I'm hoping that some of you experienced FPers have esoteric knowledge about where to find out-of-production cartridges for pens such as the Waterman C/F pens from the 60s/70s. I did a lot of Googling and now I know even less than when I started.

What about this: people hand-produce pens... why not custom converters? Okay maybe not so exciting, but I've read plenty of complaints about capacity-challenged converters. How hard can the engineering be? I mean, aside from size and shape, is there anything else that stops converters from being interchangeable? Could all pens (other than integrated piston fillers) theoretically take either a cartridge or converter?

Or how about a new approach for cartridges? Like those baby bottles where the milk goes into the collapsible plastic baggies? Okay, maybe a bit fragile, but how dangerous is the inside of a barrel?

Seriously now, am I going to have to invent some gizmo just to suck ink, or has someone already come up with the perfect solution?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Petra

Hi, Petra. As far as the Waterman CF is concerned, the easiest thing to do is to call Waterman customer service at 1-800-BEST-PEN and order a converter for the Waterman Lady line of pens. I ordered mine a while ago, so they may not have any more in stock, but it's worth a try. HTH and good luck,
David

Hi Petra,

There always is the sac-o-matic, or whatever it is called . Take an empty cartridge for the pen of your choice, remove some of the body, and attach a rubber sac to it with some shellac or nail polish, as large as will fit in the barrel when stuck onto the nipple in the section.

Instant converter...

HTH, warm regards, Wim

David and Wim, thank you both for these suggestions! Currently I have NO cartridges whatsoever for these older Waterman c/f pens. I keeping a look out for vintage cartridges in EBay. If I can find the right one, I guess I can create a "sacomatic" or at least try filling the cartridge with a syringe, as some people apparently do. I will also contact Waterman, send a photo of the pen, in hopes that there is some converter for another model that may fit.

Any discoveries will be posted! Oh, and also I'll be sure to let you know if I find myself in the custom-converter business

Thanks for the advice!

Petra

I'm just running into that thread. I someone wants a Waterman c/f cartridge, just PM me your address and I'll drop one in an envelope in the mail.

Hi Petra,

Another option is to use a Pelikan converter, the internatoional size one. The nipple end fits, but the converter is a little loose in the section, which can be fixed by a layer of teflon tape around the lower end, as long as you don't cover up the hole, of course.

Works fine for me, and if you have a really slender CF, you can still take off the outer turning knob sleeve (easy, because it is loose). The Pelikan converter has at least one part too many, you see .

BTW, you get two added advantages by using the Pelikan converter: it holds more ink than the original CF one, and it doesn't rattle around in the barrel, like the original CF converter does. Especially the latter I find highly irritating .

HTH, warm regards, Wim

Necessity is the mother of invention! With these suggestions I'm sure I'll figure out a good solution! Thanks!

Petra

Petra:

There was a discussion somewhere about making an eyedropper filler out of a c/c pen. There should be no metal in constant contact with the ink, and if there is a blind cap it needs to be sealed. This might be another solution. There is a discussion here:

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...p?showtopic=882

Jim