How To Refill A Fountain Pen Ink Cartridge

Cartridges

Cartridges are portable and simple to use. However, they have some disadvantages.

Many 15 rupees fountain pens use interchangeable cartridges, such as standard international short or long cartridges.

However, many other fountain pen brands use proprietary cartridges that are incompatible with pens from other brands, which limits the colours you can choose from.

When ordering ink cartridges, it's imperative to check the list of compatible cartridges for your pen. Proprietary cartridges aside, the biggest drawback of cartridges is that they don't allow the use of a wide range of inks that only come in bottled form.

There is a way around this limitation if you are willing to do a bit of work. Using a blunt-tipped syringe that can be bought at most craft stores, you can refill a spent cartridge with ink from a bottle, giving the cartridge new life.

Using a converter, several cartridge fountain pens may also use bottled ink.

Piston and squeeze converters are the most common types.

Both work along the same principles, using mechanical force to create a low air pressure chamber into which ink is drawn.

Like cartridges, many pilot metropolitan fountain pen converters use a proprietary design, so it is wise to check which converters are compatible with your fountain pen.

Converter

To fill a cartridge fountain pen using a converter, begin by installing the converter into the pen the same way you would an ink cartridge.

Next, dip the pen into a bottle of fountain pen ink until the entire nib and part of the grip section are submerged in ink. For piston converters, twist the end knob until the piston is fully extended. Then, turn the knob in the other direction to retract the piston. You will draw ink into the converter.

You may need to repeat the method once or twice to fill the converter. Then, using a paper towel, clean the nib and reassemble the pen.

Squeeze converters are even simpler. As air exits the converter when you compress the converter, bubbles develop in the ink bottle. Slowly remove the converter and allow the suction to draw ink into the pen for a few seconds.

Slowly, squeeze and release the converter again, repeating until bubbles no longer appear in the bottle when you squeeze the converter. Once this happens, you will know that the pen is full and there is no more air in the converter.

Fountain pen mechanism

Fountain pens with built-in filling mechanisms have a much larger ink capacity than a comparably-sized cartridge or converter-filled fountain pen.

There have been many types of built-in filling mechanisms used over the years, but today the two most common are piston fillers and vacuum fillers.

Fountain pens with built-in piston fillers function similarly to piston converters.

To fill a fountain pen with a built-in piston mechanism, submerge the entire nib in the ink bottle, twist the end knob until the piston is fully extended, Then, turn the knob in the other direction to retract the piston and draw ink into the converter.

Vacuum filler fountain pens, like piston fillers, have an ink chamber and filling mechanism built in. To fill a vacuum-filler fountain pen, unscrew the pen's end knob and pull back the plunger.

Next, push the plunger back down. When the plunger is pushed down, a vacuum is created in the ink chamber behind it. Once it reaches the flared section at the base of the ink chamber, the vacuum is broken, causing the ink to flow quickly into the pen.

An eyedropper pen has a barrel that is filled with ink using an eyedropper, syringe, or pipette. Because there is no space wasted on a built-in filling mechanism, eyedropper pens typically have a very large ink capacity.

Many of the earliest fountain pens were designed as eyedropper pens and could not be filled in any other way. Most eyedropper pens today are cartridge fountain pens that have been converted to eyedropper pens to increase their ink capacity.