Ink Cartridge Stoppers

October 21, 2023

Are you tired of dealing with the hassle of ink cartridges in your fountain pens? Whether you're constantly swapping cartridges for your desired ink color or packing cartridges for your pens while on the go, the fear of ink leakage is a common concern. The traditional solution, using a glue gun, can be a bit finicky. You have to get the temperature just right, avoid melting the cartridge, and hope that your makeshift seal holds up. Not to mention the annoying glue string mess it can leave behind.

Wouldn't it be great if there were a simple and effective alternative to this problem? Well, outside of Gabriel Falcinelli's brass stopper for International Cartridges, it seems like there hasn't been much interest or investment in this area. So, I've been searching for a cost-effective solution, particularly for short international cartridges, as well as Sailor and Pilot cartridges. This scruffy note distills my solutions for these cartridges.

International Cartridges:

One issue with international cartridges is the inconsistent tolerances when it comes to the diameter of the opening. M. Falcinelli's solution works, but it can be a bit costly at around $4 per stopper, not to mention postage charges. His approach involves a metal rod that can be forced into slightly undersized openings but fits well in on-spec cartridges. I've had some success finding alternative stoppers on AliExpress. They might not fit well in cartridges with tolerances below spec, but they work perfectly in on-spec cartridges, like Pelikan's. Plus, they come at a fraction of the cost, often less than a dollar for a pack of 10 with free shipping. Various vendors on AliExpress, search for 2.7mm (TS-2.7) and I got mine here.

Sailor Cartridges:

Slam dunk: this stopper Ali Express. Similar cost as previous, and these work really well, with the Sailor Cartridge's larger diameter. Similar to International Cartridges, search on AliExpress for size 4.5mm

Pilot Cartridges:

I'll admit, I went through some trial and error to find suitable sizes for the previous two options. But when it came to Pilot cartridges, I took the easy route and purchased a box of Majohn A1/A2 empty cartridges that come with their own stoppers.

Platinum Cartridges:

As for Platinum cartridges, I haven't explored this area much, mainly because I don't often use Platinum pens. Sorry about that!

If this simple post encourages someone to take up the baton, or you already have a solution (or improvements on those listed here), please share 😊

April 15

Thank you for this exploration!

I'm looking for "standard international short" cartridge stoppers with an additional constraint: they must be very short outside the cartridge. My application is in a pen (Edison Collier) that stores a second cart behind the one in use, so that they can be swapped when the one runs out. This means that a stopper cannot add significant length to the stopped cart.

Nothing I've seen fits this need; the plugs I got from AliExpress are too long already.

Looks like I may have to do some lathe work and make stoppers with thin, wide heads.

Or is there something out there?

October 30

What I do instead of using stoppers is cut off a small section of latex ink sac, and stretch it over the top of the cartridge. The reason why is because anything you stick into the mouth of the cartridge can stretch out the mouth of the cartridge. There is a fair variance in the connectors in pens, so some cartridges that have been already used in one pen may fall off the connector of another pen. Pelikan cartridge filling pens for example are notorious for having small diameter and short connectors. Brass corrodes with ink exposure, so I do not recommend the brass stoppers. Been there done that