Options For Using A Geha Cartridge Filler?

[epo]

Sorry about the title, "cartridge filler" is kind of misleading but I can't seem to edit the title.

 

i bought a Geha cartridge pen and can't seem to find a converter for this pen or easily find cartridges. The pen came with two cartridges, one empty, one full (though the pen was described as unused!)

 

Anyway, the cartridges seem to attach at what is usually the base (the thicker end, which has an indentation), these cartridges are not sold anywhere (except see below). The empty cartridge isn't even usable as a spare as it has a hole at each end - the ball which usually secures the tapered end has come loose and is rattling about inside.

 

What I'd like is a converter, are any available or can an existing one be modified to fit? Failing that is my only option to refill the one cartridge I have repeatedly? Or buy some more, universal cartridges mentioning Geha are advertised on German ebay. The seller suggested pouring ink into the barrel and sealing the thread with grease, which I suppose is another option, though not one I am keen on.

 

Any and all suggestions welcome.

Edited December 8, 2010 by epo

[richardandtracy]

I have had a Geha school pen for years ( Review : https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=52501 ).

I have always used a syringe & needle to fill the cartridge whenever I've wanted to use the pen. If yours is similar, you couls use silicone grease on the barrel thread & fill the barrel with ink (turning it into an 'Eyedropper' - but be careful not to accidentally unscrew it!

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[Penthusiastic]

Did you try out Pelikan cartridges? They are also suitable for Geha pens (as Geha belongs to Pelikan afaik).

 

http://i51.tinypic.com/2qmeujp.gif

 

Regards,

 

Penthusiastic

[Bo Bo Olson]

Geha made it's own cartridge; like Cross, except that it fit Geha on one side and Pelikan on the other.

1990 the brand new owner of Pelikan, bought up the Geha pen division and shut it down immediately; in the Geha was competition to the Pelikano school pen. School pens are still a major section of Pelikan. I believe Pelikan took one Geha pen from Geha's 1990 selection, re-named it and that was it.

By 1990 Geha was no longer making top class pens like the '50-70 pens.

 

Geha was the first German company to make a cartridge pen.

 

Every once in a while some 20 year old Geha cartridges will show up on German Ebay.

 

I did find a man selling cartridges on German Ebay, that he claims will fit Lamy on one side; on the other side Geha, and Pelikan and a couple of other pens....which can not be. If it fits a Pelikan it I don't think it will fit a Geha.

Geha cartridges were on one side Proprietary, like Cross.

 

That is the reason I do not buy Geha cartridge pens.

 

I am hoping some one with a Geha cartridge pen, has found a converter that fits it, and can inform us of it.

 

Certain Geha pens are worth buying, even if(fill at home) cartridge, and as everyone knows I disdain cartridges.

The '50's-70 Geha nibs are very good, on pens of a higher range than the Geha school pens.

Edited December 9, 2010 by Bo Bo Olson

[richardandtracy]

Did you try out Pelikan cartridges? They are also suitable for Geha pens (as Geha belongs to Pelikan afaik).

...

They most certainly do not fit, as the other end of a Geha cartridge usually has a Pelikan end so anyone could use their cartridges.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[Jerome Tarshis]

This has previously been discussed on at least one pen board, quite possibly FPN, but I haven't taken the trouble to retrieve the earlier threads. If I owned a Geha cartridge pen, I would.

 

What I remember is an assertion that the wrong end of a Lamy cartridge fits Geha pens. That is, the end opposite the one that fits Lamy pens. I seem also to remember that the non-Lamy end of the cartridge fits Parker pens. How well it fits any pen is perhaps a matter for experiment.

 

One of the sad things about fountain-pen hobbyism in the present decade is how many people must pursue these inquiries without actually knowing anyone in their real social environment who could help, for example by giving the inquirer a Lamy cartridge to try. The idea that people need to ask such questions on a worldwide message board, and, even worse, might have to buy Lamy cartridges from an online retailer to make the experiment, can be seen as either depressing (as I see it) or rather exhilarating, because it is as if one is mobilizing all kinds of faraway people to help. When I began using fountain pens I could consult my family and of course my schoolmates. Or, later, my officemates. We all used fountain pens, and I had access to two and a half generations' worth of experience and opinion. (And pens, and ink bottles.) Let me try to take the it's-marvelous view.

[atypical]

I assume these are the cartridges that you are looking for.

Double-ended cartridges (one end fits Geha, the other end fits Pelikan) also seem available (pack of 5 long ones in blue).

 

I'm not aware of the existence of a converter. You could perhaps ask the seller of the cartridges.

If all else fails there's always the option of converting another converter or turning a cartridge into a converter (some inspiration here)

Edited December 10, 2010 by atypical

[Yoda4561]

Get a blunt syringe or needle-tipped dispenser bottle and refill your carts. This is probably the best long term solution, although you'll be lacking the ability to exchange carts on the go.

[epo]

Thank you all, luckily the pen was not very expensive so if it turns out to be a mistake then ... I will learn to read between the lines in for sale postings from now on and do my homework.

 

I have searched on FPN (see below) and found nothing of particular help. I am meeting eckiethump shortly and hopefully he may have an idea or two.

 

One problem with refilling cartridges is that I only have 2, one full and one empty, the latter with the ball stopper pushed out (which may have been me.) So my options for refilling cartridges are very restricted.

 

FPN search tips:

 

The search box on FPN is somewhat rudimentary though it does it does let you narrow down to individual forums. However, as always, Google is your friend. The following search in google

 

site:https://www.fountainpennetwork.com geha cartridge

 

gives a short list of results, the top one being this thread. The usual Google date search operators apply if you want to narrow it down to date ranges.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Jar's said, guessing......

 

"Look at the nipples. Generally one of two standards were used, the Parker and the Pelikan (International). If the nipple for the Geha is slightly wider than the Pelikan then it is likely that it is the Parker standard."

 

(((I don't see Geha using Parker's standard...in Germany and as the first German pen to use a cartridge pre-Pelikan..they got Cross Stupid.)))

 

atypical's post is a world saver....now I can go look for semi-flex nibbed cartridge Geha's from the late 1960's....

 

It says in German, """old, evaporated, very rare ( and it is), to be refilled with a needle. These are from @1990,"""" the year Pelikan bought up Geha's pen division and closed it down ASAP.

 

Buy two 5-packs, so you will never run out of cartridges, and your pen is a superb one, gold filled cap, sleek, well balanced, with a very good semi-flex nib.

I have moved that pen into my buy list now.

 

There are hundreds of ink shades in bottles, out there of your choice. So what if it takes a minute to fill a cartridge, it's the nib...you have it, it's the design, you have it.

 

You can always carry a spare fountain pen; a piston filler or other system, in case you run out of ink; many do as is.

 

 

 

What do those rich folks say...you can never be too sun burnt or scrawny, nor have enough semi-flex nibs.

Edited December 10, 2010 by Bo Bo Olson

[Jerome Tarshis]

Google is my friend, even at times when the search function of FPN doesn't come through. Here we have, from a Dutch member:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/107720-fs-10-very-affordable-vintage-school-pens/

 

The thing to notice is Lexaf's recommendation of either short Parker cartridges or the wrong end of the Lamy cartridge that fits the Safari. If either of those possibilities works out, there will be no shortage of cartridges to refill with a syringe.

 

Parker short cartridges are unfamiliar to me, but when I searched for them with Google I found that they are sold by a number of online retailers of pens, inks, that kind of thing. Depending upon where the OP lives, they may be available in nearby shops. But they do exist even though I didn't know of them.

[Bo Bo Olson]

The Geha cartridges are not available any more, but a reversed (!) Lamy Safari cartridge or a short(!) Parker cartridge will fit. :thumbup: :thumbup:

 

My apologizes to Jars.

[epo]

Going out past a stationary shop right now, Lamy stockist, will look for Safari cartridges and post back.

[fpman]

Please let us all know how the experiment turns out. I own several Geha cartridge fillers and it would be nice to be able to get new cartridges for them. Now if only someone can come up with equivalents for some old Diplomat cartridge fillers I have. They're very slim, as are the cartridges. I've never seen anything like them anywhere.

Edited December 11, 2010 by fpman

[epo]

Going out past a stationary shop right now, Lamy stockist, will look for Safari cartridges and post back.

Lamy cartridges were *really* expensive in W H Smith, almost cheaper to buy 4 packs online. Still looking ...

[epo]

Good news. I met eckiethump this morning to give him a couple of pens to sort out and he brought me a Lamy cartridge to try. It fitted well, not perfect but more than adequately secure, the pen writes like a new one. Remains to be seen how it behaves over the coming days and how well it refills. But I am happy.

[ville900]

Good news. I met eckiethump this morning to give him a couple of pens to sort out and he brought me a Lamy cartridge to try. It fitted well, not perfect but more than adequately secure, the pen writes like a new one. Remains to be seen how it behaves over the coming days and how well it refills. But I am happy.

 

Hello,

I am jumping on this old thread. How did your experience go in the end? Did you manage to use the Lamy cartridges in the long run?

[Buzzie]

Aloha - Well, I've joined the party. I have a Geha 703 but no cartridge (sigh). Many thanks to those who broke the barren sod before I arrived. I'll plan on trying the Lamy Safari backwards, unless somebody has an update with an easier remedy? Update?