What to do with kit ink cartridges?

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tbfoto

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I know many on here are replacing the kit ink cardridges with an upgraded refill cartridge. What do you all do with these kit cartridges? It seems like a waste to throw them out but I want to only put the better cartridges in my pens that I sell or give away. What do you do?
 
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I've still been providing them with the pens and offering better brand name refills to replace them. My thought, when I move to putting the upgraded refills in the pens I sell, is to send the original along as a freebie for another pen, or save them up and sell cheap on ebay, give them away, I dunno, but I hate the thought of just throwing them away too. They do at least write....
 
Dave, I agree I hate throwing away anything useful, but in this case they will clog up the fins in the feed, yes they will write but even with an upgrade nib they cause problems because of the inconsistency of the volume of the ink. I just want to give my customers the best experience possible and with these I'm falling short of that goal.
 
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I empty the cartridge then cut 1/4" off the back (large end). Then I insert that piece (open end first) into the cap of my Sierra pens to keep the twist mechanism from sliding too far into the cap.

The large end of the ink cartridge is slightly larger than the hole so it's a tight fit which keeps the insert from falling out.:wink:
 
Send em to me. My wife goes through them often at her work. She works in a very busy vet clinic. She goes through a refill about every 3-4 ays.
 
OKLAHOMAN said:
Dave, I agree I hate throwing away anything useful, but in this case they will clog up the fins in the feed, yes they will write but even with an upgrade nib they cause problems because of the inconsistency of the volume of the ink. I just want to give my customers the best experience possible and with these I'm falling short of that goal.
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Maybe we should clarify "cartridge" Roy.

It sounds like you're thinking of the cartridges on the fountain pens (they will clog up the fins in the feed), whereas I was thinking in terms of the Parker and Cross style ballpoint cartridges that come with the kits.

In terms of the Fountain Pens I'm selling, I send the stock in cartridges along with the pen (guess maybe I should stop that), but I make sure I've included a converter if it doesn't come with one and I package a small bottle of Private Reserve ink the get the buyer started with a choice of black or blue. If they don't want it I'll offer a discount.
 
Cartridges or Refills?

I guess I need to take a step back and apologize as I've always called "cartridges" the are used in pens the cartridges in fountain pens and the refills used in ball points and roller balls "refills" so I took for granted the OP was talking about fountain pen cartridges.
Sorry.

76winger said:
OKLAHOMAN said:
Dave, I agree I hate throwing away anything useful, but in this case they will clog up the fins in the feed, yes they will write but even with an upgrade nib they cause problems because of the inconsistency of the volume of the ink. I just want to give my customers the best experience possible and with these I'm falling short of that goal.
Click to expand...

Maybe we should clarify "cartridge" Roy.

It sounds like you're thinking of the cartridges on the fountain pens (they will clog up the fins in the feed), whereas I was thinking in terms of the Parker and Cross style ballpoint cartridges that come with the kits.

In terms of the Fountain Pens I'm selling, I send the stock in cartridges along with the pen (guess maybe I should stop that), but I make sure I've included a converter if it doesn't come with one and I package a small bottle of Private Reserve ink the get the buyer started with a choice of black or blue. If they don't want it I'll offer a discount.
Click to expand...
 
No biggie Roy, I just call them ink cartridges for the same reason we try to call "pen kits" "component Sets". It just sounds better.

ETA - I differentiate by first name:
Fountain Pen Cartridge
Ballpoint Cartridge
Rollerball Cartridge
 
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OKLAHOMAN said:
Dave, I agree I hate throwing away anything useful, but in this case they will clog up the fins in the feed, yes they will write but even with an upgrade nib they cause problems because of the inconsistency of the volume of the ink. I just want to give my customers the best experience possible and with these I'm falling short of that goal.
Click to expand...
I have started ordering my component sets shipped from the supplier sans refills and/or ink cartridges. Two benefits: 1) I don't have to get rid of the ones supplied by the supplier to upgrade. 2) The kits then do not fall under the Toxic Substance Control Act and don't get held up in customs waiting for the proper form to be filled out. Also, I don't have to contact the supplier to make sure the ink is in compliance with the Act.
 
Mack C. said:
76winger said:
we try to call "pen kits" "component Sets". It just sounds better.
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I've taken to calling them/it, the "pen hardware" now. I think that sounds much better!
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Depends on who I'm writing copy for. For blingy glitter pens aimed at women, I use "components". For vertex, bullet pens and other masculine pens, I go with "hardware".
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Turn yourself a properly sized, aluminum ink gun. Put the cartridges in the gun, hook it up to a high pressure air source and then shoot the squirrels that you have trapped, before you relocate the squirrels.

This ink is so poorly made that it would likely wash out of squirrel fur in about a week. BUT, if you start seeing ink stained squirrels, it's time to quit shooting ink and start shooting lead.

I can't think of any other uses for these horrible ink cartridges. They should never be put into a quality pen.

Submitted with tongue firmly in cheek.
 
PenMan1 said:
Turn yourself a properly sized, aluminum ink gun. Put the cartridges in the gun, hook it up to a high pressure air source and then shoot the squirrels that you have trapped, before you relocate the squirrels.

This ink is so poorly made that it would likely wash out of squirrel fur in about a week. BUT, if you start seeing ink stained squirrels, it's time to quit shooting ink and start shooting lead.

I can't think of any other uses for these horrible ink cartridges. They should never be put into a quality pen.

Submitted with tongue firmly in cheek.
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:biggrin:Andy - nobody makes anything that is good enough to please you....:biggrin:
 
This is a little bit off topic, but has anyone used Perfect Pen Flush to clear a pen that has used the "office supply store" international cartrides? It is difficult and time consuming to use warm water to completely clear a pen that has used an "Office Max, etc" cartridge.
 
I use them to cover my face in war paint before a battle where I fight only with my fists.

Sometimes I also cover myself in black ink so I blend with the night and I hunt panthers with my bare hands.
 
PenMan1 said:
This is a little bit off topic, but has anyone used Perfect Pen Flush to clear a pen that has used the "office supply store" international cartrides? It is difficult and time consuming to use warm water to completely clear a pen that has used an "Office Max, etc" cartridge.
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I use a bulb syringe to flush the pen with water and then follow with Perfect Pen Flush. I haven't done it with an Office Max cartridge but I have done it after the cheap cartridges that come with the kits. It worked great. Using the bulb syringe allows you to flush the pen super fast, by the time I run two syringes of water through the feed/nib the pen flush is probably not even necessary. Whole process takes just a couple minutes.
 
Andy, go to the infant section of your local Wally world and pick up a Nasal Aspirator (Bulb Syringe) for $1.29 and do as Wayne said and do use the JB's Perfect Flush as the last step. I have flushed with luke warm water until it ran clear and used JB's Perfect Flush and gotten more ink out.
 
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