Visconti Ink Capacity? - Not Much

[markh]

Well, I thought my Visconti Voyager needed repair - it didn't seem to hold much ink.

 

Then I decided to do a little lab experiment, using my advanced equipment - a large syringe with ml marks, a paper cup, and a sink full of water.

 

It turns out that the Visconti power/vacuum fillers don't really hold all that much ink. Older models would fill and empty about 1-1.5 ml. Newer models (Homo Sapiens, Divina) held less, with the HS holding the least - about .75ml or slightly less.

 

At first I thought this was poor performance, until I looked at John Mottishaw's chart of ink capacities - here: http://www.nibs.com/pen_measures/

 

It turns out that most pens don't really hold that much ink measured this way. Of course, a pen with 1 full ml of ink can write a lot of words.

 

The pen in question, the Voyager, held about 1ml when filled normally. But the interesting part was filling it with a Visconti traveling ink pot, which allows it to fill upside down. Then it held about 4ml - now were talking about a lot of words.

 

So my pen won't be sent for service.

 

 

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[Uncial]

Yep, my HS runs out of ink with alarming regularity. Filling it with the travelling ink pot does help a bit. The wetness of the nib doesn't exactly help it save ink either though.

[markh]

Yep, my HS runs out of ink with alarming regularity. Filling it with the travelling ink pot does help a bit. The wetness of the nib doesn't exactly help it save ink either though.

 

Mine has the Pd (dreamtouch) nib, which is quite soft. Lots of ink on the paper (which I like), empties pretty quickly.

 

 

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[flipper_gv]

The homo sapiens use a "hidden" converter, that's why it doesn't hold as much as a piston or the power filler system.

[PS104]

The first thread I've seen addressing this question, and there are other contributions following this initial entry (valuable information)

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/268953-measured-ink-capacity/

Edited November 25, 2014 by PS104

[markh]

The homo sapiens use a "hidden" converter, that's why it doesn't hold as much as a piston or the power filler system.

 

These fill on the downstroke - they are vacuum fillers, or power fillers in Visconti terminology.

 

Using an ink pot you can get a much larger quantity of ink in them.

 

 

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[Buzz_130]

Unfortunately, I find the Visconti filling system to be inconsistent and unreliable. The cap design is easy to use, the nib has a nice feel, and the material is truly exotic. But I don't use my HS very often because I can't count on the filling system, and this pen has no way to determine how your ink status is.

 

Granted, I have not use a traveling pot with this pen. But I have many others that fill nicely and write for days with medium to heavy use. Buying a special pot to allow me to fill one pen upside down isn't worth the expense.

 

Buzz

[zchen]

Use the two stroke filling method with my HS bronze, I can get 1.5ml or more easily.....

[markh]

Use the two stroke filling method with my HS bronze, I can get 1.5ml or more easily.....

 

I did that when I did my measurement. Didn't seem to really make much difference.

 

Probably just the variation between pens.

 

Visconti pens have never been the most practical, but are frequently the most interesting.

 

 

 

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