Sheaffer cartridge questions

Hello,

I just noticed that the Sheaffer cartridges(made in Slovenia) included with my
Sheaffer Javelin can only be inserted into the fountain pen one way. I have
several boxes of older Sheaffer cartridges that may be inserted into the pen
from either end.

In addition the Sheaffer cartridges (from the Javelin case) has a little
plastic bead that breaks when inserted into the fountain pen and then rolls
around in the cartridge to help break up the surface tension.

Are the boxes of Sheaffer cartridges currently available only one way also? (I
mostly use bottle ink so I have noticed whether they are or not) Has anyone
tried using this plastic bead in a Sheaffer converter?

I'd like to try this but then I thought the nipple on the fountain pen may
protrude much less into the converter than into the cartridge and I'm
concerned that it may obstruct the nipple of the fountain pen. With the
cartrige the nipple protrudes farther into the cartridge and hence the bead
may fall off to one side. This would be fine as it would not then interfere
with ink flow as it has the potential to do with the converter.

If anyone has already tried this sucessfully, or uses some other type of
plastic bead then kindly let me know. Even if it's worth even trying at all.


An ASCII diagram (best viewed in fixed pitch font)


Cartridge Converter

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To Nib/feed To Nib/feed



Regards,
Nic