Advice On Modifying An Ink Cartridge For Kaweco Al Sport

[sine.nomine]

I've had a Kaweco Al Sport for about a year now, and I love it, though I'm wanting to try a wider variety of inks. I picked up some Noodler's Luxury Blue last week, but I'm not in love with the idea of trying to refill the short international cartridges with a syringe, and I'm aware that most converters don't seem to fit the Al Sports. So, as a first project, I'm thinking it would be fun to try to modify an empty international cartridge to not only increase capacity, but also possibly to make filling easier.

 

My first idea is to cut the back end off of a used cartridge, and somehow glue a rubber sac or something onto the end. My idea would be to extend the overall length out to about 60mm, which from my measurements should fit my pen with room to spare. A sac would hopefully mean I could refill the pen by immersing either the nib or the open end of the cartridge itself into a bottle and squeezing the sac.

 

Alternatively, I could try to cut the very back off of one short cartridge, cut the front section off of another, and try to glue them together into one longer 60mm-long cartridge. I'd still have to try to fill it with a syringe, but less often.

 

My main worry is that the first method might not allow me to draw much ink into the sac, and that the second would be too fragile. I worry about leakage either way.

 

Does anyone here with more experience than I have advice on how to either carry out one of the options above (along with opinions on which would be the better of the two options), or have experience with some alternative? Any advice or suggestions are most appreciated. Thanks.

[Alohamora]

I haven't tried this, but, you could also start with a long international cartridge, cut it to length and reseal the cut end with something, maybe epoxy.

[watch_art]

The sac glued (shellac) onto a cart works pretty good. I've done a few like that. I just shellac'd it to the outside of the cart where I cut it off.

[atypical]

Russ Stutler describes a number of interesting modifications [link], which could provide inspiration.

[sine.nomine]

Interesting link and suggestions - thank you!

 

The suggestion about shortening a long international cartridge seems like it would be the easiest to implement, so I'll probably give that a go first. That just leaves me looking for a long cartridge that will fit the pen...my experience is limited since I've only ever used pens that take the short internationals or an old Touchdown. Would Pelikan long cartridges fit? They don't seem to taper much toward the end, which may make shortening them easier.

 

I'd still like to try the shellacked-on-sac, too. Any advice on choosing a good size? And where does one find the appropriate kind of shellac? I worry about leaks ruining the inside of my pen, so I want to be certain I turn out a quality result.

 

Thank you again for your help!

[Dark Side]

Converting the Kaweco into an eyedropper is pretty painless, just takes a little silicone grease on the threads, and the ink capacity is huge.

[sine.nomine]

Hmm, my understanding is that, while the plastic Sports are fantastic eyedroppers, the aluminum models would be subject to corrosion...

[watch_art]

I bet they'd hold up pretty well. All those signs you see on the streets and stuck to buildings are made of aluminum - and they deal with weather and birds and high voltage shorts and all sorts of stuff. Aluminum is pretty tough.

[Malcy]

There are two converters that may fit:

 

The Bantam converter from Tryphon Enterprises

 

The Monteverde Mini converter from Yafa

[Dark Side]

Hmm, my understanding is that, while the plastic Sports are fantastic eyedroppers, the aluminum models would be subject to corrosion...

 

Ah, my bad, I got the Al Sport and the Classic Sport confused. No telling how ink would handle direct contact with aluminum.

[sine.nomine]

Yeah, the Noodler's Ink website mentions that it generally not advised to have even his ink in contact with aluminum - the Kaweco is specifically mentioned as an example. But the Bantam converter looks promising, so I may have to pick one up and give it a shot. Part of me still wants to try making something with a larger capacity. I feel like cutting down one of the Pelikan long cartridges would be easy, given that they don't taper toward the end. My only worry is that they may not fit the Kaweco. The business end looks very similar to that of the short international cartridges, but of course there could be small differences I'm unaware of.

 

Once again, thanks to everyone for discussing options with me. Your experience is a big help.

[cikavac]

I have the same problem. I thought about coating the inside of the barrel with silicone grease and using it as an eyedropper, but I don't want to risk the potential issues. And I'm not a fan of eyedropper burps, which would probably be even worse with a metal pen.

 

For now I'm just syringe-ing the cartridge and I only use it for things requiring little ink. Let us know what you try and how it works.

[wastelanded]

I received three mini-converters in the post yesterday: I am not sure if they're Monteverde or knockoffs, but there is no writing on them. I bought them for two pens: Kaweco Sport Classic and a Retro 51 Tornado (the plastic body, not metal).

 

Out of the bag, the converter would fit in neither pen. The inlet was at least 1mm longer than that of an international cartidge. And the inside diameter was too narrow to slip on as well. I trimmed the neck of the inlet and reamed it a little. Lengthwise the converter fits ok in a Classic Sport, but nothing would make it join to the feed securely.

 

I do have a feeling these are knockoff converters though...caveat emptor.

[mcbender]

You could try this one:

 

http://www.indy-pen-dance.com/Squeeze-Ink-Converter-Short.html

 

I have a similarly sized pen (though not a Kaweco) and this fits fine; it's maybe 2mm longer than the international short cartridge. I have a hard time getting it to suck up much ink, though, and I've found I prefer using a syringe to refill a cartridge instead.

Edited January 10, 2012 by mcbender

[wastelanded]

Yeah, those mini squeeze converters don't get enough vacuum to suck up much ink because of the small size of the sac.

 

I've given up trying to get a converter to fit my Sport Classic. It will be my travel pen, just cartidges.

 

I've thought of carving tiny stoppers out of a wine cork for refilled cartidges, but I doubt it'd work.

[mcbender]

I think hot glue might work for resealing cartridges, although I haven't personally tried it yet.

[TorPelikan]

Hi,

 

To seal refilled cartridges, I use tiny plastic balls originally used to seal them.

Cut an empty cartridge to harvest a ball, then refill another cartridge with your favorite ink and seal it with the ball.

 

One issue is, you need two empty cartridges to make one new cartridge.

Another is, although less frequent, leakages.

 

To avoid ink stains in your pocket or bag, I recommend you to keep your resealed cartridges upside down for a while to test the seal before you carry them with you.

 

regards,

 

 

Tor

[sine.nomine]

I finally managed to find a pharmacy willing to sell me a syringe, so that's what I've been using lately to simply refill short international cartridges. I recently got the Bantam mini squeeze converter, but unfortunately, it doesn't fit the Kaweco. It does fit an old A&W cheapie fountain pen, however.

 

As of now, my plan is to experiment with a few ink sacs I've ordered and see if doing surgery on a short cartridge is a workable solution.