Hypo Needle

[tech gal]

Today while I was buying groceries I stopped by the pharmacy to ask about buying a hypo needle to fill my ink cartridges. The cashier did not know they still make fountain pens. I was able to purchase one for forty cents , but I had to show my drivers license and sign a book. I really had the feeling I was buying something illegal. After I returned home and filled my cartridge with beautiful Diamine orange ink it didn't matter anymore, I would show my license and sign the book again just to be able to refill so easily.

[ZeissIkon]

After I returned home and filled my cartridge with beautiful Diamine orange ink it didn't matter anymore, I would show my license and sign the book again just to be able to refill so easily.

 

[rwilsonedn]

Feel fortunate. In California, you would have been doing something illegal. Pharmacists may only dispense injection syringes with a prescription here. Fortunately, you can Google dispensing syringes and find several industrial supply Web sites that will sell you all the blunt-needled and plastic-tube syringes you want. They work just fine, no risk of injury (unless you are really careless) and cheap, since they don't have to be sterile or chemically clean.

ron

[betsypreston]

Today while I was buying groceries I stopped by the pharmacy to ask about buying a hypo needle to fill my ink cartridges. The cashier did not know they still make fountain pens. I was able to purchase one for forty cents , but I had to show my drivers license and sign a book. I really had the feeling I was buying something illegal. After I returned home and filled my cartridge with beautiful Diamine orange ink it didn't matter anymore, I would show my license and sign the book again just to be able to refill so easily.

 

I bought a "blunt" syringe on eBay. It turned out to be, well, "needle" sharp. I took it to the workroom immediately and ground off the sharp tip on a metal file. If yours is sharp, you may wanna consider grinding it down. Yikes, are they ever wicked!

 

I've been re-filling cartridges with it and it's really nice. Now I can use my cartridge-only Montegrappa with all my favorite Noodlers colors. Yea!

[PaulLeMay]

I love filling pens with a syringe and my favorites are the old glass ones. So smooooth.

[pixelsnbytes]

Go to your local Farm & Fleet store. In the horse vet aisle you can get syringes, needles in all sizes... no signing anything.

 

 

Deb

[Possum Hill]

Today while I was buying groceries I stopped by the pharmacy to ask about buying a hypo needle to fill my ink cartridges. The cashier did not know they still make fountain pens. I was able to purchase one for forty cents , but I had to show my drivers license and sign a book. I really had the feeling I was buying something illegal. After I returned home and filled my cartridge with beautiful Diamine orange ink it didn't matter anymore, I would show my license and sign the book again just to be able to refill so easily.

If you have file or sharpening stone or know someone who does, you might want to take the sharpness off the needle. If you don't, you will stick yourself. It won't be serious, but you will feel dumb.

[LedZepGirl]

Wow, I just walk into the vet's office and buy them, but then again I need them for my cat. Btw, they do work great for refilling carts.

[someonesdad]

In our well intentioned but stupid bureaucracies, they made it illegal to buy hypodermic needles to keep them out of the hands of drug addicts to cut down on drug use. It's obviously worked stunningly well (that's dripping with sarcasm for the sarcasm-challenged ). Then, exuding even more stupidity, the governments give out free needles to drug addicts to cut down on disease. To top it off, you can walk into an ag supply store and buy syringes and needles (unless you live in those truly progressive states).

 

Sarcasm aside, if you do buy hypodermic needles, file or grind the sharp tips off to avoid sticking yourself. I just bump them against the grinder in the shop for a second or so and they're dull.

 

You'll find 1.5 inch to 2 inch long needles handy; the longer ones let you get to the bottom of a cartridge to suck out ink remnants or water. I like to use 14 gauge needles for flushing things and 18 gauge needles for filling cartridges (the 14 gauge needles may be too large in diameter for some cartridges).

 

I keep a sharp needle in the toolkit for when I need to puncture a new cartridge such as a Sheaffer's.

 

PaulLeMay: I'm just the opposite! I have an old B-D from the 50's and yep, it's smooth as glass (no pun). I filled it up once with Swisher's North Sea Blue to transfer some ink and let go of the plunger. Near disaster! The ink started squirting out by itself from the plunger's weight. I'm so used to the plastic syringes' plunger staying put. My wife has never noticed the slight blue stain on the wallpaper she put in just above the backsplash in the bathroom. It stands out like a sore thumb to me, but I haven't been caught yet. If that syringe had been pointed just a couple of degrees differently, it would have been a wallpaper disaster and I would be typing in a higher pitch.

[rwilsonedn]

...

PaulLeMay: I'm just the opposite! I have an old B-D from the 50's and yep, it's smooth as glass (no pun). I filled it up once with Swisher's North Sea Blue to transfer some ink and let go of the plunger. Near disaster! The ink started squirting out by itself from the plunger's weight. I'm so used to the plastic syringes' plunger staying put. My wife has never noticed the slight blue stain on the wallpaper she put in just above the backsplash in the bathroom. It stands out like a sore thumb to me, but I haven't been caught yet. If that syringe had been pointed just a couple of degrees differently, it would have been a wallpaper disaster and I would be typing in a higher pitch.

That's wonderful. I can imagine injecting people, cats, and horses, but it never occured to me that anyone would try to infuse wallpaper.

ron

[Pippin60]

In NJ its also illegal and you need a prescription. I get mine from Pear tree pens. The kit is cheap and lasts quite a while as long as you wash it out right away. They're also great if you get the ink sampler to fill pens from the small bottles. The only pens I still fill direct from the bottle are my piston fillers and of those I only have a few. I use the syringe to refill carts and even converters as I can top them off.

[Possum Hill]

Sarcasm aside, if you do buy hypodermic needles, file or grind the sharp tips off to avoid sticking yourself. I just bump them against the grinder in the shop for a second or so and they're dull.

 

You'll find 1.5 inch to 2 inch long needles handy; the longer ones let you get to the bottom of a cartridge to suck out ink remnants or water. I like to use 14 gauge needles for flushing things and 18 gauge needles for filling cartridges (the 14 gauge needles may be too large in diameter for some cartridges).

 

I keep a sharp needle in the toolkit for when I need to puncture a new cartridge such as a Sheaffer's.

+1 on the size recommendations.

 

For members new to cartridge refilling, McMaster-Carr has blunt needles, called dispensing needles. The company also has adhesive dispensing bottles with caps you can put a needle on.

 

A search of old messages will turn up other sources.

[Pippin60]

Sarcasm aside, if you do buy hypodermic needles, file or grind the sharp tips off to avoid sticking yourself. I just bump them against the grinder in the shop for a second or so and they're dull.

 

You'll find 1.5 inch to 2 inch long needles handy; the longer ones let you get to the bottom of a cartridge to suck out ink remnants or water. I like to use 14 gauge needles for flushing things and 18 gauge needles for filling cartridges (the 14 gauge needles may be too large in diameter for some cartridges).

 

I keep a sharp needle in the toolkit for when I need to puncture a new cartridge such as a Sheaffer's.

+1 on the size recommendations.

 

For members new to cartridge refilling, McMaster-Carr has blunt needles, called dispensing needles. The company also has adhesive dispensing bottles with caps you can put a needle on.

 

A search of old messages will turn up other sources.

 

Thanks for this idea. A friend of mines wife works there

[ismellarat]

Honestly, I dont see all the fuss with getting blunt syringes... I mean, as long as you are careful (which you should be when handling ink) there is very little to no chance of sticking yourself.

 

I got my syringes from an online pet supply store. Though, I originally got them to inject liquid vitamins into freeze dried mealworms, but I had extras (I ordered like 10 at $0.25 each) that hadn't been used.

 

I am gonna have to check again, but I think that the largest guage needle they have is 22 and they are pretty short...

[ismellarat]

Here is the direct link for all of the needles and syringes that they offer. With a little searching you can get just syringes/just needles...

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

Today while I was buying groceries I stopped by the pharmacy to ask about buying a hypo needle to fill my ink cartridges. The cashier did not know they still make fountain pens. I was able to purchase one for forty cents , but I had to show my drivers license and sign a book. I really had the feeling I was buying something illegal. After I returned home and filled my cartridge with beautiful Diamine orange ink it didn't matter anymore, I would show my license and sign the book again just to be able to refill so easily.

 

 

Use plastic pipettes. I got some teeny ones that will easily fit into any cart, and they cost about a dime each. You can have one for any ink color and unlike hypos they are ONE HANDED in operation, and use virtually no hand pressure.

[RsqVet]

I agree that the glass syringes are the best, they are easy to clean and if you don't drop them last forever. I had a 25 cc I made use of quite a bit when I was indulging my ink mixing curiosity.

 

They are also nice as they are very inert; some inks and oil for sure will eat the rubber plunger of a plastic syringe in time. I use one for ink and several for precise oil application.

 

Most are not so loose as to just release fluid from the weight of the plunger, this may have been a misfit set up. In the old glass ones the syringe and plunger were matched to each other so if you broke either one you were out of luck, it is possible that in the years of use a marriage of almost but not quite happened. The other possibility is that it was a newer low friction setup for use in epidurals.

 

One can use a small amount of silicone grease on the plunger as needed.

 

Also McMaster (mentioned previously) sells stainless steel caps for lure fittings so one can fill a syringe and then cap it. I do not leave ink in one for weeks on end but sometimes for a day or two

 

I come across much old / surplus medical gear and could list some glass syringes for sale here the next time I find some if there was an interest.

 

 

[jde]

I love that you guys refill your cartidges. How long can you generally refill a cartridge before needing to dispose of it?

[MYU]

Here is the direct link for all of the needles and syringes that they offer. With a little searching you can get just syringes/just needles...

McMaster-Carr has a phenomenal selection of items across the board, but unfortunately often forces you to buy in large quantities.

Thanks very much for that link to Doctors Foster & Smith. Certainly a very cheap source and I like how they offer a rather large gauge--easier to work with and will still fill carts nicely.

 

 

EDIT: You cannot order those syringes from drsfostersmith without supplying a veterinarian reference (name and phone number)...

Edited June 16, 2009 by MYU

[MYU]

I love that you guys refill your cartidges. How long can you generally refill a cartridge before needing to dispose of it?

Who knows... maybe a few years? The plastic is usually quite sturdy. It all depends upon how you handle it. Given how cheap they are, if yours splits or stops seating well you can always just pop in a new one for less than $1 a piece.