How Much Ink Do You Use?

[Renfield]

Given the way I've been using my Pilot Kon Peki ink of late, I average 3 fills of my piston filler per week which has a ~1.5 ml ink capacity = 234 ml/year = 7.8 oz/year. I'm not sure if that's a lot or not but now that I think of it, that'd be equivalent to ~4.5 bottles of the Pilot ink!

 

Thats a LOT.

 

I dont think I would use a Pilot ink as an everyday ink.

 

Have you tried alternatives? (close but no cigar matches)

 

Florida South Sea Blue would be fairly close. And 1/5 the price

[Hoovy]

I typically use something like .4 mL for every hour of lecture I'm in, with a medium Pilot Metal Falcon.

 

Kind of a mixed blessing; the CON-70 lets me write long enough to get me through any day of class, but the wetness of the nib makes it so that I actually need to use most of it at a time.

 

As for backups/"emergency" ink, if you insist on using converters, I suppose you could always bring around a filled ink sample vial (or an entire bottle if you're feeling adventurous) and refilling from there when needed.

[inkstainedruth]

The amount of ink I use varies greatly, depending on use and the pen it's in. Last week I bought a Parker 21 in an antiques mall about an hour or so north of where I live. That night I filled it with distilled water to see what shape the pen was in, and ink started coming out. So I started writing with it. So far it's been about 8 pages of 8-1/2 x 11" (US letter size) and at least 7 of of A5, including 3 pages in my journal just this morning. With no sign of letup (so far!) -- and I didn't even use the pen on Sunday.

This, is, mind you all on a fill of what is basically distilled water + whatever hadn't been cleaned out the pen prior to acquisition by the dealer (and I have no idea how long the pen had been there or had been sitting around someplace prior to that).

I sometimes write fiction -- and on those occasions I find that I can write a great deal (6-10 pages at a sitting, or at least over the course of a day). In the case of the 21, I was just mostly putting it through its paces to see what it would do, and the 7 pages of story section just seemed to be a good way to do it.

But I would definitely have a back-up pen (and maybe backup ink as well) if I were out someplace and knew I was maybe going to have to do a lot of writing. And what pen/ink I had with me would depend somewhat on the nature of what I was writing; when I took my food handler's recertification course in November, I knew I was going to be writing a lot of notes over the course of the day, and it was important enought information that I had to use a pretty water resistant ink because it was information I can't afford to lose. IIRC, I was using a pen with Kung Te Cheng in it, and brought extra ink in a small jar for just in case (I think I also may have brought a pen with iron gall ink in it as a backup).

OTOH, if I was taking some sort of general interest course I'd have used whatever pen and some random ink, probably in a fun bright color, that I happened to grab that morning.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[psfred]

I started a project a few years back to determine how much ink in terms of pages of writing my pens would use. Never finished it because I got sidetracked or bored with the ink before finishing some of them, but here's what results I remember.

 

Sheaffer Snorkels with fine nibs -- 12 pages.

 

Sheaffer Snorkels with extra fine or accountant nibs -- 14 pages

 

Parker 21 Mk I or II -- 24 or 25 pages.

 

Parker "51" Vac -- never did finish, but it was well over 25 pages when I lost track (on in the original test, the hood started to leak and I had to fix the pen again).

 

Parker Vacumatic -- around 15 pages, but it has a flex nib. Not as much ink in there as I would have thought, but still at least double what a converter would hold.

 

I would recommend a Parker "51" vacumatic, or any of the Parker 21's for school use, since they hold a lot of ink. The "51" Aerometric will be more than a 21 and less that a "51" vac, probably 40 pages rather than the 50 or so I would expect from a Vac. Use a fine nib, too, since they use less ink. That's why so many vintage pens have fine nibs.

 

Using conveters is asking to run out of ink fast -- I always used Sheaffer cartridge pens in college (which should tell you how long ago that was!) and carried extra cartridges. When the ink was gone in the cartridge I'd swap them so that the pen didn't run out of ink, took a while to get them started again.

 

Peter

[Dioxazine]

This really depends on the nib size and paper (absorbency), but basically

 

- on a light day I might use 0.2 mL

- on a good day I'll probably use 0.5-0.7 mL

- on a hardcore, no more than 2 mL.

 

In composition books I like Lamy Safaris with chrome M or F

 

But I usually write on 5.5 x 3.5" pages. I've come to greatly appreciate Hero 616s for this, which are like Lamy EF nibs, maybe a smidge finer.

 

I love the little HDPE 5 mL (actually marked up to 6, can hold 7) vials - they're great! Just get lots of samples from isellpens or Goulets, combine multiple samples, use the empty vial for whatever you need!

[bjornhansson]

I would guess that I use 5-10 ml/month.

[maryannemoll]

You can try out this pen. The entire barrel can be filled up with ink!

 

I, on the other hand, have never had a pen run out on me on the fly. It's because I carry at least ten Lamys around in my bag, all with Z24 converters that can carry approximately 1ml of ink for the first fill, less on the next fills. But with the kind of work that I do -- I write and I edit, and because of habit, I always have to write rough drafts in longhand -- I find that I have to refill them all once on Wednesday nights, and then once more on Friday nights.

 

+1 on the ink vials from Goulet pens. I fill mine up to the 5 ml line, and it's good for several converter refills already. They are small, light, sturdy, and watertight, and can take in most nibs.

[Ryan007]

thanks, all your input was really helpful!

[ardvarticus]

I'm a university student, so I guess that in my four hours of lectures + variable hours of revision a day I probably do around maybe a little more than I did when I was at secondary school.

 

I carry around two pens with me, both with converters and different inks (colour coded notes ). I've never managed to empty either all the way during the day. I'd estimate my daily ink usage at about 2.5ml; if you only want to carry one pen, then I'd recommend you get a Noodler's Ahab, which has an enormous converter fitted and (if you're adventurous) you can use it as a behemoth dropper pen with something like 6ml of ink in. The only problem is that it can dribble out the feed when it's full from the heat of your hand expanding the ink and forcing it out the end.

 

If you're looking to budget for ink, I usually buy Diamine which costs about £6 over here for a 80ml bottle; at the rate I'm using it, each should last about 4 to 6 weeks, depending on whether I'm doing much work at the weekend or not. Over a 200 day school year, that would be about £36 of ink, or $57. Of course, you can get cheaper ink, use finer, dryer nibs or just plain write less, but I think I probably spend more money on paper anyway

 

(I'm typically using a Lamy Logo with a broad nib, and a Parker IM with a M nib).

[bemon]

Not nearly as much as I buy! Unfortunately due to the nature of my job I'm always in front of a keyboard. I like to make notes and lists with a pen, but that's about it. In fact I even need to resort to a ballpoint at work to issue work orders etc that require carbon prints.

 

That all said, I usually empty my Pilot Con-50 about once a week or so. I also keep a Century Classic in my brief case with a Cross black cartridge for signing/approving documents at work. The cartridge usually evaporates before I get through it all.

[ac12]

Acknowledge that this is an OLD thread.

 

In college I carried TWO Parker 45s. When one ran out of ink, or stopped for whatever reason, I simply switched to my backup pen. Then between classes or when I had time I would change cartridges on the pen that ran out of ink. I did not use converters back then.

 

The backup could be a gel, rollerball or pencil. Just have a backup writing instrument to continue writing.

 

I would NOT bother with an eyedropper in school. Too much hassle, and risk of leaking, and if it does leak, you could ruin your textbook, or notes in your bag/backpack.

 

With a converter I recommend refill every night after you finish your homework, so that you start the day with a FULL pen.

Edited July 20, 2016 by ac12

[Ink Stained Wretch]

Acknowledge that this is an OLD thread.

 

Definitely.

 

I used to consistently use up a 3 ounce (by weight) bottle of Noodler's Black ink in two years. I also used other inks, but I never got a good idea of how much of them I used in what time frame.

 

Now I'm using the Noodler's Black in a mixture a lot and I really have no idea of how much of it I'm using anymore.

 

I am sure that I have enough ink for my old age though .

[thygreyt]

I use a lot of ink... i refill my pens twice a week... Thats 3 pens twice a week. one if a piston, the other two are converters.

 

So... lets assume .8 or .9ml per converter, and 1ml for the piston (montblanc 146), that says 2.6 to 2.8ml per week... at 52 weeks per year: +130ml per year...

 

I love writing, and i write a lot... with wet pens. This is a fun and enjoyable hobby

[thejournalceo]

I've only filled FPs about a dozen times this year. I'm more of a gel pen addict, I used probably 40-50 gel pens up last year. Maybe more. Last year I only had Varsity fountain pens. I used up 2 or 3 of those, then got back on a gel pen kick.

 

I got myself a bottle of Emerald of Chivor this year and a few decent starter fountain pens, and haven't even put a dent in EofChi. It was boring until I got a Tomoe River paper journal recently, so I should use that more often. I also got some ink samples recently, so that should help enable my FP use.

 

I'm trying to resist the urge to buy more FP ink until I use some of what I got and enjoy some of it. I'm really eyeing Herbin's new brown shimmering ink in the anniversary line. Want. it. so. bad. But, I'm probably going to try to get just sample inks and only have a few full ink bottles for a while. I just cleaned out 100something gel and rollerball pens from my collection. There's more where that came from, so I'm trying to use up some of my stuff before getting more FP ink. This fall I'll probably cave and get a sample of that new Herbin shimmering brown anyway.

[Sasha Royale]

Estimating the capacity of the large Parker cartridge to be 1.2 ml, I use about 0.9 to 1.0 ml of ink per day in my college note taking. (Class Of 1971) Today, I use about 0.6 ml per week. Everyone has to flush the pen, when changing ink color, if the resulting color change matters. In taking notes, it never mattered to me. Of course, using the same ink color would be a solution.

 

BTW: I use to carry refilled cartridges between two "pads" of paper towel, in an Altoid mint can.

They did not leak.

[OCArt]

How much ink do I use? The honest answer is far less than I buy after reading all the fabulous reviews own this site!

[praxim]

Not enough.

 

I would like to try more with less over-supply. Is antique too late an age to learn to draw?

[clazbill]

Not enough.

 

I would like to try more with less over-supply. Is antique too late an age to learn to draw?

 

Never too late to draw. I draw little things all the time and I believe I'm quite poor at it - not going to stop me though!

 

Personally, I don't go through that much ink. I typically have 2-4 pens inked up at a time. Each day I typically write up one page worth of notes at work and maybe a page in my journal. Write a multi-page letter once or twice a month to penpals. And every now and then I'll do a page of drawing. That means I probably only use up the ink in my pens once a month.

 

My rate of ink purchasing has far outstripped my ink consumption. I'm ok with that though. So many inks to explore!

[IrishEyes]

I have no clue how much I go through. With about 85 pens inked at any given time, I rotate through most of them at least 2x/wk. But with that many pens to spread out the ink consumption, I don't need to fill up any one pen all that often, and so have no real idea how much ink I go through. Most pens are cartridge converters, but I also have 4 or 5 eyedroppers, several lever fills, and some piston fillers. Each holds a different amount of ink, so that's not even helpful.

[Barkingpig]

I have no clue how much I go through. With about 85 pens inked at any given time, I rotate through most of them at least 2x/wk. But with that many pens to spread out the ink consumption, I don't need to fill up any one pen all that often, and so have no real idea how much ink I go through. Most pens are cartridge converters, but I also have 4 or 5 eyedroppers, several lever fills, and some piston fillers. Each holds a different amount of ink, so that's not even helpful.

 

THANK YOU for the reassurance that I am not the only person with "a few" pens inked @ the same time! I salute your keeping 85 "@ the ready."