Vintage Sheaffers And The Monteverde Mini Converter

[Ernst Bitterman]

On the R&K inks question, I have a misgiving based on NO experience at all; it's a mere mental experiment that I ran, and deserves all the weight that calls for:

 

The point is gold, BUT the tube that carries the ink from the cartridge to the feed is stainless steel. It's a highly resistant stainless steel, and I can't recall ever having seen one in a pitted state, but it's bound to be a little more susceptible than gold.

 

An even more vapourous worry is the little ring of clutch studs. Those shouldn't ever contact the ink, but sometimes pens burp, sometimes the nipple/cartridge interface fails, and sometimes the seal inside the section's shell degrades, so "shouldn't" is not "won't".

 

This nebulous concern is brought to you by someone who has put all sorts of silly inks into pens he probably shouldn't have, and hasn't paid a serious price for it yet. I don't even take my own cautious advice.

[Ron Z]

Sometimes a reamer is needed to open up the end a bit so that a converter will fit. Don't use a drill because it can crack the barrel. A reamer has multiple cutting edges and so is less likely to grab and bind.

[Pincel]

See, to me, that picture looks exactly like the Monteverde mini converter. It might work, but I wonder if it would ever really fit securely (even if it doesn't have size issue) because that plunger would always be fighting with the hole-puncher in the bottom of the barrel. By refilling an empty cartridge, at least I'm working with something I know won't fall out or wiggle loose inside the pen or when I open it.

 

That is a Monterverde mini converter that allows you to use bottled ink with many fountain pens that accept short standard international cartridges. Your Sheaffer pen uses a proprietary cartridge. So, this might not work.

 

http://www.auspens.com/images/C132.jpg

 

However, there is a another version of the Monteverde Mini Converter modified to fit Sheaffer (slim Targa). Probably would work with your pen too. BUT the ink capacity is too little!!!

 

http://www.auspens.com/images/C133.jpg

Edited August 18, 2015 by Haribon

[elippman]

Thanks again for everything. I will look into the modified converter, even if the ink capacity is small. I don't mind refilling. I have quite a few inks and quite a few pens, so I often don't keep one ink in one pen for too long. In other words, it's not a common thing that I write all the ink out of a cartridge without seeing it coming, even if the ink capacity of that cartridge is small. Where might that modified mini converter be found? I see the international one on Goulet, but not the one modified for Sheaffer.

[Pincel]

... I will look into the modified converter, even if the ink capacity is small. I don't mind refilling. I have quite a few inks and quite a few pens, so I often don't keep one ink in one pen for too long.... Where might that modified mini converter be found? I see the international one on Goulet, but not the one modified for Sheaffer.

 

Hear RonZ' story first:

 

Sheaffer made a slim converter for the slim Fashion pen and Slim Targ to fit their much thinner barrels along with a special thin cartridge. None of the standard Sheaffer cartridges (which fit every Sheaffer cartridge pen except these slim pens) or converters will even fit into the barrel. Sheaffer quit making them some time ago when these models were discontinued. About 5 years ago, they started to supply an unmarked Montiverdi mini converter as the replacement for the original slim converter, and this is what they had in the service center when I visited before it closed about 4 years ago. They do work.

 

The mini converter isn't ideal, but I imagine that it holds about as much as the regular squeeze fill slim converter did. The problem is that even though these fit into the pens and onto the writing unit, the nipple that fits onto the piercing tube has a tendency to split.

 

Where might that modified mini converter be found? I checked Monteverde USA site and they are no longer available. I know a source, but at US$18.40 and you still have to add shipping, they're too expensive! You are better off looking for a Sheaffer button converter which will last longer.

posted by idazle in another thread somewhere here.

 

BTW, I noticed that the LIFETIME imprint on the clip of your pen is on middle not like the others which have it on the lower part of the clip. Does your pen have a nib section with metal threads as opposed to the common ones with plastic threads?

Edited August 21, 2015 by Haribon

[elippman]

Yes, it does, and something akin to a sheath as well. The cartridge fits up into it. The top of the cartridge disappears. In other words, the innards look nothing like the picture above.

[Pincel]

Yes, it does, and something akin to a sheath as well. The cartridge fits up into it. The top of the cartridge disappears. In other words, the innards look nothing like the picture above.

 

It appears to me that your pen (LIFETIME imprint on the middle of clip; LIFETIME on nib with metal sleeve) is a later version before the end of life (EOL) of this short lived pen.

 

I'm wondering what else is different in this later release of the LIFETIME cartridge pen?

Pictures from eBay.

 

Did Sheaffer retained the concentric circles on top of the barre (L)? Does the barrel still carry the LIFETIME imprint ® at open end?

Edited August 21, 2015 by Haribon

[elippman]

To answer your questions, no concentric circles, no squared off bottom of the barrel, no Lifetime imprint around the open end of the barrel. At the open end, the words Sheaffer and Made in USA can be seen if you look very closely. To satisfy your curiosity, I'll post pictures to illustrate what we've been talking about.

[Pincel]

Sheaffer LIFETIME Cartridge, what I have noticed:

 

TYPE I - LIFETIME imprint at lower part of clip; plastic threaded section, accepts the Button Fill Sheaffer Converter

posted by idazle in another thread somewhere here.

 

TYPE II - LIFETIME imprint at the middle of clip; metal threaded section; accepts the Sheaffer Classic Squeeze Converter

posted by belfaborac in another thread somewhere here.

 

Owners of the Sheaffer LIFETIME Cartridge pens, please check which type do you have. This is just an observation, I don't know if we can generalized this.

Edited August 22, 2015 by Haribon

[elippman]

Yep, that second one is a dead ringer for mine in every way, except I don't have a converter, obviously.

[sexauerw]

I believe the Lifetime and Imperial IV are different pens. The Lifetime models came out in 1963 to celebrate Sheaffer's 50th anniversary. Originally it was supposed to be a cartridge only pen, but Sheaffer developed a converter (their first I think) shortly after to allow people to use it with bottled ink. The Imperial IV didn't have "Lifetime" on the clip and came in a touchdown version in addition to cartridge. I have a Lifetime in the Imperial VI style and I just use Skrip cartridges in it because I couldn't find a working converter to fit it.

 

I believe the early Sheaffer Skrip and button converters could fit the Lifetimes.

 

Jim Mamoulides aka PenHero, wrote a great guide on the earlier Sheaffer converters.

http://www.penhero.com/PenInHand/2005/PenInHandMay2005.htm

 

Also iron gall inks should be fine. They don't gunk up, but they can be corrosive to metal parts, but a gold nib should be fine. Many vintage pens were feed on an iron gall only diet for decades without any significant problems.

I would not use iron-gall inks on a cartridge/converter pen. There is a metal sleeve around the feed extension and it is the metal sleeve that punctures the cartridge and forms a seal with either the cartridge or the converter. I've had to send off a Targa nib unit to have Ron Zorn replace that little sleeve because the previous owner of the pen used iron-gall inks and the sleeve was pretty much gone. The bare feed extension wouldn't seal at all against the converter (it leaked all over the place) and it would have shattered had I attempted to use a cartridge. It's pretty much a total disassembly of the nib unit to get at the little sleeve. The repair was cheaper than a new nib unit, but not by much.

[elippman]

Thanks much for the advice. I was planning on trying that approach. Now I definitely will not!

[sexauerw]

On the R&K inks question, I have a misgiving based on NO experience at all; it's a mere mental experiment that I ran, and deserves all the weight that calls for:

 

The point is gold, BUT the tube that carries the ink from the cartridge to the feed is stainless steel. It's a highly resistant stainless steel, and I can't recall ever having seen one in a pitted state, but it's bound to be a little more susceptible than gold.

 

An even more vapourous worry is the little ring of clutch studs. Those shouldn't ever contact the ink, but sometimes pens burp, sometimes the nipple/cartridge interface fails, and sometimes the seal inside the section's shell degrades, so "shouldn't" is not "won't".

 

This nebulous concern is brought to you by someone who has put all sorts of silly inks into pens he probably shouldn't have, and hasn't paid a serious price for it yet. I don't even take my own cautious advice.

I've never seen a problem with the clutch stud ring but I have definitely seen a dissolved tube surrounding the feed extension into the cartridge/converter. See post above.

[Florida Blue]

I would not use iron-gall inks on a cartridge/converter pen. There is a metal sleeve around the feed extension and it is the metal sleeve that punctures the cartridge and forms a seal with either the cartridge or the converter.

 

That is a good point that I hadn't thought of. Typically, I use iron gall inks in pens that use a rubber sac and plastic feed and the only metal part the ink comes into contact with is a gold nib.

 

I would say that as long as one is diligent about cleaning the inks between fills, iron gall can be enjoyed in most vintage pens that use a sac.

[elippman]

FB--Can you give me an example of the type of pen you're using--rubber sac, plastic feed, gold nib? I haven't come across too many with that combination of materials. The only gold-nibbed pen I have is the one we''ve been talking about on this thread. All the others are steel.

[Florida Blue]

FB--Can you give me an example of the type of pen you're using--rubber sac, plastic feed, gold nib? I haven't come across too many with that combination of materials. The only gold-nibbed pen I have is the one we''ve been talking about on this thread. All the others are steel.

 

Any of the earlier Sheaffers like the flattops, Balances or lever fill Triumphs. The feeds are hard rubber, so technically not a plastic, but any ink wouldn't come into contact with metal other then a gold nib.