Small Ink Bottles- Filling Tips?

[Miskatonic]

Filling a fountain pen is the dangerous, messy, not-terribly-convenient part of ownership that we get through in order to enjoy what makes it worth it all: the wonderful writing experience.

So until recently, much to the horror of ink fans, I’d just buy a bottle of black ink that came in either clear plastic or glass. The tops were large, the sides could be viewed through and getting the nib submerged well enough to fill could be reasonably accomplished. I think it was a bottle of Levenger sold ink that came in a glass bottle with a very clever mini-reservoir that when you turned the closed bottle over once, would capture a small amount of ink close to the top making filling much easier to see and accomplish. This, I loved.

So now I’ve purchased a half dozen, small-sized plastic containers of Diamine ink which contain lovely inks (I can see how the ink fetish begins) but the small opening and the not-clear plastic container makes it impossible to see where the ink line sits. Filling is literally a shot-in-the-dark. I hate when I dunk the pen up to the section and have to clean up the mess.

 

i purchased some ink syringes which will solve this problem for convertors, but I have a growing assortment of lever and button filler vintage pens. These require a dunking.

What do you do with your ink containers that have small apertures and opaque sides? Any clever workarounds or do you just embrace the messiness of life?

[miwishi63]

Embrace the messiness!

[BDarchitect]

You could use your syringe to transfer ink to a Pineider or Visconti travel filler, which each hold about 10 ml of ink, good for several fillings, and will pressure fit around the section to keep the ink from getting all over the grip. TWSBI also makes two sizes of clear reservoir bottles you can use for their pens, of course, or with the top off you can dip any size pen into the bottle to fill. The opening will be plenty big. And finally, I think some online retailers sell emptied glass ink bottles.

[bemon]

I picked up a Pineider Snorkel which I use as standard practice to fill up my C/C pens. It doesn't fit every converter, but it wasn't a lot of money and I can't go back to dipping nibs and getting incomplete fills. $15 from Goulet- potentially less elsewhere.

[BernieC]

You might find an old Sheaffer ink bottle that has a small filling reservoir. I have seen them on EBay and sometimes they show up in antique/flea markets. ETSY also has a few on their site.

[Charles Rice]

"Filling a fountain pen is the dangerous, . . part of ownership"

 

Dangerous? What, you have a chain saw going full blast at the same time?

 

"What do you do with your ink containers that have small apertures and opaque sides?"

 

I toss them and put the ink in different bottles. I get empties that I like, like Akkerman. I like Herbin inks but as their bottles suck, the ink is transferer to some old Penman, Lamy, or Akkerman bottles.

[Honeybadgers]

Some pens will just never work with some bottles.

 

I use sample vials for the last bit of ink. You could also get the visconti or pineider filler, just make sure you compress the sac BEFORE inserting it into the filler or you risk a blowout (or just take tiny stabs with them)

 

and usually, once I get down to the last bit of ink, I just use a pen that does a great job at sucking those drops up. A sheaffer snorkel filler is kind of the king of finishing off ink bottles.

[Karmachanic]

+1 on the sample vials. Put them in the hole of a plastic scotch-tape dispenser thingy so they don't tip over .

[Bo Bo Olson]

I'm trying to imagine how you had to lay your head sideways on the desk to see that the nib only went in the ink, and no bit of the section.....and somehow were so coordinated to fill the pen with out dunking it too far in.

 

Back in the day one could buy a Script ink bottle and never wet the section.........the old Script bottles with the ledge. Still to be had on Ebay.

 

Of course Parker or that cheap foreign ink Pelikan didn't have that ledge.....so the heavily advertised Kleenex was used to wipe ink off the fountain pen.

 

I suggest buying some Kleenex, then you can fill your pen with out placing the side of your face on your desk.

 

Dip, fill, wipe and go. SOP.

 

Actually to get max efficiency in filling one always dips the pen in deep enough to go just over the bottom of the section. That prevents air leaks and having to keep twisting the piston back and forth because it didn't fill completely, because the feed was hanging in the air, sucking air.

[Arkanabar]

Bulb pipettes and sample vials. If you fret about knocking the vial over, make a base using lego, sculpey, mix and pour epoxy resin, clear disposable Scotch tape dispenser, or 2x4 with holes drilled in using spade bits.

[rollerboy]

So now I’ve purchased a half dozen, small-sized plastic containers of Diamine ink which contain lovely inks (I can see how the ink fetish begins) but the small opening and the not-clear plastic container makes it impossible to see where the ink line sits. Filling is literally a shot-in-the-dark. I hate when I dunk the pen up to the section and have to clean up the mess.

 

I suggest you look again at your Diamine bottles. Unless they've recently changed them, Diamine 30 ml bottles are transparent plastic so you can see the ink level. The small opening however is indeed a pain. I've got pens that don't fit. Even the pens which do fit require a steadier hand than mine to avoid brushing the section/barrel against the inky bottle mouth. A post-fill wipe-down of the entire section (and threads) is often necessary.

 

I don't have a solution. I tend to match pen and filling system with ink bottle design and ink level such that filling is feasible. The wide-mouthed and reasonably deep Private Reserve and Rohrer & Klinger bottles are versatile and a joy as far as bottles go. Diamine 30 ml are tolerable especially when full. Herbin 30 ml bottles are a cruel joke - they're syringe fill only even when full.

[almoore]

For decanting 30ml bottles with narrow openings into a more usable container I would suggest using a Universal Sample Container, they work well as travel inkwells and are available at most pharmacies and online; it is also worth noting the inner base is dipped which helps when submerging the nib. For smaller amounts the sample vials are great, I got a good deal on 50 on Amazon.

 

Al

[Noihvo]

[wags]

+1 on the sample vials. Of course, you could just switch to Sheaffer Snorkels There... Problem Solved!

[Bibliophage]

I'm actually eyeballing getting some 1 dram shell vials, similar to the below link.

 

https://www.fishersci.com/shop/products/fisherbrand-glass-shell-vials-15/p-205027

 

(1 dram is 7.4 millilitres, for those not up on alternate measurements)

 

I figure that the glass will retain the ink better than a solid plastic vial, even with the plastic plug. It'll also be easier to clean (won't stain like plastic)

[peroride]

+1 for the thread.

 

I did this just yesterday, dipping my precious Aurora 88 and (bleep, bleep, bleep) touched the 18K nib to the glass bottom of the complementary ink bottle.

 

I was imagining an expensive pen destroyed by a cheap bottle

 

I had to tilt the bottle precariously on my notebook to angle a decent fill.

 

"Honey, why are you buying modelling clay?" "Uh, it's for that fountain pen hobby!"

 

My Pineider filler is occupied with Noodler's 54th Mass so I may invest in some more sample vials or Sailor ink plastic inkwell insert

[Miskatonic]

Thanks for the many good suggestions and tools, most of which I had never seen before. Here's another inexpensive solution that certainly solves the visibility problem of opaque ink containers. The Ink-Shot Inkwell.

[Bo Bo Olson]

That is much too dangerous ..... I can see my self spilling ink all over the place.

 

If I may, don't be so OCD on this, buy a new bottle and drain, or toss...or get a needle syringe and drain the ink bottle. That gismo is designed to worship Murphy.

 

Go to your local pharmacy, (explain what you want it for***) get the widest needle you can find and a 10-12 ml syringe for getting the last drop out**. If you live in the US you might have to buy a rubber needle syringe.

 

** can fill cartridges, converters or if you have a Pelikan you can unscrew the nib and fill the last drops in.

 

***such a 'wide' (much wider than diabetes needles) needle can be used to shoot strained herb butter all over into your turkey.....make the whole thing soft, herbed to your taste.......

.....In Germany we don't have Chemically loaded Butter Ball turkeys.....so one has to baste it and needle basting is best. And even if you have a Butter Ball that's only part of the breast, what about the rest of the turkey.

We did finally get a modern thinner kitchen needle, but I if I ever do a full turkey again, would prefer the narrower needles I get at my pharmacy.

Edited August 14, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[sidthecat]

I had a diabetic husband and cats with chronic conditions, so I have lot of syringes - all shapes and sizes. I find them very useful.

[jekostas]

Pill bottles, specifically this type:

 

 

They use soft plastic cap seals instead of paper, which makes them good for liquids. You can also put an o-ring in their to be extra safe. I'm sure you could buy some from your local pharmacy at a very low price.

 

As a side note, if anyone is looking for a cheap, waterproof container for a large amount of ink, urine specimen bottles work really well for that. Cheap, sturdy and designed to be absolutely waterproof.

Edited August 14, 2019 by jekostas