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How Many Pages Can You Get Out Of A Standard International Cartridge?


yogalarva

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*Note - sorry if this should be in a different sub-forum. Mods, please feel free to move it if you feel necessary. :-)

 

I’m pretty much ready to pull the trigger on an Al Sport, so I decided to do a few tests this weekend to see just how much writing I can get out of a standard international cartridge. And, since I’m such a generous person, I figured I would share my results with anyone else who might be curious.

 

fpn_1411315464__tumblr_inline_nc9cxbjfpl

 

For my first data point I grabbed a no-name black cartridge that I have and stuck it in my only pen that will take standard internationals (from now on, I’m going to use S.I.C. = standard international cartridge), my Nemosine Singularity with a Goulet 1.5 mm stub. I started making lines of loops until I used up all the ink.

 

fpn_1411315495__tumblr_inline_nc9d2zinjp

 

This test was done on my standard for ink reviews - Staples 24 lb bright white inkjet paper. I know the picture above might be hard to decipher with so many angles, but I got exactly 7.5 pages of loops out of the cartridge (1 page = 1 side of a piece of paper).

 

I would like to have stopped there, but too many years to training in the scientific process does not allow me to make claims based on a single trial. If I had enough time and patience I would run through a myriad of a combinations of ink and paper, but I have other things to do, so I tried one further run.

 

This time I refilled the same cart with Pelikan Edelstein Aventurine, popped it back into the pen, and put the nib to some A4 Miquelruis notebook paper. Instead of just doing loops, I wanted to do some writing more true to real life. I chose one of my favorite novels and began transcribing it, which took quite a bit longer than I expected.

 

fpn_1411315540__tumblr_inline_nc9dgh4q2n

 

This time the ink ran out just at the bottom of page 9. I also found that the ink flow was much wetter and more consistent than I usually get using the converter with this pen, which was a nice change.

 

Based on the limited statistics of my N=2 experiment, I would estimate that a S.I.C. will write for 7-10 pages. Obviously, this will vary depending on how much pressure you write with, your nib size, the paper absorbency, if you are drawing as well as writing, etc. I’m impressed and I would say that this has convinced me that I could use a pen that takes only S.I.C.’s and have it not be too cumbersome to use in my daily life. Especially since refilling carts is not that hard, and I’m going to experiment today with a way to reseal them so that I can have an extra with me in any color I want.

Fountain pen blog | Personal blog

 

Current collection: Pilot Vanishing Point, TWSBI Vac 700, Kaweco Al Sport, Lamy Safari, Nemosine Singularity

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It's interesting to see a considerable difference between the inks used.

 

I wish my Micarta v2 would temper its thirst so that I can get more than 3 pages out of an S.I.C, it's such a wet writer it's almost ridiculous. If it were a broader nib then maybe I could understand it getting through ink that quickly, but it's an F.

 

I'm not wanting to undermine the results of your scientific research so far, but I suspect that the figures might need a little more adapting.

 

Thanks for sharing the results you've found so far!

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It's interesting to see a considerable difference between the inks used.

 

I wish my Micarta v2 would temper its thirst so that I can get more than 3 pages out of an S.I.C, it's such a wet writer it's almost ridiculous. If it were a broader nib then maybe I could understand it getting through ink that quickly, but it's an F.

 

I'm not wanting to undermine the results of your scientific research so far, but I suspect that the figures might need a little more adapting.

 

Thanks for sharing the results you've found so far!

 

Fascinating! I always appreciate more data, so it's good to hear from other people too. :-) Thanks for sharing!

Fountain pen blog | Personal blog

 

Current collection: Pilot Vanishing Point, TWSBI Vac 700, Kaweco Al Sport, Lamy Safari, Nemosine Singularity

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This is a pretty interesting topic, and hard to control for since most people have preferred wetness, nib width, and some folks don't use standard international (proprietary) and I'd like to see how it develops. My Muji Aluminum Round gets around 12 pages or so with a standard international. It is the only pen that takes standard international that I have inked up recently.

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Interesting, that is quite a lot of writing for one little cartridge I think, I'm impressed. Not too surprised thoug, I recently got a Kaweco AL sport and have been playing with it a lot...I checked the ink in the cart recently and it wa still much fuller than I expected. It started writing very dry but I adjusted it to be a bit wetter so I'm sure that'll make a slight difference.

 

It would be really nice if there was a way to make your own ink cartridges, some empty ones without the back cap on them that you could fill and cap yourself would be awesome.

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So the real question here is how far does 1 ml of ink go? Nominally, that is roughly the size of an SIC. Actually, somewhat less than that. Factors affecting the process are the wetness of the ink, the flow rate of the pen, the absorption of the paper, the width of the nib. Not all=inclusive by far. So, perhaps the best that one could say would be how many sheets of paper can I cover with this ink, this pen, and this paper.

 

Enjoy,

Yours,
Randal

From a person's actions, we may infer attitudes, beliefs, --- and values. We do not know these characteristics outright. The human dichotomies of trust and distrust, honor and duplicity, love and hate --- all depend on internal states we cannot directly experience. Isn't this what adds zest to our life?

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Thanks, it is nice to know how long a cartridge may last in a pen. It's hard to think of a fill lasting a certain number of pages when you are an engineering student as it is rare that a page will be filled completely when you take into account diagrams and calculations.

 

For me a short international cartridge will last anything from 3 days to usually a week.

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Interesting results, but I would like some feedback from someone who uses a standard F or M nib.

 

0TOH I have used a standard international cartridge in my Kaweco and tired of the ink color long before the cartridge is exhausted.

"how do I know what I think until I write it down?"

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My only pen to accept a SIC is my Kaweco Al Sport with fine nib. It's a medium-wet writer, and I don't really use it to write for long periods as it's my "quick note" pocket pen.

 

In my experience, I get about 2-3 weeks out of a single cartridge. At this rate, I have no issues with this pen not taking any more ink. On the other hand, I don't think I'd want to use one for my note taking pen as I don't like to fill up my pens more than a couple times a week if I can help it.

 

For me, whether or not a SIC is a good option depends entirely on the intended use of the pen.

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers ~ Voltaire

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