Parker Duofold Conversion From Rollerball To Fountain Pen

[ccvinylman]

Awhile back, I was asking questions about whether or not a Parker Duofold International rollerball pen could be converted to a fountain pen. I received a variety of responses; some were quite cautionary and did not recommend I do it. One person told me that the Parker converter would not fit into a rollerball barrel without first taking the gizmo out of the bottom of the barrel that allows a rollerball refill to grip the bottom of the barrel. (That is quite accurate, by the way.)

 

What to do? What to do? Well, I decided not to mess with the gizmo at the bottom of the barrel, and instead I bought a Duofold nib unit in medium from Classic Fountain Pens (I have no commercial connection there). Then, as a result of an FPN member's suggestion, I acquired an Aurora ink cartridge, which would fit the feed hole of the Duofold section. I bought a 5-pack of them in "King" size, assuming Aurora did not make regular size. (Was my assumption correct or not? Perhaps someone out there in FPN-dom would know.)

 

Well, the king size was too big! Rather than finding out if a smaller-size Aurora cartridge was available, I simply snipped off enough of the end of the cartridge so that the cartridge would fit into the rollerball barrel. I then applied a dollop of hot glue on the hole I'd left. I could then puncture the seal on the other end of the cartridge and fill it via a craft-version hypodermic needle with my choice of ink; plug it into the section; and then write.

 

The pen worked well for a couple months. No problems. Then one day I inadvertently stuffed the pen, posted, into my pants pocket. When I next bent over, I heard a crunching sound. You guessed it, I broke the pen, and it was essentially irreparable (though the barrel and cap are fine).

 

Have I learned my lesson? Well, yes and no. Yes, in that I'll be much more careful from now on when pocketing a pen. No, in that when I scrape up enough money I'll probably buy another Duofold International nib unit and start all over again. By the way, I have two International rollerballs, one in jade and one in the classic pearlescent with black striations. If and when I get that new nib unit, I can swap out the unit with whichever pen I want to carry that day, the jade or the pearl and black.

 

By the way, I sold the 18K nib to a gold buyer for very little money, and the next pen I bought was a Sailor 1911 Profit 14K in dark blue with gold trim. Very nice pen, but it was not nearly as smooth writing as I had been led to believe it would be. It required some nib smoothing with those super-fine grit mylar sheets available from FountainPenSacs.com (no commercial connection there). It writes much more smoothly now, thank goodness. Don

Edited January 9, 2015 by ccvinylman

[VivienR]

First of all sorry for your damage, specially after the lots of work. Although its feels that way that actually you spend more to convert a rollerball, than buying a fountain pen. Except, that you have one, and lets launch the assumption that isn't cost you a dime...

[encremental]

All you need to do is to use the Parker Mini cartridges, or a slide converter with the end sliced off so it fits. You can then use either the rollerball or a nib unit as the fancy takes you. I've done it with a couple of rollerballs without any problems at all . Dutchpen on this board often has international-sized nib units for very little money.

 

John

[ccvinylman]

All you need to do is to use the Parker Mini cartridges, or a slide converter with the end sliced off so it fits. You can then use either the rollerball or a nib unit as the fancy takes you. I've done it with a couple of rollerballs without any problems at all . Dutchpen on this board often has international-sized nib units for very little money.

 

John

Hi, John:

 

Thank you for your suggestions and your referral to Dutchpen. I made the mistake of chopping off part of a screw-type converter to get it to fit inside a rollerball barrel, much to my chagrin! Learning from one's mistakes is perhaps not the best way to learn, but it is A way. Some folks are so nervous about making a mistake that they miss the wisdom in the saying, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained"! Don

[ccvinylman]

First of all sorry for your damage, specially after the lots of work. Although its feels that way that actually you spend more to convert a rollerball, than buying a fountain pen. Except, that you have one, and lets launch the assumption that isn't cost you a dime...

Hi, VivienR:

 

Thank you for your condolences!

 

As I told "Incremental" above, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Of course the fewer mistakes one makes in venturing forth, the better. Yes?

 

Best regards,

 

Don

[EclecticCollector]

What good timing, I've been looking into doing this exact thing recently. Did you happen to find any information about how to remove the "gizmo" from the bottom of the barrel?

[ccvinylman]

What good timing, I've been looking into doing this exact thing recently. Did you happen to find any information about how to remove the "gizmo" from the bottom of the barrel?

 

Hi, EclecticCollector:

 

As I indicated in my first comment in this thread, I elected not to remove the gizmo. If you really want to remove it, I'm guessing you could do so with some judicious prying with a pointed object or a screw driver. To get an idea of the shape of the indentations in the gizmo, just take a Parker rollerball refill and press its plastic end into some ticky tacky or clay or wax. The resulting impression is what you have to work with in removing the gizmo. I think you're better off keeping the gizmo in place; that way you can use the barrel as "host" for an FP nib unit or an RB section. When using the barrel as an FP, just use a short Parker cartridge to supply ink or, as excremental (above) suggested, find a Parker slider-converter and trim it so that it fits into a rollerball barrel.

 

I'll keep you informed as I try to undo the damage I've done to the International nib unit I bought from Classic Fountain Pens. By the way, I'm also in touch with Dutchpen, an FPN member whom encremental referred me to, who seems to have spare parts for Parker Duofolds (just Internationals?).

 

Happy tinkering!

 

Don

Edited January 14, 2015 by ccvinylman

[EclecticCollector]

Thanks, modifying a slide converter definitely seems like the best option, I was just curious if you had found any information about whether the gizmo was easily removable.

[ccvinylman]

Thanks, modifying a slide converter definitely seems like the best option, I was just curious if you had found any information about whether the gizmo was easily removable.

Hi:

 

As for whether or not the gizmo is easily removable, I have only the testimony of one person who claimed--if I recall correctly--it was easy to dig out with a screwdriver. Whether s/he had already done it, I cannot remember. As I said in my posting, above, I recommend you keep the gizmo in place, just in case you'd like to switch things up and use the pen as a rollerball once again. Without the gizmo in place, the ink refill simply won't fit (or at least not as well as it would with the gizmo in place).

 

Best wishes!

 

Don

[VivienR]

Hi, VivienR:

 

Thank you for your condolences!

 

As I told "Incremental" above, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Of course the fewer mistakes one makes in venturing forth, the better. Yes?

 

Best regards,

 

Don

 

Dear Don,

 

Absolutely agreed. Sometimes we need to learn from our mistakes, and there is only one way to do it...

 

Best, Vivien

[pajaro]

I have converted a couple of rollerballs to fountain pens, and I had no issues with it. Sometimes, though, the inner cap in a rollerball differs enough with that of a fountain pen that your nib can dry out if the rollerball inner cap is much smaller. I converted a Sonnet with no issues. I bought a Sheaffer Prelude where someone converted it, but they failed to remove the plastic gizmo from the barrel. I took it out with a small wood drill bit. The bit caught the insert and it pulled right out. With the Sonnet and with the Prelude the inner caps kept the nib as wet as a fountain pens cap, which is to say that it behooves you to use the pen every day, whether fountain or roller conversion to fountain.

 

Cutting the end off of a twist converter is likely to leave the worm coming through the top. I don't think you want to remove much from the end of a slide converter either.

[JMichael]

I have a converted Duofold international RB to Fountain pen. I cut about a centimeter off the stem of a standard piston/twist converter and it works well. The worm does protrude some, but it is of no significance. Before cutting, twist the stem counter-clockwise so the piston is forward (near the nib).

 

However, I would like to remove the "gizmo" (spacer/plug) without taking off the blind cap. The spacer in my pen will freely twist, but there is no way to grasp and remove it in a non-distructive manner. I assume it is press fit, not threaded. Does anyone have a picture of this part after removal?

[jebib111]

Parker makes a small cartridge that fits your pen. I know because I've done the same thing.

[Matlock]

I have a converted Duofold international RB to Fountain pen. I cut about a centimeter off the stem of a standard piston/twist converter and it works well. The worm does protrude some, but it is of no significance. Before cutting, twist the stem counter-clockwise so the piston is forward (near the nib).

 

However, I would like to remove the "gizmo" (spacer/plug) without taking off the blind cap. The spacer in my pen will freely twist, but there is no way to grasp and remove it in a non-distructive manner. I assume it is press fit, not threaded. Does anyone have a picture of this part after removal?

It is a push fit as I fitted one to a 75. A small sharp screwdriver may remove it without too much damage if you feel like giving it a try. They do come up on ebay from time to time.

[JMichael]

It is a push fit as I fitted one to a 75. A small sharp screwdriver may remove it without too much damage if you feel like giving it a try. They do come up on ebay from time to time.

Thank you!

[entertainment]

Perhaps I was foolhardy, but I decided to a take apart one of my Duofold rollerballs to remove the plug in order to convert it to a fountain pen. I used a heat gun and the end cap came off relatively easily. I guess, but do not know, that there is probably a fifty-fifty chance whether the barrel or the end cap will remain attached to the connector.

 

 

(Earlier versions of the Duofold with flat trim rings have a threaded end cap that screws directly into the barrel with no connector, at least on the Centennial. These have a brass liner inside the barrel. I have not seen a rollerball version of this type though.)

**The plug for the rollerball unit has a flange as you can see in the picture, so there is no way to remove it without removing the end cap.**

I even had a hell of a time getting the plug out of the end cap after disassembly of the end cap and barrel.

[Ron Z]

 

 

(Earlier versions of the Duofold with flat trim rings have a threaded end cap that screws directly into the barrel with no connector, at least on the Centennial. These have a brass liner inside the barrel. I have not seen a rollerball version of this type though.)

 

No. They were all made the same way. Sometimes the thread bushing stays in the barrel, some times it stays in the blind cap, but it was always a separate piece.

 

Some folks have tried drilling out the plug. I don't like to do this though because if not careful, you could drill through the end of the blind cap, or may not drill the right diameter and get all of the plug out. I think that taking the blind cap off, though not without risk, is still the safest way to modify the pen.