Hi everyone,
I recently bought my first fountain pen, a Waterman Hemisphere with Medium nib. I've been using it now for a couple of weeks and like it a lot. So far, the only ink I've used is Private Reserve Velvet Black.
My question is this:
How often should I have to refill this pen? While getting used to using a FP, I've been doing a lot of "practice writing" with it. I've noticed that I need to refill the converter after about 3 or 4 pages of writing (double spaced).
Ink does seem to flow easily with very little pressure. What I'm wondering is two-fold:
1. Does this seem normal to you? I do realize that nib size, flow characteristics, etc. will all affect how quickly a pen uses ink. Is it just a "wet" pen? Is it the combination of ink and pen that is sucking the converter dry?
and ...
2. Am I not filling it completely? The salesman told me that to fill the pen I should dip the nib, rotate the knob on the piston to "purge" the air, and then rotate it back once to fill. Elsewhere, I've read to "purge and fill" three times to be sure to get all the air out. Other than the first "fill-up", I've been following the advice to purge/draw three times.

Or maybe the converter just doesn't hold that much ink.

thoughts anyone?

thanks
Steve

I have a Hemi with a medium nib- it is indeed a wet writer. The converter is also small. You can tell how well you've filled hte converter by seeing how much it sucks up. If you're filled almost all the way up then that's the most you can get out of it. THe converters I have are clear so you can see how much ink you've got. It should be filled almost, but not totally to the top. It goes through ink fast on the papers I've used I've found. The amount of writing you're getting does seem low though. How much ink is the pen putting down? It should put down a wet line, but not be out of control and spewing ink either. Is it possible the nib and feed aren't fully set in the section? They should be snug back in the section and not hanging out or loose. If they're not set properly that can cause ink wasting too. If you've found they are snug and you've got a nearly full converter- then it could be the ink and paper that are causing fast draw. Those you have to play around with.

Thanks Ray.
No, it's not laying it down sloppy. I think it's a combination of a wet pen with a small converter and paper that, well, you know.
I did pick up some Rhodia vellum, but haven't had time to play with it yet.
If I get a chance tomorrow night, I'll post some images of samples on different papers.

I have been wanting to experiment with a fine nib, and maybe even with an italic nib. I feel a Pelikan M600 calling my name.




Steve
I think it's ironic that here we are using keyboards to discuss pens and penmanship.

I have a hemisphere with a fine nib - it is fairly dry so I don't have a problem with ink usage.

I did find that you have to dip the nib pretty deep to fill the convertor effectively, not deep enough and it half fills, so my first few refils were fairly frequent.

Which makes a good point-


With pistons or converters I dip all the way down until I reach the section. I'd rather get a little ink on the section and have to clean up than have to struggle to fill it over again. If you're having problems with short ink supply due to low fill then drop all the way down to the section and fill. Just be sure to clean up the section before trying to hold it there.

I have a Hemisphere which I use every day at work. I take between 2 and 4 sides of shorthand in a Black & Red A4 book each day plus assorted notes. I use the large size Waterman cartridges in the pen and only need to change them approximately once a month. Perhaps for an experiment you could fit the cartridge (Waterman usually provide one or two with the pen when you buy it) and see if there seems to be a difference between the mileage you get out of that and the converter, bearing in mind the large cartridge probably holds at least twice as much as the converter.

Pam

I don't have a Hemisphere, but 3 - 4 double spaced pages is very low capacity for any pen, in my experience. Most of my medium nib pens hold approx. 1 cc of ink per fill (that is about the capacity of a Sheaffer cartridge) and will write about 1800 words with that much ink. That is 10 - 12 double spaced pages on college ruled paper.

To see if you are getting a good fill, the next time you fill the pen, fill it with water and then empty it onto a flat piece of polyethylene (freezer tub or refrigerator tub, etc.). 1 cc should make a puddle approx. 21 mm in diameter or about the size of a US nickel.

Paddler

Thanks everyone for the tips.
I had to refill it again tonight, but I may have found the culprit. I filled it as normal, and then decided to purge it and fill it again. After I purged the fresh ink, I worked the piston back and forth several times. After I did this a few times, it turned further than it had before. It looks like the piston may not have been getting full travel. I think maybe there was some "flash" (from manufacture) in the piston threads and that I knocked it free when I worked it back and forth.
So good so far. I have some paperwork to do tomorrow night. We'll see then just how full this pen really is !
And if there's still a problem - it's right back to the pen store !



thanks again,
Steve