Stipula Netto Filling System

[Tom L]

Filled a pen with it for the first time this morning - a Porsche Design with a converter.

 

Was actually a pleasant, simple experience. The section butts up against the mouth of the filling station and there was no wiping of the nib necessary afterwards. Not that this is a big deal, but it is clean and neat as they promote.

 

I wonder if the mouth is too wide for the narrowest of pens, or for the nib unit of a Vanishing Point. There is an adapter to use directly with a converter so that it might work best that way.

 

The instructions that came with the unit seem unnecessarily complicated compared to how the gizmo really works. I attribute that to the language in which they were originally written.

 

The set that I got (slightly used) is the middle version that has one filling unit, three bottles and stuff for labeling. (Thanks to Penseller.com for the photo) It retails on penseller.com for $145 so the list would be something more like $200. Swisher may have them too.

http://www.penseller.com/pens6/stipnetto1.jpg

 

The super-deluxe version with 4 empty ink bottles, a red or black leather box and fancy-schmancy wooden setup lists for $540 and Swisher sells them at $405. They *are* limited editions, but still, no way.

http://www.nexternal.com/swisher/images/netto.jpg

 

The basic includes the filling unit and one bottle. It lists for $130 and seems to retail for $110, but Fahrney's and Penseller.com list it at $95. I think these were originally a Fahrney's exclusive, but I see it on other websites now too. I had meant see if Fahrney's had one at a good discount at the DC show last year but I forgot.

http://www.penseller.com/pens6/stipnetto.jpg

 

Bottom line (for now): I actually enjoyed using the thing. The price is stupid. If you can get one at a good discount you might pick it up. The basic unit is all that is needed, especially since the extra bottles are identical to what the Stipula Calamo ink comes in anyhow. I doubt that I'll change the unit from bottle to bottle but wouldn't mind having another filling unit for the office or for another often-used color.

 

-Tom

[Tom L]

Ok, I like the thing - and I really want to continue liking it, but I'm having a problem here.

 

The Netto unit screws onto the top of the ink bottle, then part of the unit itself unscrews to give access to the unit's reservoir.

 

In theory at least since I cannot get the unit to open. It is stuck!

 

Grrr.

[aunt rebecca]

ah tom,

 

sounds like rube goldberg has struck again!!

 

the "old system," placing nib into ink bottle, using lever, piston, bulb filler and you name it, draw ink into pen, wipe the nib--the one operation that the system eliminates, close bottle, wash hands after capping pen. open pen cap, start writing. now THAT is a system!!

[Deirdre]

Linking to other thread with pictures.

[warblerick]

I have had the Stipula Netto Netto filling system (the single bottle unit) for some years, since it was first introduced in the U.S. Once the novelty had worn off, it got put in a drawer not to be used again. Well, last year I refinished my father-in-laws old desk and now had a place to display and perhaps use the system. Recently I acquired my grail pen, a Conway Stewart Windsor, which has a thin resin veneer overlaying sterling silver, including the section.

 

When filling this pen (in the conventional manner) I found that some ink was getting in under the veneer on the section. Since the resin is marbled blue, I stuck to using blue ink (Diamine Royal Blue) so any ink that crept under the veener on the section didn't really show. However, during writing it would creep out, and onto my fingers, an annoyance to say the least. For a while I tried using my Visconti travelling inkwell to refill, and this worked ok, but since the inkwell has to be inverted to fill, it was still happening, though not quite as badly. So, I cleaned out the Stipula Netto Netto bottle, eye-dropped in some Conway Stewart Tamar (Royal Blue) ink, and gave it a try. With this system, the pen goes into the top of the inkwell, nib-down, and so no ink gets near the section. This worked really well, and now I have no more problems with ink getting in under the veneer on the section.

 

So, if you've got a pen with a "sensitive" section material or a resin over metal section (I know Bryant at Pentime sells some high-end, limited edition Stipula models made of wood with a plastic covering the section), maybe give this a try. I don't know if Stipula still makes the Netto Netto system, but they can be had if you search.