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Thread: Converting Pilot Plumix To Eye Dropper Fill Pens

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    Lightbulb Converting Pilot Plumix To Eye Dropper Fill Pens

    Just finished a small project to convert three Pilot Plumix to eye dropper fill pens. It worked very well and was easy to do. Posted a picture of the finished eye dropper conversion (EDC) pens at the bottom of this post. If you intend to attempt this EDC please read completely through this post and understand the directions before beginning. First, I plugged the small vent hole at the pen body tip, reference the picture below.

    Here is how the vent hole was plugged:

    1. Clean the pens as normal.
    2. Wipe the tip of the body section with a Q-tip alcohol swab being sure to get into the indention at the end.
    3. Allow the pen to dry thoroughly.
    4. Cover the end of the pen with silicon grease except in the dimple at the pen's body tip.
    5. Mix a small batch of epoxy.
    6. Using a toothpick insert the epoxy into the molding dimple at the end of the pen's body being sure to seal the dimple.
    7. Set the pen body up on the wide end so it stands vertical.
    8. Wait for the epoxy to cure for several hours, twenty-four hours for a total cure in most cases.
    9. After the epoxy is cured, wipe off the silicon.
    10. Test to see if pen body is sealed by filling it with distilled water and let it stand tip down.
    11. If there are no leaks from the epoxy plug you are ready to go.


    Now it was time for the EDC.

    With the Pilot Plumix body tip sealed with epoxy, the EDC is very simple. Here is how:
    1. Locate the threads, adjacent to the pen grip, that are intended to screw into the pen body.
    2. Heavily coat the threads in pure silicon grease.
    3. Hold the pen body with the opening facing up.
    4. Fill the body of the pen up to the internal threads but not into the threads.
    5. Insure the ink stopped before the threads begin.
    6. Holding the pen body vertical so it doesn't spill, thread the grip section into the body until you have a good, firm seal.
    7. Do not over tighten or you will crack the body and ink will leak out.
    8. Wipe off the excess grease and you are ready to write!


    Some will want to place a rubber o-ring on the grip section where the grip ends and the threads begin. I do not know what size would fit. If you grease the threads sufficiently I have found you really don't need the o-ring. I tend to over grease the threads on the theory I can always wipe off the excess and be sure the threads are well sealed. It has worked for me so far on quite a few pens - Preppy, Schaeffer Basic, Pilot Petite and the Plumix. Just be careful to avoid getting grease past the threads and into the pen feed area.

    These are pens that are used for a lot of writing for study notes at home. I don't carry them. Body heat combined with air in the ink chamber can cause ink to be pushed out through the feed as the air expands. For carry, I use either a large cartridge or a piston fill pen. Right now I have a Parker Frontier and a couple TWSBI's inked for carry. One might ask why bother doing an EDC on a Plumix with a thin body. I used a syringe to measure the amount of liquid the Plumix body would hold. Surprisingly it will hold 3ml of water by the syringe's measure. That is approximately three times the quantity of a large cartridge, so it was worth the effort to me.

    To fill the pen body a syringe with a blunt needle is very useful. I got mine from Goulet's pens. Put the tip of the needle inside the pen body and against the side. Then fill the pen. This helps the ink flow inside the body without splashing or picking up air bubbles. The syringe gives you control over the ink flow. I always clean a pen before doing an EDC or inking the pen for use as is. Materials like mold release or cutting oils may still be on the pen. This could interfere with good ink flow and could be difficult to remove once it gets into the feed section. So, I always clean with a pen flush before using a fountain pen.

    For me these are fun experiments and they harken back to the day when all fountain pens were eye dropper filled. It also gives me some sense of satisfaction when using the pen. Not to mention, it also saves a lot of money in cartridges. Of course, I can't guarantee your results. I can only report what has worked for me. Good luck and have fun!



    May God Bless,
    Armstrong
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  2. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Armstrong For This Useful Post:

    Chrissy (May 22nd, 2015), Crazyorange (May 24th, 2015), Jon Szanto (May 22nd, 2015), SIR (May 29th, 2016)

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