Possible? Sonnet Rollerball To Fountain Pen

[whoelse]

Can I buy the nib section and swap out the roller ball one?

[The Blue Knight]

no

[ceejaybee]

Yes, you'll need to remove the small plastic plug from inside the end of the barrel though or else when a converter/cartridge is fitted it will prevent the fountain pen section from screwing in all the way. I've found the best way to do this is to use a long (5 inch) woodscrew and gently twist it into the plug and simply pull it out.

[welch]

Easier to buy a steel-nibbed Sonnet on Ebay or, even better, FPN. Considering your time as money, probably less expensive. I bought my first Sonnet, a Mark I, for about $35 in a buy-it-now. The Mark I is the original Sonet, with the thin strip of a tassie. I accumulated another Sonnet Mark I in a box that had a bottle of Parker Penman Sapphire. The ink must have been a sort of give-away...you've bought our new pen, so we at Parker will toss in a bottle of ink. Of course I wanted the ink, and did not want the pen. That Sonnet is still in its box, but, when I buy a decent camera, I'll sell it. Not unusual.

 

There have been reports of fake Sonnets, but buy through FPN and you won't have to worry.

 

( No, Wim did NOT pay me to plug FPN's marketplace!)

Edited September 29, 2013 by welch

[pajaro]

You will probably not be able to screw a fountain pen section into a pen made as a rollerball. I have two 1994 Sonnet rollerballs where a fountain pen section and converter will not fit. On the other hand I bought a 1998 green woodgrain pattern lacquered Sonnet that came as a rollerball, but messing around with it I found that this pen would take a fountain pen section and converter and it is a perfect fit. The pen was bought used, so who can say how it came from the factory?

 

No might be too simple an answer.

 

I have bought a number of ebay Sonnets. I have yet to find a fake. No magnetic gold nibs, no funny gold marks, no crappy-made barrels, but some abused barrels (melted on stoves, dented, beat to death). I think most of the ones I have came from estate sales. If someone finds a fake, I wish they would post some pics. I have studied the articles on Sonnet fakes for identifying features. I have concluded that the scare of fake Sonnets being the mass of Sonnet stuff available on ebay might not be true. My actual opinion is a good bit stronger.

[kcwookie]

I just purchased a Sonnet that someone had replaced the barrel with a rollerball barrel. Nothing would fit, not even a cartridge. The simplest solution is to get a twist converter and cut about a quarter inch off the end and then everything works great. No fuss, no muss. It's a lot simpler than removing the plug. 

[mitto]

Converting a Parker Sonnet Rollarball into a Sonnet Fountain pen is easy peasy. Not to mention that one needs to have the nib section of an FP in order to convert the rollar into an FP. Next you only have to remove the plastic stopper inside the barrel of a rollar and then put the FP section in the rollar body. The yellow piece in the picture is the stopper removed from the rollar's barrel.

[Kalessin]

You can also trim the end of a Parker converter knob until it fits in on a nib and section with the plastic barrel fitting for the rollerball refill left in place.  You can't quite fill the converter, but you can come pretty close.

 

For converting a Duofold International roller to fountian pen, I used a sharp razor knife to trim back the converter knob, and some sandpaper to smooth the new edge.

 

 

[kcwookie]

On 7/30/2022 at 12:17 PM, mitto said:

Converting a Parker Sonnet Rollarball into a Sonnet Fountain pen is easy peasy. Not to mention that one needs to have the nib section of an FP in order to convert the rollar into an FP. Next you only have to remove the plastic stopper inside the barrel of a rollar and then put the FP section in the rollar body. The yellow piece in the picture is the stopper removed from the rollar's barrel.

 

 

Any tricks to getting the plug out? Mine looks like it could be removed with a straight screwdriver, but not. I just cut the end off of a screw converter and use it that way. It would be nice to make that pen a bit less than an Frankenpen. 

[baz666]

1 hour ago, kcwookie said:

Any tricks to getting the plug out? Mine looks like it could be removed with a straight screwdriver, but not. I just cut the end off of a screw converter and use it that way. It would be nice to make that pen a bit less than an Frankenpen. 

 

 

I use a wood screw like this.

Make sure it is an inch or two longer than the barrel and ends in a sharp point.

There is a small hole in the plug that the screw will engage in.

You should be able to tighten the screw into the plug sufficiently by hand, you shouldn't need a screw driver!

Once the screw is engaged, pull the plug straight out of the barrel. Job nearly done.

 

There is one final step if you want the conversion to be Parker correct.

The small black plastic cap finial is smooth on a fountain pen and has concentric circles on the rollerball.

If these are swapped, the pen is indistinguishable from a factory FP (given that the correct nib and section were fitted).

[kcwookie]

I didn't know that about the circles. I have some pens with that and other that don't have it. I would love to find a source for those "jewels". Parker charges $35 to repair them and they aren't well attached.