Manuscript Cartridge Pens - how to load?

[glamtart]

Hi everyone. I'm new here. I did a search for this topic and didn't find it, so please forgive me if I am bringing up an old and/or stupid topic.

 

I am doing some calligraphy work for the theater where I work (handwritten letters to be used as props on stage). The pen set that they gave me to use is a Manuscript cartridge set. The instructions weren't included. I've never used a cartridge pen, so I'm wondering how to load it.

 

note: I'm probably going to completely massacre the names of the parts of a pen.

 

There was something already in the body of the pen, which moves downward if you put a cartridge in, which I did. I fit the nib over the top of the cartridge and tried to push the body and the nib together. I get about 1/2 an inch from fitting them together, and then it stops. It won't fit together.

 

I tried taking the nib and cartridge off, and now the thing in the body of the pen just stays down there. It's not another cartridge, so I'm not sure what it is or how to remove/fix it.

 

I've done about two hours of research online and can find nothing about how to use these pens. Any ideas? Your help is greatly appreciated!!!

[andyk]

Difficult to say without seeing the pen, but a couple of possibilities, what size cartridge are you using, this may well take standard international cartridges.

 

1) If you are trying a standard size one, is there already one of the smaller cartridges in the barrel (most pens are designed to take a spare inserted upside down but if you try a standard size, it won't fit). Try shaking the barrel to see if it falls out, if it does you should be able to close the pen and write.

 

2) Some pens aren't designed to take the standard size cartridges only the short ones and have spring in the barrel which stops them fitting (unlikely but possible)

 

3) You may just be using the wrong type of cartridge.

 

Andy

 

 

[glamtart]

Thanks Andy. I've tried shaking the pen, but whatever is in there won't come out. It doesn't look like a cartridge to me, but I could very well be wrong. I may try to find some thin pliers to see if it can be removed.

 

The cartridges that are in the set are 1 1/2 inches long... not sure if that is standard size or not.

 

Thanks again for your help!

[Paddler]

I just recently bought a couple of Manuscript cartridge pens. They came with the small international size cartridges that are 1.5 inches long. THEY ALSO CAME WITH A CONVERTER INSIDE THE BARREL! The converter was not installed on the nib unit; it was just loose in the barrel. If you put a cartridge in on top of it and then tried to close the pen up, you could have pushed the converter down inside and maybe it is stuck in there. That is probably what happened. I just tried it with one of my pens and, yup, the converter gets pushed down and sticks. It leaves about a half inch of the cartridge sticking up. I can rap the open end of the barrel sharply against the palm of my hand and the converter slides out. The converter looks like a regular cartridge, only there is a piston in it. The piston is colored black and has a knurled knob on the back of it. The converter lets you use the pen with bottled ink. If you are going to use cartridges, take the converter out; they won't both fit.

 

Paddler

 

[glamtart]

Paddler - that sounds exactly like what's happened with my pen! I think it's jammed in there really good, so I'll see if I can get it out so that I can use the cartridges. Thank you, thank you!

[Paddler]

Something I forgot to mention:

When you finally get the converter out of the barrel, you need to load two of those little cartridges in. If you hold the barrel vertically, open end up, put the first cartridge in upside down, so the flat end is up. Drop the second cartridge in on top of it, flat side down. You want the cartridges to be inside the pen flat-side to flat-side. The thinking is, when you run out of ink, there is already a spare cartridge in the barrel.

 

Paddler