Filling a Fountain Pen with Converter a Little Neater

Fountain Pens — 03 October 2011

Supplies for Filling Directly through the Converter

One minor thing I don’t like when it comes to filling my fountain pen is how the nib and section always have to get ink on them, so I decided to try a different method for filling recently. I am willing to bet that there are some issues with filling a fountain pen this way, but so far none have been apparent to me, but for those of you out there that know better than I do, let me know your thoughts. Am I missing something that could be bad for the pen or the writing performance by doing it this way?

Filling the Syringe

I’ve been using a bulb syringe (which I unfortunately don’t remember where I got) and filling it with ink as you see above. This first stem avoids having to stick the nib and section of the pen into the ink bottle and getting them covered with ink that you later have to wipe off that gets wasted.

Filling the Converter

Next I stick the end of the syringe in the end of the converter and slowly squeeze the ink in, starting at the bottom and pulling the end out as it fills the converter.

Full Converter

I’m careful not to fill the converter TOO much. If you look at the top you can see hat I’ve left a small space in there unfilled. The reason I do this is because when you attach it back tot he section, there is a small nipple that pops inside the converter, so if you were to fill it the whole way, the nipple would displace ink and make a mess inside the section.

Last Step - Squeeze one drop out

My last step in filling the fountain pen converter is to twist it in order to squeeze one drop out of the nib so that the entire feed is filled with ink now. This last step does by default mean that I am not filling the pen with as much ink, but that is one trade off I am willing to take in using this method for my pens.

As I said, I’ve had pretty good success with this method over the last few months. The pen writes immediately after filling it, and my goal of keeping the nib, section, and feed area clean have been met. So I don’t claim to be the creator of this method, I’m sure there are other people that do this…or maybe that don’t do it because there are some down sides that I am not considering. Has anyone tried this before? Is there a reason I shouldnt be doing this? I’m willing to take minor risks and trade offs in order to make the whole refill process a little cleaner, but I’d love to hear any thoughts that people have regarding this method for refilling a fountain pen.

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OfficeSupplyGeek

http://www.facebook.com/people/George-Hein/100002627914838 George Hein

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Michael Corry

Two minor things I can think of: you miss the washing action of bottle filling via the nib and constant removal and replacement of the converter might have a small effect on the seal.
I can’t see myself doing this though.
Anonymous

Thanks for the feedback. You are probably right on both counts, I guess if I flush the whole thing with water every few refills I can avoid the feed getting dirty…as for the seal on the converter, I guess if that happens I can buy a new converter, they are pretty cheap.
http://peninkcillin.blogspot.com Peninkcillin

I always fill my converters/cartridges with a syringe if I can. I hate dipping the entire nib + a part of the section inside the ink bottle. Not only does it make a mess but it wastes ink, not to mention the possibility of contaminating the entire bottle.

If I can’t use this method, I use the feed saturation method.

The TWSBI 530 is awesome in that I can unscrew the section and fill the reservoir with the syringe directly. I know, it defeats the purpose of this great piston-filler but this way it’s a lot cleaner.
http://profiles.google.com/ginicooper Gini Cooper

When I don’t feel that I need to flush the feed, I just pull out the converter and stick it into the ink bottle and suck up the ink. Then wipe it off and put back in section. No need to wash out a pipette or syringe that way. I tried a syringe fill and it makes a mess if you over fill or get an air bubble. When I clean a pen, I always take the converter off to get it really clean. This is when I’m more likely to do a converter fill.
http://www.facebook.com/tomoddo Tom Oddo

OSG, I had to find me one of those plastic squeezy thingies after reading your post. It’s called a pipette and it typically used to mix paints. I was able to find them at my local hobby store in the section with all the model airplanes. Tried it out with an ink sample and filled up my Pelikan piston filler by unscrewing the nib off and filling the inner chamber directly. Really was an easier experience. I may do only this from now on. Now to find a whole bunch that we can offer our fountain pen enthusiasts at Goldspot.
Anonymous

I didn’t even think about doing it with the TWSBI or any similar piston fillers…great idea, thanks for sharing!
Anonymous

Hmm, good point, cuts out the middle man essentially…maybe I’ll try that next time!
Anonymous

I like “plastic squeezy thingies” better, if you do stock them at Goldspot, you should definitely call them that.
Andrew Young

Filling the converter directly is a good idea: less mess, may save some ink (some is still lost to the syringe or pipette), prevents contamination of ink bottle. I don’t think it should harm the pen provided you flush it with water periodically to remove dried ink buildup etc. I use this method to refill the cartridges of fountain pens that don’t have converters — it really broadens the ink selection for those pens. I think a syringe would be easier to clean out than the pipette. I’ll have to try the direct-to-converter filling technique, as that would be the most ink efficient of all. Sometimes it’s hard to hold the converter properly for filling when it’s dipped into the bottle, especially if the ink level is low.
Rocket Jones

I use this method for refilling cartridges a few times, but after that the seal gets loose and leaky. I don’t do this with converters for the same reason: each time the converter gets put on or taken off, you may have caused enough accumulated wear to allow a leak inside after reassembling the pen.

Just the way I do it.
Weemeng

On youtube, search for “feed saturation method”. Saves u one step of washing up the Bulb syringe if u store ink in an eye dropper bottle. With practice, there’s no need to use any tissues too
Guest

Yeah, I have to concur – years ago when I was first starting out with fountain pens, I didnt know you could fill the pen by submerging the nib, so every time I took out the converter, and submerger *that* int he ink, filled it with ink, then put it back in the nib/pen. I found that I the the converters ending up with lifespans of only a few monts each, before the seal was broke and I started having flow problems. However this method, which does not involve submerging the converter in ink/liquid, may not be quite as susceptible to the same problem…
http://twitter.com/Jesus_Freak_Zim Taylor Upham

What is a TWSBI? I’m about to get my first fountain pen and I have no idea what you guys mean.