Sheaffer School Pen Filling Options

[dvalliere]

I recently received what I take to be a vintage Sheaffer School pen. As you can see, I have an old cartridge that I can (probably) clean out. What are my other options? Is there a type of converter that will fit? Do contemporary cartridges fit? (If so, only Sheaffer or are they standard international size, or short, etc.) It also looks like it would be fine eyedroppered...

 

 

[BaronWulfraed]

Sheaffer cartridges -- though my most recent production ones are no longer "ambidextrous" (those old cartridges could be inserted either end first and the nipple would still puncture the plastic; the new ones have different ends -- one end actually looks like you could store a new cartridge in some pens without puncturing that end, and the other may be using a pop-in ball rather than puncturing plastic).

 

The very old push-button converter from the early 70s likely fits, as the shell is the size of the a cartridge, and the button is under a quarter of an inch and smaller diameter. I don't recall if the (nearly as old) squeeze-bulb converters would fit -- depends on if the end tapers enough to not bind on the support point of the cartridge. Haven't tried a screw-piston converter.

 

In all cases -- the nipple fit is Sheaffer proprietary.

[PAKMAN]

As noted, the modern carts will work and I have a squeeze converter in both of mine.

[Mr. Pink]

You can use it as an eye dropper, but that can get messy.

 

Vintage! Yikes, I can't remember just how many of them I went through in school.

 

First of all though I'd clean out any old empties you have and use a syringe to refill them. You can get a new syringe for next to nothing at most drug stores or farm equipment stores. And if sharp needles really scare you, you get blunt one through Anderson's or Goulet.

Edited February 12, 2020 by Charles Rice

[Parker51]

Yeah, thinking of the Sheaffer School pens as vintage is a bit jarring as I also wrote with them in grade school, on pastel colored notebook paper. One year I had different colored paper for each subject, but one color, blue for ink cartridges and they were very cheap, a few cents a cartridge.

[BaronWulfraed]

Piece of advice -- take care not to lose the clutch ring from the barrel mouth... They have been known to fall off (I think mine is somewhere under a 5ft tall bookcase). Without it, the cap won't stay on.

[Tweel]

...And don't put the cap on the barrel without the section installed, or there's a good chance the clutch ring will come off the barrel and jam up inside the cap.

[dvalliere]

As noted, the modern carts will work and I have a squeeze converter in both of mine.

 

PAKMAN, can you point me to where I'd find these? I'm searching Anderson Pens, Goulet, Amazon, and Googling it without finding a viable source.

 

First of all though I'd clean out any old empties you have and use a syringe to refill them. You can get a new syringe for next to nothing at most drug stores or farm equipment stores. And if sharp needles really scare you, you get blunt one through Anderson's or Goulet.

 

I've got a couple of blunt tip syringes for fountain pen use. Thanks for the tip.

 

Piece of advice -- take care not to lose the clutch ring from the barrel mouth... They have been known to fall off (I think mine is somewhere under a 5ft tall bookcase). Without it, the cap won't stay on.

 

Good to know.

 

...And don't put the cap on the barrel without the section installed, or there's a good chance the clutch ring will come off the barrel and jam up inside the cap.

 

Noted.

 

In all cases -- the nipple fit is Sheaffer proprietary.

 

Helpful and noted.

 

[pajaro]

You can find the older converters on ebay, but they range from about $15 to $30 or more for ordinary squeeze converters and pushbutton converters. The narrow Targa squeeze converters will work on a variety of Sheaffer School pens, both the ones that used to retail for $1.00 to the opaque ones that used to cost $2.95 in the sixties. Those Targa converters are harder to find and can be pricey, like cerca $40.

Edited February 14, 2020 by pajaro

[AL01]

Modern Sheaffer cartridges DO fit, but I'd recommend you trim them down a little bit, (they are ever so slightly longer than vintage Sheaffer carts.)

 

You can also shove in a short international cartridge, but I think that would look rather ugly on a clear pen. I don't know if long international cartridges would fit in your school pen.

[BaronWulfraed]

You can find the older converters on ebay, but they range from about $15 to $30 or more for ordinary squeeze converters and pushbutton converters. The narrow Targa squeeze converters will work on a variety of Sheaffer School pens, both the ones that used to retail for $1.00 to the opaque ones that used to cost $2.95 in the sixties. Those Targa converters are harder to find and can be pricey, like cerca $40.

Note: that is the "Slim Targa" series... Regular Targa use regular Sheaffer converters.

[bsenn]

...And don't put the cap on the barrel without the section installed, or there's a good chance the clutch ring will come off the barrel and jam up inside the cap.

Gosh yes! Been there...

[Sailor Kenshin]

 

PAKMAN, can you point me to where I'd find these? I'm searching Anderson Pens, Goulet, Amazon, and Googling it without finding a viable source.

 

 

I've got a couple of blunt tip syringes for fountain pen use. Thanks for the tip.

 

 

Good to know.

 

 

Noted.

 

 

Helpful and noted.

 

As someone already said, I've used standard internationals in a Sheaffer school pen.

[mhguda]

I've actually tried eyedroppering one of mine, and it worked... I am not using it at the moment, but I do not think there was any problem with using it as an eyedropper-filled. And yours, with its clear barrel, just begs for that, IMO.

Good luck with whatever solution you end up choosing... and enjoy the pen.

[tamiya]

I use & refill old Sheaffer carts or shove on a std international cart on those sheaffers.

 

That iconic nib & section seem to be abundant downunder, always a ton of spares at every pen show. Accumulated lot more of those than caps & barrels... now curious what other use can be made of them. What other barrels can they fit?