What's The Point Of Converters

[New_Falcon]

Hello All,

 

The few times I've used a converter, I've always come away with the thought that for the relatively small amount of ink in the converter a lot is wasted when wiping the nib and section.

 

Why do people use them? I can understand that bottled ink is a lot cheaper, but I've read a lot about people refilling cartridges.

 

Is refilling a lot more messy? Why do people still use converters?

[stefanv]

Refilling a cartridge is not something you can do easily on the road, in the office, etc. Refilling a pen with a converter takes just a few seconds, whereas refilling with a cartridge requires you to remove the cartridge, suck up ink with a syringe, carefully put the ink in the cartridge, clean the syringe, etc. You'll probably lose a lot of ink every time you rinse out that syringe too.

 

Most of my pens are piston fill, but I've never wasted a lot of ink wiping the nib and section. After filling, turn the knob the other way to force about 3 or 4 drops of ink back into the bottle. Then turn the pen nib up, and turn the knob to suck the extra ink out of the feed and into the pen or converter.

 

When wiping the nib, stay away from the nib slit, and you won't waste much ink.

Edited July 31, 2012 by stefanv

[The Royal Pen]

They're fun to use, period. But the above poster was spot on.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

The converter allows one an easy way of making a fountain pen self-filling. Basically you do not need any other tools to fill your pen. This has helped me on a number of occasions since I can take a small vial of ink and refill from it on the go.

 

Depending on the capacity of the converter, while many of them do not hold as much ink as a cartridge or a pen with a built-in filling mechanism, they do still hold a decent amount of ink. They usually hold under 1 ml of ink, but this is enough for plenty of writing unless you have a very broad and/or very wet nib.

 

One issue that I have had with refilling cartridges is that dried ink often collects at the cartridge connector in the grip section. This is due to the residual ink at the connectors that has a chance to move there from the connecting and disconnecting. This is not present as much if a converter is used unless one has a leaking connector on the converter.

 

How much ink do you wipe from the nib and the grip section? Usually I only wipe the grip section because I don't worry too much about the ink on the nib. Most pens you dip in bottled ink will get ink on the nib anyway, and in the course or use, jostling the pen often causes ink to send up on the nib. Also, do you expel a few drops when filling? This clears the feed.

 

Dillon

[FLJeepGuy]

I actually prefer converters for several reasons. First, convenience. Yes, cartridges are more convenient, but I like the ink selection I have via bottled ink. Second, I find converter pens a bit easier to clean than many of the pens with integral filling mechanisms. Also, for me, the smaller ink capacity fits with my desire to change inks frequently. I find that piston and eye-dropper filled pens hold way more ink than I will use before I'm ready to switch inks or pens.

 

As far as waste when filling goes, I don't generally fill through the nib on my converter filled pens. I fill the converter directly from the bottle or via a syringe. I affix the converter to the pen and advance the ink until it's just visible at the base of the nib/feed. Then I back off the converter slightly, remove it from the pen, and top it off completely from the bottle or syringe. It sounds rather involved, but really only takes a minute and doesn't require cleanup or wasted ink.

 

So for me, convenience, easy filling, the right amount of ink, and easy cleanup are the main reason I prefer converters. I hate cartridges as I find them truly wasteful, but they can be even more convenient, especially if you travel a lot. I'm not trying to come across as a converter snob. I have close to one hundred pens in my collection with all sorts of filling mechanisms, but I do find converters fit my usage habits the best.

[USMCMom]

I don't use cartridges. I find that refilling with a converter is faster, easier and less messy. When I first started out, I refilled cartridges ... then found converters and haven't used cartridges since and that's been since I joined FPN. I like the fact that refilling with a converter also primes the feed. I have pens that are lever fillers and such, but no cartridges.

[jar]

Ink is cheap.

[georges zaslavsky]

they are easy to fill and you can clean them easier than piston fillers

[PAKMAN]

Ink is cheap.

 

+1 My thoughts exactly!

[pencils+pens]

Compared to sac pens, it is a lot cheaper to replace a converter gone bad then a sac gone bad. That is especially true if you aren't manually adept.

 

I use cartridges on the road for the convenience. I use converters at home for the greater variety in ink.

 

I also find my converter pens are easier to clean then my aerometrics, squeeze fillers, touchdown or lever fillers by several orders of magnitude and days of effort.

[gks]

For what it's worth, I actually fill my converters with a syringe/needle combo. The first fill sucks because a lot of it needs to get into the feed/nib. But I just twist to get the ink down, once it is coming out of the pen and writing I pull the converter off carefully, twist the converter and fill it fully using another squirt of the syringe. This tends to last me quite awhile.

 

Converters are useful because eventually they leak and can be replaced.

 

Eyedroppers aren't always possible because they can be quite messy. Also some pens are partly transparent (several Edison materials come to mind) and some inks can stain the inside of the pen.

 

Piston fill, vaccum fill, and other filling methods aren't always feasible based on cost, size, and other factors.

 

A converter has a place. Of course, this doesn't mean you have to buy pens that use converters. Be picky, choose the filling mechanism that works best for you.

 

But I don't find them to be that big of a deal

[Ad_Astra]

Call me wasteful, but the amount of ink you're wasting wiping off the nib is pretty negligible. Unless you're using a very rare and expensive ink, I can't imagine going to so much trouble as some posters have described.

 

Then again, I don't own any rare or expensive inks either. The most expensive would be a couple of Iroshi bottles, the rest are Noodler's, PR, Sailor's standard line, and Aurora. If I had some MB Gandhi, MB Racing Green, etc, I'm sure I'd be more frugal with wasting any.

[Flounder]

The OP has given me something to think about; why are my Parker, Sheaffer, and International converters always confined to a drawer? How come I never seem to have a converter in my cartridge pens? After all, I'm in geek heaven using built in systems like touchdowns, vacumatics, and button fillers.

 

Well, I have say I infinitely prefer refilling cartridge pens with an inkjet syringe. It takes next to no time, doesn't get any ink on my fingers, gives better capacity, and I can get every last drop out of the bottom of an ink bottle. I've come to notice that when I'm low on ink, my Snorkel and cartridge pens get more use, as they lend themselves to easy filling from a nearly empty bottle.

[tomgartin]

I have an easier time with a syringe/cartridge than I did with converters. One tip with the syringe is to draw extra air into it before filling with ink. When you expel the extra ink back into the inkwell there will be air behind it to push all the ink out of the needle, so very little is wasted in flushing the syringe--much less than wiping the nib after using a converter. As always, YMMV.

[Seele]

To the OP: the converter is what it is said to be, a "converter" that allows a cartridge-load pen to use bottled ink, but I feel pretty sure that Platignum who invented the ink cartridge system never thought about people reloading the ostensibly disposable cartridges anyway.

[ethernautrix]

My preferred filling method:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7689096784_e842fc0007.jpg

Vials of Inks and Syringe by ethernautrix, on Flickr

 

That's how you know it's a habit.

[jasonditz]

if you're really worried about post-cleaning waste, you can always remove the converter from the pen and refill it directly in the bottle.

[richardandtracy]

To the OP: the converter is what it is said to be, a "converter" that allows a cartridge-load pen to use bottled ink, but I feel pretty sure that Platignum who invented the ink cartridge system never thought about people reloading the ostensibly disposable cartridges anyway.

Platignum may have invented the idea (not convinced myself), but Eversharp made the idea workable and patented a plastic cartridge - which is the reason Parker eventually bought them out to get hold of the IP.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[BillZ]

I use a converter in both of my Lamys because they take proprietary cartridges that aren't readily available where I stay. I use cartridges in my Kawecos because it's

 

just soo much easier. Since both FP and rollerball use the same cartridges it's simple for travelling. I use cartridges in my Starwalker because that's what they take.

 

I do fill them from asyringe as I use MB bottled Blue/Black in it most of the time. I have several Levenger True Writers that cam e with a converter. I go back and forth with them as far as ink delivery system. I prefer converters when I am using bottled ink. Simpler to fill. I sometimes fill the cartridges with bottled ink for the Kawecos.

Both methods have =&- as far as I'm concerned. My $.02

[wspohn]

As far as waste when filling goes, I don't generally fill through the nib on my converter filled pens. I fill the converter directly from the bottle or via a syringe. I affix the converter to the pen and advance the ink until it's just visible at the base of the nib/feed.

 

 

One good reason not to do this - on most converters, they are fitted once and then refilled indefinitely the normal way. If you remove them and refit them every time you fill with ink, the interface between the converter and the stem in the feed will wear out and leak far more quickly than it ever would if you filled normally. The converters rely on slight elasticity in the plastic where it pushes over the nib feed, and you'll get leaks sooner or later using you rmethod.