Converter Won't Fit Parker Sonnet!

[mippy]

Hello! I just got my Parker Sonnet - which I believe was made in 1998, I've had it since 1999 - cleaned up, and decided to get a converter for it. After looking online, I bought a Deluxe Converter as the Amazon seller advertised it as being Sonnet compatible. However, it won't fit my pen. It will fit *in* the pen, but seems way way too long for the barrel. My pen only fits the short cartridges, and on shining a light down the barrel, it looks as though there's some kind of metal plate at the bottom, about 2/3 of the way down. Does this mean I can't use a converter at all? I'm really confused.

 

Here are photos - please excuse my messy desk.

 

 

[mitto]

May be your Sonnet started its life as a roller ball pen.

Is the converter a proprietry Parker convereter?

[mippy]

No, it's definitely a Sonnet fountain pen. I was given it new in box as a product sample in 1999. The converter is a Parker branded one.

[kapanak]

Have you tried twisting it while pushing it in? That seems to sit way too high on your pen.

[twdpens]

You wrote that it only takes the short Parker cartridges. You didn't put a spare one in the barrel that you've forgotten about, did you?

 

HTH,

 

Martin

[pajaro]

The metal plate you describe in the barrel sounds like one of the spacers in a rollerball barrel meant to support the rollerball refill and hold it into the section. This spacer should be removable. If you don't remove it you will not be able to screw the section all the way down with the converter. So, while you insist the pen started life as a fountain pen, the situation you are faced with suggests otherwise. The barrel might have gotten switched out somewhere along the line.

[parkerwasmyfirstlove]

Usually the deluxe converter just fits fine. I like the Sonnet very much for drawing.

[pajaro]

Usually the deluxe converter just fits fine. I like the Sonnet very much for drawing.

 

Exactly. When one wouldn't fit into a Sonnet I had bought, I discovered that the fountain pen was a rollerball someone put a fountain pen section into, and then he apparently lacked the knowledge about the rollerball spacer. I worked it out.

[mitto]

If it does not take Parker converter the barrel definitely belongs to a rollerball pen. As suggested by pajaro, you have to remove the spacer in the barrel in order to be able to use it with a fountain pen.

 

 

Unscrew the barrel from the section and put the converter inside it to see how deep it goes inside it. It should sit deep inside the barrel like in the picture below (if in case it belongs to a fountain pen):

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2016 by mitto

[mippy]

OK, the first picture shows it as far down as it will go. It seems to fit on the nib/top part perfectly well.

 

The metal plate doesn't budge - I can't seem to move it. How would I remove this? It seems stuck fast. I tried pushing it gently, thinking it might be part of a cartridge that was stuck, but it wouldn;t budge.

 

I remember the pen coming in a case with the documentation, so I've no reason to believe it's a poorly converted rollerball - I did work experience on a teen magazine years ago and it was sat in a box of press samples which they let me take, still in the box. I wrote with it for years and years using standard international cartridges (not knowing they weren't designed for the Parker). I can't fit a long cartridge or a spare into the barrel, just the short ones.

[pajaro]

I had a pointed punch that I used to pry that thing out of the barrel, being careful with it. I have had a couple of the rollerballs, and one had a spring that supported the rollerball refill and held it against the section.

 

If your pen didn't start life as a rollerball, I can't imagine what the thing in the barrel of your pen could possibly be. It's not needed or desired in a fountain pen.

[mitto]

OK, the first picture shows it as far down as it will go. It seems to fit on the nib/top part perfectly well.

 

The metal plate doesn't budge - I can't seem to move it. How would I remove this? It seems stuck fast. I tried pushing it gently, thinking it might be part of a cartridge that was stuck, but it wouldn;t budge.

 

I remember the pen coming in a case with the documentation, so I've no reason to believe it's a poorly converted rollerball - I did work experience on a teen magazine years ago and it was sat in a box of press samples which they let me take, still in the box. I wrote with it for years and years using standard international cartridges (not knowing they weren't designed for the Parker). I can't fit a long cartridge or a spare into the barrel, just the short ones.

Why would a SONNET not take a long cartridge? Havent you thought about this? You say your pen wouldnt take the long cartridge from the start. And that says it all. The Sonnet fountain pen would take both the long and short cartridges. Your Sonnet barrel wouldnt take the long cartridge because the barrel belonged to a rollerball pen from the start.

 

Anyhow remove the spacer and your Sonnet would become a fountain pen.

 

 

And there is nothing poor in converting a Sonnet rollerball into a fountain pen. The barrels are made of the same material and same quality. The rollerballs also came in boxes along with papers.

 

Best.

Edited July 15, 2016 by mitto

[mippy]

Why would a SONNET not take a long cartridge? Havent you thought about this?

Hey! We aren't all experts Having never owned a Parker before, I just assumed this was a quirk of this particular model. It came in the box as a fountain pen so it seems really weird that it appears to have a rollerball barrel as you say.

[mitto]

You are welcome. No offence intentended. Either there is something stuck in the barrel of your pen or it is a rollerball barrel. Hope you would be able to remove the thing stuck inside or the spacer and everything would be ok.

 

 

Here is a picture to illustrate the conversion of a Sonnet rollerball into a fountain pen. The yellow thingy (yes, it is a plastic object, not metal) is the spacer or the stopper for the rollerball refill. See the piston converter seated deep in the rollerball barrel after the spacer/stopper is removed.

 

Best.

 

 

 

 

And the rollerball has now become a fountain pen :

 

 

 

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by mitto

[ceejaybee]

I seriously doubt your pen was originally a rollerball, the section and converter would screw much further into the barrel than your photo illustrates if that was the case. It's more likely a short cartridge stuck in there, when using short cartridges you can have one fitted in the nib unit for use and another spare stored in the barrel which is usually inserted the opposite way round, ie. nipple end first. What you're seeing is likely the flat end of it. You'll probably have to puncture it to remove it which might be messy but it should flush out OK, personally I would screw a long woodscrew into it and pull it out

[mippy]

Hahahaha! Well, looks like you were right - see the photo I've attached, I kept tapping it on my desk thinking that there was no way another cartridge would ever have fitted in there given the issue with the converter. I had an old tool on my desk which is essentially a long metal rod with a sharp needle on the end, pressed it down, got ink on the end, pressed harder and fished it out.

 

Thank you so much everyone! I can now fill my converter with some lovely Waterman violet ink

[mippy]

Also, excuse my ink-stained fingernail there

[parkerwasmyfirstlove]

Waterman tender purple? Love hat ink in my sonnet

[mitto]

Happy for you. Enjoy your pen using the converter with your favourite Waterman ink.

[milkb0at]

Great! Well done!