How Much Ink = How Much Writing?

[NewPenMan]

I realize that if any question falls under, "Your mileage may vary," It's this one.

 

However, there must be, if not an official measure, a lot of de facto data/observations as to how many pages can be written with, say, 1ml of ink, with a given nib width, on decent paper (not Bounty or Charmin ;-) )

 

I've frequently been astounded by how much writing I can get out of a fill of a 78g with its "aerometric" converter, with a fine nib (japanese fine).

 

clearly, a 5 times broader nib will lay down 5 times as much ink per word.

 

just curious to hear others' observations of whatever word- or page-count they've gotten per unit of ink.

 

thank you!

[Abner C. Kemp]

Yup, as you say it depends a lot on a variety of factors but mainly the nib, the wetness of your pen, and the type of paper you are using.

 

Back in college I would fill up my Lamy 2000 EF which is a fairly wet writer about once a week. I'd say I was probably getting 20-25 or so pages out of each fill and there was usually a little left over at the end of each fill. I was using mostly Rhodia at the time and really only used the pen in class. I found the weekly filling to be quite convenient as I would usually want to change ink colors anyway.

 

On the other end of the spectrum, I purchased a cheap Jinhao with a fude nib for fun and drained a converter full of ink in less than 10 minutes of writing and scribbling.

 

I can imagine there are stories everywhere in between. In general, I think a standard international cartridge and a moderately wet writing fine/medium nib should get you around 15-20 pages of written text. But I could be way off. I'll be interested to hear what others have experienced.

[Icywolfe]

CON 70 - 1.1 ML of Ink. (Pilot Blue-Black) - Paper Apica CD 11

Justus 95 (Hard) - About 12-15 Pages

Justus 95 (Soft) - About 8 Pages

Justus 95 (Soft) + Styling - About 4 Pages

Custom 743 (FA) - About 6 Pages

Custom 743 (FA) + Styling About 3 Pages

Custom 742 (PO) - About 20+ Pages

Custom 912 (SU) - About 5 Pages

Custom 74 (MU) - About 10-12 Pages

 

Platinum Converter ~0.5 ML - Platinum Carbon Black

Kuretake Weasel Brush Pen - About 20 pages (Writing is bigger)

Platinum (EF) - About 1 book (Cart) Less with converter

Platinum Desk Pen (EF) - About 1 book (Cart) Less with converter

 

There are my pens I experienced enough to know them. But there is no real answer as it depends on ink, feed, paper, pressure, heat, nib and other magical things.

 

------

 

Styling just means I decided to "fancy writing" well that is what my classmates said. Which is just some cursive with flair from the slight flexing.

[Peppers]

Are we talking about a page written in Chinese? Because my best friend would complain that you can't get 1 written page without running out. He despises fountain pens.

 

The amount of strokes per character will make a significant difference.

 

My Lamy 14k F writes less than 5 (A4) pages. I have a very wet nib.

 

[ac12]

I was never in a situation where I had to know that. So I've never bothered to try to determine that.

In college, I always carried a spare cartridge or two, and just changed the cartridge when the one in the pen ran dry. Actually I would switch to my backup pen, then change the cartridge when I had time between classes.

And at home, with my desk pen, I just wrote till the ink line got thin (indicating running dry), or the ink flow stopped. Then I refilled.

Today on my pens where I cannot see the ink level, I simply write till the ink line goes thin or the ink flow stops, or I will refill the pen in advance of an event where I think I will use a lot of ink.

 

In college I used a Parker 45 with a F nib, similar to your 78G with a F nib, so the pen was stingy with the ink.

 

Actually, it gets a bit more complicated. If you have a WET pen, it will lay down more ink than the same nib size but writing DRY. So you can't even say X pages for Y size nib.

Edited December 29, 2015 by ac12

[NewPenMan]

Are we talking about a page written in Chinese? Because my best friend would complain that you can't get 1 written page without running out. He despises fountain pens.

 

My bad..I should have stipulated.. English is the language I was thinking of as I posed my question...it's the only language I myself can write in, but I recognize that it's only one of the languages a fountain pen can be used to write.

 

I have noticed (sounds others have, too) that when the nib gets finer, the hand gets smaller...not always; I have some italic nibs from a Plumix in my Metros, and my hand is approximately the same size as I get with my Fine Prera...

 

but if I write with the kaweco 1.1 or 1.5, the hand gets way larger...the strokes much wetter!

[Icywolfe]

Are we talking about a page written in Chinese? Because my best friend would complain that you can't get 1 written page without running out. He despises fountain pens.

Has he tried something like the Platinum Desk Pen (EF) ? Its a very very fine nib.

[NewPenMan]

Platinum (EF) - About 1 book

Platinum Desk Pen (EF) - About 1 book

 

Heh...you're saying that these two pens can write a book's worth on about 1 ml of ink? How cool is THAT???

 

[Icywolfe]

 

Heh...you're saying that these two pens can write a book's worth on about 1 ml of ink? How cool is THAT???

 

Well 1 book = Apica CD 11

 

It's a fairly small notebook with small lines but only has like 34 pages. But it may vary as for that class I was formatting the notes awkwardly that the notes didn't go much to the right.

 

Although I noticed a mistake on my original post. Which was I can only get that 1 book if I use the cart that I refill. (It's a nice cart as it has a metal ball built in.)

[NewPenMan]

small notebook, tight ruling, 34pp...that sounds pretty good to me.

 

edit: the dims of that book are the same as the workflow I arrived at for myself, based in part on my writer's bag, for which that size sheet is ideal...

Edited December 29, 2015 by NewPenMan

[Icywolfe]

small notebook, tight ruling, 34pp...that sounds pretty good to me.

 

edit: the dims of that book are the same as the workflow I arrived at for myself, based in part on my writer's bag, for which that size sheet is ideal...

Dims? I'm confused.

 

Well its a great notebook only one downfall.... its so expensive.

 

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The original reason for me switching over from CF/Rhodia note books to Apica was a very very weaboo reason...... I saw them modeled in animes so I decided to try them. Never regretted. Excellent paper.

[NewPenMan]

Dims? I'm confused.

 

Well its a great notebook only one downfall.... its so expensive.

 

-----------

The original reason for me switching over from CF/Rhodia note books to Apica was a very very weaboo reason...... I saw them modeled in animes so I decided to try them. Never regretted. Excellent paper.

 

"Dims" = "Dimensions"

 

Muji makes a nice book about the same size, IIRC 90 some pages, with dots on them..stout cardboard cover..very nice paper...I thought I saw them somewhere for about $6-7 USD

 

I am making my own, thanks to a paper cutter..I can get inexpensive, yet FP-friendly sheets, cut in half, 3-hole punch, and the keepers go into a notebook.

Edited December 29, 2015 by NewPenMan

[Luma]

*Deleted*

[I like mango cheesecake]

I think pages of written text should be substituted for actual words because the it could be an a4 notebook or a pocket a6 which could theoretically quadruple the number if pages. Also if you double space your writing you could up the 4x to 8x the difference. Now that so called 20 pages can be "equivalent" to 160 pages!!!

 

Having said that I can get approximately 3000 words on a fill on my 149 on a M nib

Edited December 29, 2015 by I like mango cheesecake

[Icywolfe]

I think pages of written text should be substituted for actual words because the it could be an a4 notebook or a pocket a6 which could theoretically quadruple the number if pages. Also if you double space your writing you could up the 4x to 8x the difference. Now that so called 20 pages can be "equivalent" to 160 pages!!!

 

Having said that I can get approximately 3000 words on a fill on my 149 on a M nib

There is word size and word speed. If you write 1 word slowly it takes more ink than writing 1 word fast.

[NewPenMan]

These are all good points. Maybe spencerian covers them all, even writing speed? Not that it stipulates wpm, but I've never seen spencerian samples that look like they were whipped out in haste..

[Buzz_130]

While this can certainly be an interesting discussion, the variables will make the results anecdotal. The same pen with the same ink with the same nib can give very different results if the nib is adjusted for a wet or dry flow. When variables of different inks, different nibs, and different paper are all thrown in to the equation, the results are interesting.

 

As a result, like ac12, I've never measured how many pages or words I get from my pens. Instead, I know about how much I write each day with meetings, notes, journaling or whatever. I know about how long between fillings I need for my average usage. My Sheaffers (Balance and Snorkels) will get me about 3 days, my Esterbrooks about 4 days, Platinum Centuries about a week (and I have B, M, SF, F), Parker "51s" about two weeks, and so on. But I always keep 2 pens on my person throughout the workday, and my pen wrap holds 5 pens. As a result, even if I have a day of excessive writing, I can transition to the other pen and keep moving on.

 

Keep a pen and/or ink log and see how long between fills you need for each pen. I keep a pen log (see which pens I favor in rotation), an ink log (to see what inks I tend to use the most), and a pens inked this week log (to see about how long each pen is lasting in the rotation). Plenty of ways for me to gather the data, and I'm very comfortable with my favorite pens.

 

Buzz

[thygreyt]

I write about 1ml a day... Lots of pages. Caran d'ache medium nib on a red n black journal...

 

About 15-20 pages

[amberleadavis]

Be sure to check out these topics:

 

 

Inky T O D - Do I Have Enough Ink To Last My Lifetime?

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/276815-inky-t-o-d-do-i-have-enough-ink-to-last-my-lifetime/

 

Inky T O D - How Much Ink Do You Really Use?

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/266002-inky-t-o-d-how-much-ink-do-you-really-use/