Looking for source of empty "Long" international cartridges

[AmandaW]

Quote

Bring multiple colors in one convenient pack mess free.

 

Quoted from the Jafa link. That's  either very interesting or misleading... Do their empty cartridges come with a means to seal them?

[austollie]

46 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

Even if there is a reduction in value-for-money, that may still be a worthwhile trade-off for some. 

 

I think that's right.  If it weren't, no one would buy the pack of empty cartridges and the company would stop offering them for sale.  I am not disputing that this is a solution for a select number of people with a specific purpose, but this option is certainly not for me.  I also consider the charge exorbitant for cheap injection moulded plastic.

 

With respect to flushing and cleaning old cartridges, I've found the short international cartridges much easier to deal with.  The syringe that I use to flush the cartridge, can get all the way to the bottom.  I'm yet to find a needle that can do that for a long international cartridge.

[mouse2cat]

I mean I would personally get cartridges with ink, use them and refill but I understand the OP had a surprise bit of ink contamination that was a big turn off. I get that. Getting blanks was never about the most economical choice but just an individual preference. 

 

Also the longs are hard to find. 

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, austollie said:

I'm yet to find a needle that can do that for a long international cartridge.

 

I had to order a pack of these, which were a bit uncommon:

 

2 hours ago, AmandaW said:

That's  either very interesting or misleading... Do their empty cartridges come with a means to seal them?

 

Good point! Good question.

[bunnspecial]

If anyone wants them, I have a couple of boxes of Waterman long cartridges(maybe 8 to a box?) from probably the 80s that are mostly dry and could probably be cleaned fairly easily. I keep meaning to try rehydrating one and see if it comes up to anything, but I'm not hopeful(which is strange). I also don't have that many pens in general that take international carts, much less longs, so my use for these is not that great...

[austollie]

On 12/28/2021 at 12:00 PM, A Smug Dill said:

I had to order a pack of these, which were a bit uncommon

 

Thanks for the pointer.  I had no idea that these even existed.  I looked and found them on ebay and just ordered myself a pack of 5 of these long needles.  They'll come in super handy for flushing Parker and Lamy cartridges as well.

[AmandaW]

On 12/28/2021 at 9:00 AM, A Smug Dill said:

I had to order a pack of these, which were a bit uncommon:

Can you recommend a search term to find them? I put in "long blunt needle" and only found some similar to the ones I already have.

[A Smug Dill]

47 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

Can you recommend a search term to find them?

 

“100mm dispensing needle” on AliExpress (even though, as you can see, the needle part is nowhere near 100mm long).

[jonathan7007]

On 11/4/2021 at 4:25 PM, A Smug Dill said:

In any case, I would suggest using a cotton tip to “scrub” the walls of a converter or cartridge where necessary, instead of scraping against it with metal and damaging the evenness of the interior wall surface, which makes is more likely to trap colourants in the future. Of course, that's easier to do with a Pilot, Sailor, or some other relatively large-bore cartridge.

Smug-Dill: Thanks, I agree as a rule but in this case was curious what might have caused observed color of the walls inside the cartridge. Sludge I scraped with the syringe rendered that cart a throw-away, but I learned something. As you point out, the "International" of any length has a neck and entrance that won't allow any cleaning material. Until I found thinner syringe needles it was dicey even filling a cartridge from a syringe because there was so little room for air to escape around the thick applicator.

I see useful posts below as I tap out this reply (more recent) about sourcing.

[jonathan7007]

On 12/27/2021 at 2:42 PM, A Smug Dill said:

simply exploring different compromises each having its advantages as well as disadvantages, from which someone can (reluctantly? grudgingly?) choose to suit his/her priorities.

Absolutely!

I saw the Yafa page and thought, "Wow, 50 cents each!" and then "Hey, great, only 50 cents for all that flexibility!"

 

Here's an example. I buy ink samples a little more now (flexibility, lower risk of wasted $ and space in the boxes of ink) and with a syringe and one of these long carts I would have an easier process trying that particular ink because I sucked it up out of the fiddly little vial and pushed it into a long cart and popped it into a testing pen. There's probably a wee bit of ink left in the sample vial for the nib to at least touch for capillary come-along. Way easier, more fun, and enough ink for a short card or letter to a friend using some weird ink I thought to see flow out on my chosen paper surfaces.

 

My sludge problem was caused by leaving that (or any) ink in the cartridge for a long time and the neck was probably open upright on my work surface. So If I have syringed in an ink for a test as described above I will pull the last drops out right after that test is over. Wash 'em! Bring a few 3 or 4 used long carts to the sink will all the other stuff that needs to be rinsed every couple of days.

 

When I first bought syringes I set them up to stay with their marked color group. The by scrolling through mail-order syringes I found there were different needle lengths and cross sections (inside diameter values). Now I have needles long enough to reach down into one of those Noodles jars, back down the body of  pen, further into my Photo-flo bottle. An skinnier needles for small cartridge necks.

 

Thank you everyone who participated in this thread. Happy New Year on this January 1st, 2022.

 

Now I wonder if I can get a plumber to put a little sink right here within arm's reach through the surface of my work counter? <grin>