Converting To Eyedropper...

[phillieskjk]

I have a Hero 329 (New Version- Not Star Trek). I love it. It always writes smoothly, it has never broken, I love the design (It's a Parker "51" clone) and it was 1 USD! I only have one issue with it. The ink sac is TINY! So, I want to increase the ink capacity by turning it into an eyedropper. I was planning to cut off the sack (it cannot be removed otherwise) and then proceed as if it was a cartridge pen. My only concern is the screw at the bottom of the pen. If I seal that screw with silicone grease as well, will it be watertight? Will there be any negative effect on the ink if it is in direct contact with the grease? I am not afraid of breaking the pen (since it was only a dollar) but I don't want it to leak all over.

 

Thanks,

Phillieskjk

Edited December 18, 2014 by phillieskjk

[peterg]

I would use silicon gasket rather than grease. Once set the ink will not have any effect on it.

[mhosea]

+1. Silicone RTV, sealant, glue, whatever you want to call the stuff, it will do the job. But how coarse or tight are the barrel threads? If the fit there is sloppy, you will have to keep it heavily greased. Then there's the time you forget you converted it to eyedropper...

[Sasha Royale]

I am a coward. I don't use eyedropper pens. My suggestion >>> Learn to love the ritual of filling

your fountain pen.

[Fabienne]

A tiny capacity means you get to change colors frequently.

[mhosea]

I have regretted to some degree or other, most ED conversions I have ever done, not that some of them didn't work out swimmingly. I don't share the attraction of large ink capacity myself, as I like the ritual of filling, and as Fabienne points out, the pleasure of changing ink colors.

[phillieskjk]

I do enjoy filling my pens, and I have several that I fill frequently, but I use the Hero for school and quick notetaking, so when it runs out of ink mid-day I can't refill it and am forced to switch to a... dare I say... ballpoint.

[mhguda]

Carry an ink vial with spare ink... Easy to fill from, too. I've opened a pen I'd forgotten I had converted, and was lucky it was no longer even half full, but it was still enough of a mess... Now I no longer convert pens to ED - I only use them as such if they either were eyedroppers to begin with, or there is no other way - no converter, no cartridge - to fill it. (I do have a few of those, too...)