Hi all,

I was hoping that somebody familiar with the Stipula Etruria 991 could describe (or better yet, post a picture of) the pen's convertible piston filler unit.

Is it a one-piece unit? Is it made of plastic, metal, or both? Is there any writing on it? Color? Are there any threads on it? Does it have a larger capacity than a standard convertor? ... any description will help me out a lot, thanks!

Dan

Dan, I have had my 991 for a long while, and I have always used it as a piston filler. The section does unscrew from the barrel, and there is a nipple device inside that looks like a standard c/c filler. The end of the piston fill mechanism that I can see is metal with a rubber "O" ring, and it is threaded to fit into the section. I have never removed the piston from the pen, and, frankly, I do not know how.

The 991 seems to hold almost as much ink as my original amber Etruria which is a true piston filler. If there is difference in ink volume, I have not really noticed it. It has been reliable and never let me down.

I hope this info helps. Maybe Wim will add some comments.

Sorry, very low bandwidth rate here, currently, and no picture available either right now.

Yes. And it is operated by the piston knob of the pen.

Metal (bronze), plastic (window, and mechanism), rubber (plunger and seals).

No.

Bronze for the lower and middle parts, transparant plastic between the bronze parts, black plastic for the turning mechanism and rubber seals.

No. The outer part of the piston turning mechanism is partly ribbed, which is engaged by the piston knob on the pen. It does require a little care to insert it into the barrel so that the ribs engage with the inside of the piston knob. It should stick out only about 3 mm prior to screwing the barrel back into the section.
There are some grooves on the lower end of the thing, which goes into the section, because you wouldn't be able to take it out, otherwise. It increases grip on those 3 mms stickign out.

Yes, as it is essentially the same size as any other internal piston filler unit.

Well, I do hope this helps .

Essentially, with the 3 different big piston converter Etrurias (and one of the Novecentos), you have a PF, whcih doubles as a c/c - pretty clever construction IOW. Best of both worlds, IMO. Do note that the 991's converter is different to the other ones, and not exchangeable. It is only usable in the 991.

HTH, warm regards, Wim

The convertible piston is a one-piece unit that cannot be pulled out too easily. Not really knowing the exact material, the one in my 991 appears to be metal -- but I've seen several that's both metal/plastic. I've not yet removed the mechanism on the 991, but I did remove one in my other Etrurias. Though they look identical in terms of size, I recall (though not sure) someone stating that the 991's filling mechanism is not interchangeable with the regular Etrurias. Wim would know about that one, I'm quite sure.

As I said, I haven't removed the mechanism out of mine, so I don't know if there's any writing on it -- but the Stipula logo appeared on the other one I pulled out of the regular Etruria. There are threads, because the section must screw into it. I haven't measure its liquid capacity against a standard converter -- but given it's much larger size, it looks to hold a lot more ink than a standard converter.

I'd take photo, but I'm not inclined to remove the unit from the pen. Besides, the pen is at home and I am not. Hope that helps.

Edit: Oh see... While I was writing this up, Wim already responded. Quite quick and stealthy...

Hi Frank,
It is grooved, actually, concentric grooves. Those help with sealing, but even more so with taking it out of the barrel . Just pull. It is a little trickier to put it back in, see my earlier post .
It is the same volume, as far as I can tell, although I haven't measured it (yet). It is as true a piston filler IMO as the original Amber, for the simple reason that that also sports an internal piston mechanism, as do many PF pens. Essentially, this way you can protect the celluloid from staining from within. The only difference is that the PF mechanism of the 991 and the later Amber and Blue Ocean are removable, and replaceable with a converter or cartridge, which isn't the case with the older and current Amber PF models. And yes, they are very reliable. And very pretty.

Well, you could wait for that to happen, I guess .

This model is one of my favourites, which is why I have three of them .

Warm regards, Wim

Thanks for all the help on my numerous questions. I guess I expected the convertible piston to look like the one that accompanies the Etruria Blue Ocean. I was a bit taken aback when I unscrewed the section and found the version that is at the heart of the 991: it just looks too much like a cross between something I may have encountered in high school metal shop class and perhaps something that came off a tank! (... all apologies, if I am misunderstanding the aesthetics of the thing ...LOL)

I notice that the section on my pen doesn't seem to want to screw all the way into the barrel; I'd say there's about a .3mm gap (small, but still noticable). The brass part of the convertible piston protrudes about 3.7mm out of the barrel (it seems to be pushed in as far as it will go: the "ribs" on the turning part of the convertor engage with the piston knob and the knob works as it's supposed to) ... there's just that small gap between the section and barrel ...hmmmm...

I will have to say that the 991 celluloid certainly does not disappoint: no flashy colors, just earth tones, but with lots of variation and with just the perfect amout of pearlessence -- really well done and very fascinating. At the end of the day it's nice to have the separate piston convertor so that ink won't have a chance of discoloring that magnificent celluloid!

Again, many thanks to fellow 991 owners!

Hi trailmr,


I think this was the first attempt of Stipula at a PF-convertible. I think the mechanism was/is rather expensive, so they changed it to a more universal and cheaper to manufacture solution in the Blue Ocean, Amber Grande Convertible and PF (Convertible) Novecentos .


It seems there were a few 991s with that particular problem. We encountered a few here (3 I think) with the sell-out of the last remaining 991s a few years back. Some people sent their Etruria back to Italy, where it was fixed, but some didn't. It looks like yours was one of those not sent back.

Essentially, the thing to do is contact Stipula, sales@stipula.com, to see if they can fix this. Well, they can, but I guess it is worthwhile finding out what the conditions are . You could also find out where the seller got it, and maybe communicate with the original dealer.

Yes, I agree, plus the added convenience of being able to use a normal converter and/or cartridges .

That celluloid was also used for the Iris, and for an LE of the LA91. Stunning stuff, this particular celluloid, with an incredible depth.

BTW, can you check whether the pen does close completely with the big piston converter removed?

It is only a pleasure!

Warm regards, Wim