

A picture of the 5 filling systems I will be covering

In the fountain pen hobby, there is the common referred to “dynamic trio” or “holy trinity”. This trio consists of the three main variables that effect your fountain pen experience – pen, paper, and ink. Together those factors can make or break your fountain pen experience (although in most cases you won’t have any trouble).

Today I will be covering the next part of the trinity: the pen. Consider this more of a part 2a, as there are more aspects of the pen itself that I will cover later on.

Today I’ll be covering 5 of the most common systems: cartridges, converters, piston fillers, lever fillers, and eyedroppers. Each filling system will be given a score from 1-8 for their, convenience, ease of cleaning, and longevity.

Cartridge Fillers



A picture of a standard international short cartridge

Cartridge fillers use a cartridge that holds the ink. To use one, you simply unscrew the pen’s barrel, push the cartridge into the section, and hold the pen nib down for around 30 seconds until the ink saturates the feed (or give the cartridge a little squeeze), and the pen can write.

People tend to buy cartridges for their convenience.

Convenience: 8/8

Cartridges are very convenient. They come in packs of 8 or so, and you can carry them around and just pop one in when you run out of ink. Pens that use converters can also use cartridges (converters convert the pen into accepting bottled ink).

Ease of Cleaning: 7/8

Cartridge pens are very easy to clean, especially if you have a bulb syringe. All you have to do is remove the cartridge, and use the bulb syringe to flush water through the feed and nib. Check out Goulet Pen’s video on fast pen flushing to see how the the bulb is used.

Longevity: 3/8

Cartdridges do not hold too much ink. Somewhere around 1ml, which can lasts a decent amount of time with a fine or dry nib, but will deplete quickly with a broad or very wet nib.

Cartridge Converters



A picture of the converter included in the Edison Nouveau Premiere

Converters, as stated before, convert cartridge pens to take bottled ink, allowing you to use the vast ink selection available in bottles. They have either a piston or sac mechanism that pushes into where the cartridge would go, and from there you dip the nib into a bottle of ink, push the sac/extend the piston, then release the sac/retract the piston to fill the pen. It is recommended to do this slowly, and a couple of times to get the maximum fill. Filling pens this way immediately saturates the feed, so the pen can write right away.

People tend to use converters for their use of bottled ink, and their small ink capacity.



A photo of the piston mechanism of this converter

Convenience: 5/8

Converters aren’t too convenient. You need to unscrew the barrel to get to the converter itself, and you need to have bottled ink to fill the pen with. Plus, a cheaply made converter may break, leaking ink into the barrel, or it may not fit properly, causing ink to leak into the cap and not flow well. Luckily, converters are cheap and easy to install, so replacing one will run you $10 and a couple seconds at most.

Ease of Cleaning: 6/8

Converters are pretty easy to clean. Just remove the converter, dip it into a cup of water, and activate the mechanism over and over again, filling it with water and flushing it out. Repeat this around 10 times and the converter will be clean. For the nib and feed, do the same as you would with a cartridge.

Longevity: 2/8

Converters are even worse than cartridges for ink capacities. Generally, a converter will hold around .75ml of ink, sometimes reaching .9ml, and sometimes dropping to even .5ml! Be sure to research how large of a converter your pen can take so that you can get the most out of your capacity.

So now you may be wondering why I said people may use converters because of their small ink capacities. That’s because some people really enjoy to change inks often. So, for them, it’s really nice to get through a fill and move on to the next ink they want to use.

Piston Fillers



The piston on the Wing Sung 618

Piston fillers are like converters that have been scaled up to become the whole barrel of the pen. They have large ink capacities and are very easy to operate. They have a lot of moving parts, and they may need to be lubricated to ensure smooth operation.

People choose piston fillers for their large ink capacity and ease of use.

Convinience: 6/8

Piston fillers are very convenient. All you have to do is extend the piston, dip the nib into ink, and extend the piston. No need to unscrew the barrel to get to the mechanism. They do, though, require bottled ink to use.

Ease of Cleaning: 5/8

Piston fillers are not as simple to clean as cartridges or converters. You need to dip the nib into water, then extend and retract the piston over and over again until the pen is clean. Sometimes, the pistons are able to be taken apart, making the barrel easier to clean. Overall, they aren’t too difficult to clean, but they take some time.

Longevity: 6/8

Piston fillers hold quite a bit of ink. I measured my Wing Sung 618‘s ink capacity to be 2ml; double that of a cartridge. You can expect these to last a while with any nib.

Lever Fillers



Lever on a vintage Waterman pen

Lever pens are incredibly common – maybe the most common type of filler. You usually find these in vintage pens from many different time periods. The problem with these pens is that the sacs will dry out and crumple over time, and they will need to be replaced.

People choose sacs, well, usually because they are the only option.

Convenience: 4/8

These pens are easy to fill, simply dip the nib into ink, extend the lever, then push the lever back down to fill the pen. Some convenience-points are deducted for requiring bottled ink, and some more taken away for sacs not being too easy to replace. Check out Richard Binder’s “How to Replace a Pen Sac” if you want to learn how.

Ease of Cleaning: 2/8

Lever fillers are not easy to clean. You can’t really take the pen apart, and ink tends to get stuck at the back of the sac. Sometimes, the nib can be removed so the pen can be flushed with a blunt syringe (note: not a bulb syringe. I mean these syringes). Usually, you just have to flush it with water as you would a piston pen, and try to shake up the water in the sac to get the ink stuck in the back.

Longevity: 4/8

Lever filler’s sacs hold a decent amount of ink. Somewhere between a cartridge and a piston, depending on how large the pen’s sac is. These are a good middle ground if you want your fill to last, but still want to change inks often.

Eyedropper Fillers



The MASSIVE ink chamber on the Lecai Demonstrator pen

Eyedroppers are a really cool way to fill a pen. They are pens with the entire barrel filled to the brim with ink, leading to huge ink capacities. Sometimes, pens are made specifically to be filled this way (like some early vintage pens and Lecais), or sometimes they are cartridge/converter pens that can be filled with ink (like Platinum Preppys).

People use eyedropper fillers for their ridiculously large ink capacity.

Convenience: 5/8

I gave these a lower score than pistons because eyedroppers need both a bottle of ink and an eyedropper (or syringe) to fill the barrel with. Because of this, they aren’t very convenient to fill, but they have no moving parts so you don’t have to worry about breaking anything.

Ease of Cleaning: 7/8

Eyedroppers are super easy to clean, just remove the barrel, rinse it, and clean the section as you would a converter or cartridge.

Longevity: 8/8

These pens hold TONS of ink! My Lecai holds somewhere around 5-6ml of ink. These things will not run out anytime soon, even with very broad nibs.

Conclusion

Hopefully this guide helped you understand the differences between filling mechanisms, and helped you find the right one for you.

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