Lamy cartridge - alternative use

[Denisgsv]

So i got carried away and got plenty of lamy cartridges but I've been using standard pens more and more, so this cartridges are sitting unused.

 

Any ideas how can i readapt them ? i was thinking of pulling ink out with a syringe and refilling standard cartridges, but the issue here is that lamy ones are bigger, so i would need to fill 2 of the other ones ? But that would leave one filled and opened which is prone to drying out I'm afraid ...

 

so any ideas tips recommendations ?

 

[A Smug Dill]

On 3/27/2024 at 10:47 PM, Denisgsv said:

the issue here is that lamy ones are bigger, so i would need to fill 2 of the other ones ?

 

If all your surplus LAMY ink cartridges are of one or two colours only, why not just drain the liquid into small bottles? I once bought 18 Platinum Preppy pens at once for a project, and they all came with a black ink cartridge each. I didn't want to have to buy converters (which would cost more than the pens themselves), and I didn't want to eyedropper-fill the pens' barrels with ink directly either, so I just drained all the ink into one of this type of bottle:

which makes it easy to fill empty ink cartridges of whichever format or size (or alternatively, eyedropper-filled or even vaccum-filler models, so long as the grip section can be unscrewed from the barrel) later.

[Penguincollector]

  My answer to this would be to buy more Lamy or Parker pens. I think they also fit some Aurora models. Decanting the ink into an empty ink bottle (plenty available from Goulet or eBay) or squeeze bottle like ASD recommended is doable but that’s a ton of work. 

[Sailor Kenshin]

I've read that the wrong end of a Lamy cartridge can fit pens that take standard international carts…I tried it once and it worked.

 

Worth a shot?

[Beechwood]

For me it would be down to the number of cartridges, if it is just a modest amount, say under 25, then perhaps someone in your home country would like to swap. Over that then sell them on ebay or give them to a school.

 

I think you are in Italy, if the school children use Lamy pens as they do in England then perhaps a school would appreciate a donation. 

 

If you bought the cartridges from a pen shop then they just might take them back if you were to buy something else.

 

However, the obvious answer is to use a Lamy more!

[Mercian]

@Denisgsv: Once you have decided what to do with your existing stock of Lamy cartridges, for your future consideration I present:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Online-double-sided-cartridges-universal-compatible/dp/B006QJETOM

 

That is a range of cartridges called ‘Kombi’, made by the Austrian brand ‘Online’.

They are double-ended.

One end fits in to pens that take ‘International Standard’ cartridges (e.g. Pelikan, Montblanc, Diplomat, Herlitz, Faber-Castell, Schneider, Stabilo - but not Waterman), the other end of the cartridge fits in to Lamy pens.

 

If you are not in the UK, I would expect that these Online ‘Kombi’ cartridges should also be available from retailers in your own country.

 

Slàinte,
M.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I suspect those cartridges are the same as, or similar to, Lamy, and others also made by Monteverde.  Check the profiles!  

[Mercian]

10 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I suspect those cartridges are the same as, or similar to, Lamy, and others also made by Monteverde.  Check the profiles!  

You’re right! 😊

 

I hadn’t known before, but Monteverde do also make double-ended cartridges, with one end to fit pens that are chambered for ‘Standard International’ cartridges, and the other to fit Lamy pens 

[Penguincollector]

  The other end of Lamy cartridges will fit Geha cartridge pens, which have no readily available cartridges for sale (I found a box on eBay Germany and paid an arm and a leg for it), but are wonderful pens. 

[AceNinja]

10 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I've read that the wrong end of a Lamy cartridge can fit pens that take standard international carts…I tried it once and it worked.

 

Worth a shot?

I don't think Lamy's cartridge are those double ended combi cartridge.  It only has one end that fit lamy pens, no?  the 'wrong end' is just blank/closed.

 

to OP @Denisgsv, you can also syringe the ink out from cartridge, and fill up a piston filler pen, which should normally have sufficient capacity to take it all in.

[Denisgsv]

Thanks a lot to everyone a lot of interesting advice, im using a lot of kaweco's and they are small (sport Lilliput supra), BUT i could use supra with the addon and use a converter  which could hold 1 ink cartridge's amount probably .

 

Or getting the bottle seem amazing : 

 

 

I dont have many enough to be worth of a donation i think 5 or 6 packages so 30 cartridges , but i still dont wana start hoarding more ink i already have years and years worth of it.

So before i buy more which i am trying NOT to do yet, i would like to use some of the ink i have basically. 

[Sailor Kenshin]

10 hours ago, AceNinja said:

I don't think Lamy's cartridge are those double ended combi cartridge.  It only has one end that fit lamy pens, no?  the 'wrong end' is just blank/closed.

 

to OP @Denisgsv, you can also syringe the ink out from cartridge, and fill up a piston filler pen, which should normally have sufficient capacity to take it all in.

No, the Lamy cartridges do fit some standard international-taking pens.  The narrow end needs a good push…I just put one in a Five Below pen now.

 

Most of the Lamy Safari pens I bought come with an included blue cartridge.  I have a jar full and was happy to learn the other end works in many pens.

[Denisgsv]

14 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

No, the Lamy cartridges do fit some standard international-taking pens.  The narrow end needs a good push…I just put one in a Five Below pen now.

 

Most of the Lamy Safari pens I bought come with an included blue cartridge.  I have a jar full and was happy to learn the other end works in many pens.

it seems there is a lot of solid plastic on this end, dont think any ink is gonna come out of this end tbh :

 

https://imgur.com/JbIg4To

[Sailor Kenshin]

I just did it.  And that's the second time.

 

But there's no reason for you to believe me and I'd hate it if you ruined an expensive pen.  I do remember having to push Jinhao/Gullor cartridges onto the point of a thumbtack to break the seal.

[Beechwood]

OP, the quantity of Lamy cartridges that you have is not that big a deal, assuming that you are not as old as me then you will have enough years to live and write and  use them up eventually, it is really not worth the trouble of syringing and trying to make Lamy cartridges fit other pens.

 

A few years ago someone wrecked 500 euro Parker 51 2002 by forcing a Lamy cartridge into the pen, an expensive mistake for the sake of a 50 cent cartridge.

[Bo Bo Olson]

On 3/28/2024 at 2:59 AM, Penguincollector said:

The other end of Lamy cartridges will fit Geha cartridge pens, which have no readily available cartridges for sale (I found a box on eBay Germany and paid an arm and a leg for it), but are wonderful pens. 

Good then I can buy a Geha Cartridge pen....on Ebay, they are cheap €15, in there is no cartridges for them. Some nice looking pens.

I have 6 or so piston Gehas.

 

Geha was the first German pen company to go cartridge, and soon after, they made their double sided cartridges to fit Pelikan.

[Mercian]

On 3/28/2024 at 1:59 AM, Penguincollector said:

The other end of Lamy cartridges will fit Geha cartridge pens

 

Please correct me if I’m wrong but, from memory, if one wants to use the ‘wrong’ end of a Lamy cartridge inside a Geha cartridge pen, doesn’t one first need to pierce that end of the Lamy cartridge with a tool such as an awl?

[Bo Bo Olson]

31 minutes ago, Mercian said:

with a tool such as an awl?

Great question. In I remember fumbling with one a decade or more ago and not getting anywhere.

[Sailor Kenshin]

52 minutes ago, Mercian said:

 

Please correct me if I’m wrong but, from memory, if one wants to use the ‘wrong’ end of a Lamy cartridge inside a Geha cartridge pen, doesn’t one first need to pierce that end of the Lamy cartridge with a tool such as an awl?

 

An upside-down thumbtack works, too.

[Mercian]

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

An upside-down thumbtack works, too.

 

And its presence about one’s person while on a site-visit to a run-down part of a disadvantaged town would be far easier to explain to a member of His Majesty’s Constabulary as ‘a thing that I use for puncturing the cartridges for my fountain pen’ than would be the possession of a robust hand tool whose sharp-ended steel prong could be used for puncturing a human….