Refilling A Fountain Pen
April 26th, 2009 | Author: admin
There are various ways of refilling a fountain pen. In USA, several methods such as Button, Lever, Matchstick, Coin and Click patented for refilling. All these methods allowed the ink to flow in and out through letting down the internal plate. Traditional fountain pens usually require eyedropper fillers. The pouch in the back of the pen, when pressed or squeezed, pushes the air out and upon lifting, vacuums the ink to fill in.
In the later stages, the use of cartridge proved quick and less of a hassle. People called it international cartridges since many a European Companies used them for their fountain pens. The basic purpose behind ink cartridges was to prevent from ink strains and quick refilling by just a plug out plug in.
As the cartridges were expensive than a normal inkpot, the inventors brought in a new idea of a piston filler. The piston inside the barrel drives up and down just by spinning the knob. The physics remain the same as pouches to throw out the air and vacuuming the ink in. After observing the demand, most of the pens were designed with a converter that could use both the cartridge and piston filler.
Talking about the capacity, the eyedropper fillers like pouches carry the maximum space for the ink while piston fillers do the least of it. The piston normally takes more space in the barrel and thereby leaves lesser space for the ink. Some people have a psychology that they prefer lesser ink if it takes less time to refill. Therefore, the eyedropper filler idea is nearly vanished from the pens.
International Cartridges are compatible with most fountain pens that accept a cartridge while some branded fountain pens have their personalized cartridges. Some of these branded pens do not even allow a converter. If you find a shortage of cartridge, you can only refill it through a syringe by inserting any ink you like or have.
A regular fountain pen user always stores refills before running out of ink. Some people find fun refilling their cartridges through syringe even if it is time taking.