The fun of the fill

[AimlessWanderer]

This might sound weird. Or not.

With a ballpoint pen, I just pick it up and expect it to work. When the insert finally runs out, there's just a little twinge of disappointment that I need to intervene to get it back running again.

With fountain pens, the filling is part of the fun for me. I expect a rapidly diminishing fill level, and to periodically have to either switch cartridges, or dig out a bottle and refill it. For me, that's part of the enjoyment with fountain pens, even if it seems tedious when a ballpoint finally needs refuelling.

But here's the thing... demonstrators, or other piston fillers, almost feel like they diminish the fun for me, by running so long on one fill. I can well imagine how refilling might be tedious if I was writing many pages each and every day, to have to keep stopping mid flow, and refuel a pen. However, as a lighter user, it feels odd to keep looking at my demonstrator, almost willing it to run out of ink. It's not tiredness or boredom with the ink, I just feel I'm not getting the full fun of the pen, if I don't get to refuel it often enough.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find small capacity pens more fun than large capacity ones?

 

[silverlifter]

I like large fills, and I cannot lie!

I do get what you mean though. I really enjoy filling a pen. My favourite is a Sheaffer OS Premier plunger filler. The sound that makes when it sucks up a couple of ml of ink in a single press is so gratifying.

The other fun fill is my Conid: simply watching the barrel fill with that much ink is delightful.

I'm also with you on piston fillers; not in terms of capacity, but filling them is a little tedious - all that screwing up and down...

Other mechanisms that I enjoy are vacumatics (easy to fill, a real pain to flush so best to just keep topping up), and touchdown fillers (including snorkels), again so satisfying to hear the slurp!

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I'm also with you on piston fillers; not in terms of capacity, but filling them is a little tedious - all that screwing up and down...

I don't mind that so much, as my converters work the same way. However, I use the small Diamine ink bottles, which need one hand to hold the bottle steady, and two more to hold the pen and screw the plunger out.

 

[silverlifter]

Those bottles are a pain. For them, and the Iroshizuku 15ml bottles, I make a small caddy out of lego, so I can keep both hands on the pen, and not have to worry about the bottle tipping over.

 

[Rhody]

Those bottles are a pain. For them, and the Iroshizuku 15ml bottles, I make a small caddy out of lego, so I can keep both hands on the pen, and not have to worry about the bottle tipping over.

Great idea. I dislike the tiny bottles because my pen didn’t fit and I spilled ink everywhere. I also enjoy the fill. Although I get ink on my fingers every time.

 

[Tomo]

I top up my piston filler well before they run out. You don’t want to run out of ink when your out and about. Refill everyday if you like.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I dislike the tiny bottles because my pen didn’t fit

That's not a problem for me yet, but will be when the ink level drops further. I've got some little sample size bottles though, that I can fill from. Smaller bottles, but wide enough to let the nib reach the bottom, without the barrel jamming up in the mouth.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I top up my piston filler well before they run out. You don’t want to run out of ink when your out and about. Refill everyday if you like.

All my "out and about" fountain pens are metal, and cartridge/converter. The only piston filler I have is plastic, so that stays home.

 

[Tomo]

All my "out and about" fountain pens are metal, and cartridge/converter. The only piston filler I have is plastic, so that stays home.

I recently picked up my first cartridge pen. They’re pretty handy for work. Luckily one of my three favorite inks is available in cartridge form. I normally carry a small vial of ink for the others. Topping them off at home means that I rarely run out of ink unexpectedly.

 

[tankerjohn]

I don't know if I would characterized filling pens as "fun", per se. Or rather, I could think of a lot of things that are much more fun. But there is something about plunging a pen nib-deep into a bottle of ink and working a mechanism to draw in the ink that is primal and satisfying. Like winding a watch or shining my shoes. There is fulfillment and joy in handling quality tools and instruments beyond their most basic function.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I don't know if I would characterized filling pens as "fun", per se. Or rather, I could think of a lot of things that are much more fun. But there is something about plunging a pen nib-deep into a bottle of ink and working a mechanism to draw in the ink that is primal and satisfying. Like winding a watch or shining my shoes. There is fulfillment and joy in handling quality tools and instruments beyond their most basic function.

Weird isn't it.

I quite enjoy sharpening my pocket knives, but loathe honing a razor. I'm happy filling a fountain pen, but get annoyed when a ballpoint stops working. I'm happy to polish shoes, but not wax a jacket. Maybe I just like those little bits of punctuation, to break everything into smaller chapters. A little moment to pause and reset.

I've actually got one of those mini Kaweco converters on the way. The Sheaffer VFM takes small international cartridges, but not the standard converters. It would be really tedious to have to keep refilling that with a primary ink, that's in use all the time, but it should help break the monotony of the contrast colour fills (reds etc), that otherwise seem to last for months on end.

 

[H4nk]

I use old prescription bottles for fillers. I also use a syringe to fill cartridges.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I use old prescription bottles for fillers. I also use a syringe to fill cartridges.

Yes, I do the syringe trick too

 

[tankerjohn]

Weird isn't it.

I quite enjoy sharpening my pocket knives, but loathe honing a razor. I'm happy filling a fountain pen, but get annoyed when a ballpoint stops working. I'm happy to polish shoes, but not wax a jacket. Maybe I just like those little bits of punctuation, to break everything into smaller chapters. A little moment to pause and reset.

LOL, yes its fine line sometimes, isn't it? I also enjoy sharpening my pocket knife, but keeping up with a straight is way too much trouble for me. Besides, having my own face on the line would definitely betray how lousy I actually am at sharpening. No, I am quite fond of my DE razors, which incidentally are themselves much too much trouble for the majority of men this day and age. I really have no desire for a dip pen, let alone a quill. Like DE razors, fountain pens hit the sweet spot of "old fashioned-iness" for me. I've never tried waxing a jacket, but it does appear to be quite the chore. I recall a post in the Hab a while back by a gentlemen who discussed waxing his Barbour in the dog days of summer, the otherwise stifling heat making the job rather easier.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Actually... a penny might have just dropped.

I wonder if part of my enjoyment from refilling, is at least in part, due to every refill being a little more progress in using up the stash of ink.

I reckon if I had a large stash of ballpoint refills, I'd be happier when a pen finally ran dry. Conversely, I might be more inclined towards the larger fill fountain pens, if I just had one bottle of one colour ink, instead of a pile of different bottles and cartridges, in 20 different colours.

Essentially, each fill is a step towards justifying all that ink, as it keeps getting reached for. A pile of inks that only provides a fill every 6 to 8 weeks, might feel more like dead/wasted money.