

Edited by Drone
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I agree with that. In some converters that have an agitator -read: little ball- the ball is either to small or to light (I don't know) or both. Which means sometimes it will be able to break the surface tension, but sometimes it won't.

I've also been pondering waht to put in instead. I'm afraid a steel ball (from a ball bearing maybe) would catch rust after a short time.

Glass would be nice, but where am I to find a glass ball that small?

 

You could get ceramic bearing balls. Something like these (link to eBay) zirconium dioxide balls. They are not quite as heavy as steel but much heavier than plastic. The same seller has many different sizes and materials (but the other ceramic material, silicon nitride, is a bit less dense). Found them with a quick search, no affiliation and I have never bought anything from this seller.

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Ordinary steel might rust, but stainless steel likely would not. Do you have a source for tiny ball bearings?

I have a lot of 608-sized bearings because skateboarding is another one of my hobbies. However, internet tells me that the balls used have a <= 4mm diameter. That might be still to big.

I will give it a go some time.

 

 

On further thought: Maybe a really small, fine-mechanical bolt. Those should be high enough steel quality so they won't rust easily. Might have to scavenge in some really small electronics around the house.

 

The ceramic balls (for ball bearings) would appear a good choice. Too bad, kinda pricey for 5 tiny balls, out of which I'd only need maybe 2.

 

Edit 2: Whoops, nope those are in fact the same size as the used in the 608-series bearings. So maybe too big.

Edited by mike.jane
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The ceramic balls (for ball bearings) would appear a good choice. Too bad, kinda pricey for 5 tiny balls, out of which I'd only need maybe 2.

 

Edit 2: Whoops, nope those are in fact the same size as the used in the 608-series bearings. So maybe too big.

 

I think it might be a typo (or copy paste mistake) on the sellers part. The size is marked as 7/64" / 0.1094" / 2.778mm in six places and only once 3.969mm in the description. They have other sizes too: 2.5mm, 3mm, 3.175mm, 3.5mm, etc.

 

I measured the plastic ball in a standard international cartridge and it's 2.5mm.

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  • 4 months later...

If you can find a pack of Pilot "Mixable Colour" Ink Cartridges for the Pilot Parallel Pen, the cartridges have a stainless steel ball inside them. You might try putting the steel ball from the parallel pen cartridge inside your converter and see if that will improve flow.

 

Some cheap Chinese pens I have run across have converters with little steel springs in them to break up surface tension. You might be able to transplant the spring from one of those.

 

 

That's exactly how I get those pesky balls for the converters ! :D

"When I have a little money, I buy books pens; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes."

--- Erasmus --- sort of http://fpgeeks.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.png

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The next problem is getting the convert open so you can put the SS ball into the converter. Some I have been able to unscrew the steel cap, others have resisted my efforts to open it.

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

www.SFPenShow.com

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That most likely means that they're glued. Soaking and/or heat might well sort you out.

Currently Using:

Parker 45 - Parker Blue-Black Quink

Sheaffer 444CT - Diamine Evergreen

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