Am I The Only One That Dislikes Refilling?

[Rav_LandE]

Hello All,

 

I've pretty much only been using an Esterbrook J with a 9460 nib for the last couple of years. I do have a Lamy 2000 stored away somewhere but generally the Esterbook is my daily writer. I also just use an ink mix of Camel Blue and Camel Black in a 60:40 ratio.

 

I've managed to get used to not having an ink window, as I use the pen so much I generally know when I'm getting close to running dry. However, playing it safe an filling up each morning is getting annoying, yes it only takes 30 seconds but it just another thing I have to remember to do in the morning. After getting inky hands at work, I decided only to do that in real emergencies.

 

So is it only me that dislikes refilling, or are you with me?

[Bibliophage]

I've never put any thought into it, frankly. I've always had to refill at some point. It's part of why I keep _two pens_ handy. I alternate between them, and when one runs out, I have another with ink. I then clean out the one that ran dry, and pick up another one to use.

[MuddyWaters]

Yes I also hate it. Cartridge converter pens are cleaner for work but refilling them every two days is damn annoying to me and I get hands inked all the time anyway. So I get eye droppers instead and they burp.

[Dont_Flexme]

Generally I don't think about it if I am keeping the pen in rotation. More times than not there's no sign I've even filled it. And if I do get a bit of ink on my fingers it still seems.to be part.of the experience.

 

Now when I'm bring an empty pen into the mix, it turns into a gleeful ritual as I decide which ink I'll be playing with.

[sidthecat]

It’s part of the archaic-technology package; not unlike owning a horse.

[PAKMAN]

I enjoy the process, but it's usually weeks between refills.

[kestrel]

I enjoy the ritual. Fountain pens are to ballpoints what pipes are to cigarettes. It takes some effort to prepare the implement for its proper use. Most of my collection is vintage so I deal with crescents, levers, buttons, pistons, oddly shaped wires, matchsticks, humps, metal rods welded to sacks, snorkels, capillaries, eye droppers, and so forth. I even have a pen I call my Bacall filler. To fill it I have to pucker up and blow. I love them all. On the rare occasions I had to fill a pen in my classroom the students watched in wonder. For me, filling is a thoroughly enjoyable part of the hobby. Even if I do have to go someplace with inky fingers.

[carlos.q]

I also enjoy refilling my pens as I find it to be a very soothing ritual. But then again I tend to be odd like that.

[A Smug Dill]

I also enjoy refilling my pens as I find it to be a very soothing ritual.

Me too, especially when refilling pens fitted with rotary converters. I certainly don't see the process as a chore.

 

What I dislike is the inevitable — if minimal — 'wastage' of ink that ends up being wiped off the nib, feed, section and/or mouth of the converter (depending on whether I fill the converter separately, or through the nib/feed) with each instance of the refilling process. I find the flushing, cleaning and drying of pen parts as a prelude to the actual refilling process to sometimes (but not always) be a chore, depending on my mood and how busy I am. However, with over 120 pens inked concurrently, cleaning and refilling can almost always wait if I'm busy with other things.

[SoulSamurai]

Get a Pelikan Level. Semi-transparent body so you can see how much ink you have, huge ink capacity but no risk of burps, and filling is very quick, clean, and easy.

[Bibliophage]

Huh. My Wing-Sung 3008, with generic pruple ink (that's better than purple), has lasted two weeks so far, and I didn't even fill it up all the way. It's also a bit more of a fine tip than I normally like - I'll rip the nib out and replace it next time it's empty.

[Bo Bo Olson]

A lever pen, using the same ink, is the fastest of all refilling methods....by far.......well not counting opening up the ink bottle and closing it. (Here an ink well does nice, flip up, fill, flip down. In one is using it always, dehydration is not a factor.)

 

Cartridge is much slower, as is converter. In unscrewing and rescrewing a pen takes 'lots' of time.

I do like piston pens, having many.....only got two Esties left. Once had a handful.

 

Changing inks on a lever pen is slow.......so is piston when it comes down to it***. Cartridge and converter are faster when using a rubber bulb yo clean with..

 

MB cleans faster than Pelikan, but I cheat and unscrew the Pelikan nib and have two rubber bulbs, one I use on the inside of the barrel, the other is cut to fit the Pelikan nib section, so that cleans out as fast as cartridge.

[SpecTP]

I look forward to the refill ritual.. it's an opportunity to change inks to something else.

[ENewton]

I enjoy filling my pens. In fact, the process of drawing ink out of the bottle was one of the initial attractions of fountain pen use for me.

 

I also enjoy flushing a pen in preparation for putting it aside to bring another into rotation. In recent years, I have typically had only one or two pens inked at the same time, so 1) I never have multiple pens to flush on the same occasion, and 2) the experience of flushing a pen is always attended by pleasant thoughts of what pen and ink I will use next.

[sirgilbert357]

Get a Pelikan Level. Semi-transparent body so you can see how much ink you have, huge ink capacity but no risk of burps, and filling is very quick, clean, and easy.

Yeah, you could...but there are other options that don't have proprietary discontinued inkwells.

 

I think the Opus 88 Omar is a great choice. Huge ink capacity, has a shut off valve, clean and easy to fill, very minimal ink wasted (especially if you use a syringe to fill it).

 

I kind of want one, but I'm saving for something else...

[SoulSamurai]

Yeah, you could...but there are other options that don't have proprietary discontinued inkwells.

Where's the fun in that?

 

Seriously though, the Level is a unique and very cool system, I found mine to be a great pen. Bottles cost like 10 dollats on ebay, and I've heard you can fill it with a blunt needled syringe.

[DSiemens]

For me it depends on the pen. My pilot Metros are my daily writers and tend to run out fastest. The rubber converters don't hold much so to get longer use out of them I use an eye dropper to refill cartridges. It's a little tedious and generally messy.

 

I got a piston filled pen that has become my new favorite to fill. It's so incredibly easy, not at all messy and fun to work the piston mechanism. I enjoy that pen a lot.

[Freddy]

Hello All,

 

I've pretty much only been using an Esterbrook J with a 9460 nib for the last couple of years. I do have a Lamy 2000 stored away somewhere but generally the Esterbook is my daily writer. I also just use an ink mix of Camel Blue and Camel Black in a 60:40 ratio.

 

I've managed to get used to not having an ink window, as I use the pen so much I generally know when I'm getting close to running dry. However, playing it safe an filling up each morning is getting annoying, yes it only takes 30 seconds but it just another thing I have to remember to do in the morning. After getting inky hands at work, I decided only to do that in real emergencies.

 

So is it only me that dislikes refilling, or are you with me?

Perhaps 'tis only you..and I'm not with you on this one...............

 

I enjoy rituals...Japanese Tea Ceremony..the preparation and serving of Green Tea...If this is not your cup o tea...Perhaps..

cooking heroin in a spoon with water..tie belt around upper arm..than draw liquid into a syringe..injecting into a vein...

booting it for awhile..remove syringe and belt from upper arm....Then enjoy that warm euphoric feelin'.....

 

Now if refilling a fountain is Hateful / Distasteful..Please consider usin' a ballpoint that exploits a European

Standard Parker Style Ballpoint refill.....No more problemo.........

Fred..listening to...

You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'....The Righteous Brothers

[Marlow]

Well, as it's filling mechanisms that thrill / fascinate / impress me about fountain pens almost as much as their exterior aesthetics I'm going to have to echo the throng and say that I really enjoy filling my pens. One of the big Pelikans or a Ford's Patent Pen will minimise filling frequency though!

[eharriett]

I seem to recall reading that when fountain pens were part of daily life, refilling at a certain time of the day/week was just something people did. Like winding a watch, it was something you did before leaving the house on a certain time to make sure you were topped up. Now, of course, majority of people may have only had one ink, one bottle, so the possibility of contamination wasn't there -- not to mention there was so many biocides and other chemicals in the ink that anything that did get in the ink was promptly killed (hi, Solv-X!). But I'd read school kids were expected to fill their pens on Sunday night and the teacher kept a large bottle of ink in the classroom in case they forgot or ran out early.

 

But as an ink lover, I not only enjoy filling, I also enjoy changing. It is always exciting tome to put in something new.

 

That eing said, I do have a couple pens which have consistent ink in them. My Snorkel desk pen always has Aurora Black in it. Since it is a desk pen, it never sees much use. But every month around the 15th, I always redip and resnork it so it is ready when I need it. Its never used up, but I gotta have it ready.