refilling cartridges (comment #2)

[Edward Bonaventure]

On 11 Jul 2003 at 14:28:31 GMT, Al Wesolowsky scribbled:
->My dentist gave me a (normally disposable) translucent "Monoject
->412" plastic syringe, with a curved plastic "needle" for refill-
->ing the carts, and it works like a charm.

Obtaining a similar device has enabled me to make some measure-
ments and do some cost accounting. The following are rather crude
estimates but I think they're in the ballpark. (Does anybody
have any more precise info?)

A Sheaffer cartridge holds about 1.1 ml, which means that an
old 60 ml bottle would fill about 54.5 cartridges. Since $5.45 is
about how much a bottle of ink costs these days, that means the
cost of refilling one cartridge is about ten cents. (For a 50 ml
bottle, the cost is 12 cents.)

This means one Sheaffer cartridge costs about as much as one
cheapo ballpoint pen. I don't have any data handy on how many
miles the typical ballpoint pen can write (tho I'm sure somebody
has figured this out), but I'm sure it's a lot more than the
amount of writing one gets out of one Sheaffer cartridge. How
many cartridges' worth of ink does it take to equal a ballpoint?
10? 20? 30? Whatever it is, it looks like a fountain pen habit
is a lot more expensive than I had realized. (Nevertheless, I have
no intention of switching!)
--
>>>----------------------------------------------<<<
>>> david moeser -- erasmus39 on yahoo <<<
>>> Censornati, Ohio - USA <<<
>>>----------------------------------------------<<<
* Error 216: Tagline out of paper! *

(Headers munged to foil spammers; real info in taglines)

[Scaupaug]

> A Sheaffer cartridge holds about 1.1 ml, which means that an
>old 60 ml bottle would fill about 54.5 cartridges. Since $5.45 is
>about how much a bottle of ink costs these days, that means the
>cost of refilling one cartridge is about ten cents.

Where on earth are YOU buying your ink? It's not impossible to buy a gallon of
ink even today that costs about $6...they are making a huge markup on that ink!
You can buy even larger quantities from ink jet dealers/wholesalers - the old
fluid is made by sheaffer (and is so marked) and at far less than $6/gallon -
and writes just like skrip with slightly more intensity.

At shows you can still pick up good vintage quink and skrip in poor labeled
bottles for far less than that...ignore the label condition and test the ink
itself. You just need a few good quart bottles and you won't have to buy ink
ever again.

1954 is my favorite ink year.

[marlinspike]

"Logan" > wrote in message
...
> for information of who reads new Pelikan 4001 1000ml is 22 Euro here,
> 25 USD and not 40 USD

Isn't 33oz around 2liters (I'm honestly not sure anymore)? So then the 40
USD price I mentioned wouldn't be so bad.
Richard

[Dave]

Richard wrote:

> Isn't 33oz around 2liters (I'm honestly not sure anymore)? So then the 40
> USD price I mentioned wouldn't be so bad.

Unfortunately, 33 oz is about 1 litre.

David

[marlinspike]

Ok, so a cup is 8oz, a pint is 16, and a quart is 32, right? I always mix up
a pint and a quart.
Richard
"Dave" > wrote in message
...
> Richard wrote:
>
> > Isn't 33oz around 2liters (I'm honestly not sure anymore)? So then the
40
> > USD price I mentioned wouldn't be so bad.
>
> Unfortunately, 33 oz is about 1 litre.
>
> David

[Dave]

In article >,
"marlinspike" > wrote:

> Ok, so a cup is 8oz, a pint is 16, and a quart is 32, right? I always mix up
> a pint and a quart.

Mix a pint of what and a quart of what? Now you've got me interested!

But you're right about the measurements.

David

[marlinspike]

"Dave" > wrote in message news:3miQa.4576
> Mix a pint of what and a quart of what? Now you've got me interested!

Umm, ok, well, cook up some peeled apples in sugar and water. Get a cup of
sugar, a cup of flour (that's a pint), a stick of butter (though I think
that was too much). Mix those ingredients together to make crust. Cook the
crust a bit, stick in the apples,put whatever crust material you have left
(in fact, do 2 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, and 1.75 sticks butter) on top,
bake at 350, cut off a quart(er) and enjoy. That's the best I can do. The
recipe needs some adjustment, but that should get you started :-)
Richard

[Stephen Hust]

Tony Stanford > wrote:

> OK, does anyone know where you can buy cheap bulk ink in the UK?
>
> I, too, am fed up with paying 5 UKP for a 30ml bottle of
> coloured water. But where can you get it cheaper?

I don't know the answer, but at least one brand ought to be
available: Pelikan black and royal blue come in 250 ml and 1000 ml
bottles.

<http://www.pelikan.de/en/docs/faq.php?faqid=12&action=view>

Perhaps you could order it at a stationer's.

Google came up with one or two German online shops that sell blue
Pelikan ink in 1000 ml bottles, but as is, unfortunately, so often
the case with the _World Wide_ Web, they don't ship internationally.
At one of these online shops, the price for the 1000 ml bottle is EUR
23.14 including VAT but excluding shipping (EUR 4.50) - so that's
almost EUR 28 for 1000 ml.

<http://www.officio.de/shop/?sma&art=888168>

No doubt the actual 1000 ml bottle bears a closer resemblance to this
one:

<http://www.mypaper.de/cgi-bin/mypaper.storefront/DE/product/888168>

Have you looked in chain stores that sell writing supplies?

A German drugstore chain has some retail locations in Austria, and
one of them here in Vienna sells their own brand of washable royal
blue ink in 300 ml bottles. I've forgotten the price, but it must be
between 5 and 8 euros.

There are also some chains here that sell books, DVDs, CDs, computer
games, and school supplies, and though the blue no-name ink they
carry comes only in 30 ml bottles, it costs considerably less than
name brand ink. (I wonder who the manufacturer of these own-brand
and no-name inks is.)

Maybe you can find something like that closer to home.

--
Steve

My e-mail address works as is.