Kaweco Classic v Skyline eyedropper capacity

May 13, 2021

I have been running out of ink daily with my Kaweco Skyline (mint color). I used to have - but can't find - a Kaweco Classic Sport clear demonstrator. That seemed to hold a lot of ink. I remember seeing it sloshing around and the pen seemed to not run out of ink often. I measured how far an object can be inserted into the Skyline mint body -- 1-1/8 inches. The length of the body is 2-5/8 in. Of course you can only fill to the bottom of the body's inner threads, not the top threads which I'm measuring from, since the section screws into the inner threads and the cap screws into the top threads.

My hunch is the Skyline has less ink capacity than the Classic. I want to acquire one or two new Kawecos because I own all the calligraphy nibs and want to make more use of them. I'll stick to the Classic Sports though if the Skylines have less capacity. I assume if the Skylines have less, then the Ice Sports do too.

So my question is, can I go ahead and buy a couple Kaweco Sport Classics and be assured I'll have a generous ink capacity. Or are the Classics built like the Skylines with a miniscule capacity? I would not buy a Skyline again and if the Classics are the same I won't be buying them either.

Edited May 13, 2021 by MarkRyle
Change question from "what's the capacity of the Skyline" to "does the Classic have a good capacity"

May 13, 2021

Now that I look closer, there seems to be a false bottom about halfway down inside the Skyline pen body. There's a lot of space between the false bottom and the bottom of the body (looking at it with the cap threads at the top). Why would they seal off all that space below the false bottom? Is the false bottom even leak proof or is ink seeping down past it? There is a knurled cap at the bottom which looks like you could screw it off but I can't budge it.

Edited May 13, 2021 by MarkRyle
Clarify description of pen body

May 13, 2021

So it looks like the space between the bottom of the inner threads that the section screws into -- again, looking at the body of the pen with the cap threads at the top -- and the false bottom is very very meager. And this is the space the ink occupies when you eyedropper fill. The bottom of the inner threads is the upper limit of where you can fill to. From the bottom of the inner threads to the false bottom is a very short distance. I don't think my old Classic Sport had such a small capacity. I thought Kaweco Sports were supposed to be all the same except for the gold nibs and trim on the Classics and silver nibs and trim on the Skylines. I just saw a video by a Kaweco lover (like I am), I think her name is Kerri, on the differences between the various Sport models and her main point was that they are all essentially the same pen.

May 14, 2021

I looked into two other iterations of the Kaweco Sport line - Ice Sport and Frosted Sport. The Ice Sports have transparent bodies and colored caps in various solid colors. The Frosted Sports have semitransparent bodies in various colors with the whole pen being the same color. In both I can see from pictures that there is no false bottom limiting the amount of ink the pen body will hold when eyedropper filled.

The Skylines, like my mint Skyline, are all solid colors. It's impossible to tell if they have false bottoms from pictures. And no one reviewing the Skyline on Youtube deals with the meager ink capacity. I don't think any of them noticed it and, like me, they just assume it has the same capacity as the Classic Sport and all the other Sports, without testing that aspect of the pen.

It seems to me that the false bottom in the Skylines is meant to leave perfect space for the international short blue ink cartridge they ship with, and probably leaves ample space for any of the small Kaweco converters, but was meant to discourage eyedropper filling for some reason. There certainly is no need for it since you can't eyedropper an amount of ink anywhere near what a cartridge holds. This is because the cartridge can fill all the available space between the false bottom and the grip section, while you can only eyedropper fill the pen from the false bottom to the bottom of the threads where the grip section screws into the body, hardly any room at all. One day's supply of ink in my case.

All this also may answer why it's so hard to buy a Classic Sport demonstrator anymore. There are very few available at pen sellers online. Their role, I'm guessing, has been taken over by the clear bodied Ice Sports and translucent Frosted Sports. Which is fine with me since they seem to have the same ample ink capacity as the Classic Sport, and allow you to see the ink when you're filling the pen and see the amount of ink you have remaining at any given time.

Anyway, I went ahead and ordered four Frosted Sports in 'natural coconut' from Jetpens in B, BB, 1.1, and 1.9 nibs. We'll see how it goes. My reason for posting this thread is I hate to return items and I like to be sure what I order is what I actually want before I buy. But now I'm almost 100% sure they'll be able to be eyedropper filled and they'll have the capacity I'm was used to with my Classic Sport demonstrator which I lost. But I intend to call Jetpens before they ship just to make sure.

May 14, 2021

I'll use the four blue cartridges that come with the four Frosted Sport coconuts in my Skyline mint and then refill them after that to keep the mint going. Problem solved. Happy again. It was meant to be.

Now if only my misplaced Classic Sport demonstrator would show up. I still think it will. It had a 1.9 calligraphy nib in it which makes it a double loss. But that's the nice thing about these Kawecos. With the four new coconuts and the mint I'll be able to keep five colors going and use every nib on every pen. They're not hard to clean and change out. It's a good system.