Parker Vector Roller ball to Fountain Pen Conversion

[Gloucesterman]

A friend offered me a very nice Parker Vector RB (he thinks it is anyway).

I am not really big on RBs and would like to convert it to a fountain pen.

Several Vector sections are already in my possession, so I don't have to buy one.

What I want to know is: Is it a straight swap - unscrew the roller ball section and then screw in the fountain pen section?

If not, what is involved (is it simple and/or easy) to do a conversion? I am not particularly mechanically inclined so I would probably pay someone to do it.

If so, it may not be worth the money if I have to pay someone else to do the work.

 

Any comments/advice is very much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

GM

[Mercian]

The bad news is that it can’t be done 🙁

 

The rollerball’s grip-section & writing point is slightly longer than the fountain pen’s grip-section & nib.

The caps are mutually-incompatible, with the inner caps being shaped differently.
I think that the grip-section of the rollerball has slightly more girth next to the pen’s body than does the fountain pen’s grip-section.
The fountain pen’s nib doesn’t foul the rollerball’s inner cap, but the rollerball’s inner cap won’t grip on to the fountain pen’s grip-section.

 

The good news is that Vectors are cheap, and widely available.

[Gloucesterman]

5 minutes ago, Mercian said:

The bad news is that it can’t be done 🙁

 

The rollerball’s grip-section & writing point is slightly longer than the fountain pen’s grip-section & nib.

The caps are mutually-incompatible, with the inner caps being shaped differently.
I think that the grip-section of the rollerball has slightly more girth next to the pen’s body than does the fountain pen’s grip-section.
The fountain pen’s nib doesn’t foul the rollerball’s inner cap, but the rollerball’s inner cap won’t grip on to the fountain pen’s grip-section.

 

The good news is that Vectors are cheap, and widely available.

Thank you for the information. I guess I will forgo my acquisition of the roller ball for now. I really liked the barrel/cap design and thought I might be able to merge the FP section with the RB cap and barrel.

Oobla dee, oobla dah, Life goes on..........

[inkstainedruth]

Someone told me several years ago IIRC that the barrels at least were compatible. I picked up a rollerball that's about the color blue of my first Vector, when the barrel cracked along the threading, but haven't gotten around to trying it out.

Bummer if they can't have the innards swapped out, though -- there are some cool Vector designs that I've ONLY seen as rollerballs.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[mitto]

Put the FP inner cap in the rollarball cap and your rollar ball now would become a FP. 

[Gloucesterman]

7 hours ago, mitto said:

Put the FP inner cap in the rollarball cap and your rollar ball now would become a FP. 

Now that sounds simple enough for even me to do it...

Thank you.

Now I have to go back and find another RB that I like as much as the first one I saw... which started this whole line of inquiry.