Fountain Pen Converters

I am cleaning fountain pens, rating them and getting ready to offer several for sale after my upcoming surgery. I discovered I have some odd ball converters that needed an identification and remembered the subject was covered at FPN by Wim.

From left to right (all are piston converters unless indicated otherwise): Lamy Z24 (Safari etc.), Lamy Z26 (Linea etc.), Stipula international size, Pelikan, Parker, Parker slide converter, Waterman old style, Waterman newest style, Waterman CF converter, Namiki/Pilot squeeze converter, Namiki Pilot (courtesy Wim, Fountain Pen Network)

Inoxcrom Converter

The Inoxcrom, like several others, is considered "an international converter" and fits into my Rotring 600N.

Converters, Cartridges and Self Fillers: Ink

It is a process, some sort of feng shui notion that it, whatever it is, should or must be in perfect, harmonious order. Hence, I am attempting to put these fountain pens I own into good order.

Some of the lovelies will go to some other home, some will stay close by, but regardless of where they live, I'd like them to be clean, refreshingly clean, have the appropriate converter, or cartridge, and a pedigree of some sort.

It doesn't seem enough to know that a fountain pen is a Pelikan or a Mont Blanc. I'd like to know their personal name, something like being able to separate all the Williams in the world, or all the Smith's in the phone directory.

It gave me a great sense of satisfaction to learn that the two Waterman I have go by the name, Waterman Gentleman, and Waterman Lady Charlotte. There is something almost intimate about having that information.

So in order to accomplish this I've ordered some converters from Swishers, and will order some repair and cleaning materials from Pendemonium early next week.

Here's an article on converters that hss some historical value.

I have two growing groupings on my dresser, one with all the pens that have surnames, and another with those that remain orphans, but are still very much loved.

And today when I went into town, and after I brought B to her physical therapy session, I went over to the pharmacy, and bought an ear syringe to clean the pens better than the dripping water faucet. The use of this syringe was a most edifying moment. Several of the newly cleaned, hardly dried fountain pens still had quite a bit of ink still in their nibs.

Now these are sparkling clean inside. Next week they will be sparkling clean outside.

Sailor Pens with Nano Carbon Ink (Cartridges)

Sailor Nano Black cartridges (via Engeika)

A deep, rich black is as beautiful as any colour, so when folks talked about the qualities of the Sailor Nano Carbon ink, I ordered some cartridges from engeika (ebay seller). The cartridges were less expensive to ship from Japan than a bottle, or to purchase from a competitive Stateside vendor and seemed like a simple way to test the ink.

I also gave some serious thought to the advantages of cartridges vs. a converter in my four Sailors, two high-end, two calligraphers. Two of five converters have broken, one immediately. Either I am installing them poorly or I am not using them correctly, but I find these to be more of a challenge than the dozens of other converters I use.

Well, less than a fortnight later, the cartridges arrived and I installed one immediately into my Sailor M1911, and put a second into my longer calligrapher as a back-up. This particular calligrapher is designed to hold two cartridges, handy when away from home or office.

With the naked eye, the ink looks as dark as Aurora, or the Noodler's Heart of Darkness. It is seemingly much darker than the J. Herbin Perle Noire, and without long term use too early to declare whether it is better, worse or equal to the other blacks I use.

But not incidental, I find Sailor's ink to lay a good clean, consistent line with a pleasurable and smooth stroke. The other Sailor ink I have other than Gentle Black cartridges is Blue-Black, already among my favourites.

It is much too dismal to take photographs as it is raining (again) but sometime next week if the sun comes out I'll post a comparison of the five (5) blacks I have on hand.

How Black is Black: Five (5) Black Inks

Since buying and using the Sailor Carbon ink that I bought in cartridges, I haven't flushed out any fountain pens.

But yesterday after a writing spree, my two Pelikan m200s went dry.


Now I can compare the five black inks I own: Aurora, J. Herbin Perle Noire, Noodler's Heart of Darkness and the two Sailor inks: Nano Carbon and Jentle.


The pens I used, from top to bottom: Sailor Sapporo, Sailor m1911, Pelikan m200 (Blue), Pelikan m200 (Grey) and Charcoal Black Lamy Safari

I tested all five inks on Staple's Bagasse paper with the results below:

With the naked eye it appears the Sailor Carbon Black and the Noodler's Heart of Darkness are the darkest. When I write without thinking of comparison I found the Sailor Nano Carbon just a tad darker than the Sailor Jentle.

The Aurora and J. Herbin blacks seem similar on this paper and just a little less saturated than the two Sailor inks.

The fountain pens and nibs I use definitely influence the way the inks respond.

It is very difficult to capture the written page so I gave up photographing the other samples as they do not significantly differ from the Staple's Bagasse.

Overall I don't find one of these five inks better than the others, all dried quickly, all are very responsive in four different fountain pens and on three types of paper (Canson cachet drawing paper, quality Clairefontaine Triomphe 90g tablet paper and the Staple's Bagasse). None of the inks seemed to feather or change the nib line.

Although I think the Sailor Nano Carbon is the darkest of the dark, I don't believe I will buy it over more accessible inks, notably the J. Herbin and Aurora. However, I am glad I purchased the Sailor Nano Carbon and especially pleased how much I appreciate a cartridge in the Sailor pens. The cartridges seem to have more ink than the converters and are easier to use.

I'd say you couldn't go wrong with any of these five inks and if price and availability are concerns the Aurora, J. Herbin and Noodler's are more than satisfactory. If you like variety, the Sailor Nano Carbon is a good choice.

Retro 51 Scriptwriter

This Retro 51 was identified, indirectly, and by chance as a Scriptwriter. I have a vague memory of purchasing it. It came in a large, black tube container--which I still have.

I managed to find one of my many converters to fit, but haven't inked it.