The Joy Of Filling Systems

[requiescat]

I was curious at first, then lost interest. These days I want to know, Is it easy to use and maintain? Is the pen easy to clean out? I would love my azure pearl Parker Vacumatic much better if it were a c/c or piston filler or something (it's physically a beautiful pen). It takes YEARS to clean out ink.

[Goudy]

I had a crescent-filler pen once, and I hated the filling mechanism.

 

I rather like that mechanism because it's one of the easiest to operate single handed, allowing me to hold and tilt the ink bottle if necessary with the other hand. Admittedly, the hard rubber locking ring can sometimes be annoying - either too stiff or too loose.

[inkstainedruth]

I have a variety of fill systems at this point: c/c, Aerometric, piston, squeeze filler, lever filler, Vac filler, Snorkels; I even have a few eyedropper pens. I have not tried bulb or crescent fillers; I've tried (but don't own) a Touchdown filler.

There are pluses and minuses to all of them. While my favorite pens are the Parker 51 Aerometrics, I would say that my favorite *fill* system would have to be on the piston filler pens.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for formatting

Edited January 26, 2015 by inkstainedruth

[wastelanded]

My favorite is a cartridge. Clean, reliable, easy to carry spares in your pocket.

This.

[white_lotus]

I have to admit, I don't use cartridges. I like my ink choices.

 

c/c are simple and let you easily check how much ink you have left. But I also like the piston fillers, and the two custom Edisons (Beaumont pneumatic, Menlo pump filler) and the Gate City syringe filler in the collection. And Conklin's modern replica of the crescent filler, which I got because of the antique styling and filling system. I ended up liking the pen much more than I thought I would.

 

Beyond how the pen fills and how much ink it holds, the feel of the pen and how it writes are the most important factors. But a cool filling system just adds a bit of fun. You won't get that in a ballpoint!

[arran]

For me the conid bulkfilling system is just the best!

Quite some volume in there and most interesting is the cleaning operation.

With a few strokes , the pen is just spic and span

I don't know any other system that is so easy for cleaning

My second filling favourite is the piston filler , especially the old montblanc FP s had that reliable and everlasting telescoping system

[alexander_k]

Good capacity is obviously important, especially with juicy broad nibs. I've had pens that used up a whole converter in an hour or so. The Conid Bulkfiller and the Pilot 823 vac filler are great in this respect but most piston fillers are good too, with any nib. Cartridges are the last resort and I usually fill them from the bottle with a syringe.

At a different level, repairing a filling system is a great experience. It requires patience and some inventiveness, and the feeling you get when the pen is working again is great. Chase the nib, they say and rightly so, but you need some ink behind it to really enjoy it.

[Sasha Royale]

Yup ! I'm one of those.

Capacity of the reservoir means little to me. Extremely low capacity fountain pens stay

at home, at my desk. I enjoy the ritual of filling my fountain pens. For the glorious

performance of Parker Vacs, and Big Reds and 51's, I endure the price of "pain-in-the-neck"

flushing, but they are worth it. Easiest maintenance comes with cartridge pens.

 

I have learned a lot from FPN old-timers. I never had to dismantle a Vacumatic to understand

how it works. I know that Parker's Aerometric system is more than an attached sac, with a

metal housing. (But, that is for me to know, and . . . . . )

[LuckyKate]

I prefer piston fillers because of the larger capacity. I also like refilling cartridges with a syringe. They hold twice as much ink as a converter and don't break or have air bubble problems.

 

I did put a bead in a platinum converter and it helped the ink flow. But the converter holds a mere drop of ink.

[WaskiSquirrel]

I enjoy a nifty filling mechanism. I like piston fillers like the Noodler's Konrad and vacuum fillers like the Pilot Custom 823 the most. However, once filled, the mechanism doesn't much matter. I want to write, that's my main pleasure in a pen.

 

Edison has a few interesting filling mechanisms. But, to be honest, the latex makes me nervous, especially now that Edison is saying that I shouldn't use some of my favorite inks in their pens. So, I'm holding off on another Edison for now. As I said, the writing is more important to me than the filling.

[CoolFool]

I like unusual filling systems, but I haven't always cared. I went from cartridges to converters (because of the variety and the ability to force ink into the feed) to push -buttons, crescents, eye-dropppers (for demonstrators to see the ink sloshing around), and whatever the heck this is:

 

 

Now I tend to consider the filling system (beyond cart/conv) as a factor when shopping for a pen. Not sure why, really. Nostalgia? Fascination with the unusual or novel? Nerdiness?

[Doug C]

I love them all and have to admit that I am drawn to unusual systems (including the ReadyFill mentioned in the last post-I have one).

 

Using a fountain pen tends to be ritualistic by nature so this just expands on the joy...

[amberleadavis]

Should I confess to how much I loved my Pelikan Levels?