Converting Fountain Pens To Rollerballs

[pajaro]

I am getting bored and annoyed with finding the sweet spot on many of my fountain pens. I pulled the rollerballs, ballpoints and pencils out of my Parker Sonnet collection and some others. Last night I took a Montblanc 144 fine and changed the inner cap to a rollerball inner cap, installed a roller refill into the rollerball section and put the rollerball together. I won't have to worry about centering the nib any more. I will probably find a few more rollerball sections and convert a few more.

[GaryUK]

Schrade make a "tactical" fountain pen which comes supplied with an alternative rollerball section (and refill). Not a fine writing instrument but a nice idea. Well made pens which I think would be much more expensive if they were sold by a traditional pen brand.

 

Gary

[Chrissy]

I am getting bored and annoyed with finding the sweet spot on many of my fountain pens. I pulled the rollerballs, ballpoints and pencils out of my Parker Sonnet collection and some others. Last night I took a Montblanc 144 fine and changed the inner cap to a rollerball inner cap, installed a roller refill into the rollerball section and put the rollerball together. I won't have to worry about centering the nib any more. I will probably find a few more rollerball sections and convert a few more.

 

I've been considering buying a Sonnet RB so that I can convert it to a FP.

 

I would be interested to learn what you intend to do with the 144 FP section?

[pajaro]

Well,

 

I had a spare marred barrel for a 144R, and I put the 144R section into it. I found that a Parker 45 cap sealed and fit well with the 144 section. A bit franken, but the 144 and the Parker 45 cap work well together, and the nib doesn't go dry. These are the Bordeaux (red) models of 144. I still have a 144R fountain pen with an old type section, so this is a good spare for when it inevitably fails.

 

 

 

 

[pajaro]

Re: Sonnet Rollerball, are they really cheaper than the fountain pen? If you have a spare section, that's an advantage, but I found spare sections to be expensive when I wanted them. I found a spring in the bottom of the rollerball barrel that I had to fish out.

 

I have four or so of these Sonnet rollerballs, and they are handy on the go, when I want to write something on a list and it needs to have a lighter touch than a ballpoint needs.

[LiquidInk]

pilot precision/hi tech v7 is a rollerball that uses ink cartridges, you could refill them with a syringe

[Karmachanic]

http://www.beaufortink.co.uk/rbnibs.html

[Chrissy]

Re: Sonnet Rollerball, are they really cheaper than the fountain pen? If you have a spare section, that's an advantage, but I found spare sections to be expensive when I wanted them. I found a spring in the bottom of the rollerball barrel that I had to fish out.

 

I have four or so of these Sonnet rollerballs, and they are handy on the go, when I want to write something on a list and it needs to have a lighter touch than a ballpoint needs.

 

Some of the rarer Sonnet RB's are cheaper than their FP counterparts, and I have a spare section. Fishing out a spring doesn't sound hard. As long as I don't need a different cap clutch I would be happy enough to convert one.

[Chrissy]

Well,

 

I had a spare marred barrel for a 144R, and I put the 144R section into it. I found that a Parker 45 cap sealed and fit well with the 144 section. A bit franken, but the 144 and the Parker 45 cap work well together, and the nib doesn't go dry. These are the Bordeaux (red) models of 144. I still have a 144R fountain pen with an old type section, so this is a good spare for when it inevitably fails.

 

Good job.

[pajaro]

 

Some of the rarer Sonnet RB's are cheaper than their FP counterparts, and I have a spare section. Fishing out a spring doesn't sound hard. As long as I don't need a different cap clutch I would be happy enough to convert one.

 

Early on with Sonnets I happened to buy a fountain pen that someone had converted from a rollerball, and the cap worked as well as any of these Sonnet caps. Some time back I bought a Sonnet rollerball in the Lacque Ambre finish, light golden lacquer, for about $25. It's pretty, and one of the rarer ones. Trouble is that the fountain pen sections for some of these rarer fountain pens have two gold rings that the other fountain pen sections do not have. So I didn't feel comfortable making that rollerball into a fountain pen, because I would have had to use a regular section. Not correct for the particular pen. If you are comfortable with it, go for one of those. Those finishes are beautiful. The fountain pens used seem to sell for above $100, maybe a lot more. I got deep enough into Sonnets and packed it in before I went after those pens..

[Chrissy]

Yes, that is the problem with some of the rarer Sonnets. However, if you particularly want one of them and you have a section that will fit it, even though it doesn't make it exactly like it should be, then at least you have the pen to write with.

 

Not that I've ever had the opportunity to buy a RB for $25.... The one I saw costs £99 and that's why I didn't buy it.

[pajaro]

On ebay USA there was a seller in India who had some fountain pens in Lacque Ambre for $100 and rollerballs and ballpoints for less. I bought the rollerball and the ballpoint. I probably should have bought the fountain pen as well. This is a few years ago. I guess I could make a fountain pen out of the rollerball, but for me it's like stepping on the separations on concrete slabs in the sidewalk. I go out of my way to avoid them. I do have extra nib, section and converter assemblies, though. Maybe swap one in for the fun of it. Might as well be up for a good pen outrage. Re: the 144.

Edited March 20, 2018 by pajaro

[Zaphodbebullbrox]

I am getting bored and annoyed with finding the sweet spot on many of my fountain pens. I pulled the rollerballs, ballpoints and pencils out of my Parker Sonnet collection and some others. Last night I took a Montblanc 144 fine and changed the inner cap to a rollerball inner cap, installed a roller refill into the rollerball section and put the rollerball together. I won't have to worry about centering the nib any more. I will probably find a few more rollerball sections and convert a few more.

Wow, well have fun with that, with my experience the rollerball is worse of all the types of writing utensils. i would go with the fineliner but they do not last very long.

 

sorry to hear you have issues with your many fountain pens. have you sent them off to any nibmisters like the one at Indy-Pen-dance, or Nibs.com or Fountain pen Hospital?

 

I feel fortunate compared to you, almost all of my fountain pens have work awesomely right out of the box and the ones that did not only need a little bit of help from a nibmister.

[Corona688]

You can turn any old stick into a rollerball. Drill a hole down the center, insert a "refill", done.

[Zaphodbebullbrox]

You can turn any old stick into a rollerball. Drill a hole down the center, insert a "refill", done.

well maybe a ballpoint, a typical rollerball refill will dry out if not capped properly.

[Corona688]

Ditto for most fountain pens.

[Chrissy]

On ebay USA there was a seller in India who had some fountain pens in Lacque Ambre for $100 and rollerballs and ballpoints for less. I bought the rollerball and the ballpoint. I probably should have bought the fountain pen as well. This is a few years ago. I guess I could make a fountain pen out of the rollerball, but for me it's like stepping on the separations on concrete slabs in the sidewalk. I go out of my way to avoid them. I do have extra nib, section and converter assemblies, though. Maybe swap one in for the fun of it. Might as well be up for a good pen outrage. Re: the 144.

 

I can see your point, but then there was the Montblanc 144.....

[dadbar]

One of the reasons that I like the Parker 75 is that the fountain pen and rollerball share the same caps and barrels so the parts are all interchangeable.

[pajaro]

The Montblanc is a pretty simple pen, and the parts are fairly well known to me. The rollerball internal cap seems to me to work better for a fountain pen than the fountain pen internal cap. It doesn't seem to wear down as quickly from the friction of capping and uncapping. It makes a good seal with the fountain pen clutch ring.

 

My 75 sterling cisele has the nib unit loosen if I happen to rotate the cap even slightly. Perhaps I should just find a rollerball section for it.

[fountainpen51]

I have done the opposite, from RB to FP, in the Arco section a small modification had to be made, the other grip sections are reserved for other nibs, the black sections are ebonite.
The nibs from left to right: Waterman # 4, Waterman # 2, Jowo # 6

Edited March 21, 2018 by fountainpen51