Parker 45 Cartridge Converter ( Hole Size )

[old4570]

Might have to do a product review on the converters ...

[welch]

Here are two of the slide converters. Looks like Parker-made.

 

Parker converters sell for about $5 USD for the slide converter and $10 USD for the piston converter. Pen shops in Australia should have Parker converters, maybe for around the same price.

[Chrissy]

The Parker slide converters for sale on ebay are cheap, and they will fit. There are plenty to choose from and they ship to Australia. Some ship for free.

 

Most of those converters marked deluxe or gold without any metal around the bottom have "bumps" built into the plastic. They are the ones that I avoid. If you compare the length of the end piece that fits onto the collector nipple, it's easy to spot those that are longer or at least as long as a Parker cartridge. I try to buy used converters from authentic Sonnet's or modern Duofolds. They are usually the best fitting converters.

 

Once you start looking on ebay and Amazon you can see the differences. I will try to dig out two and take pictures to compare them for you....

 

Edit: Just by way of a quick example this is the type of converter I look for. It's fat all the way down the tube - no bumps on the sides near the end of the tube to make the thinner tube fatter when it's inside the pen. Plus the end part is longer.

[old4570]

I cleaned the Parker 45 Arrow , last Parker to get here and the pen with the cartridge .

Seems it was held in place by dry old ink ( cartridge ) ..

Calipers say 3.35mm ..

So with the pen cleaned , the cartridge is a lose fit . Well , lets call it not a firm fit . ( Wont be using it )

[WJM]

Possibly some Chinese converters would fit. I used a Penbbs converter in 45, works much better than it did in my Penbbs 308. There are Hero converters cheaply available on eBay with 3.2 mm opening width, which technically is a Parker standard (of at least very close), but you can never be sure whether they would fit your pen.

[old4570]

I have two Chinese converters in the Parkers now .

I cleaned the Parker 45 Arrow , and put a Chinese converter in it ..

The NIB was rough , as in paper tearing rough .

 

 

 

 

 

Anyhow , I evened out the tines smoothed N stuff ..

The wrote with it , and it was a bit dry ..

So hit it with some 5000 grit to help it put down more ink ..

 

NIB is really fines , puts down ink like a ball point ..

 

Some after pictures ..

 

 

 

 

It's writing , NIB is way to fine for me ( But what you gona do )

Edited July 20, 2018 by old4570

[Chrissy]

12,000 grit micromesh is what you need to smooth a nib.

 

Replacement Parker 45 nibs seem to be quite plentiful and cheap on ebay UK but I don't know about in Australia. Even Parker 45 gold nibs aren't expensive here.

 

In fact you seem to have a rippled nib unit there, and a replacement is still fairly straight-forward.

[old4570]

Micromesh ..

None here that I am aware off .. ( Shipping hurts )

I have some very fine stones for polishing ( knife sharpening stones )

[old4570]

 

For the price / cost of a NIB , I can buy an entire pen .

I have 4 Parker 45's , with a few more still owed to me ( by feebay )

So id say I'm all Parkered out .

 

This is the first one I have tried so far and was probably in the worst condition . ( Of the 4 in hand )

[old4570]

 

Tweaked the NIB a little more so the P45 puts down more ink ..

[Chrissy]

Micromesh ..

None here that I am aware off .. ( Shipping hurts )

I have some very fine stones for polishing ( knife sharpening stones )

 

I just put "micromesh Australia" into a Google search, and this came up. Hobby Tools came up too. So there is micromesh in Australia.

 

Stones will remove too much tipping from your nib.

[old4570]

$33.63 Ozzi Bananas

 

Rather just buy another Pen ...

Actually , a few hours ago I found a Parker 45 for $13 + Free shipping ...

What can I say , Feebay owes me another Parker .

 

Stones I have are like glass ( smooth ) .. 5000 grit wet and dry is far more abrasive ..

 

I dont plan on doing much with the Parker NIB's , but this one was a paper tearing monster . ( So little choice really )

Micromesh in the land of Oz , is just too expensive .. Not paying .. ( As mentioned - rather just buy another pen )

Edited July 21, 2018 by old4570

[Cris56]

INK CARTRIDGE SIZES.

 

Parker use two types of ink cartridge. Both are compatible with all Parker fountain pens. The only difference being the size and thereby the amount of ink they hold and how long they will last before needing to be changed. Converters should have the same id.

 

Parker 5.3mm size

Length 75.6mm long 37.4mm short

 

Lamy 5.4mm size

Length 68mm

 

Cross 5.1mm size

Length 42mm

 

Platinum 6.2mm size

Length 58.5mm

 

Sheaffer 7.5mm size

Length 52.2mm

 

Standard international 4.4mm size

Length 38mm cartridges

These will fit :

Waterman long 4.4mm size

Length 72.4mm

 

International short

[whych]

Lamy cartridges will fit a Parker provided it has first been pierced in a Lamy pen.

The Lamy converter won't fit Parker.

[Driften]

Lamy cartridges will fit a Parker provided it has first been pierced in a Lamy pen.

The Lamy converter won't fit Parker.

 

 

I have used a Lamy converter from the Studio in my Parker 45 without issue.

[Bristol24]

Back to the hole size of the Parker converter and an easy hack...

 

Two years ago I purchased a Parker 45 on Ebay. It arrived in nothing but a padded envelop with its barrel broken to pieces, the wrong cap (a Parker 61 cap), and an old, empty Parker ink cartridge installed and sticking out from the broken barrel. Obviously the seller took responsibility for improperly packaging the pen, refunded my money and told me he didn't want the pen returned. I tried selling the Parker 61 cap on Ebay to no avail so, on a whim, I got out the superglue and stuck the broken barrel pieces back together. After a little wet sanding with some 2,000 grit paper, the glue job was all but invisible. The pen actually looked quite nice except for one tiny little chip missing out of the barrel. The '61 cap, while slightly larger in outside diameter does fit and looks nice. There was just one problem: I wanted to use the pen but how? I did not have a syringe to fill the empty cartridge and all of my converters were for the small international size cartridge and would not fit the Parker 45 due to their smaller hole. In trying to measure the empty cartridge's hole, I found that the shank of a 1/8" drill bit (1/8" is 3.175 mm) fit snugly inside the mouth of the empty cartridge so I took one of my many, inexpensive (less than $1 each in lots of a dozen) Jinhao converters, disassembled it completely and then, by hand, used the 1/8" drill bit to enlarge the converter's hole. Once the bit cut through and was inside the converter, continuing to twist the bit by hand smoothed and evened the inside of the newly enlarged hole. I then cleaned out the inside of the converter's barrel under the faucet with a Q-tip, reassembled the converter, installed it into the Parker 45 and filled the pen with ink. That pen writes quite well and is presently loaded with KWZ IG Blue #1 ink. We affectionately call this Parker 45 "Frankenpen" due to the repaired barrel (4 pieces) and the Parker 61 cap. Here is the converter I used: https://www.amazon.com/JinHao-Metal-Fountain-Converter-Pack/dp/B00J9P7JXS/ref=sr_1_37?crid=YE42NRGMCYMN&keywords=ink+converter+fountain+pen&qid=1551538179&s=gateway&sprefix=ink+converter%2Caps%2C213&sr=8-37

 

Cliff

[Pentode]

Ive done a similar mod for old Wearever cartridge pens; drilling the hole out by hand on a Monteverde mini converter. Im sure other converters would have worked as well.

[Lodzermensch]

On 7/20/2018 at 12:43 AM, old4570 said:

I cleaned the Parker 45 Arrow , last Parker to get here and the pen with the cartridge .

Seems it was held in place by dry old ink ( cartridge ) ..

Calipers say 3.35mm ..

 

I`ve just measured  the external diameter of the broken nipple in my old Parker 45; my calliper says ~3,31 mm
 

Any suggestions - what kind of glue would be best to fix it  (to reconstruct)? 

[PithyProlix]

On 7/20/2018 at 7:59 PM, old4570 said:

 

For the price / cost of a NIB , I can buy an entire pen .

I have 4 Parker 45's , with a few more still owed to me ( by feebay )

So id say I'm all Parkered out .

 

This is the first one I have tried so far and was probably in the worst condition . ( Of the 4 in hand )

I love P45s and can find them with gold nibs for around $10-$15 USD where I live. There are replacement steel nib units for Moonman 80 series pens (models 80, 80s, & 80mini) that are exact fit for P45's and include the nib, feed, and collar. Maybe look on Aliexpress. Better yet, you can get a new Moonman 80s which will also have a converter that should fit P45s - I've found those pens for less than $3 USD here. 

[Lodzermensch]

20 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

I love P45s and can find them with gold nibs for around $10-$15 USD where I live. There are replacement steel nib units for Moonman 80 series pens (models 80, 80s, & 80mini) that are exact fit for P45's and include the nib, feed, and collar. Maybe look on Aliexpress. Better yet, you can get a new Moonman 80s which will also have a converter that should fit P45s - I've found those pens for less than $3 USD here. 

Well.... PithyProlix  , you seem to live in a fountain pen paradise (good for you 😉)

In my country, prices are a bit higher. Not many classic Parkers are offered here.
For a new Moonman 80s ... (according to todays offers)  Aliexpress wants  ~ $7 USD.

 

I wonder if it is possible to disassemble the section of a new Moonman?
Is it exactly the same as the one in P45?

Is it possible to screw out its collector  (the same way as I did in old Parkers 45)? 

 

Would be perfect if the Moonman ink collector was exactly the same as in 45. 

Is it exactly the same?

Has anybody checked it?