Eyedroppers: Pros And Cons

[Scott Searer]

I have periodically posted about various ED conversions in the past, as well a a question or two about existing eyedropper pen's performance. The recent post about converting a TWSBI 530 has again piqued my curiosity. I myself when looking at a disassembled the 540's photo at Goulet Pens thought the same thing; and recently looking at a beautiful Edison bulb-filler online thought why not forego the bulb, have the pen firmly set upright and just fill it up with an eyedropper...I see the bulb not as ineffective but as something that will eventually wear out. And of the pens I use most often (Pelikan M200's) there is a noticeable discrepancy in the smoothness of the piston filling mechanism; as well as one of the demonstrator models showing ink in the front section surrounding the nib. These aspects, combined with the simple fact that a bit of ink is also wasted after wiping off after each refill spawns then this attempt at finding out from the FPN members their experiences, pro or con with eyedroppers. For the things I like I possess a perfectionist streak. It seems that a clear demonstrator filled with a lot of ink with a replaceable nib unit would be the best of all possible worlds in terms of ease and of functionality; however I have read of 'burps' and leaking. Please advise; I would like to find an ideal nib unit and then get a custom pen made. Thanks in advance.

[hari317]

In my experience, the ED system is the least messy once you get the hang of filling the pen. The ideal nib unit is from a pelikan. I have already gone this route and am very happy with the results. link

Hari

[rwilsonedn]

Based on Hari's experience across a huge range of pen types and prices, I would listen to him.

Still, if you want a second opinion, here's mine. Yes: eyedropper pens are indeed the easiest, most trouble-free filling system ever devised. They require a certain level of physical ability, such as the ability to control your hands well enough to insert the eyedropper into the barrel and keep it there while emptying it. If you master that--easy for most people but impossible for some--they are clean, easy, and foolproof.

Then there are burping and leaking: two separate questions. Neither is unique to eyedropper pens, by the way. An eyedropper pen, like any other, should not leak unless it is damaged, shaken hard, or unless the section threads require a sealant such as silicone grease.

Burping is only a bit more complicated. As you use up the ink, a bubble of air forms in the pen barrel. Heat (from your hand, for instance, or from passing from a cold outdoors into a warm room) will expand the air. If the pen is pointing down, this expansion will force ink into the feed. If the feed is designed to collect the excess ink, as it is in many modern pens, all will be well. But if the feed is very simple, as it is in many vintage pens and some modern Indian pens, the amount of ink forced into the feed can overwhelm the little channels and drip out onto the nib and thence to the letter you've been writing for the last half hour. It's all a question of how much air is in the barrel vs. how much ink capacity the feed has. This also is true of all pens, but is more obvious in eyedroppers because of the large capacity.

I think in vintage days pen users learned to compensate for this bit of physics with simple habits, such as holding the pen nib-up and warming it with their hands before they began to write, or keeping track of ink levels so the pen was never less than half-full. With many modern eyedropper pens you don't even need to do that.

There are wonderful Indian eyedroppers available for not much more than the cost of postage, so try one or two, and enjoy!

ron

[tmenyc]

As the two before me have said...they're the best, especially in clear barrels like the Walitys/Airmails. Then you get to flip it back and forth in your hand during boring meetings and watch the ink bounce back and forth. I've even had a colleague take it from me in a meeting to play with it herself...

It is true that you need to know whether your pen blurps when it gets too close to empty that the air pressure equalizes. My trusty Wality is absolutely certain to blurp at the 82-85% point (I don't actually know that, but I know the trigger point...), but more important, absolutely trustworthy to not blurp until that point if I've filled it correctly. Then again, my pair of Kaweco sports, both of which I converted to ED, never never leak no matter how little ink is in there.

It is not recommended for people who have hot hands, though. Very messy.

In summary, not for every pen or every writer, but great in the right pen and the right writer.

 

Tim

[olivier78860]

My favourite vintage pens are eye droppers. They often date from the beginning of the century, and therefore have amazing nibs mounted.

They are very low maintenance (no sac to change, no brassing on lever, and often, no clip, so no brassing either), and are very easy to restore (hard rubber can go back to its original colour if bathed in a chemical solution, and our pen restoring friends do it for about 10€). So if the body is in good condition, you can consider you are a few easy steps from a brand new pen.

 

The only drawback I can think of is the ink blurps when the ink reservoir starts to be empty. But it's just a question of habit, considering those vintage pens are for home use. If you are about to write a long time, just fill it up and the problem is solved. If you think you'd need 3 hands to do a proper filling, just use an empty ink bottle, and place the body vertically in it. With this support, you have your hands free to fill it up. As long as there is enough ink in the reservoir, there is no need to store the pen with the nib up. I don't, and had no problem with leaks so far.

 

Regarding conversion, I converted a Waterman Kultur, a Montblanc 344G (the piston was broken) and a cheap Onoto pen (the plunger was broken too). Usually, all you'll need will be a little bit of silicon grease and the certainty the body has no breathing hole. The results have always been good, and can save the trouble of a costly repair if the pen is not in a very good state.

 

I didn't really like my transparent Kultur a lot, until I converted it. Now it's eye candy, and if I could find a flexible nib for it, I'd certainly upgrade it. Since it has a pretty solid feeding system, this one can be brought outside home.

 

There are many pens that can easily be converted to eye droppers, and it really takes 2 minutes to do it. So try it if you have such a pen, you won't be disappointed.

[Tujack]

I converted a Kaweco Sport and a Sheaffer's student pen to EDs. Also got a free ED when I ordered Noodler's BSB from Goulet. Have not had a problem with any of my Eds burping.

There couldn't be a simpler more convenient filling system than an ED.

[85AKbN]

Based on Hari's experience across a huge range of pen types and prices, I would listen to him.

Still, if you want a second opinion, here's mine. Yes: eyedropper pens are indeed the easiest, most trouble-free filling system ever devised. They require a certain level of physical ability, such as the ability to control your hands well enough to insert the eyedropper into the barrel and keep it there while emptying it. If you master that--easy for most people but impossible for some--they are clean, easy, and foolproof.

Then there are burping and leaking: two separate questions. Neither is unique to eyedropper pens, by the way. An eyedropper pen, like any other, should not leak unless it is damaged, shaken hard, or unless the section threads require a sealant such as silicone grease.

Burping is only a bit more complicated. As you use up the ink, a bubble of air forms in the pen barrel. Heat (from your hand, for instance, or from passing from a cold outdoors into a warm room) will expand the air. If the pen is pointing down, this expansion will force ink into the feed. If the feed is designed to collect the excess ink, as it is in many modern pens, all will be well. But if the feed is very simple, as it is in many vintage pens and some modern Indian pens, the amount of ink forced into the feed can overwhelm the little channels and drip out onto the nib and thence to the letter you've been writing for the last half hour. It's all a question of how much air is in the barrel vs. how much ink capacity the feed has. This also is true of all pens, but is more obvious in eyedroppers because of the large capacity.

I think in vintage days pen users learned to compensate for this bit of physics with simple habits, such as holding the pen nib-up and warming it with their hands before they began to write, or keeping track of ink levels so the pen was never less than half-full. With many modern eyedropper pens you don't even need to do that.

There are wonderful Indian eyedroppers available for not much more than the cost of postage, so try one or two, and enjoy!

ron

 

Great post - very informative. Thanks.

[Namo]

If ink capacity does matter, then ED is the solution. And modern EDs don't burp. I've been using a Danitrio (actually, more than one) for years now and it never burped. This is also true for a Delta DV oversize. Feed are now so well made that they can Handel the ink without any prpblem. Note that this does not apply, in my experience, for Indian ED pens.

One last word: my Densho is fitted with a vintage Pelikan 400 nib unit, and I was afraid about buying and leaking. Not a drop in years!!

[trhall]

Our own @jde has a great post on eye droppers that is worth reading.

 

I own several Edisons as eye droppers and they work great. In fact, I sold my bulb filler because I prefer the ease of cleaning and filling the ED.

[Joe in Seattle]

A caveat: I have warm hands, eye droppers & vacumatics burp and drip for me. I have to content myself with piston fillers to get a large fill of ink.

[Montblanc owner and lover]

to do it simple

advantages: - Huge ink capacity

-Fun of having something different and transforming the pen

 

Disadvantages: -If you don't use the pen a lot it's a waste of ink

-You have to be careful while filling it (one day while filling an ED i touched it with my arm and it fell...3ml of ink on my wooden desk...)

-If the transformation is not done perfectly it will leak.

 

Now YOU decide

[Runnin_Ute]

I have/had a Platinum Preppy (F) that has been converted (not by me) to an ED. I haven't used it in months. I can't see anything resembling a crack, but I seemed to end up with more ink on my hands than on the paper. It wasn't the filling as I was using a syringe. Don't know if I just couldn't get a good seal on the threads or what. But it did turn me off of eyedroppers...........

 

A piston filler is plenty of ink for me in most cases.

Edited February 15, 2014 by Runnin_Ute