Hello, What a fascinating forum! I inherited dozens of fine pens from my husband. I have picked out the ones I want to keep, and I've been giving the rest to friends and relatives as the mood strikes me. I have one now that's definitely a Pelikan (I'm having trouble getting its exact ID but that's OK, I'll keep looking). It is a piston refill model (I learned that term here, thanks!) and I need a very detailed How To - such as, how far into the ink does the nib go when you're refilling it? It seems also, to have a rubber bladder (I don't know if that's the term but I'm a biologist so that's what occurred to me) - do I piston the thing up & down, or does it twist, or what? And what kind of ink is best? Pelikan? Other?

And does the pen require cleaning, and is it something best left to a pro? I'm certainly not going to try it. The thing writes quite well right now so if it ain't busted I ain't gonna fix it.

Thanks for any help. I'd like to be able to give the recipient a sheet with these instructions when I give him the pen. It's a brown tortoiseshell with a black cap; it has two yellow metal bands around the bottom of the cap and the butt end isn't rounded - it's kind of, I don't know, semi-chiseled? I don't know what to call it.

Anyway, I'm so glad to have found this forum - as I come up with questions about my own keepers maybe I'll find them here.

Terry

Can you post a picture of this pen?

Yes, but it'll have to be tonight or tomorrow night. Wish Id' thought to snap some pictures last night. *smacks forehead*

Terry

Well, tonight I've got the photos but nowhere to put them. My own web site's space is full, and for some mysterious reason, Kodak Gallery won't log me on. If there's a way to send me an email privately I could send them to you that way...Sorry.

Terry

Glad to see that you made it on to the forum Terry..

Is it anything like this? but with double bands on the cap?

Hi, Doug, thanks!

I'm going to try this again. I spy an "Upload" button below that might be what I need...


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OK, let's see if this worked...

Terry

Yikes! I didn't mean for them to come out so BIG! sorry.

Great pictures! That looks like a standard Pelikan piston-filler. Here's what you do - immerse the nib entirely in ink. The ink should cover the whole nib and come a little way up the SECTION (the plastic part where your fingers would fall when you write with the pen). Then unscrew the BLIND CAP (the part at the end of the pen that operates the piston). You should see some bubbles in the ink as you do this. Unscrew it until it stops moving - it won't come away from the pen. Then screw it back down until it stops moving. You can repeat this a few times to get the pen really full. Then wipe the nib off with a soft cloth and you're done!

For the future, this site (http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/fillers.htm) has clear directions on how to fill every conceivable pen. Welcome to FPN!

Thanks so much for the info! I would *never* have thought you're supposed to dip the pen so far into the ink! Presumably you need to have a tissue handy to mop up any clinging to the gripping-part. Or is that where the "ink-stained fingers" come in...?

Breaking news: I think I've found my pen online! It's here: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/inks.htm and it looks identical to his M400 in Tortoise with M800 trim! Yay!

Hmm... looks like sets of these with the pencil are quite valuable...

goes back to hunt some more...

Terry

Yep a tissue is a standard part of the process.

One of the nice things about the Pelikans is because it holds a lot of ink you don't have to refill so often.