Eye dropper conversion

[Guest Denis Richard]

I've been thinking of playing with a pen and do the conversion. How do you do it exactly ? What are the prerequisite pen-wise ?

[Keith with a capital K]

My favourite pens to convert into eye-dropper fillers are the Sheaffer No Nonsense and old style cartridge pens because they are plastic barrelled pens with no metal parts (ie. inserts) that may come in contact with the ink. The Waterman Phileas may look like a good candidate but there is a brass insert in the barrel to add weight to the pen.

 

You will need:

 

A suitable pen with a plastic barrel.

 

Vac cement or silicone grease.

 

Gasket (optional)

 

Steps...

 

Remove the convertor/cartridge if present.

 

Apply a thin coat of vac cement or silicone grease to the threads on the section. Vac cement is really ideal.

 

A thin gasket may be added as long as it does not interfere with the pen's ability to cap but I have found that in most cases, it is not needed.

 

Fill the barrel with your ink of choice.

 

Screw the section back into the barrel and wipe off any excess sealant.

 

Enjoy!

[einv]

check out my article below

 

ED conversion

[Keith with a capital K]

Viv -

 

I knew the magical words, "ed conversion", would draw you out.

 

I hope you had a good holiday and the new year is treating you well... your conversion article is most excellent.

 

Cheers!

[einv]

you have me all figured out, keith! yes, i had a great time with my parents and brother in corvallis, oregon. the pacific NW has some of the greatest scenery in the US, it was quite restorative. classes began today, so i'm busy enough that i can post ;--]

[Guest Denis Richard]

Thanks guys !

 

I'm gonna find a guinea pig today.

[Bryan]

So where does one pick up Silicon Grease or the preferred Vac Cement? Is there a preferred brand name?

 

Bryan

[Keith with a capital K]

Bryan,

 

You can use pure silicone grease and this can be found at dive shops, automotive suppliers, and your local computer shop... some heat sink compounds are pure white silicone grease and are quite dense.

 

Giovanni's vac cement, which is actually a non hardening resin, is probably my favourite sealant and can be found at the Tryphon website.

 

Another excellent solution proposed by Gerry was to use plumber's wax, the same stuff you use to seat and seal toilets. It is really inexpensive and in tests I have found that it works really well.

[Bryan]

Thanks Keith!

 

I'll probably go with the silicon grease or plumber’s wax. I'd would have liked to have used the Vac cement, however Tryphon has a minimum order of $20.00 plus shipping. <_<

 

Thanks again,

 

Bryan

[Elaine]

You can also buy the silicone grease from Tryphon. There's lots of other neat stuff on his site. It's easy to get to the minimum order!

 

The silicone can also be found at www.pendemonium.com Watch out though, that site pulls you in and makes you buy more than you expected to. I'd swear Sam has subliminal advertising!

[wimg]

Hi Denis,

 

Another alternative is faucet grease, which is also silicon grease. Just make sure it says so on the tube. You'll get it at any hardware store where they sell, yes, faucets and the like .

 

HTH, kind regards, Wim

[Gerry]

Just to add a little to Keith's description of the Plumbers Wax, you should look for what is called a 'Toilet Bowl Ring', and if they have just the basic one without the plastic or rubber 'funnel' all the better. A 4 ounce supply (1 ring) should be between $0.75 and $1.50.

 

The wax is very soft, non-hardening, non-staining, and of course insoluble and leakproof. Since it can be cleaned up with a tissue it's not much of a issue there either. I have done perhaps half a dozen conversions, and have not experienced any leaking or other problems so far.

 

I recently heard some negative comments about using silicone grease on a Sheaffer piston, and if that is a concern, it's application in ED conversion might also be questioned (this is second hand - so while I might repeat the concern, I have no first hand experience of it).

 

If anyone wants a sample of this wax, I would be happy to send out a vial (those vials are really handy KCat) if you just PM me your mailling address. A vial would serve to do a number of ED conversions.

 

Gerry

 

PS: Your sample is on it's way Denis

[Bryan]

If anyone wants a sample of this wax, I would be happy to send out a vial (those vials are really handy KCat) if you just PM me your mailling address.  A vial would serve to do a number of ED conversions.

 

Gerry

 

PS:  Your sample is on it's way Denis

Gerry,

 

The sample arrived and it is working wonderfully! Thank you so much. This stuff is really easy to use and seems to make a great seal.

 

Thanks again,

 

Bryan

Edited April 12, 2005 by Bryan

[Gerry]

Glad to hear it Bryan. It is not often one can recommend such an inexpensive yet perfectly workable alternative to the hi-tech and expensive solutions that are offered on the market.

 

I would be delighted to sell this at $10.00 a small bottle

 

Gerry

[Cam]

So I realised I now had all the stuff to do this so I just filled up the clear barrel of a Sheaffer cart pen and applied some Tryphon silicon grease, screwed it back together and voila! The look is very cool because you get the color of the ink coming through the clear plastic of the barrel. Also handy to see how much ink is left, I guess, though I won't have that problem for a very long time!!!

[Keith with a capital K]

Those clear Sheaffer cart pens make great ed fillers and their capacity sits at around 2ml while the No Nonsense pen holds about 3.5 ml.

 

Amazingly enough, the new Javelin conversion holds nearly 4 ml after the nib and section have been primed.

 

I estimated the number of pages my Javelin will write and after writing out ten pages with fine single spaced script I figure 60 full pages is a minimum. It's a good thing I like that eternal brown ink as I will be using it for a long time.

 

It's a really handy and simple alternative to using carts or convertors and the performance increase is easily noted in many pens that undergo this little conversion.

[Bryan]

It's a really handy and simple alternative to using carts or convertors and the performance increase is easily noted in many pens that undergo this little conversion.

I agree. The pen I've converted had good flow before, but now...WOW! The Nice wet lines made with the stub nib and wonderful! I wish I could convert all my Cartridge/converter pens to EDs.

 

Just to make sure I've understood right, if there is any metal in the barrel, it should not be considered for a ED conversion, right?

 

Bryan

[wimg]

Hi Bryan,

Just to make sure I've understood right, if there is any metal in the barrel, it should not be considered for a ED conversion, right?

To be exact: if there is going to be metal in direct contact with ink, it shouldn't be considered for an ED conversion. The ink will corrode the metal, with all kinds of weird (ink colour changes) to nasty (blocking up of ink channels, leaks) effects.

 

HTH, kind regards, Wim

[southpaw]

Okay . . . the thought has been lingering and you guys are really turning me into a fp junkie. I'm contemplating giving this ED thing a try. Would a Waterman Phileas/Kultur in a Demonstrator or Transparent color be a good candidate (if you want to look at one, there are hundreds on Ebay)? Second, I read you have to prime the nib and feed. How? THANKS

 

 

 

 

PS - You guys have got to stop doing this to me. ED's. Nib smoothing stuff on the way. FP's. Ink. When / where will it stop?

[Gerry]

Stop? There's a stop in sight?

 

Don't think so Southpaw. None of us have found it at least...

 

Gerry