Lamy Vista eyedropper conversion

[kosta]

I picked up a Lamy rollerball with malice aforethought. It definitely has holes at the end of the barrel: they're hard to see, but I can blow air through the barrel. Can you guys advise me how to plug these holes without marring the appearance?

 

[Anne-Sophie]

I think the holes in the rollerball barrel might have been added for safety reason like preventing infants from chocking.

 

When Lamy changed the clip screw so that it could not be changed, they might have changed the machinery.

 

They might also have started to use machinery which held the round pieces of plastic to make barrels by a tiny clamp, the clamp might be secured in the plastic by the two tiny holes.

Edited May 24, 2009 by Anne-Sophie

[RLTodd]

I think it's a bit strange that they put the ink window holes in the clear barrel. Why wouldn't they just use the same barrel as the RB?

 

Ventilates the ink container so that our 98.6 degree F hand doesn't warm up the air in the cartridge or converter. The air would expand and force unnecessary ink out of the pen shortening the number of lines that you could write with a filling. Primary reason most eyedroppers have blobbing problems, Parker & Sheaffer abandoned barrel filling, and a few other design things.

 

The Safari / Vista is and EXTREMELY well engineered pen.

 

I take my hat off to the Lamy engineers.

 

[Banana]

Making the barrel identical except for being transparent is a demonstrator tradition;

 

I don't know if Lamy subscribe to any demonstrator tradition which would presumably include making the pen available to dealers only for demonstration purposes, after all they don't call the pen a Safari Demonstrator they call it a Vista.

 

further, it's cheaper to do it that way with injection molded plastics, because the barrel is made in the same mold (rather than needing a separate mold for the demonstrator version of the barrel).

 

That would make a lot more sense if they didn't make a barrel without the holes for the RB. Surely it would be cheaper to use the same barrel for both (rather than needing a separate mould for the RB version of the barrel).

[Banana]

Ventilates the ink container so that our 98.6 degree F hand doesn't warm up the air in the cartridge or converter. The air would expand and force unnecessary ink out of the pen shortening the number of lines that you could write with a filling.

 

Interesting theory but I haven't noticed that problem in any of my other pens and none of them have ventilation holes.

[ZeissIkon]

Can you guys advise me how to plug these holes without marring the appearance?

 

I'm assuming the holes aren't invisible to begin with -- tiny wood screws or sheet metal screws threaded into the holes and then secured with clear RTV silicone would work and look like it belonged. Same with a piece of stainless or brass wire threaded through and either peened over on the ends or secured with silicone. Super glue would work, but it produces a frosted appearance on many clear plastics from vapor curing away from the application site. Similarly, solvent welding adhesives would close the hole, but might frost or craze the glossy surface.

 

If it were my pen, I'd probably go with a pair of bright stainless screws threaded in and sealed/secured with silicone. Give the silicone 24 hours to cure before filling the pen as an eyedropper, of course...

[bugmenot]

Can you guys advise me how to plug these holes without marring the appearance?

 

I'm assuming the holes aren't invisible to begin with -- tiny wood screws or sheet metal screws threaded into the holes and then secured with clear RTV silicone would work and look like it belonged.

 

I'm afraid screws won't work. Those holes are more like slits inside a circular groove. I used thermoplastic glue to seal them in a Lamy rollerball barrel. It seals well but looks hideously :-/.

Edited May 24, 2009 by bugmenot

[ZeissIkon]

Can you guys advise me how to plug these holes without marring the appearance?

 

I'm assuming the holes aren't invisible to begin with -- tiny wood screws or sheet metal screws threaded into the holes and then secured with clear RTV silicone would work and look like it belonged.

 

I'm afraid screws won't work. Those holes are more like slits inside a circular groove. I used termoplastic glue to seal them in a Lamy rollerball barrel. It seals well but looks hideously :-/.

 

A small drill bit will solve that hole shape problem -- and then you can use bigger diameter screws, which are easier to find and easier to install.

[bugmenot]

 

I'm afraid screws won't work. Those holes are more like slits inside a circular groove. I used termoplastic glue to seal them in a Lamy rollerball barrel. It seals well but looks hideously :-/.

 

A small drill bit will solve that hole shape problem -- and then you can use bigger diameter screws, which are easier to find and easier to install.

 

I guess it's time for an image :-).

 

 

Those are two baloon barrels, which are equivalent to the safari rollerball barrels apart from the colors. On the right one, the dark patches are where the "disc" is attached to the barrel. The brighter patches is where air passes through. I cannot see a way to use a drill here without losing structural integrity.

 

[ZeissIkon]

Those are two baloon barrels, which are equivalent to the safari rollerball barrels apart from the colors. On the right one, the dark patches are where the "disc" is attached to the barrel. The brighter patches is where air passes through. I cannot see a way to use a drill here without losing structural integrity.

 

Ah, a real bargain compared to a thousand words.

 

For this, I'd suggest pooling a little two-part epoxy on the inside of the barrel. Fill the depression in the end with modeling clay first, so the epoxy doesn't run out, and then remove the clay after the epoxy has set. The result (if you prop the barrel perfectly vertical and are careful not to drip epoxy on the sides) will look like it belongs there, will be as air- and ink-tight as if molded without the holes, and the work involved will be minimal.

[southpaw]

Well, my Vista arrived this week. I had also ordered a Vista RB barrel which had arrived from Lamy USA. It did have some small vent holes in the bottom, so I used some clear Scotch tape and put it on the bottom of the barrel, being careful to press it into the small circular depression really good. Then I took some Loctite Stik 'n Seal Original Waterproof Adhesive and, using a long narrow medicine dropper, put a half dozen or so drops of the Loctite into the very bottom of the Vista RB barrel. I let it cure for 24 hours and removed the tape. This exposed some adhesive which still needed to cure, so I let it cure for another 24 hours.

 

Next, I applied some Tryphon 100% pure silicone grease to the FP section threads, loaded up the modified Vista barrel full of Lamy Turquoise, screwed in the section, put the cap on, and placed the FP upside down in a cup to allow the ink to fill the feed. It was cool checking on the pen every few minutes and seeing how are the ink had progressed, but I grew impatient, uncapped the pen, unscrewed the section, started it a couple of turns, inverted the pen over the recycling basket, and finished screwing the section in, forcing ink to completely fill the feed. A few drops hit the recycled paper.

 

The pen writes perfectly and I'm using it today. It sat overnight on its side (purposefully) and a quick wipe of the section joint today with a paper towel yielded . . . nothing! So far so good. Looks uber cool!!! Again, many thanks Siv!

[waqar39]

As a followup to this thread, here's my attempt at an eyedropper conversion of the Lamy Vista:

 

I ordered a Vista from Pam and also ordered a barrel for the Vista rollerball from the Lamy parts site.

 

I didn't bother replacing the plastic ring with a rubber o-ring, i just used a generous amount of silicone grease. Looks like it works!

 

Remember, you saw it here first

 

i had a palikano i did the same thing but i fill my pen with the help of the medial syringe but your idea is also cool keep

it up :clap1:

[steveh6883]

I just filled the tiney vent slits on the rollerball barrel with wax, works fine

[Pfhorrest]

Rollerball barrel.

 

Why didn't I think of that?

[professionaldilettante]

WOW... much too simple and elegant. You would think that Lamy would figure this out and actually make legit dropper pens. I'd just worry about it leaking all over the place, and I would think if you actually engineered a dropper pen, you wouldn't have to rely on having to grease it every time. I would think that the grease would just creep all over the place... making a linty greasy mess.

[professionaldilettante]

Oh, would it be possible to do this just by replacing the black ring with an o-ring of a similar size?

[professionaldilettante]

I know I should be sleeping, but has anyone tried to use the teflon tape used in plumbing to form a seal? I would think that this would work, as i'm a bit hesitant to put grease on the pen, especially when it can end up in places I don't want to and can't wash it off from.

[tanesiir]

 

I didn't bother replacing the plastic ring with a rubber o-ring, i just used a generous amount of silicone grease. Looks like it works!

 

 

As it is never (?) supposed to come off, would some sort thread lock, superglue or epoxy work? Not sure how well they'll stick on plastic though.

[tanesiir]

I didn't bother replacing the plastic ring with a rubber o-ring, i just used a generous amount of silicone grease. Looks like it works!

As it is never (?) supposed to come off, would some sort thread lock, superglue or epoxy work? Not sure how well they'll stick on plastic though.

 

Ok, so I misunderstood That is how you fill it, by screwing the handle off. I should have thought this matter little further.

 

Part of the reason for the misunderstanding is that I have been thinking something on the lines of being able to fill the pen with injection needle from the end. If you have ever gotten shots (vaccination) you may have noticed how the "stuff" is in a little glass bottle that is used to fill the syringe. There is some sort of plastic/rubber/silicone membrane covering the opening of the bottle. One can stick the needle through it and fill the syringe and yet the bottle doesnt leak after the needle is pulled off.

[bugmenot]

Oh, would it be possible to do this just by replacing the black ring with an o-ring of a similar size?

I don't think it'll work, since the barrel comes to rest on a ridge under the plastic ring, not the ring itself. It looks like even a thicker rubber ring will just get pushed away instead of sealing anything.

 

I know I should be sleeping, but has anyone tried to use the teflon tape used in plumbing to form a seal? I would think that this would work, as i'm a bit hesitant to put grease on the pen, especially when it can end up in places I don't want to and can't wash it off from.

 

I used 0.1mm teflon tape on the two conversions I did (a no-name pen and the aforementioned Safari). It still seals well on both of them after about five refills.