Faber-Castell Loom Converter

[OdysseyUnkown]

I plan on purchasing a Faber-Castell Loom as my next fountain pen, but i'm having a hard time with a converter. I've seen many people say they can take an international one, but then i've seen people say that it won't take one and you'll have to use their own converter. I live in Australia, so fountain pens and their accessory's are quite expensive. I can buy a Graf Von Faber converter, but i'm not sure if it will fit the Loom or not. I don't believe it will since it costs $30 AUD, which is the same price of the actual pen itself.

 

Can someone clear this up for me please?

[twdpens]

The best options are either a Schmidt K2 (or derivative such as Faber Castell, Visconti etc) or Schmidt K5 (or derivative such as Pelikan, Graf von Faber Castell etc). I expect other standard converters will fit but those I listed are widely available. Note that Waterman/rotring converters don't fit the Loom very securely.

 

HTH,

 

Martin

Edited July 8, 2016 by twdpens

[OdysseyUnkown]

Thanks Martin, but i fear that i'll be hard pressed to find a Schmidt K2 in any of the Australia pen stores. But i will look around. Unrelated, but i looked at also getting a TWSBI Eco, i can't buy it from the US because of the sheer cost of the Postage. There is a store which i saw called Overjoyed.sg. The Prices were good, but it's the fact that they have a minimum purchase amount of $80 when the Pen i want is only $40 plus shipping.

 

I guess i can always use Faber-Castell cartridges, i can get them cheaply.

[twdpens]

There are lots of converters made by Schmidt that are badged by more well-known pen brands (I've just given examples above based on pens we stock). I'm therefore sure you will be able to find something compatible. AU$30 is a crazy price for a converter although I know that prices in Oz are much higher than in Europe or the USA. As an comparison, a Schmidt K2 in the UK is the equivalent of AU$2.76 (including VAT).

 

HTH,

 

Martin

[swanjun]

Honestly, the way I solved this question was just to buy the pen from Goulet Pens, who have an option for including a Faber-Castell converter. I believe you can also inquire on the Faber Castell website, but because you are in Australia, I don't know what it'd be like to order from them directly.

[migo984]

Thanks Martin, but i fear that i'll be hard pressed to find a Schmidt K2 in any of the Australia pen stores. But i will look around. Unrelated, but i looked at also getting a TWSBI Eco, i can't buy it from the US because of the sheer cost of the Postage. There is a store which i saw called Overjoyed.sg. The Prices were good, but it's the fact that they have a minimum purchase amount of $80 when the Pen i want is only $40 plus shipping.

 

I guess i can always use Faber-Castell cartridges, i can get them cheaply.

Hi

 

This TWSBI seller, based in Bayswater VIC, has been recommended to me. Eco is AU$43 + flat rate $8 shipping via AusPost.

 

http://www.myheartytimberbox.com.au/product-category/fountain-pens/

 

I'm not sure but I might have a spare converter that will fit the Loom that you can have. I'll check in the morning & send you a PM.

[migo984]

Hi

 

Re my post above, I think I have a converter that will fit your Loom. We've tried it in various Faber-Castell lens (Ondoro, Intuition etc) and it fits well. It doesn't fit the Basic, but that's known to take a different converter anyway.

 

I'll send you a PM to get your details

[twdpens]

Hi

 

Re my post above, I think I have a converter that will fit your Loom. We've tried it in various Faber-Castell lens (Ondoro, Intuition etc) and it fits well. It doesn't fit the Basic, but that's known to take a different converter anyway.

 

Just to clarify migo984's post in case it appears confusing to some. The Faber Castell Basic still takes a standard size converter but the barrel is very slim. Some converters have a wide metal collar that prevents it going into the barrel, even though it might fit perfectly well into the nib unit. The best choice of converter for the Basic is, unsurprisingly, the Faber Castell converter (as I wrote above, this converter is a re-badged Schmidt K2).

 

The Schmidt K5 (re-badged by Pelikan, Graf von Faber Castell and others) has a step in the metal collar that pushes up its OD just that bit too much for some slim pens.

 

HTH,

 

Martin

[migo984]

Just to clarify migo984's post in case it appears confusing to some. The Faber Castell Basic still takes a standard size converter but the barrel is very slim. Some converters have a wide metal collar that prevents it going into the barrel, even though it might fit perfectly well into the nib unit. The best choice of converter for the Basic is, unsurprisingly, the Faber Castell converter (as I wrote above, this converter is a re-badged Schmidt K2).

 

The Schmidt K5 (re-badged by Pelikan, Graf von Faber Castell and others) has a step in the metal collar that pushes up its OD just that bit too much for some slim pens.

 

HTH,

 

Martin

Thank you for clarifying my somewhat garbled post, Martin.

[RMN]

Martin, do you have an image with both the K2 and K5/6 in one picture?

 

 

D.ick

[twdpens]

Hi D.ick, Sorry, I don't have a single photo of them side-by-side but hopefully the images below will help to illustrate the differences.

 

Schmidt K2:

http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/schmidt/k2.jpg

 

Schmidt K5:

http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/schmidt/k5.jpg

(The K6 is the same but it has a screw thread at the end that fits into the pen's front section.)

 

The main issue in terms of compatibility is the collar around the middle. On the K5 there is a step which pushes its overall diameter to 0.2mm greater than that of the K2. This may not sound a lot but it can be enough to prevent it fitting into the barrel of a slim pen.

 

As I wrote above, both these models are re-badged by several of the larger pen manufacturers.

 

HTH,

 

Martin

[RMN]

Hi D.ick, Sorry, I don't have a single photo of them side-by-side but hopefully the images below will help to illustrate the differences.

 

Schmidt K2:

http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/schmidt/k2.jpg

 

Schmidt K5:

http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/schmidt/k5.jpg

(The K6 is the same but it has a screw thread at the end that fits into the pen's front section.)

 

The main issue in terms of compatibility is the collar around the middle. On the K5 there is a step which pushes its overall diameter to 0.2mm greater than that of the K2. This may not sound a lot but it can be enough to prevent it fitting into the barrel of a slim pen.

 

As I wrote above, both these models are re-badged by several of the larger pen manufacturers.

 

HTH,

 

Martin

 

Thanks, Martin. The single photo was so you could compare them actual size. But in these pics it is obvious the metal ring in the K5 is adding to the diameter.

 

What is not clear from most photos, is that the K5/6 is made of clear hardplastic, while the K2 (and the seldom seen K1) is made from soft plastic, the same material cartridges are made from.

 

 

 

Thx again for showing.

 

 

D.ick

[adamselene]

I found an "Onlinepens" (German) converter that works well, but it is smaller capacity than my Graf Von Faber Castell convertor. A MB converter wouldn't fit at all.

 

I think the Loom is amazing!

[katerchen]

Awesome info, thanks. I just joined the latest Massdrop offering ( https://www.massdrop.com/buy/faber-castell-basic ) and had the same question.

 

-k

[RMN]

I found an "Onlinepens" (German) converter that works well, but it is smaller capacity than my Graf Von Faber Castell convertor. A MB converter wouldn't fit at all.

 

I think the Loom is amazing!

 

Correct.

 

Be aware: Montblanc Cartridges are standard international, (Modern) Montblanc Converters are Proprietary!. This has to do with the extra space to fit the metal coil.

 

 

D.ick

[titrisol]

I just received a FB Basic pen, which seems to have the same limitation.

I tested a couple of "generic" converters I had (with and without collar) and all of them seem to fit snuggly.

I loaded one of the ones without a collar with Pelikan 4001 green and it seems to work just fine

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

Sorry for summoning this thread back from the grave, but I have a question about the Faber-Castell Loom and School fountain pens (and the Pelikan Pelikano) and converters.

 

I found a retailer which offers the Kaweco Converter Deluxe for half the price of the Schmidt K2, K5, Pelikan-branded and Faber-Castell-branded converters. Since I need 4 standard international converters (two for the Looms, one for the School model, one for the Pelikano), the money saved would be a significant amount.

 

Can someone check if the Kaweco converter fits either the Pelikan Twist, or the Pelikano, or the Faber-Castell School, Basic, Loom models? I've tried several Chinese, brandless "standard international" converters but they don't fit at all, they're too loose.

Edited August 25, 2018 by RoyalBlueNotebooks

[Twister292]

Just get a Kaweco converter. FC pens use standard international converters, and I like the Kaweco full-sized converter because they have a metal band near the feed nipple for durability.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

Just get a Kaweco converter. FC pens use standard international converters, and I like the Kaweco full-sized converter because they have a metal band near the feed nipple for durability.

Will do, thank you for the suggestion. I did get a Schmidt K1 (or K2..) but it cost more than the Kaweco one. But I'm concerned about the metal band around the Kaweco converter. Will it fit in the body of a Loom?

[Twister292]

Will do, thank you for the suggestion. I did get a Schmidt K1 (or K2..) but it cost more than the Kaweco one. But I'm concerned about the metal band around the Kaweco converter. Will it fit in the body of a Loom?

 

Yep, shouldn't have issues. My ambition works fine with them.