Connaisseur

[Jasprr]

Hello! I received 2 of these as a gift, one has a squeeze converter and the other does not

 

The pens are lovely and a pleasure to write / draw with, however I don’t particularly like the squeeze converter. I would love to have a cartridge converter for each pen but I’m having trouble finding ones that are compatible. I’m hoping someone might have advice, from the little research I’ve done it seems modern sheaffer cartridge converters click in but are too long to fit inside the pen body

 

I would love to find a non-squeeze cartridge converter that’s compatible if anyone knows of one!

 

 

(sorry the pictures aren’t very good and my handwriting is horrible)

[Jasprr]

Also lol I missed an s, also paper is midori 

[Ron Z]

I'm afraid that you're stuck with the squeeze converter.   I thought that I had an exploded view of the Connaisseur on the repair page, but evidently not.  Richard Binder has an exploded view in his article on the Connaisseur on his website.  Well worth taking the time to read.  

 

The short answer is that Sheaffer inserted a brass plug in the end of the barrel to add some weight to the pen.  This shortened the inside length a bit from the original No Nonsense configuration so that the piston converter is too long to fit. Don't even think about removing the plug.  There is no way to pull on it or drive it out.  The result is that only the squeeze converter fits.  The only other possible option is the Kaweco Sport converter.  There's a metal band around the nipple that fits on the piercing tube to help  to keep it from splitting, which happens to the Monteverde mini converters

 

The black end squeeze converters have a latex sac in them. It's relatively easy to change to a PVC sac. David Nishimura at Vintagepens.com has #14 sacs that will work just fine.

[Jasprr]

Thank you!

I’m certainly interested to try a Kaweco Sport converter

[Paul-in-SF]

On 9/13/2023 at 11:43 AM, Ron Z said:

Don't even think about removing the plug.  There is no way to pull on it or drive it out.

What about drilling a hole in it from the inside, long enough for the end of a regular piston converter to fit? Apparently a 3/16" bit and a hole 1/4" deep would do it. It wouldn't even deprive the end of the pen of very much of the added weight. 

 

This is only a semi-facetious question. I also strongly dislike the squeeze converter, and the Kaweco converter (if it's the one I'm thinking of) is just too small. 

[Ron Z]

I wouldn't unless you have a way to measure carefully and have a lathe.  The plug isn't much more than 1/4" long, and the diameter is the same.  If you aren't careful you could dislodge the disk and button on the end.  I've just added an exploded view of the Connaisseur, minus the nib.

[jchch1950]

 I have two questions: Do the Sheaffer Connaisseur pens made for Levenger also have the end of the barrel plug? Does the plug interfere with the cartridges? The Levenger Seas series is a beautiful group of pens and I would like to buy at least one to use frequently.

[Paul-in-SF]

16 hours ago, Ron Z said:

I've just added an exploded view of the Connaisseur, minus the nib.

 

Thank you. I'm not clear where to find it. It doesn't seem to be among the pinned threads in the Repair forum. 

[Ron Z]

17 minutes ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

Thank you. I'm not clear where to find it. It doesn't seem to be among the pinned threads in the Repair forum. 

 

I forgot to pin it - done.

 

7 hours ago, jchch1950 said:

 I have two questions: Do the Sheaffer Connaisseur pens made for Levenger also have the end of the barrel plug? Does the plug interfere with the cartridges? The Levenger Seas series is a beautiful group of pens and I would like to buy at least one to use frequently.

 

The Seas version of the Connaisseur does not have the plug.  The plug is only a problem with the piston converters.

[jchch1950]

Ron Z thank you for your answer to my questions.

[tde44x]

I just saw one of these for sale over on another forum here. Is it worth what they are asking for it?