Ink Filling Systems. Do You Prefer Cart/converter Or Built In Reservoire?

[Mulrich]

When I started I only had interest in pistons. As my collection grows I'm beginning to prefer CC. They're easy to clean (I use my mouth instead of a bulb), allow me to easily rotate through my different pens and inks, refills are easier to carry when traveling, and I can quickly insert a new refill if I'm in a meeting.

 

As far as converters go I used to look down on squeeze converters (eg, Con-20) but now they're my preferred option. Quicker to clean and fill than piston types (eg, con-50) and they hold more ink.

 

If you plan on only having a couple pens and inks a piston would be a good option. Or if you like really broad and really wet nibs a vacuum based filler (eg Visconti, Pilot 823, Conid) would give you the largest ink capacity.

[pajaro]

When I started I only had interest in pistons. As my collection grows I'm beginning to prefer CC. They're easy to clean (I use my mouth instead of a bulb), allow me to easily rotate through my different pens and inks, refills are easier to carry when traveling, and I can quickly insert a new refill if I'm in a meeting.

 

As far as converters go I used to look down on squeeze converters (eg, Con-20) but now they're my preferred option. Quicker to clean and fill than piston types (eg, con-50) and they hold more ink.

 

If you plan on only having a couple pens and inks a piston would be a good option. Or if you like really broad and really wet nibs a vacuum based filler (eg Visconti, Pilot 823, Conid) would give you the largest ink capacity.

 

While the different filling systems have pros and cons, it's not so simple as to say that one is better, so you cannot go wrong by picking it.

 

Montblanc 144 and Parker Sonnet are two C/C pens, both using a piston converter. However, Montblanc 144 is a great pen and Sonnet is mediocre, to be charitable. I have several Montblanc 144s and about twenty-five Sonnets. The 144s get a bit of use, and the Sonnets remain in the pen tray these days. The Parker 51 is one of the best pens ever and some of the Chinese imitators are good and some are mediocre.

 

Piston fillers are usually very good, but many of the pens that use them, while very popular, just don't attract me, even though I have several. All of these work better than a good many C/C pens. The Montblanc 144 is a quite remarkable pen (and it ought to be considering the new pen price). It holds its own with the piston fillers, unless you need a huge ink supply. I have never written that much.

 

Another quite good pen is the Sheaffer school pen with the translucent barrel. fitted with this converter, http://www.ipenstore.com/converter-fits-waterman-kultur-fountain-pens/ , it is a great C/C pen

Edited August 14, 2016 by pajaro

[IrishEyes]

All of my previous lever fillers are now owned by my wife because she liked them... (She gets any of my pens that she likes because I love her. I have sufficient pens for my own use)

 

 

Awwww.... you are so sweet! I love you, too .

 

And, yes, I have a bunch of vintage lever fill pens that I love--mostly Sheaffers and Esterbrooks, but several others, also. About half of them came from zwack .

 

I can't say for sure that I have any filler that I prefer, but there is one kind of filler that I really, truly despise, especially in Indian pens--Eye Droppers! My hands must be too warm or something, because every single one of those ED pens leaks/burps on me. My inability to write w/an Indian pen w/out it burping and leaking all over the place has become a running joke between us, and unless I can get a c/c insert for them, I have given them ALL to zwack, because he likes them, and usually doesn't have any problem with them. The only ED-fills that I don't have trouble with are things like my antique Waterman clone--a thin pen with a metal overlay that has never given me problems. There are a few others, too, but they're ALL metal or metal overlay, non-Indian pens. None of those gives me problems, either, or zwack would own them, to do with as he pleases.

 

So, I guess that, as long as a pen is not an Indian ED, I like and use them pretty much equally.

 

The pen and nibs, themselves, may be another matter (I'm looking at YOU, Noodler's Neponset and many other Noodler's pens), but that's a response for a different thread/topic.

Edited August 14, 2016 by IrishEyes

[pajaro]

 

Awwww.... you are so sweet! I love you, too .

 

And, yes, I have a bunch of vintage lever fill pens that I love--mostly Sheaffers and Esterbrooks, but several others, also. About half of them came from zwack .

 

I can't say for sure that I have any filler that I prefer, but there is one kind of filler that I really, truly despise, especially in Indian pens--Eye Droppers! My hands must be too warm or something, because every single one of those ED pens leaks/burps on me. My inability to write w/an Indian pen w/out it burping and leaking all over the place has become a running joke between us, and unless I can get a c/c insert for them, I have given them ALL to zwack, because he likes them, and usually doesn't have any problem with them. The only ED-fills that I don't have trouble with are things like my antique Waterman clone--a thin pen with a metal overlay that has never given me problems. There are a few others, too, but they're ALL metal or metal overlay, non-Indian pens. None of those gives me problems, either, or zwack would own them, to do with as he pleases.

 

So, I guess that, as long as a pen is not an Indian ED, I like and use them pretty much equally.

 

The pen and nibs, themselves, may be another matter (I'm looking at YOU, Noodler's Neponset and many other Noodler's pens), but that's a response for a different thread/topic.

 

This is a great and sensible post. My wife would like it too.

[maus930]

Converter definitely -- a piston filler is nice but if it malfunctions you are out of business

[Michigan]

My Cross Townsend converter held little ink. I bought cartridges for it but did not use them within a decade of purchase and they dried up.

 

My reason for forgetting my Cross even existed was that I bought a Montblanc 146. The piston is satisfyingly solid and holds as much ink as I could ever want. I have added three more piston pens (a pair of OMAS and a Montegrappa) and thought it was the best system.

 

My certainty had flagged over the last couple of years. My kid's $14 Pelikan Twist takes long Pelikan cartridges. They are voluminous and convenient, but the ink colors are limiting.

 

Now I am ready to make the jump with an eye dropper from Scriptorium. Any reviews? Any disasters?

[PAKMAN]

For modern pens I prefer piston filler when I can get them.

[NinthSphere]

Now I am ready to make the jump with an eye dropper from Scriptorium. Any reviews? Any disasters?

 

Not eyedropper specific, but wrt Scriptorium/Renee, nothing but good (my own experience included). Only downside being the wait time & when my order came up in the queue, the nibmeister I had wanted to tweak the nib was (still is) bogged down to the point where I would still be waiting to get my pen, so I went with a stock broad & swapped for a Masuyama broad italic until I can be bothered to get the Scriptorium nib reground. No helping either case though & I have plans to suffer through the queue again at some point in the next year or so when I have enough banked for the next custom. Reviews can be found both in the review section here & scattered around various blogs.

[croccanova]

My collection is based off of piston and vac fillers. I would prefer to have a built in filling system. The other thing I look at is color. GREEN

[praxim]

Converter definitely -- a piston filler is nice but if it malfunctions you are out of business

You carry one (1) pen?

 

The main thing I find in this thread is the expression of different assumptions and criteria. Unless they are challengeable, there is little to say about the various "conclusions" (these tending to reiterate the assumption / criterion you first thought).

[Sandy Fry]

No real preference but probably have more c/c pens than any others.

 

David

[Slider20]

My preference is a Converter, just easier to clean and maintain. I happen to own more Piston Fillers that C/C, so the filling method for me is just one aspect to making a decision to buy a pen.

[Bluey]

 

However, Montblanc 144 is a great pen and Sonnet is mediocre, to be charitable. I have several Montblanc 144s and about twenty-five Sonnets. The 144s get a bit of use, and the Sonnets remain in the pen tray these days.

Why would you buy 25 Sonnets if they're merely mediocre?

 

 

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I like both piston filler and C/C as they both have their + and -, but C/C is likely the superior because there are many more advantages.

 

Advantages of built in fillers

-Usually hold more ink

 

Advantages of C/C

-Easier to clean and maintain

-Have the flexibility to allow cartridges

-As they are not a permanent fixture in the pen this means that you just get another converter, where as if the piston goes then it's often RIP pen

-Where permissible can be convert to eye dropper

-Less prone to burping because there is an extra layer in between the outside world and the ink

Edited August 15, 2016 by Bluey

[Raif79]

It'll be a cold day in Hell before I buy another cartridge/converter. If I did, there better have been a good reason (Lamy Safari). The filling system is half as important. That's like buying a giant TV and hooking up a soundbar. You know you have to go 7.1 surround!

[s_t_e_v_e]

Standard international converter, converter, piston, ED in that order.

[BillZ]

Interesting thread. I have both C/C and piston fillers as I am not partial to either system. I prefer C/C simply from a maintenance standpoint plus ease of travel with the pen. If a converter fails you just toss it and get a new one for a few $$. Since most of my piston fill pens are pricey(from my wallet-eye view) I fear a big repair bill if they fail. BUT when one spends $400+ on a pen you don't expect it to fail!!

[martinbir]

I should think I have every filling system except ED and they all seem to work OK. Since filling and swapping inks is half the fun, large capacity does not come into it, indeed I only ever half fill pens anyway.

 

But I do like to be able to see the ink level which tends to sway me towards piston fillers and others like the Safari.

 

I cannot say I never use cartridges, but I certainly never buy them. The last used was one sent as a sample and I actually took the nib out of a Pelikan and emptied the cart into its tank - not conventional, but it worked.

[Namo]

Now I am ready to make the jump with an eye dropper from Scriptorium. Any reviews? Any disasters?

Modern ED fillers don't burp. The feed is supposed to be designed for this specific purpose. Some Indian pens may have this problem. This being said, it safe to keep your pen over 1/3 full.

 

As for custom pens as Scriptorium and others, generally the feed comes from a generic maker as JoWo, Bock, Schmidt and is not designed specifically for the task. I don't know up to what point the feed and nib can be turned know g you will use it as an EF filler.

 

Personally I've never had any problem with the pens I am using g as ED filler (i.e. my main two writers, ASA Nauka and Danitrio Densho).

[KLscribbler]

Like many others, I used to be biased in favor of self-fillers, but nowadays I think it has to be considered on a pen-by-pen basis, and also with consideration of how each pen is going to be used.

 

For instance, my most-used daily writer, a Pilot CH91, is a C/C pen that takes the large CON70 converter, but my main letter-writing pen is a piston filling TWSBI. The former's C/C nature makes it versatile. I can use the big CON70 for daily writing as it has a capacity almost rivaling some piston fillers, but I can also swap in a smaller converter when I want to have fun for a short time with a different ink color, and I can use cartridges when traveling.

 

The TWSBI, meanwhile, holds so much ink that I seldom have to refill more than once in the middle of a letter. (Context: my letters to friends are often lengthy, easily going beyond a dozen A4 sheets, sometimes two dozen. One of my friends likes to tease me by texting "I have received your book" when a letter from me arrives. )

[Jordan N]

Converter but I travel with cartridges and have them handy if necessary.