rollerball conversion with or without spring

[sorcerertd]

I recently converted my Jr. Milton to a fountain pen. Last night, the flow seemed to become lighter while I was journaling. I unscrewed it to check the ink level in the Schmidt converter (twist fill). It was low on ink. I quickly discovered why. It had leaked all over. In trying to figure out what went wrong, I thought that maybe it was because the twist mechanism had turned as I unscrewed the section due to the spring in the butt of the main barrel cap (don't know what you call that part). Maybe the pressure from the spring caused the mechanism in the converter to twist? Was I supposed to remove the spring?

I have another one that will only take the very small cartridges and have found that they will come loose. I put springs in that one specifically to hold it in place. I'm thinking that might not work with a converter vs. the disposable cartridge.

 

[ed4copies]

The spring does not serve a useful function, but CAN screw up the converter, so we always take it out when we convert rollerballs to fountain pens. If you need a spacer, cut a small piece of wood dowel to the correct length (I have never done this, never saw a need, but it would be my solution in the instance you cite.)

 

[rixstix]

Years ago, there was one particular Jr series kit where the section was deeper than the shoulder on the converter and/or cartridges so that the converter/cartridge just barely fit onto the feed. The solution was to carefully grind about 1/16" off the section to allow the converter/cartridges to seat completely and allow full insertion of the feed into the cartridge.

 

[sorcerertd]

So, I guess I'll leave it out and see how it goes. As long as the converter holds on securely, I'll be good to go.

For what it's worth, I had Diamine Writer's Blood ink in it. At least there wasn't enough in in it to make it look like a crime scene.