I Think I've Figured Out Why I Hate Converters

[Honeybadgers]

I was cleaning out a bunch of pens and think I've finally hit upon the crux of why I hate converters.

 

They feel cheap. the knobs are cheap plastic and the wobble and there is no satisfaction in using them. the CON20, CON40, CON50, platinum, sailor, parker, and every standard international I own. They just feel like a cut price piece of junk.

 

but I got to my justus 95, and realized that I really LIKE the CON-70 converter. because it feels like a premium product to use, the button is satisfying.

 

Does anyone know of a converter brand that actually feels premium for standard international? I'd be curious to see if a company made a truly premium feeling SI screw type converter

[Uncial]

Visconti! The Leonardo converters are in a similar vein and less rattly than the Visconti ones.

[sciumbasci]

I have read that all international converters are made by Schmidt and rebranded. So I'd say no.

[Pensei]

The Schmidt K5, which is sold at a higher price under the label of some other companies, seems to be well made. But take my opinion with a grain of salt, because one of my favorite converters is the CON-40!

[A Smug Dill]

Well, there's no arguing with subjective kinaesthetic/tactile feeling, I guess.

 

Of course the converters are all made of primarily plastic and/or rubber, except for perhaps some metal trim and surface markings. They're consumable and readily replaceable components of the pen, and it makes sense that to make them cheaply and sell them cheaply.

 

Would you want someone to fashion the clear rigid tube part of the converter with lead crystal and hand-cut patterns on the outside, then add some solid gold or platinum trim to it, and pay accordingly for that?

[Honeybadgers]

Well, there's no arguing with subjective kinaesthetic/tactile feeling, I guess.

 

Of course the converters are all made of primarily plastic and/or rubber, except for perhaps some metal trim and surface markings. They're consumable and readily replaceable components of the pen, and it makes sense that to make them cheaply and sell them cheaply.

 

Would you want someone to fashion the clear rigid tube part of the converter with lead crystal and hand-cut patterns on the outside, then add some solid gold or platinum trim to it, and pay accordingly for that?

 

Yes. Yes I would. The tactile experience is almost the entire point of a fountain pen, so why not have an option for a nice, well made, high quality converter

 

If I'm buying a $600 pen, why can't it have a $30-50 converter that feels nice to use? I have seen some pilot maki-e pens with literal maki-e art on the cheap pilot converter. The artwork alone on that converter probably cost $200 in labor on that $10,000 pen.

 

A good start is threaded converters. They don't wobble around like others do, and that goes a long way, but a flimsy cheap twisting knob and stiff action really kill them.

 

I'd happily spend $20-30 on nice, premium feeling converters for my favorite pens.

Edited December 24, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi all,

 

Well, piston style converters come in varying levels of quality... like everything else... some good... some bad...

 

...that said, my problem with converters is I think they are the root cause of the ink starvation issues I have with some of my C/C pens... a problem I never seem to experience with true piston fillers.

 

Be well all.

 

 

- Anthony

[vicpen123]

I have used converters for decades staring with the old Parker metal sleeved squeeze converters to modern piston and screw units.

 

They all worked fine although some of the later piston type Parkers have very little ink capacity.

 

For me, so long as the ink flows the decoration and appeal of the pen is in the visible bits - the barrel, cap and nib.

 

Higher quality converters that are concealed would not interest me at all unless there was a demonstrated improvement in ink storage and flow.

[TheDutchGuy]

I'm not sure the filling system of my Parker 51 Aeromatic can be called a "converter", but if it can be, then it's a high-quality converter. As for all modern converters: mechanically I have zero issues with them. My only gripe is that too many converters have serious surface tension issues so they don't release the ink.

[ParkerDuofold]

...My only gripe is that too many converters have serious surface tension issues so they don't release the ink.

Bingo!... and you have to manually prime the feed.

 

 

- A.C.

 

 

EDITED to add text.

Edited December 24, 2018 by ParkerDuofold

[A Smug Dill]

and you have to manually prime the feed.

As you would in the process of inking a piston-filler in the conventional manner (or) which is recommended by pen manufacturers, no?

[ParkerDuofold]

As you would in the process of inking a piston-filler in the conventional manner (or) which is recommended by pen manufacturers, no?

Hi SD, et al,

 

No. Absolutely not. Once I fill a piston filler, I've never had to do anything with it until it runs dry and has to be refilled...

 

...that is NOT the case with a fair number of my c/c pens; which require me to periodically remove the barrel, crank the converter and prime the feed.

 

Some inks/converter brands are worse than others. As always... YMMV.

 

Be well.

 

 

- Anthony

[A Smug Dill]

Oh, you mean pushing ink into the feed, as opposed to drawing ink up through the nib?

 

Have you tried cartridges with the same pens that you have problems with using converters? Is it actually a problem with the feed or the converter?

[ParkerDuofold]

Just to follow-up...

 

I know with piston fillers you're supposed to bleed out a few drops when you fill them... occasionally I do... usually I do not... but either way, I've never had a ink starvation problem with a piston filler.

 

The reason you're supposed to bleed a piston filler when you fill it is to avoid excessive drips... it has nothing to do with the inherent problem of ink starvation that c/c pens suffer from.

 

Again, be well... or as close to it as you can get.

 

 

- A.C.

[eciton]

The etched Graf von Faber-Castell ones are pretty solid feeling in my experience. The full-length Leonardo ones too.

 

Personally, I HATE the Pilot converters, the CON-70 most of all. Not because they feel cheap, but because they perform dreadfully!

[ParkerDuofold]

...Have you tried cartridges with the same pens that you have problems with using converters?

 

Yes, but with limited success... and then you're playing around with syringes... I don't have that kind of play-time.

 

 

Is it actually a problem with the feed or the converter?

 

Who knows? The pens usually write fine once they've been primed.

 

 

- A.C.

[TheDutchGuy]

The etched Graf von Faber-Castell ones are pretty solid feeling in my experience.

+1

[A Smug Dill]

@ParkerDuofold, I'm not suggesting you ought to use cartridges with those pens, or resort to refilling used cartridges with syringes. I was just wondering if the converter is to blame, if the ink isn't flowing naturally into the feed. The suggestion of using cartridges was more about troubleshooting to isolate the cause, before jumping to solution mode.

 

Personally I've never had a problem with either a CON-50 or a CON-40 in any of my Pilot Vanishing Point pens not allowing ink to flow down to the nib.

Edited December 24, 2018 by A Smug Dill

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi all,

 

To get back to HB's original gripe; this is how I would break it down by brand... IMHO... YMMV... ETC., ETC.,...

 

GOOD TO REASONABLE BUILD QUALITY:

 

- Aurora

- Lamy

- Levenger, (older pens)

- Mont Blanc

- Parker, (upper echelon models)

- Pilot, (except for the Con20 with its paper thin tin metal).

- Platinum

- Sheaffer, (pre-Cross; post-Cross, IDK)

- Waldmann

 

 

SO-SO TO POOR QUALITY:

 

- Conklin/Monteverde

- Diplomat, (lower echelon models)

- Levenger, (newer models)

- Parker, (lower echelon models)

- Visconti

- ALL Chinese branded pens, (except Picasso and Duke).

 

 

Again, this is based on my experience; I'm absolutely positive other members here will have the opposite opinion.

 

Be well all.

 

 

- Anthony

 

 

EDITED to correct typo.

Edited December 24, 2018 by ParkerDuofold

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have a few coverters I've never used, bought cheap at the flea market. I seldom use my cartridge pens....I do have one inked, and had two others inked with in the last couple of months.

I made the mistake of not getting to my B&M in time and ended up not getting a Pelikan Ink of the Year in a bottle so had to buy very expensive cartridges. Also bought cheap Kaweco cartridges to test instead of just buying a bottle. Didn't know the brand as an ink.

 

My Lamy Joy and Persona have converters that seem to work OK.

 

The main problem with converters is vapor lock.

The second problem is many converters hold little ink.....less than small international cartridge's 0.74mm.

There are folks that cut small springs (there are threads to the best ones) and put them in converters or take the plastic balls in a Pelikan cartridge and put it in their converter and one or two use a steel ball, that sometimes plugs the opening.....to cure vapor lock; break surface tension.

 

Even thin piston pens like a Reform 1745 are wider than converters and don't have vapor lock problems................or no one would have ever bought them.

Converters must have worked in the beginning, or word of mouth would have said don't buy the add-on. Ignorance can be bliss.

 

The main problem is the producers will not spend 1/10'th of a cent to put a small spring or plastic ball into the converter they make; to make them work...............could be someone does. Buy them.

Edited December 24, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson