Pilot 1960’S Double Spare Cartridges: Do You Want Some?

[FineNib]

HOW TO MAKE EASILY COMPATIBLE CARTRIDGES WITH THE PILOT "DOUBLE SPARE" CARTRIDGES OF THE 1960’s? ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM, METHOD AND STEP-TO-STEP

PLAN OF THIS ARTICLE:

(1) WHO AM I

(2) INTRODUCTION AND PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE PILOT "DOUBLE SPARE" CARTRIDGES

(3) THE METHOD: STEP-TO-STEP TO MAKE COMPATIBLE DOUBLE SPARE CARTRIDGES

(4) HOW I GOT TO FIND A SOLUTION?

(5) THE ALTERNATIVES SOLUTIONS THAT WORK... AND WHY THEY ARE NOT GOOD SOLUTIONS

(6) WHICH COPIES OF THE PILOT FPs OF THE SIXTIES ARE COMPATIBLE WITH THE DOUBLE SPARE?

(7) AS A CONCLUSION

(1) WHO AM I

High folks. I am a passionate french collector of fountain pens. My first name is Terry. I’m totally french though my first name is an englo-american one. This is the first time I post a thread on the Fountain Pen Network.

I know a little bit several of the famous people in the sphere of pens. For exemple Francis/Fountainbel from Belgium. He is the inventor of the Bulkfiller and I meet him regularly on the european Fontain Pen’s stage. Francis succeeds in making impossible repairs and saved desparated situations on some of my FP’s. I also own a few Japanese FPs that came from Stan Klemanowicz. All of you from the Japan regional focus forum know better Stan than I do. And I have sometimes e-mail conversations with Russ Stutler from Tokyo Japan. Russ was very gentle to let me use some of his pictures for the needs of this article, thank’s to him.

My passion for Fountain Pens came mainly from the purchase of a Pilot Vanishing Point back in 2008. Since then I have developed a particular interest for the Japanese FPs and mainly the PILOT brand, what leads me to share a little trick that I found everything alone. I hope this may reveals useful to some of you.

This article was first posted on our french forum a few days ago, here: http://www.stylo-plume.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7296. I’m a little bit more active there than on the american forums.

I will cover in this presentation all of the subject matter and the issues concerning the Pilot 1960’s "Double Spare" cartridges. So I do not go "straight to the point". The "how to do it by yourself step-to-step" is located in chapter three. For those who know everything about Pilot and the Double Spare and just want the solution, feel free to jump all my "blabla" and go directly to chapter 3. For the others, I hope that you will be interested by what follows.

(2) INTRODUCTION AND PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE PILOT "DOUBLE SPARE" CARTRIDGES

About 70 copies of Pilot fountain pens are present in my personal collection and they cover the period from the 1930’s to the 2010’s. The FPs created by the nippon manufacturer during the decade of the 1960’s present the peculiarity of having made coexist many different filling systems and among these, two different types of cartridges: the common standard cartridge that everyone knows and the small cartridge called "Double Spare". These two cartridges are incompatible by their diameter.

On the photos below, you can see the current standard Pilot cartridge on the left compared to the Double Spare cartridge on the right:

001-PilotDS-CurrentCartridgeVSDoubleSpare01

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/001-PilotDS-CurrentCartridgeVSDoubleSpare01_zpsaeada957.jpg

002-PilotDS-CurrentCartridgeVSDoubleSpare02

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/002-PilotDS-CurrentCartridgeVSDoubleSpare02-Russ_zpsef6da414.jpg

Let’s bring now a temporal marker about these two cartridges. I have always believed that the current standard cartridge was released around the year 1970 and this is the most commonly held belief concerning the subject. However, this standard cartridge already existed since 1963/1964 and fed some pens while the Double Spare cartridge fitted other pens. I am there based on two sources:

(1) The book «Fountain Pens of Japan», by Andreas Lambrou & Masamichi Sunami - p. 227.

(2) The article of Bruno Taut «Pilot Filling Systems in the 1960's»: http://estilofilos.blogspot.jp/2013/09/pilot-filling-systems-in-1960s.html

During the sixties, it is nevertheless the Double Spare cartridge which seems to have been shipped through of very many FPs of the Japanese brand, as for example the first model of push-button Vanishing Point, the C200 released the year 1964, listed here.

003-PilotDS-CAPLESS-C200

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/003-PilotDS-CAPLESS-C200-Russ_zps9dbb3130.jpg

However it is strictly impossible to use the current standard cartridge in a pen that uses a Double Spare cartridge because of the incompatibility of their circumferences. See below:

004-PilotDS-CurrentCartridgeVSDoubleSpare03

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/004-PilotDS-CurrentCartridgeVSDoubleSpare03_zps7ee2637d.jpg

At the very end of the 1960’s, during the year 1969 according to Bruno Taut’s article "Pilot Filling Systems in the 1960's" (http://estilofilos.blogspot.jp/2013/09/pilot-filling-systems-in-1960s.html), Pilot finally abandoned the system of Double Spare cartridges.

Since the year 1970, all the fountain pen copies of Pilot whose filling system is the cartridge/converter use the standard cartridge that we know.

The manufacture of Double Spare cartridges was probably continued during a few years after 1969 to allow users to write with their pens, but it eventually stopped permanently. We are now some 45 years later, and these Double Spare cartridges have become virtually untraceable even in Japan, while a collector of Pilot fountain pens finds very easily many vintage models of the sixties that take the Double Spare. Such a collector may want, legitimately, to write permanently with these pens: I’m a part of this.

The almost total shortage of Double Spare cartridges, I noticed it since the three last years insofar as many individuals but also professionals sell these FPs sometimes without being able to deliver the appropriate DS cartridges. More often, they don't even know that this Pilot pen there requires specific cartridges that are not the current standard cartridges.

In the best of cases, the most serious sellers strive to deliver one to two Double Spare cartridges, full or empty, that allow to use the FPs for some time by reloading these cartridges with a syringe. These sellers do not make any retention of some Double Spare copies, they simply do not own more available cartridges and deliver the only containers they can offer with the pen.

As good connoisseurs of the brand Pilot, you will object to me: ‘there’s no more DS cartridges, but there is a compatible converter’. And you will be damn right, because Pilot has actually designed a specific converter to the diameter of DS cartridges. This converter is called the "W-Converter" or "W-CON. It looks like the CON-20 because it is designed on the same metal base except the addition of a Double Spare teton, but it isn't a CON-20. See below, this is what the W-CON looks like :

005-PilotDS-CON-W-CONVERTER01

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/005-PilotDS-CON-W-CONVERTER01-Russ_zpsfc0edd07.jpg

006-PilotDS-CON-W-CONVERTER02

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/006-PilotDS-CON-W-CONVERTER02-Russ_zps2041a575.jpg

You will then say: ‘a compatible converter exists, so what’s the point talking about the shortage of Double Spare?’. OK, but not so simple!

W-CON, as CON-20, as well as multiple converters of other brands, are nothing else but a squeezer with a metal bar pulling a sac by pressure. And this type of converters ages very rapidly very badly: the sac will eventually be sheared by the squeezer in metal by the dint of operating the pump. I don't even count anymore the CON-20 that I shot by the dint of filling my pens with ink, or frantically operating the converter to flush my pens when I don't use them anymore. And if it’s not the bar which wears the sac, it is the user who will leave its pen inked for months without using it. Needless to explain the effect of dried ink on a sac. Having a single W-CON is thus not a sustainable solution to use a Double Spare fountain pen safely.

You will then say: ‘man, when your W-CON is shot, you just buy another one, it is super simple’. Hum, hum, not simple so once again!

You might think that the PILOT corporation has created the W-CON, in its infinite generosity, to ensure longevity for users of Double Spare pens. It is nothing. For obscure reasons, this W-CON is not distributed or available to the general public. It is provided in dribs and drabs to some Pilot pen sellers, mainly the sellers located in Japan who also sell some vintages. This W-CON is so informal that here in France, even some sellers do not know that it exists, and even less what it is! These same sellers can no longer sell the copies of Pilot DS FPs they hold in store because they have no more compatible cartridges.

Because this W-CON converter is distributed sparingly by the Nippon brand, sellers who hold some are unable to sell them at will as well as they can’t provide Double Spare cartridges. What makes that a W-CON is proposed for sale only with a pen using the Double Spare. What makes that when one shots its only W-CON, it is relatively hard to acquire another, unless one can find an accommodating sellor who holds enough W-CONs and who will gladly sell you a copy. Either acquire another pen of the sixties just to access the W-CON (or the DS cartridge) that will be bundled with: I was already obliged to do this...

You will finally say: ‘yes dude, but when you have one or two blank Double Spare cartridges, it's good and it’s done! You may use your pen forever filling your empty cartridge at will!’. Well, well, I disagree.

As well as a sac squeeze converter wears out when it is used regularly, a blank cartridge is pressed regularly for the needs of removing it from the ink feed to refill it to the syringe, and it eventually cracks then splits completely: the repeated action in time of pinching your thumb and forefinger on the soft and fragile plastic of the Double Spare weakens the plastic and shots the cartridge. Let us not forget that a semi soft plastic cartridge is not designed at the base for a sustainable and regular use, but for a single use and disposable. Ultimately, in order to use your Double Spare FPs safely, having one or two Double Spare cartridges is not a more durable solution than having a single W-CON.

I will finish this introduction by saying that I am really a worshipper concerning the creations of the Pilot brand. But I'm also a collector who writes with his FPs and wants to be able to use them as much as he wants as long as these pens may remain functional. The diagnosis of the shortage of Double Spare and the W-CON eventually peeved me off in September 2013. This is why I'm leaning on this subject. I decided to find a solution to solve definitively this problem. That is why I put my ass before my office during as many afternoons as it was necessary until I found the following.

(3) THE METHOD: STEP-TO-STEP TO MAKE COMPATIBLE DOUBLE SPARE CARTRIDGES

3.1-TOOLS AND SUPPLIES YOU NEED:

a-Some emptied Montblanc cartridges.

007-PilotDS-EmptiedMBcartridges

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/007-PilotDS-EmptiedMBcartridges_zpsf529fd7f.jpg

b-A cutter or a blade cutting for designers, equipped with a new clean blade.

008-PilotDS-CutterOrX-ActoKnife

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/008-PilotDS-CutterOrX-ActoKnife_zps3268d0bb.jpg

c-A mini torch or a simple lighter that also will do the job.

009-PilotDS-Torch-Lighter.jpg

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/009-PilotDS-Torch-Lighter_zps06084e15.jpg

d-A standard drill bit for power drills which the round end is of about 4.42 millimeters diameter / 0.174-inch Not more than 4.45 millimeters / 0.175-inch.

-We will not use the twisted side of the drill bit, only its round part

-My own drill bit is a n°5 standard drill bit for concrete (5 mm in diameter, which the round part is actually 4.42 mm / 0.174-inch)

010-PilotDS-foret-beton-5mm-Drill

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/010-PilotDS-foret-beton-5mm-Drill_zps2d5b43af.jpg

3.2-STEP-TO-STEP:

a-In what part of the cartridge Montblanc find the correct diameter:

-The compatible diameter with the Double Spare cartridge is located somewhere in the bevel of the nose of the Montblanc cartridge:

011-PilotDS-BevelledPart

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/011a-PilotDS-BevelledPart_zps34c6db49.jpg

My digital caliper tells me that the ink feed of the Pilot Double Spare FP has a circumference of 4.50 mm min. / 0.177-inch min. to 4.53 mm max. / 0.179-inch Max.

As my drill bit has a circumference of 4.42 mm / 0.174-inch, the cartridge that we are going to create will have a bottleneck of a circumference of 4.42 mm / 0.174-inch exactly: it is a bit more narrow than the ink feed to about 1/10th of a millimeter. Thus, the cartridge will fit firmly into the feed and will be tight enough to hold around the section as to seal.

012-PilotDS-FeedGirth-DrillGirth

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/012-PilotDS-FeedGirth-DrillGirth_zps79c5d30b.jpg

b-Carefully detach the Montblanc cartridge pin with the cutter, without starting the bevelled:

013-PilotDS-CutThePin

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/013-PilotDS-CutThePin_zps94e7f9dc.jpg

c-Heat the drill bit, and hit the nose of the cartridge with a progressive shot, then a fast shot:

-No need to wear gloves or protections. No risk of burning your fingers: the heat necessary to melt the cartridge is not high enough to cross the entire length of the drill bit to your fingers. And if you heat too much the drill bit, the neck of the cartridge will melt and melt all of the bevelled, what should not be because the diameter of the cartridge would be too broad

-The cartridge must be held vertically, almost perpendicular to the work plan to practice a right, regular, and clean perforation

-Once the drill bit is heated to the right temperature, wipe it quickly on a cloth of cotton to remove soot, then put it right in the middle of the bottleneck of the PIN

-Let the heat do its effect gradually, then press the drill bit always straight and suddenly fast enough, then remove the drill bit

-A single path of the drill bit is sufficient if it is well done

014-PilotDS-DrillTheCartridge

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/014-PilotDS-DrillTheCartridge_zpscd7737e0.jpg

d-Let the cartridge cool a few moments so that the plastic hardens (2 minutes are more than sufficient), and then try to adjust the cartridge on the feed.

-You have to gently force the penetration — nothing sexual here, don't get hot — of the cartridge into the feed

-If the drill bit has the correct diameter, it works the first time

-The orifice is tight enough to insure proper held of the cartridge as well as the seal without any risk of leakage: I tested these customized cartridges for weeks, first with water only for fear of leaks, then with ink. It works without any problem.

015-PilotDS-Adjust

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/015-PilotDS-Adjust_zpsdc13bed3.jpg

e-Fill the cartridge with ink using a syringe, push it in the ink feed.

016-PilotDS-Fill-in

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/016-PilotDS-Fill-in_zps12791244.jpg

f-Write

017-PilotDS-Write

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/017-PilotDS-Write_zpseba45534.jpg

g-ABRACADABRA here is the final result!

-Your Pilot FPs of the sixties are ready for service.

-You’ll never ever miss Double Spare cartridges: even if you wear one or split some using them, you will always know how to remanufacture some.

018-PilotDS-FinalResult

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/018-PilotDS-FinalResult_zps6fa76142.jpg

(h) Just one more consideration about this step-to-step:

One may think that skipping the step of the heated drill bit by cutting the cartridge directly in the middle of its bevel, and thus try to find the correct diameter will allow as much to build a compatible Double Spare cartridge. I think that this is not the right method:

-Firstly, I do not know where must be precisely cut the bevel to achieve the correct diameter. Having to look for where to cut precisely in each manufacture of cartridge at the risk of missing some cartridges is not a reliable, reproducible and efficient method, whereas drilling the cartridge with the good sized drill bit allows to find the correct diameter mechanically without asking the question.

-Secundly, it is rather difficult to cut very right manually to the cutter a round bevelled object, you'll see for yourself if you try to cut out only the pin of the cartridge.

-Lastly, the drilling stage with a heated drill bit has a fundamental utility: by melting the plastic, the passing drill bit creates a lip of about one millimeter (0.04-inch) in width. This lip will help ensure the tightness of the cartridge and its clamp around the ink feed (a Double Spare cartridge covers the feed on almost 4.5 millimetres / 0.177-inch). If you cut directly the bevel with the cutter, you will not create a lip at all, but only a bevelled edge too thin and insufficient to ensure the stability of the holding of the cartridge as much as its seal.

(4) HOW I GOT TO FIND A SOLUTION?

I had already discussed here and there of the event to achieve of mussels from the Double Spare, and have some cartridges remanufactured "industrially" on a small scale. I understood very quickly the prohibitive cost of such a solution put into perspective of a near zero potential market: I quickly gave up this option.

Without any training as an engineer, I had no more specific tools or much material: I did with what I had in my environment. Initially, I also had no digital caliper, and I had to deal with the inaccuracies from a classical caliper for a work of this type.

When I sat my butt at my desk, I started by emptying of their ink as many cartridges I could find: all the major brands went through. Short and long Waterman, different international standard cartridges, Parker, Lamy, Pilot, Sailor, Platinum, Waterman C/F. Then I simply observed, studied, measured, compared, analyzed these cartridges and the Double Spare cartridges and the feeds of the Pilot DS FPs that I had under my hand. There is more of experimentation in this that of an organized engineering method.

I thought I would be abble to find a solution to the problem in two hours of work, no more, and I quickly disillusioned... I have spent four afternoons to carry out experiments and tests, to find some almost functional solutions with no future, before finding the right solution. For me, "the right solution", it is the simplest, the most durable and the easiest to achieve.

Here is below one of my small cemeteries of cartridges after only two hours of work, which pretty much illustrates many abortive attempts.

019-PilotDS-CartridgeCimetery

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/019-PilotDS-CartridgeCimetery_zps461d95c2.jpg

(5) THE ALTERNATIVES SOLUTIONS THAT WORK... AND WHY THEY ARE NOT GOOD SOLUTIONS

Some other functional solutions found:

While doing my small experiences of budding engineer, I found at least four other functional solutions using the envelopes of various cartridges. Below, you can see a few of my working 'prototypes', OK the term is pompous...

020-PilotDS-AlternativeSolutions

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/020-PilotDS-AlternativeSolutions_zps2977e48c.jpg

I won’t go into in-deep explanations about these abandoned solutions being preferable to explain what works. Not too much time or energy to lose with what does not work.

Two remarks however:

-The Platinum cartridge was pretty close to make a good cartridge of susbsitution with a simple manipulation: the straightforward reversal of its bottleneck. But this solution involves polymer glue because one lose the seal capacity of the cartridge by the inversion of the bottleneck. Furthermore, the diameter of the bottleneck as well as the cartridge itself involves a little too much force installation in the ink conduct and its withdrawal which in fact reveals improper for the use on a daily basis and quite difficult in some models of pens. My goal was to find a simple solution, easy to manufacture, very easy to use on a daily basis and especially compatible with the maximum of models of the Pilot DS FPs.

-The Sailor cartridge was so close to be a native valid solution without any needs in processing the cartridge. The Sailor cartridge is almost natively compatible with the Double Spare, but it is too broad of a very small half millimeter (0.017-inch approximately). The ink feed of the Sailor probably measures around 4.85 mm / 4.95 mm (0.191-inch / 0.195-inch): this minimal difference of a small half millimeter (approximately 0.017-inch) implies that the bottleneck of the Sailor cartridge slides on the feed of the DS without tightening it firmly enough. Your only hope with this one is that the cartridge tightens the feed a little because of the ring born from the pin percussion when you struck the Sailor cartridge. But this ring is too thin to ensure a reliable solution without leaks. I experienced leaks by testing this solution and I consider it very random. Despite what was answered in a thread of the FPN here, the Sailor cartridge is not a reliable solution in my opinion, just a hair close and it would have been the simplest solution. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/233734-pilot-con-w-or-double-spare/?hl=%2Bdouble+%2Bspare

The cons of these alternatives solutions:

All these solutions have one or more non-negligible defects of the following, making that I've abandoned them:

a-You must undermine the cartridge by degrading its struture for getting the good diameter (for example, the planed platinum cartridge on the left). A cartridge weakened is not a good one.

b-You must cut or detach pieces of cartridges of different origins, then assemble these various parts together and glue them in place. And paste parts of ethypropylene and/or polypropylene between them is rather difficult: effective polymers adhesives do not run the market. It is difficult and time-consuming to achieve. Not enough clean solution and too complicated.

c-These solutions take much more time to be achieved.

d-The created cartridges are more fragile and less durable than the solution set out in chapter 3.

The pros of my solution:

a-My home-made cartridges are potentially compatible with all models of Pilot FPs who boarded Double Spare cartridges, given the diameter and the short lengh of these cartridges.

b-The solution I propose is the simplest and the fastest to achieve, and it is completely reliable.

c-This solution is the most lasting: note that all international standard short cartridges, or the short Waterman cartridges would nearly do as well the job as the Montblanc cartridges. But their plastic is generally of a lower quality. The plastic of the Montblanc cartridges is fairly thick, rigid and resistant. Each created cartridge will have an excellent durability.

6) WHICH COPIES OF THE PILOT FPs OF THE SIXTIES ARE COMPATIBLE WITH THE DOUBLE SPARE?

The three Pilot FPs of the sixties with whom I tested my customized cartridges:

-The PILOT Vanishing Point C200:

… and all brothers of different colors (turquoise, coral, red, etc., and their variations in Rhod Trim or Gold Trim): this is the first Vanishing Point equiped with a push-button, dating back to 1964. A must have for any collector of Capless! By the way, you should know that the name for the "Vanishing Point" in France is the "Capless".

021-PilotDS-CAPLESS-C200

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/021-PilotDS-CAPLESS-C200_zpsf079c8c5.jpg

-The PILOT RS150:

022-PilotDS-PILOT-RS150

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/022-PilotDS-PILOT-RS150_zps50caba8e.jpg

-The PILOT Vanishing Point CS200-RW:

This Vanishing Point also working with a push-button was released the year 1965. But it is less well known than its elder the C200. Its central part is made of brushed aluminum. Its resin ends come in various colors. You can choose your CS200 VP between deux lengths: the short or the long version. It is a smart Capless: very small and so handy in its short version, it also reveals ultra light. This model was less luxurious than its big brother because it was intended for the market of students. I love this Vanishing Point there. A little bit rare and hard to find, but not too much for a motivated collector.

023-PilotDS-CS200

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/023-PilotDS-CS200_zps21ec94ea.jpg

024-PilotDS-CS-200RW-SHORTVersion

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/024-PilotDS-CS-200RW-SHORTVersion_zpsc9b8a647.jpg

Other Pilot FPs of the sixties with which these customized cartridges are compatible:

-The PILOT Vanishing Point C600-MW:

This Vanishing Point there is actually the very first Pilot Vanishing Point. It has beaten the C200 because it came out the year 1963. Unlike the C200, it is a rotating button system. The public - and history - especially selected the push-button version, much more convenient to implement on a daily basis, and this first Vanishing Point fell into oblivion. Today, it is quite hard to find. It is one of the five rarest Vanishing Points. See the image below also in the book «Fountain pens of Japan» p.228 of Lambrou/Sunami.

025-PilotDS-C600MW-1rst-CAPLESS-Rotation

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/025-PilotDS-C600MW-1rst-CAPLESS-Rotation_zps7f298db7.jpg

Surely there are many other models of Pilot FPs shipping DS cartridges. I do not know them all. I have shared with you what I knew.

False-friends:

-The PILOT Vanishing Point C250-SS reveals to be a false-friend:

All Vanishing Points of the sixties were not using the DS cartridges as for example this ultra rare Vanishing Point, the C-250-SS model, a model with a "Clip-push", unique in its kind. Released in 1968, it used the current standard cartridge. The reference picture is taken out from the «Fountain pens of Japan» of Lambrou/Sunami, p.235.

026-PilotDS-C250-SS

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/026-PilotDS-C250-SS_zpsd9fd8e5e.jpg

-The PILOT L100-V:

Dating from about 1965, this pen was taking the standard current cartridges as well as the converter CON-20.

027-PilotDS-PILOT-L-100V

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab46/finenib/PILOT%20DOUBLE%20SPARE/027-PilotDS-PILOT-L100V_zpsf597646b.jpg

(7) AS A CONCLUSION

Looking back at the path, now that I've discovered how to 'make' a home-made Double Spare, I gently laugh at myself when I think of this little adventure: there's frankly one « going-to-war-dick-in-the-wind » side to create like that a cartridge without proper tools and knowledge in mechanics or engineering. I didn't think that conceiving a compatible ink cartridge covered as much technical and mechanical issues, and I had not even imagined the very existence of all these constraints before getting my ass on the issue.

But with persistence and motivation, I found a simple and lasting solution. When there’s a will, there’s a way. I am particularly happy to tell me that I can use my Pilot FPs of the sixties as long as I want now. I hope that you will have learned something by reading this article and maybe it will help some of you. And if ever you need DS compatible cartridges, but you don’t want to achieve them, contact me via private messaging.

Other sources of information to find solutions to the Double Spare issue:

http://www.stutler.cc : http://www.stutler.cc/pens/converters/

FPN : https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/59427-a-solution-for-early-capless-pilot-double-spare-pens/

FPN : https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/233734-pilot-con-w-or-double-spare/?hl=%2Bdouble+%2Bspare

 

 

 

 

Post Scriptum: compared ink capacities:

- One Pilot Double Spare Cartridge takes 0.8 ml

- One Pilot W-CON takes 1 ml

- One Montblanc cartridge takes 1 ml

-----------------------------------------------

Photo credits of the article:

- Bernard POULAIN for the shooting of the step-to-step

- Russell STUTLER

- Yoshiharu TAKAHASHI

Graphic designer/Coach for the Photoshop work:

- Sarah VINET

Edited December 19, 2013 by FineNib

[Ashram]

Thanks for this great article! I appreciate all of your hard work. One of my CON-Ws failed last month and rather than attempt the near impossible feat of finding another one I will give this simple and easy solution a try.

[hari317]

Thank you for this post. I have several Pilots that take the double spare.

 

You just have to follow a certain procedure (and pay through your nose) to get the Con W new from Pilot.

 

here is what a Japanese dealer who is very helpful to me(and arranged some Con Ws for me...) said:

 

Con-W special converter for old Pilot pens.
735 list price only

PILOT's basic policy is that old fountain pens need "repair".
Customers send pens to PILOT through stationary store (e.g. me) for repair, PILOT check and repair the pen.
It is not until PILOT assess "CON-W" fits the pen, that they provide it.
PILOT urge strongly to repair.
But If customer using "CON-W" now, and the pen has no another problem, PILOT provide "CON-W" as "repair parts".
PILOT say "CON-W is just repair parts."
They supply only one CON-W for one customer's order. If you order two or more CON-W, you need to issue to repair the pen of the required number.

We have supply our another customer last month, you might not get immediately maybe.
There are not many customers who want to CON-W.
The arrival takes two weeks in normal.

 

Basic repair charge is JPY1050/1pen + parts cost
for example, 1pen needs CON-W with no other problem, 1050+735
if it have another problem, PILOT makes estimate.

[FineNib]

@ Ashram :

Thanks for your comment. W-CONs are not totally impossible to find, but tough. Tough enough to bring me to focus seriously on the subject, as you saw…

Don’t hesitate to try my home-made solution and give a feedback here when it is done.

Do not hesitate also to experience, and why not try the Sailor cartridges to see for yourself. Personaly I do not trust this solution.

I’m pretty sure that there still are «Double Spare» stocks and «secret spots» where you can find them, but only in Japan. Same for the W-CONs, they must be easier to find there. But I can not go there for the while, and even though, would I find those secret spots ?

[FineNib]

@ hari317 :

Thanks for your comment. Pretty hard to bring such an article and have so few reactions, so the first comments are very very wellcomed !

The procedure you bring to my knowledge is very interesting, and no japanese seller has ever told me so.

It is very interesting because it is a real mess or a good joke, don’t you think ?

If I summarize you do realize that, in order to get a new W-CON, you must do all of this…

-Pay JPY 1.785 / USD around 20

-Pay maybe some additionnal shipping fees

-Miss your FP during a good while, at least one month I would say

-Risk the loss of the pen whenever this pen is mailed overseas

-Do it again each time your W-CON is down (life expectancy for a CON-20 is about less than 2 years with an intensive use in my experience)

No way !

Edited December 21, 2013 by FineNib

[LYTH]

Awesome ! :thumbup:

[hari317]

 

@ hari317 :

Thanks for your comment. Pretty hard to bring such an article and have so few reactions, so the first comments are very very wellcomed !

The procedure you bring to my knowledge is very interesting, and no japanese seller has ever told me so.

It is very interesting because it is a real mess or a good joke, don’t you think ?

If I summarize you do realize that, in order to get a new W-CON, you must do all of this…

-Pay JPY 1.785 / USD around 20

-Pay maybe some additionnal shipping fees

-Miss your FP during a good while, at least one month I would say

-Risk the loss of the pen whenever this pen is mailed overseas

-Do it again each time your W-CON is down (life expectancy for a CON-20 is about less than 2 years with an intensive use in my experience)

No way !

 

that's why I said pay though the nose.

 

The retailer who wrote this to me is very reliable and I have found that his words are quite true in practice. Pilot appears to be quite judicious in handing out the Con-Ws.

 

Also note that in each order Pilot gives the reytilers only one Con-W, for more, the pen has to be necessarily sent in. I got some Con-Ws without sending in, for others I had to send the pen in.

 

At least Pilot still services the old pens. That is a good thing.

[rudyhou]

this is an AWESOME post. thanks so much for sharing.

[Dillo]

 

@ hari317 :

 

Thanks for your comment. Pretty hard to bring such an article and have so few reactions, so the first comments are very very wellcomed !

 

The procedure you bring to my knowledge is very interesting, and no japanese seller has ever told me so.

 

It is very interesting because it is a real mess or a good joke, don’t you think ?

 

If I summarize you do realize that, in order to get a new W-CON, you must do all of this…

-Pay JPY 1.785 / USD around 20

-Pay maybe some additionnal shipping fees

-Miss your FP during a good while, at least one month I would say

-Risk the loss of the pen whenever this pen is mailed overseas

-Do it again each time your W-CON is down (life expectancy for a CON-20 is about less than 2 years with an intensive use in my experience)

 

No way !

 

 

Interesting that you mention the Con-20 doesn't last so long for you. I have loads of Con-20 converters everywhere, and most of them are about 5+ years old, and they have been filled ever since I got them and used often. What ink are you using? I typically use Diamine or Pelikan.

 

Dillon

[lurcho]

What a fantastic and detailed post. I love technical advice of this kind.

 

The only niggle I will raise is that the subtitle, 'Do you want some?,' is actually a very aggressive invitation for a punch-up in British culture.

[hsianloon]

I doubt Ill ever do it, but the detail...I'm going to bookmark this just in case...just in case. Thanks for all the effort you put in, posts like that keep the place running

[stephanos]

Thank you; this is excellent information.

 

I have a cracked CON-W converter (in the blue plastic - pictures in this post). I was wondering whether it might not be possible to simply apply some sort of glue to the crack, so as to restore the seal, and proceed with the repaired converter. Any thoughts? The solution proposed here is excellent, but I'm a bit time-poor at the moment and don't want to have to wait until my end-of-year holiday to give it a whirl.

[yus2001fr]

Great thread, FineNib, thanks for this informations !

[Donald2]

Wow!

[KaB]

Great reading, even for someone who doesn't have these pens.

[Driften]

Thanks for sharing. I don't have any pilots that use that cartridge or converter, but it nice to know there is a solution if I ever get one! I didn't even know there were Pilot pens that didn't use the current cartridges.

[FineNib]

Thank you guys for your nice words. It has been a long time since this thread had no comments.

[FineNib]

I remember that I exchanged e-mails with Russ Stutler when I posted this thread. He answered me and I share his e-mail with you.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date : 23 décembre 2013 08:44:31 HNEC

De : STUTLER Russell <russellstutler@gmail.com>

Objet : Rép : The double spare article published on the FPN

À : DRÉANO Terence <terence.dreano@free.fr>

Hello Terence,

Sorry I took so long to reply.

Your invention is excellent, and I'm amazed at all work and the detailed specs you give! It will be good news to everyone who has a Double Spare Pilot pen and can not find replacements, and double spare cartridges have vanished a long time ago!

I don't have an account with FPN (or if I do, I can't remember) so you can post my comments if you like.

Thanks,

Russ

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Nikolaos]

I missed this article when it was originally posted. I just finished reading it , and it is one of the nicest presentations I have seen on FPN or elsewhere. Thank you so much Terence for sharing this with us!

 

Nikolaos