Sheaffer Ink Cartridges?

[BucolicBuffalo]

Does it really matter which end of the cartridge goes into the barrel?

 

 

:roflmho:

 

 

You know where this is headed of course. Old Sheaffer school pens. I looked at the new cartridge and the package. Didn't really sink in that what I was supposed to do was insert the gray end into the barrel and screw the section on, piercing the cartridge on the blue end.

 

I of course just looked at it and thought to myself that the gray end had a small little place that looked perfect for piercing and simply stuck it on the section. Then screwed it into the barrel. Seems to be working just fine. No leaks.

[Possum Hill]

Holding a empty new style Sheaffer cartridge in front of me, it appears that the recess in the blue end is deep enough that the cartridge would not be pierced if the blue end were on the spike.

 

The other end was sealed with a small clear sphere, like a standard international cartridge.

[Univer]

Hi,

 

If I remember correctly, the very earliest Sheaffer cartridges had one semi-clear end and one opaque yellow end (an arrangement similar to some of the Esterbrook cartridges...hmmm...), and the accompanying instructions told users to insert the cartridges yellow end down (i.e., toward the end of the barrel). I'm not sure why; both ends are flat. Maybe the yellow plastic was tougher.

 

Then the design was changed to make both ends identical, and, for decades, and it didn't matter which way one inserted the cartridge.

 

When the cartridge was redesigned (I vaguely associate the redesign with the transition to the Slovenian Skrip), the aforementioned recess was built into one end. I recall reading, somewhere, that the recess was designed to allow a user to carry an unopened cartridge in the barrel without piercing it (turn it around and reinsert to use it). Not sure if that's the case, but it sounds reasonably convincing.

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

Edited October 17, 2008 by Univer

[BucolicBuffalo]

Holding a empty new style Sheaffer cartridge in front of me, it appears that the recess in the blue end is deep enough that the cartridge would not be pierced if the blue end were on the spike.

 

The other end was sealed with a small clear sphere, like a standard international cartridge.

 

 

You are right! There is no way possible for these old school pens I have to pierce the blue end. That instruction on the package must be for another model. No wonder I was confused.

 

I looked at the old cartridge I had washed and filled with Noodler's Napalm and it looks like it has the same gray end on both ends.

 

Thanks all!

Edited October 17, 2008 by BucolicBuffalo

[Mr.Rene]

Does it really matter which end of the cartridge goes into the barrel?

 

Dear BucolicBuffalo,

it really matters if you get any ink of this new sheaffer cartridges... my Sh. callygraphy kit had 4 pieces completetly empty!!!

Rene,

[Tricia]

Almost all my Shaeffer carts are clear on both ends, though one end has a small embossed circle on it that I've always taken to be where the feed tube punctures. (These are old carts from late 80s and early 90s, for the most part.)

 

 

 

[RLTodd]

Not talking about the uncommon slim cartridges but the regular sized they still sell.

 

Back when, both ends were the same. Either end could be put against the piercing tube and begin writing.

 

They got the idea to make one end non pierceable so they could ship a cartridge in a new pen with the barrel closed all the way down. That is the cartridge we have today. So now we have to check an make sure we put the pierceable end in the pen for use.

 

I kind of miss having a cartridge you could put in the pen "on the fly" so to speak without having to look down and make sure you were putting in the right end.

 

Hope that is clear.

 

[bob_hayden]

Actually Sheaffer used to make a big deal in their advertising that you could insert the cartridge either way. It made sense back then because for some of their competitors it was not at all obvious which end was up. The new design may benefit whomever ships the pens currently sold as Sheaffers, but it does not benefit me;-) I've been stuffing those old cartridges in pens for 50+ years without paying any attention to which end went in first and I have had no problems as a result.