How To Use a Fountain Pen Converter

What is a Fountain Pen Ink Converter?

A fountain pen converter is a small cylindrical device that allows you to fill a fountain pen with bottled ink, instead of ink cartridges. Fountain pen ink converters give you access to inks from all brands and allow you to choose from a broad spectrum of colours. This is particularly useful if your fountain pen is restricted to one brand of cartridges that only offers two or three colours.

How to Use an Ink Converter

This guide is designed to help with the most common questions and queries you ask our team instore. In this video, our Store Operations Manager, David Titterington, demonstrates how to properly use a converter for a Fountain Pen. He’s using a Waterman Expert Fountain Pen with a Waterman standard screw converter and a bottle of Lamy 50 ml blue ink.

Converters are like a piston and they push in or screw into position. Follow these steps to help you use your fountain pen ink converter:

1. Place the nib of the fountain pen into the ink
2. Draw the piston back fully and then empty the ink chamber
3. Repeat filling operation for complete fill of the convertor
4. Let 2/3 drops of ink back into the bottle to create an air space.

A word of caution, over full converters, will leak if the ink is warmed by body heat.

We recommend the following fountain pen converters:

Sheaffer Piston Converter

Features:

• Pump-action mechanism
• Exclusively for use with Sheaffer fountain pens
• Official model
• £5.00

Pelikan Converter

Features:

• Pump-action mechanism
• Exclusively for use with most Pelikan fountain pens
• Official model
• £7.75

Montblanc Piston Converter

Features:

• Screw-in piston system
• Exclusively for use with the Montblanc Meisterstück Classique fountain pen collection
• Official model
• £9.00

Montegrappa Ink Converter

Features:

• Pump-action mechanism
• Exclusively for use with Montegrappa fountain pens
• Official model
• £7.40

Parker Converter Deluxe

Features:

• Screw-in piston system
• Exclusively for use with Parker fountain pens
• Official model
• £7.40

Waterman CF Converter

Features:

• Push-in mechanism
• Exclusively for use with Waterman fountain pens
• Official model
• £14.05

Lamy Z28 Converter

Features:

• Pump-action mechanism
• Exclusively for use with Lamy fountain pens including ABC, AL-Star, Joy, Safari and Vista.
• Official model
• £4.50

Now you’ve watched the video demonstration, you are ready to start using a fountain pen converter for your pen. Don’t forget to browse our selection of inks and fountain pen refills!