What part of nib sucks ink?

[jbn10161]

I just received the polycarbonate Nalgene bottle I had ordered to travel with a little ink supply. It is a harder plastic than the HDPE bottle I already had. However, the softer bottle has a smaller diameter so the same amount reaches higher in the bottle, and a larger neck opening so a pen can be angled toward the edges of a tipped bottle to make a deeper well. The newer PC bottle is squarish and the same volume of ink goes up not quite as far; plus, the neck hole is narrower, so that a pen can go only straight down, not angled to the sides.

 

If a pen pulls ink from the breather hole or behind the collector fins, the polycarbonate bottle would be fine. But if, as I think, ink is drawn up from a place that is not far from the section, then that bottle would be nearly full but still provide only about one fill.

 

So, from where in the nib does a pen drink? And is it the same in all pens?

[daveg]

You have to dunk most pens just past the beginning of the section to fill them reliably. The fit between the feed and the nib is not air tight and air offers less resistance to being sucked up so you'll get a lot of air if you don't dunk the whole thing.

[Alriel]

Daveg is correct. You have to dunk the nib up to the section to get the most out of filling. You can probably draw up some of the ink if you go up to the breather hole, but it would not be as efficient. Only pens I know of that are the exception are two models of Sheaffer pens - the "Tip Dip" and the "Snorkel". The Tip Dips only have to be immersed to cover the hole near the tip located on the feed. The snorkel has to be dipped to cover up the slits on the end of the tube.

Cheers!

Al

[FrankB]

As the others have said, the nib must be immersed up to the section to form a good seal and draw ink. A great deal depemds on the size of the pen/nib that you intend to fill. A Parker Sonnet can be filled in much less physical space than a Pelikan M-1000. If you want to use these ink bottles for travelling, then a smaller pen is in order. But if you want the bottles for more general use, you might want to reconsider.

Edited February 11, 2008 by FrankB

[Ernst Bitterman]

The Parker 51 doesn't need a whole bunch of submersion, either. As long as the hole in the nose is under the wet, it should work.