Replacement Cartridge For Small Tiffany Bamboo

[Mookli]

Replacing the ink cartridge in a Tiffany Bamboo purse size ballpoint pen.

 

 

I was asked to help find a replacement cartridge for the Tiffany Bamboo belonging to a friend, a small attractive 4.15” purse size sterling ballpoint.

 

 

 

The empty cartridge was 3mm diameter by 73.5 long with a flared, or bell end to catch the spring.

I can not say for certain that this setup is indeed original but at this point, it's all the information I have.

A search on the internet revealed this cartridge to be unavailable and for that matter quite unique.

Note the excessive spring!

 

 

 

Since it was unlikely that I would be able to find a replacement, I decided to make one.

The Standard Cross thin cartridge was a close fit to the diameter and tip configuration.

Also, it is a reasonable quality cartridge for the Tiffany.

 

 

 

So I cut one down to correct length.

Use an Exacto knife roll the blade with medium pressure, it will work like a tube cutter.

De-burr the inside of the tube to make cleaning easier and to facilitate flaring later.

 

 

 

Clean out the ink from the last half inch.

My wooden "Q: tips were a perfect fit to clean out the gummy ink. then I used rolled up Tex-wipes until the last 1/2 inch of tubing was clean.

 

 

 

Plugged it with a filter material

I rolled up the same Tex-wipe material into a tight plug and cut it off at about 1/8 inch length. pushed it in about 3/8 of an inch deep.

I am hoping to keep a balance between keeping the ink in place and letting the pressure equalize as the ink is consumed.

 

 

 

Flared the end.

The tube is brass and easily flares using pliers or another tool. Take your time and keep an eye on concentricity.

 

 

 

 

It work out OK and the dimensions are correct. I hope the cleaning and plugging will indeed prevent ink leakage.

 

 

The Tiffany Bamboo is a pretty pen and handy writing instrument, but it's a small cartridge and will need frequent replacing if the pen is used.

This is an easy fix that takes about 15 minutes.

I hope this helps anyone that might be encountering the same problem I had,

Good luck

Mark

 

 

 

[dgcom]

I thought, I saw this somewhere before and it turns out to be old Waterman refills:

 

Ballpoints / Rollerballs - Vintage & Newer
http://www.pentooling.com/ballpoints.html

 

If you search, you may find more, ex.:

 

Waterman compatable CF Refill - Custom Pen Parts
http://www.custompenparts.co.uk/ballpoint-compatable-refills/110-sheaffer-cf-refill.html

 

Haven't tried any of this myself though - don't own any of such nice pens

 

[Mookli]

Hi Dgcom,

Thanks for the links.

The spring and flair are the exact same system as used in the Tiffany, but the Waterman refills in the links appear to be longer. ~95mm

The refills for the tiffany are only 73.5mm

 

I love standards as there are so many to chose from!

 

Mark

[dgcom]

Well, sorry, it did not work out... Appears that they copied each other, but with different length.

Luckily, it is not too complicated to make your own refill

[Mookli]

Dycom,

We did well; We solved the fill problem for two pens!

The above hack, (no pun intended) would work for the Waterman pens too.

 

NOTE, Don't try this on a Fisher or other pressurized cartridge, it won't go well!

 

Thanks again for your comments,

 

Mark