I just picked up a No Nonsense. There is a spring inside the barrel whose purpose seems to be applying pressure to the back of a cartridge. No problem there, but a converter won't fit in the pen with the spring there. Is there a safe way to remove the spring? Will a cartridge remain secure without the spring to hold it in place?

By the way, I bought one to see if they really were good pens, and this is a great pen, especially for the price. Mine has a blue marbled finish with gold trim and a fine italic nib. The nib is nothing fancy, but writes great and performs like a much more expensive pen.

I'm so glad it reached........this was my first sale ever and was worried about the postal system............there is a thread for exactly what you need........I will try to find it nobody chips in with its location.

Fateh, I was a little nervous about the postal system, too, but it arrived without incident and I really like this pen. Sheaffer really should bring back the No Nonsense line of fountain pens.

Hi,

I think the ones with springs at the bottom may originally have ben RBs/BPs, springs are pretty easy to remove either with a crotchet hook or somebody suggested a chp stick (there are a few posts about them). If you want the option to go back to BP, cartridges fit OK as do the older squeeze converters (I think called classic), the newer screw/piston converters won't fit with the spring in place but probably will when it's taken out (I uually use refilled carts or a squeezy converter).

Once you take the spring out, you can always use it as an eyedropper filler, they work great like that with a little silicon grease on the threads.

Good luck.

Andy

Hello Jon,

I hope I have a "no nonsense" answer! Your pen most likely began life as a ballpoint; the spring is there to put pressure on the back of the ballpoint refill. (I have lots of NoNonsense BP-to-FP conversions - some came to me that way, and I converted others.) You will need to remove the spring in order to use a converter.

For me, the most reliable method is the chopstick trick, detailed in this thread. It hasn't let me down yet, and I've used it successfully with several different BP models, including Sheaffer Targas and Cross Solos.

By the way, your pen is a "Vintage" model - marbled finish and gold-plated trim, including a disc set into the top of the cap. A very attractive combination. If I remember correctly, the Vintage series included marbled red, green and blue as well as solid black.

And I heartily agree: the NoNonsense pen should have remained Sheaffer's entry-level offering in perpetuity. The current Calligraphy pen still shows traces of NoNonsense DNA in its design, but it's a far cry from the original. You may want to try using your pen as an eyedropper (with a bit of silicone grease on the threads); the NoNonsense lends itself well to that application.

Enjoy your NoNonsense! (Be advised that they can be habit-forming.)

Cheers,

Jon

PS A quick edit to acknowledge that Andy has beaten me to the punch!

Hi,

Just to add to what Univer said, they are great pens I have about 20 in various colours including sets of all the vintage colours and the Blue and the Red transparent models. Favourites are probably an Old Timer (pseudo chased hard rubber) and I quite like stainless steel one that started as a BP.

Was quite lucky a couple of years ago picked up several vintage model BPs in all the colours for £2 each, found a packet of replacement nibs on ebay for £2.50 and started to convert them. I have since used 3 as ED pens and they work really well.

Andy

Andy..............do put up a pic of them all, someday.