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Ink cartridge stuck in barrel


parrothead56

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I need suggestions on how to retrieve an ink cartridge that's wedged in the end of my fountain pen barrel. I inserted a cartridge (short int'l) into the section end for writing and another backwards into the barrel for a spare. The spare cartridge is wedged where the barrel begins to taper and I can't tap it out. There's not enough room for tweezers. Anyone else run into this problem?

 

I'm thinking about trying to find a skinny wood screw to screw into the cartridge in order to pull it out, but I was hoping that someone might have a simple and less messy suggestion.


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What make and model of pen? What is the barrel made of?

 

If the barrel is made of a material that expands a bit when warmed, and if it would not be harmed by sunlight, you could try placing it on a window ledge in a patch of sunlight for a few minutes. When the barrel warms a bit (but before the cartridge can warm up and expand), try shaking the cartridge out.

 

As another idea, use a long drywall screw rather than a wood screw to extract the cartridge -- the threads are sharper and should easily penetrate the back of the spare cartridge.

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QUOTE (parrothead56 @ Mar 15 2007, 07:37 PM)
I need suggestions on how to retrieve an ink cartridge that's wedged in the end of my fountain pen  barrel.  I inserted a cartridge (short int'l) into the section end for writing and another backwards into the barrel for a spare.  The spare cartridge is wedged where the barrel begins to taper and I can't tap it out.  There's not enough room for tweezers.  Anyone else run into this problem?

I'm thinking about trying to find a skinny wood screw to screw into the cartridge in order to pull it out, but I was hoping that someone might have a simple and less messy suggestion.

I've had this problem too, in a brand new pen. The horror. I've fiddled around it with a blunt needle until I could tap it out. Somehow it will come out. But I feel for you, this can be so anoying and stressful. (Of course not a huge problem compared to desease etc, but still... wink.gif )

Edited by lisa
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Oh yes.... this is an old problem that many have run into. Don't feel bad - I know I did this once.

 

Fortunately, the fix is easy. Unfortunately its also messy.

 

Your idea is right. But instead of a wood screw use an "eye hook" - the kind of screw with a loop on the end (usually used to hang something).

 

Find one that's small enough to fit easily, screw it into the plastic (over a sink or towel!) and pull out the converter.

 

After you have cleaned up the ink, you will be more careful in the future wink.gif

 

 

...

"Bad spelling, like bad grammar, is an offense against society."

- - Good Form Letter Writing, by Arthur Wentworth Eaton, B.A. (Harvard);  © 1890

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This happened to me recently when I received a new pen with the extra short cartridge stuck just as you described. I was lucky in that just wiggling it (in my case, with an unfolded paperclip) got it loose.

 

I'd try the heat solution next, but also (depending on how stuck it is) try a small blunt object with either double stick tape or some of that poster putty stuck to the end and see if you can't just pull it free. My point is to try a few things that don't involved puncturing the cartridge first. What a mess that could be! ohmy.gif

"He was born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad." - Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini

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QUOTE (BillTheEditor @ Mar 15 2007, 06:52 PM)
What make and model of pen? What is the barrel made of?

It's an Omas Milord (new style) black resin. Got it at a great price since most want that model in a piston filler.

 

Good suggestions on this, so I guess it's not that uncommon. Guess I'll find a different solution to carrying a spare cartridge. Bummer, because that's one of the few advantages that I can think of for a c/c pen.

Edited by parrothead56


  • To be is to do - Aristotle
  • To do is to be - Nietzsche
  • Do be do be do - Sinatra

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QUOTE (parrothead56 @ Mar 15 2007, 01:08 PM)
It's an Omas Milord (new style) black resin.

This seems unlikely, but looking at a photo of that pen I can't help but wonder whether the distal end of the barrel unscrews (the part above the silver trim ring that makes that end look like a vestigial blind cap). If they make the barrels for the piston fillers and for the c/c fillers on the same assembly line, maybe, just maybe they are identical.

 

If not, I've already given you my other ideas.

 

Good luck!

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Another "tool" to deal with this problem might be an opened out fishhook - of appropriate size - that you can push into the cartridge and turn a little to engage the barb and gently pull.

 

Chris

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Put a dab of superglue on anything thin enough to fit into the barrel, touch it to the cartridge, leave for 30 min, and pull out...

 

or, fill the barrel with soapy water, and shake

 

 

Nenad

Edited by superfly

life is nothing if you're not obsessed.

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Yup, I've had the same problem a couple of times, no matter how careful I have been. You certainly are not alone. After the first time, I bought a set of dental instruments at an antique store. I have a couple of dental picks that insert neatly into a stuck cartridge's behind and hook inside so I can pull it out. Just an idea for next time.

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I haven't had this problem yet, but if I did I would probably reach for my forceps and dental picks first. That's what I use when I get things stuck inside of fencing weapon barrels.

 

kathy wc

We find rest in those we love, and we provide a resting place in ourselves for those who love us.--Bernard of Clairvaux

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Two possibilities aside from using temperature or augering it out and getting inky.

 

Take some steel wire and cut the end off it with sharp sidecutters. This leaves a very slight flattened edge on the wire oriented at an angle (imagine a miniature garden rake). Carefully push the wire down beside the cartridge with the 'rake' bit at right angles to it - you may have to use a bit of wire you have tapered on a file first to get a bit of space in there. Once you get the 'rake' in there, turn it 90 deg. so that the edge catches on the plastic cartridge and applying a little lateral pressure try and slowly pull it out.

 

If that fails. and you have access to a high pressure air supply (compressor), hold the barrel in your hand very carefully (above a cushion would be my advice) and blow air at the opening, straight in. If there is any access for the air to get behind the cartridge (perhpas via the divot you made with the previous attempt above) it may come flying out. The pillow is in case you aren't holding it well enough and the whole thing becomes a flying projectile instead.

Bill Spohn

Vancouver BC

"Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence"

 

Robert Fripp

https://www.rhodoworld.com/fountain-pens.html

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Hello, I'm replying from Belgium as a new forum member ...

Something similar happened to me a few weeks ago when I inserted a Dupont cartridge as a spare in an MB Starwalker.

Not wanting to damage (even the inside) of its barrel, I went to the "sewing ustensiles" of my wife ...

Holding the barrel vertically I punctured the (filled) cartridge with an awl and then inserted a "crocheting tool" in this opening, rotated it slightly and voila the crochet gave me the opportunity to extract the filled cartridge. By precaution I thoroughly rinsed the barrel to see that not a drop of ink was spilled.

Regards,

LucVdB

 

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  • 2 years later...

Hello just managed to get a very stuvk ink cartridge out of my old gold asprey fountainpen that i managed to buy at auction for a snip. had tried many times over the last year to get it out, but found my solution today. I got a long screw covered it with superglue an screwed it into the cartridge , one hour later hey presto!!

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If you don't mind losing the cartridge (and why would you?), I find an unbent (straightened) paper clip to be one of the greatest tools yet invented. Stab the sucker and then apply pressure with the paper clip to slide it out along the side of the barrel.

 

Or you could use a very fine steel crochet hook.

 

 

 

Pam

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Here's an idea to make it less messy.

 

If the cartridge is full, get a syringe and suck it empty before pulling it out.

 

Apologies if that was suggested before, but I haven't seen it mentioned here at first glance.

Edited by JMX

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  • 3 weeks later...

This just happened to me. I used a screwdriver, inserted it and screwed it into the cartridge and pulled out

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Hi ... 'Fraid we're gonna have to blast. Just a wee bit of C4 .... :-) -- BR S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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id try a corkscrew or something like that.

I don't think there are cork screws so small, other wise they would not pull corks out of bottles.

 

I suggest a converter. I like converters because of the huge amount of ink tints. I understand some converters are problems too.

Perhaps someone knows the better converters.

It would be easy to train your self to ink your pen while drinking your morning coffee.

 

I can well understand, someone wanting two ink cartridges, so that when one runs dry, one can remind one self to replace it, and still have ink.

That sounds much better than a big ink cartridge.

 

Best though is a piston filler.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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