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I just posted a video talking about the first fountain pen I ever own, Sheaffer's so-called "Student" Cartridge Pen. I go over the original version and how it changed into the 1980s. I have quite a collection, and I really love these pens. Over the years I have had them they all write very reliably and fairly smoothly, particularly the medium versions. I really like the 1970s green demonstrator version of the pen. I used to have the Peacock blue color in it, but they don't make that cartridge anymore. The only negative about the pen is that it won't fit a converter. The chamber is too narrow. It is really designed just for cartridges, but it is quite easy to empty a cartridge and use a needle to squirt your own ink into it. My guess is that soon Sheaffer will stop making cartridges for these pens which they discontinued sometime in the 1990s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Uki25b0oc

I use cartridges because most of my writing is while mobile and I cannot carry a bottle of ink and a converter around. Plus, the pens I most commonly use are too small for a converter. When I insert a new cartridge I always wonder whether I can put the empty into the recycling or if its plastic is not recyclable. I use cartridges from Private Reserve, Kaweko, Diamene, and Pelikan. They all appear to be the same plastic but I don't know which it is. Does anyone know what plastic is used to make the standard international sized cartridges and whether most recycling systems can cope with it?

Included here are Hero, Sailor, Sheaffer and standard international cartridges. Note that Hero carts are meant to be re-useable and re-sealable! They also fit other pens such as Monami Olika, some Parkers, and Moonman. Also: A JHerbin rollerball (takes standard ink carts), Hero 616s and 330s, a Wing Sung 601-A, a Parker Frontier, some 'project' Sheaffer school pens with great nibs, a little gold NoNami, ink vials, pipettes, and more. CONUS Only. It would be great if you could offer to pay for a flat rate box. I will leave this up for a while. Single winner will be chosen by the highly scientific Eeny Meeny Method. Thanks.

My husband just gave me A Campo Marzio pen that he had received as a gift from a client about 8 years ago. I love the pen, but it didn't come with a converter, and the cartridges (only 6) that it came with are much smaller than any I'm familiar with. Would anyone know where I can find compatible cartridges or, preferably, a converter for this pen in the USA?

Recently I received a Bayard Souverain cartridge fountain pen, made in France probably in the 1970s. It has a nice 18-carat nib with a good amount of flex. I wanted to get it back in service. After exhausting my supply of various makes of cartridges an internet search and French pen blogs indicated pens made by Bayard, Unic and Stylomine use a ‘BUS 5’ cartridge (BUS = Bayard, Unic, Stylomine). The BUS 5 is no longer manufactured. Fortunately my local pen store (Bromfield Pen Shop) came up with a solution. After a number of tries the answer is to use S. T. Dupont propriety ink cartridges. It stands to reason as Dupont is based in France. The fit is initially a bit tight but the Dupont cartridge works well and stays in place. The ink flow is what one would expect and want. I’d be interested in hearing if anyone knows of other cartridges that might fit -- one similar in dimensions to the S. T. Dupont but only slightly larger around the interior neck opening pierced by the section. Here are some photos of the Dupont cartridge and the Bayard Souverain.

There have been changes to the packaging of Diamine's 30ml bottles and cartridges as well, as some of you might already know. My photos from my phone don't do them justice, but then although I'm a professional photographer - albeit retired! - I never did 'macro' stuff at all. So you'll just have to take my word for it. The theme continues with the boxes for the 80ml bottles, with a coloured and labelled 'swatch' of the relevant ink: on the label for the 30ml bottle and on the boxes of the 18 and six cartridges. They look a whole lot better I must. Judge for yourselves but don't let my pictures put you off...! I think that Diamine have made a big step forward with their whole new product concept and long may it continue!

Looking for confirmation here. Last year I bought a Hero 359 fountain pen in a blister pack, one pen with three nib/feed/section parts, in different nib widths I suppose. Along with the pen came eight cartridges. At first I assumed they were short international cartridges. I only gave them a cursory glance, and they looked like short international cartridges. Looking at them more closely, however, they appear to not be short international cartridges at all. And I think they are cartridges proprietary to Hero. They are a little longer, and maybe fatter, than short international cartridges. Can anyone confirm for me that these would be hero proprietary cartridges? Also, can anyone who has experience with these cartridges and the hero 359 tell me if the pen will take short international cartridges? I suppose that I could live with refilling these cartridges over and over again after I empty them, but eventually they'll wear out, and I do not think I'll feel like investing in yet another type of cartridge.

Hello. My regular "take-with" pen is a Parker Esprit Mini. It takes Quink Mini cartridges, which are difficult to obtain where I currently live. Are there any alternatives I could use? I have tried standard international cartridges, but they are not quite right - they don't stay seated in the barrel. Any ideas gratefully received.

Hello, some 30 years ago I discovered a bunch of discarded strange ink cartridges which did not fit a modern pen. I was lucky at that time to find a local shop that still had a pen in which those cartridges fitted. That was my introduction to a Diplomat pen and I have been using it almost on a daily basis since. As you can see in the images below it concerns 6/99 cartridges for a Diplomat +2. However searching on those keywords does not give me any relevant information. As far as I know this type of pen is dated end of the '60's / begin 70's? It looks the same model as the one that was offered in the following link: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/193302-2-rare-diplomat-school-pen-sets-fp-bp/ So my question is if someone has more information regarding this (type of) pen from Diplomat. As you can see in the images an 'F' is present on the bottomside of the pen. The Diplomat logo is present on both ends of the pen. I found this to be a very durable pen which writes nice. It sure would be nice to get hold of another Diplomat pen in which these cartridges fit. Thanks in advance for your feedback Hopefully someone can shed some light on this pen and cartridge system. Any information is welcome. Best regards, R. http://i60.tinypic.com/20jpgqr.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/2h5031l.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/24bradh.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/22nhax.jpg http://i59.tinypic.com/2luper.jpg

Apologies if this is a stupid question but i have just dug out my cross townsend pen, last used about 15 years ago. It takes cartridges, that are apparently not even available on the Cross shop website! I have checked. As for cartridges, do cartridges come in any kind of industry standard dimensions...? Or is it only a matter of long cartridges and short cartridges.... or how does it work? From memory mine took shortish ones, but what width etc must they be? And if i cannot find a cross supplier how do I find cartridges that will go in? Even cross doesnt sell them. I have ordered a converter to make it a suck-up fountain pen (whatever they are called) so I can get around the issue if necessary, but I prefer cartridges as they are less messy. I am also trying to find Peacock Blue to no avail but maybe the Edelstein Aquamarine will do. Thank you for any light you can shed.

My Pilot Metropolitan came with a cartridge, now clean, dry and empty – except for one thing: a tiny black plastic something inside it. Perhaps it was a sealer, but I didn't really notice when I first used it. Can I just pry this out with a toothpick, or is it a necessary part of the cartridge that got dislodged. Is my cartridge now useless? Picture attached. Not great quality but gives idea. Thanks for help. This site is invaluable.

Dear All, I've been using a Waterman exception to write these past few months. I decided to order Mysterious blue cartridges thinking they were serenity blue and forgot to flush my pen. Nevertheless, the mysterious blue works fine but writes a little too green for my liking. Do I need to flush and clean my pen every time I change ink colors with cartridges? Can I revert back to serenity blue without flushing? Best,

I have acquired a Platignum 'Elite' Cartridge pen in marble grey finish with yellow metal trims. The pen appears unused and the guarante refers to Platignum PLC as being at Royston, Herts SG8 5XX. I guess it must be 20 years old?? Does anyone have any idea what cartridges this model took and where I can source them. If anyone know a filler assembly that would fit even better Many thanks Poldark

Came upon this forum - joined - don't know where or which topic to post to but I was hoping to find information on early pilot capless pens - cartidges and identification . . . hopefully there is an image below I have bought IC-100 cartridges that don't seem to fit and would just like to use it . Cult pens offer a cartridge cover but I can't see that it would fit or help - are there other cartidges from Pilot. Hope to hear from someone and thanks for reading - Paul H

OK Targa fans, help please. I've just bought two nice Slender Targas, a 1001 CT in brushed steel and a 1021 Imperial Red laque. Any advice on cartridges please. The continental ones that I have fit on the back end of the feed, but jam in the barrel when you try to take the pen apart. Is there some kind of fix, something that I could put in the barrel to keep the cart. attached to the feed. I tried some old ballpoint springs, but they were not strong enough. Where are you when I need you Macgyver?

Never mind why I need these, lol. I just do. Uhm...science experiments. Yeah. Let's go with that! I am hoping to get recommendations for readily available a pen under $20 that takes standard international cartridges, is NOT made of metal, and is a wet writer. Slim pens don't suit me either. I am absolutely, definitely, moving away from metal-bodied pens and will be doing a couple of PIFs in a while. I already own a Kaweco Sport and four Nemosine Singularities. The Nemos fit the bill but write dry and need fiddling. There's my Rotring Core...wouldn't mind another (XL this time), but the prices have gone through the roof. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

Hello everyone. Due to the generosity of Siaran (I don't know if she's on here or just the Facebook group, but if she is, hi Siaran and thanks again - you are awesome! Diolch yn fawr iawn!) I've ended up with quite a few red and green Quink cartridges, which have fast become amongst my favourite examples of each colour (the red is third only to Diamine Matador and Noodler's American Eel Red Rattler, edging Diamine Monaco Red into fourth, whereas the green is possibly the best green I've ever seen - better even than J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage). Sadly, these big ink cartridges seem to be no longer in production. Anyway, three questions: Do they still produce these colours as bottled ink? Do they make green mini ink cartridges? Are the newish mini red cartridges the same as the older big ones?Many thanks!

Can anyone show me what the ink looks like coming from the Sheaffer pink cartridges? They look cool, but I have no idea what the ink actually looks like. A written sample would be awesome! Thank you!

Having recently moved from central California to central Minnesota, we've discovered that we need to pay attention to things here that were never an issue there. Like inks and cold weather. We arrived in mid-August here, and most of our worldly possessions remain in unheated storage. There was just no room to bring much into our current temporary residence ("we're living in our kids' attic, why do you ask?") until my son-in-law and I (and several friends on occasion) finished the addition above the kitchen. Finally enough room to bring in some of my pens, inks and paper. What we hadn't considered was that our belongings had been subjected to somewhat lower temperatures than we were used to before. In this case, low- to mid-20s, a couple nights down around 0º or so. Here's what we discovered: - Most ink survived being frozen and thawed out just fine. Shaking the bottles briskly before using didn't hurt in a couple of cases. - A full bottle of Diamine Burnt Sienna shattered. Several boxes of various sorts got bathed in the ink as it thawed out. It didn't help that that happens to be one of my wife's very favorite inks. Note to self: if this happens in the future for some reason, inspect all ink bottles while still frozen hard, before any broken bottles can thaw out. Fortunately, all my inks were packed in a plastic storage bin, so the notebooks and other fp paper were not bathed in the flood. - Most ink in cartridges came through just fine. The only exceptions being a couple of Platinum cartridges that were very full; the ink expanded on freezing, popping the ball bearing out of the top of the cartridge. As the ink hadn't escaped the cartridges, mostly, I was able to press the ball bearing back into the top of the cartridges affected, and the two I've started using work just fine. Fortunately, none of my vintage or expensive pens were packed in the box with the ink and paper. I'm not very optimistic that old celluloid or styrene pen bodies would fare well in the cold.

I did a search and could not find an answer. I have a Mont Blanc fountain pen that I received as a gift in the 90s. The other day a friend bought me Mont Blanc ink cartridges for a gift. My Mont Blanc cannot take the cartridges. I can't return the cartridges and would like to know if I can fit in any of these pens: -Visconti Van Gogh -Edison Collier -TWSBI Mini -Lamy Safari -Pilot Metropolitan -Noodler's Ahab Thanks in advance!

Hello FPN friends, I am probably posting my query in the wrong section, but hopefully one of the many experts out there can either help me with a simple answer or direct me to the proper forum for me to ask my question. I recently bought a set of Lamy Studio Palladiums consisting of one fountain pen and one rollerball. Strangely, I now know much more about fountain pens while my understanding of simple writing implements of different orientations have begun to escape and bore me. I've been a sucker for all things related to paper, pens, ink and all of the great accessories that go along with them since my earliest memories. I digress. My question is simple. I tend to like a lot of variety in color,, point size, gel/liquid gel, etc. and see now that Lamy only offers a M63 proprietary ink refill for the rollerball, but with all of my other rollerballs I've easily outfitted them with my preferred Pentel Energel .05 needlepoint or .07 classic refills and have heard of the wide variety of Pilot g2 or standard G2 size units. I've been through several sites including the "refill finder" to order a few by figuring out the sizing requirements and/or hacks necessary to make gel refills fit. Can anyone help point me in the right direction? Since this is the inky thoughts forum I will include my ink question as well. There is a considerable amount of respect and happiness with Noodlers inks, both here and in reviews across the internet. I love the value and variety that Noodlers has to offer and who can resist the All American Nathan at their helm. However, I live at around 5500 ft at the vase of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Boulder, Colorado and every Noodlers ink I've ever ordered and inked up has been beyond poorly behaving. The viscous qualities are certainly not qualities, I find feathering, bleedthrough, and the dry time for every single one of them is neverending. I could go back to something I had written the previous and day and it will flunk the smudge test. They're beautiful colors, but somewhat useless. Any thoughts? Have you heard or seen anything like this? I am going to take them with me to the upcoming Colorado Pen Show in October and let others see for themselves, but thought while I was sucking up your valuable time with one inquiry, I'd throw in another. Thanks for so much help and education you've all generously offered over the last couple of years. It's been key to my deepening my passion for pens. Bodah

I just noticed J. Herbin sells ink cartridges with a few stipulations...Notably they aren't compatible with Lamy pens.. Is that true? It seems like a silly question, but I've not noticed the ink cartridge in my Safari to be anything "unusual" from the other cartridges. This is the item of which I speak: http://www.jherbin.com/fountain_pen_inks.shtml If that is true, what are the key differences in the way the Lamy cartridges work vs others... I'm fairly new to this, and while I find the idea of manually filling my pen fascinating, I'm unsure I want to risk the potential mess.

Hello all. Just received some red IC50 cartridges for my 78g - I've given up on both the Con 20 and 50 converters as only the black cartridges seem to give anything like decent flow. However, the ink in them appears very light indeed and they write in something I'd consider closer to pink than red. Have I got a watered-down batch, or is this just the colour they are? I actually quite like it and it's very smooth to write with, so won't be complaining if this is what they're meant to do. FYI the paper is a Paperblanks notebook, so reasonable quality. http://i.imgur.com/jmyPekE.jpg?1

I was shopping for Parker ink cartridges. Then, I realized that there was long and short "mini" cartridges. Which one should I buy? When is mini cartridge good for and long cartridge good for?

http://vision2lead.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/IMG_1533-e1398173246293.jpg Get ready for Earth Day! See this post on Pens w/ a Refillable Life. Be an eco-writer! http://bit.ly/1gOodiE