Diy Travel Inkwell

October 7, 2017

Hey guys, long time no post. My work schedule, plus the number of comics projects I have in the hopper, are keeping me too busy to spend much time in forums. Anyway, I had an idea for a DIY travel inkwell that worked out pretty well, so I thought I'd share it. I was going to make a video, but as usual I ran out of time, so I'll just describe it for you. It's not a complicated idea.

As others have discussed previously, REI sells 2 oz leak-proof Nalgene bottles. I've never had one leak, and I've never heard of anybody having one leak either, but if you want to be extra sure (and I do), you can get an extra layer of containment by putting the Nalgene bottle inside a pill bottle. The Nalgene bottle is about 34mm diameter by 64mm tall, and there is a pill bottle size that the Nalgene bottle just fits inside, like it was made for it. The pill bottle is about 39mm dia by 73mm tall. Your local drugstore can probably help with this.

Next problem: the bottle is too easy to tip over. It needs a wider base. So I got a Corian countertop sample that I had lying around, drilled into the center, and hot-glued a Neodymium magnet into it. The magnet is 1/4" dia. Then I hot-glued a piece of steel to the bottom of the Nalgene bottle. Pow! Magnetic base for the Nalgene bottle. Now it is hard to tip over.

For the steel, I used a round knock-out from an electrical box. If you have tin snips, you can cut a round piece out of the lid of a can--I have done that too. Machine shops throw out steel slugs that they've punched out of sheet steel, by the bucketful. The one thing I have not used is a washer, because those have a hole in the middle, and that is irritating.

There are a lot of permutations on this idea. Instead of Corian, you could use a piece of hardwood that weighs enough to give you the stability you're looking for. If you need to have several different inks, you can put several Nalgene bottles in a Ziploc bag and just take one base with you. You only need one.

This inkwell will work nicely for filling fountain pens, and also for dipping, for you purists out there who have to have your Manga G nib and Speedball India ink. So that's it. It's not beautiful, but it's cheap and reliable. So there you go.

Edited October 7, 2017 by Jonny_J