Thin-stemmed Pipettes For Refilling Cartridges?

[The Bantam Scribbler]

For about two years now, I've been using Pear Tree Pens' system for refilling ink cartridges using a syringe and a blunt-tip needle. It's a great little kit, but I recently began to notice that the small, black rubber stopper on the piston began coming off at odd times. This was fine for a while, until I eventually lost the piece entirely when I was filling the syringe over my bathroom sink and the piece went down the drain.

 

Now that the syringe is effectively useless, I've begun thinking about possible alternatives to this system that would be a bit easier and freer of hassle or potential parts to lose. Pipettes look like a great substitute with their simple-one-piece bulb operation, but I don't recall ever seeing one with a thin enough applicator stem to penetrate narrower cartridges - especially Parkers and short Internationals.

 

Has anybody else had some luck tracking down non-syringe methods for cartridge refills, or should I not worry about that and buy another Pear Tree kit?

 

Thanks for your advice!

[Kendra]

This is going to sound reallllly weird, but I use the syringe I was given for when I had my wisdom teeth removed. I think you might be able to find them at medical supply places, but it's like a normal syringe(not the needle type...more like for giving kids cold medicine) but it has a thinner tip and slightly curves at the tip.

 

Its very similar to this:

 

http://amaxsupply.com/shop/images/M_Curved%20Tip%20Syr.jpg

[wrath186]

You might also try scientific supply stores. I got a really great burner for making wax seals from a company like that and it was way less expensive than if I had purchased an actual wax seal burner.

[Possum Hill]

For about two years now, I've been using Pear Tree Pens' system for refilling ink cartridges using a syringe and a blunt-tip needle. It's a great little kit, but I recently began to notice that the small, black rubber stopper on the piston began coming off at odd times. This was fine for a while, until I eventually lost the piece entirely when I was filling the syringe over my bathroom sink and the piece went down the drain.

 

Now that the syringe is effectively useless, I've begun thinking about possible alternatives to this system that would be a bit easier and freer of hassle or potential parts to lose. Pipettes look like a great substitute with their simple-one-piece bulb operation, but I don't recall ever seeing one with a thin enough applicator stem to penetrate narrower cartridges - especially Parkers and short Internationals.

 

Has anybody else had some luck tracking down non-syringe methods for cartridge refills, or should I not worry about that and buy another Pear Tree kit?

 

Thanks for your advice!

If you heat the middle of the tip of a disposable plastic pipette over a small flame, you can stretch it and reduce the diameter so that it will fit into a cartridge. After it cools cut at the location of the smallest diameter.

[kestrel]

Carolina Biological Supply sells 1 mL disposable needle-point pipets that I use for measuring ink for custom mixes and for refilling cartridges. Pipets are cleanable and reusable. Cost is $18.00 per pack of 100. This link should take you to the right page:

 

1 ml pipets

[Chrontius]

At the medical supply store nearest my house, 15 mL Luer-Lok syringes cost about $0.25. I'm still on my first, though the calibration marks are wearing off.

[electricpowerman]

I used to use a glass pipette tube to refill international small cartridges. I got mine from a lab assistant that worked in a chemistry lab. I didn't always have the rubber bulb fitted to the top, but you can use it without one by putting a finger over the top to seal the ink in until you need to let it go.

 

The problem was similar to yours -- the diameter of the thin pipette was just a bit too large, and the ink tended to jump between the pipette tube and the neck of the cartridge, forming an annoying bubble and airlock!

 

The best system I have worked out is to use a syringe from a computer printer cartridge refilling kit. It has a blunt metal tube as the "needle" and it's been perfect for me. If you know someone who uses these kits it's likely that they have more of these syringes than they need and you'll probably get one for nothing. The only thing is that they are rather large compared to the pen.

 

An alternative that may work for you, depending on your pen, is to cut down a plastic cartidge converter as I did. See: Converting A Converter

[Chevalier]

Syringes are cheap and are replaced quite quickly, you could get an old syringe as well, they are made of glass and metal and are easy to clean.

[Shangas]

This is going to sound reallllly weird, but I use the syringe I was given for when I had my wisdom teeth removed. I think you might be able to find them at medical supply places, but it's like a normal syringe(not the needle type...more like for giving kids cold medicine) but it has a thinner tip and slightly curves at the tip.

 

Its very similar to this:

 

http://amaxsupply.com/shop/images/M_Curved%20Tip%20Syr.jpg

 

I have that *EXACT* syringe on my desk right now. I use it to fill up my inkwell, transfer ink to different bottles and to fill up my eyedropper fountain pens.

 

It works VERY VERY VERY well. BUY ONE.

[Blade Runner]

Yes they exist. Labs use them all the time.

[BamaPen]

Hobby shops that sell "super glue" usually have glue dispensers that I would best describe as a one piece eyedropper with a very small diameter, but rather long, tip. These work great with cartridges and are dirt cheap.

[plumeophile]

I use an eyedropper bulb attached to a needle that you use to inflate footballs or basketballs. I also attached the needle to a syringe and hot-glued it to seal the edges. Necessity is the mother of invention. BTW, the good Dominican Sisters put me on to this 50 years ago when I was in grade school and had to use the old Sheaffer cartridge pens.

[GreenVelvet]

I used to use a syringe, but I was worried about really cleaning it, contamination, deterioration of the syringe over time, etc.

 

So I use sterile plastic pipettes now. I buy mine (like this) from JoeLouis2600 on eBay.

 

The tip is very, very, very fine - much finer than the blunt syringe in the WriteFill converter kit. You'll have no trouble getting it into any cartridge or converter.

[LuckyDog10]

I got a glass needle-nose pipette from one of our neuropsychology professors at the university. (This man routinely orders guinea pig blood and human brains, but he looked at me like I was a three-headed stalk-eyed lunatic when I explained the purpose of the pipette.) It worked great, but the glass is SO thin and fragile at the tip that I began to worry about getting small chips of glass knocked loose.

 

But, if you like the idea of them, an online scientific supply store will set you up for cheap.

[professionaldilettante]

The thing about plastic disposable syringes, is that they will degrade. The black seal like you mentioned, will fall apart with time. Plastic would be nice, but it's hard to find something that fine in plastic. However, there is a solution. You might try looking for a glass syringe, back from the olden days. I find them on ebay from time to time, and coupled with a blunted needle, it may last you past your lifetime, unless you just happen to drop it.

[streeton]

Cut off the cotton buds on both sides of cotton ear buds and you are left with a plastic hollow stem that is a perfect fit for regular syringes - just clicks straight in. Been using this trick for years.

Edited December 8, 2010 by streeton

[mooshi]

If you heat the middle of the tip of a disposable plastic pipette over a small flame, you can stretch it and reduce the diameter so that it will fit into a cartridge. After it cools cut at the location of the smallest diameter.

Bumping this up...

 

THIS. IS. GENIUS.

 

I had gotten a pack of pipettes from Daiso that had too large of a diameter to fit the international cartridges and this method worked perfectly for me! It took all but 2 seconds to do from start to finish. Thanks!