Metro ink refill

[Woodchipper]

Just got the information for the juried event at our local museum gift gallery. I'm looking at adding a FP to the group as I'm told that this is a favorite of the sponsors, etc., of the museum. The Woodcraft Metro kit has a pump and cartridge. First, what/how does the pump work if the client asks? Second, what brand cartridge fits the pen?The cartridge has no identifying marks. I could take it to Staples or a local office supply company and try to match it with the kit part. Thanks.

 

[Curly]

The cartridges are the International size and you should toss the one that came in the kit. Poor quality. I would buy them from one of the vendors here because they are fresh and of higher quality. Office supply stores usually don't have a lot of the better inks and may not turn them over often. If there are any specialty pen stores near you they will have good ink but may be a little dismissive of the kit pens you make.

The converter presses on the same little spigot on the end of the section like the cartridges do. Once on you put the nib into a bottle of good ink and turn the little knob on the end and draw the ink inside. Wipe the end and you are ready to write. Get the bottled ink from the same places as above. Don't get India ink or calligraphy inks. They are thicker and dry too quick, closing up the nib.

 

[monophoto]

John -

There are currently two fairly common ways that ink is 'fed' to fountain pens - cartridges, and converters (aka, pumps). A cartridge is a small plastic reservoir that is intended for one-time use and that comes from the manufacturer containing ink. Cartridges are intended to be single-use and disposable although it is possible to refill a cartridge using a syringe.

Some pen manufacturers design their pens to accept only their own proprietary cartridges. That is commonly the case for fairly expensive pens from big-name manufacturers - Montblanc, et al. And like a certain well know razor manufacturer, those cartridges are more expensive since they have a captive market.

But there are also generic that fit into pens from a wide variety of manufacturers. These are commonly called ''standard international cartridges". Actually, there are two forms of standard international cartridges; short cartridges fit all pens that accept international cartridges, while 'long' international cartridges are designed for pens with unusually long bodies. As far as I know, all kit pens accept standard short international cartridges although the Woodcraft site does not explicitly state what their pens are designed to use. And as far as I know, every fountain pen kit is supplied with one (starter) standard international cartridge, usually containing black ink.

The difference between proprietary and standard international cartridges is mainly the dimensions of the cartridge, and most importantly, the dimensions of the opening of the cartridge that slips onto a nipple at the back of the pen 'section'. And this is also where the difference between named and unnamed suppliers comes in - standard international cartridges from recognized, named suppliers generally fit very well, while cartridges from unnamed (typically Asian) suppliers may not fit exactly.

There two problems with cartridges. First, while fairly inexpensive, the fact that they are one-time disposable tends to make them the most expensive way to purchase ink measured in cost per unit of volume of ink. Conversely, the least expensive way to buy ink is in a bottle. In addition, bottled ink is available in a far wider selection of colors and characteristics than cartridges. Some of the better ink manufacturers supply ink in cartridges - Pelikan, Diamine and Private Reserve, for example. But there are many inks that are only available in bottles. On the other hand, cartridges are especially convenient for those who travel a lot since it's easy to carry a handful of cartridges, while a bottle of ink is more difficult to transport and can attract unwanted scrutiny in airports.

Converters are essentially cartridges that are designed for reuse, and that can be filled from bottles. Typically, converters hold about the same amount of ink as a standard short international cartridge. Converters typically have either a screw or slide mechanism that moves a plunger inside the cartridge to draw ink from the bottle. Like cartridges, there are good converters and not-so-good converters - name brand converters such as Schmidt are excellent, but there are some really cheap converters made in Asia that are prone to leaking. Better converters can be disassembled for cleaning and lubrication, but cheap converters are permanently glued together. Most users leave the converter mounted onto the nipple on the section, and when it needs to be filled, simply dip the nib and section into a bottle of ink, and use the pump mechanism to draw ink through the section and into the converter.

A converter can be used for many years, and refilled hundreds if not thousands of time. But they are made of plastic, and can crack. And like cartridges, eventually the seal between the opening at the end of the converter and the nipple on the section can become loose over time, especially if the converter is removed and reattached repeatedly. But converters are inexpensive and can be replaced if necessary.

One of the issues with both cartridges and converters is that the surface tension of the ink can cause it to form a bubble at the 'bottom' of the reservoir when the pen is stored with its nib up. Then, when the pen is inverted for writing, that bubble remains trapped at the wrong end, and as a result, ink won't flow into the feed. The best converters contain a glass, plastic or steel ball, or perhaps a steel spring, that is heavy enough to not be trapped in that bubble, and therefore will break up the surface tension of the ink so that it can't be trapped at the wrong end of the reservoir.

By the way, there are two other common ink supply schemes in common use today, both of which tend to be mainly factory-made pens rather than kits. Piston-fillers work just like converter pens except that the ink is contained within the body of the pen itself and not in a removable/replaceable reservoir; there is a knob at the end of the body that is turned to move the internal plunger. Eye-dropper pens are designed to be filled with - you guessed it - eye droppers. Eye dropper pens hold enormous amounts of ink, but they rely on o-rings and silicone grease to seal the ink within the pen body - and neither is 100% reliable. Eye droppers are usually favored by those who are hyper-fanatics about fountain pens and are proud of inky fingers!

In the past, fountain pens used rubber sacs to hold ink, and various mechanisms to squeeze the sac for refilling. There are a couple of Chinese manufacturers who still make pens of that design that are intended to emulate some of the really famous pens of the past - especially Parkers.

 

[Woodchipper]

monophoto, many thanks for your detailed reply. Makes me want to scratch off FPs due to the availability of refills or ink. We have one office supply in town that carries the high end FPs as Mont Blanc. I'll check with them and compare refills of ink bottles. Thanks to all.

 

[monophoto]

monophoto, many thanks for your detailed reply. Makes me want to scratch off FPs due to the availability of refills or ink. We have one office supply in town that carries the high end FPs as Mont Blanc. I'll check with them and compare refills of ink bottles. Thanks to all.

FP ink and accessories illustrate an interesting trend - years ago, there were brick and mortar pen stores in just about every community. Today, those dealers are very rare (there are probably fewer than two dozen physical stores in the US that really specialize in pens and accessories). However, in the last ten years several on-line dealers have established prominence in that area. One very major supplier is Goulet Pens which is owned by a young (in their mid-30's) couple and which employs several dozen folks of about that age, all of whom are pen aficionados. And Brian Goulet got his start in the pen business as a hobbyist pen turner.

Likewise, years ago there were a number of major pen manufacturers in the US. Today, the big name manufacturers are almost all overseas (Germany, Italy, India and China); an exception is Cross which is still headquartered in Rhode Island, but which does its manufacturing in China. But there are a number of small, specialty pen shops - again run by younger people (from my perspective - I'm 74) and who look at pen making as a craft almost as much as a business, and whose business model relies heavily on sales via the internet. Edison Pens is an example - located in a rural area in Ohio, Brian Gray is in his late 30's and got his start as a hobbyist, but now he runs a highly automated shop that employs several people who make very high quality pens.

It's only us old guys who remember the days when fountain pen commercials commonly appeared on TV.

 

[DrD]

I've got monophoto by a year and remember tv commercials for the Schaeffer Snorkel, the Parker 51, and a few different Estrtbrooks. It seems, the fountain pen of the "big wigs" was the Parker Duofold in Red or Mandarin Yellow.

 

[More4dan]

Amazon is your friend for inks. You will find cartridges and bottled. I would start with a Waterman ink. It's water based, so it cleans up easier. It writes wonderfully. An all round quality ink that is one of the most problem free. A close second is Diamine inks with an amazing choice of colors. I would advise you to only order one bottle at a time. If they ship more than one in the same box they tend to break against each other in shipping.

If you plan to sell fountain pens you should learn to use, adjust, and maintain them so you can teach your customers. There are some good YouTube videos out there covering just about anything you would need to know. After turning a few FP, I learned more about them and have started making kitless FP. I've learned to "tune" and polish the nib to quickly get them to write smoothly. The Metro nib right out of the kit wasn't very good but with a little tuning smoothed out nicely and works like a much more expensive pen. I've really enjoyed venturing down the FP road.

Danny


Sent from my iPhone using Penturners.org mobile app

 

[darrin1200]

@Woodchipper
Hey John. Fountain pens are fascinating, it is why they have become my passion. While in ballpoints and rollerballs, the purchased refill is 2/3 of the writing experience. That's because it includes the ink and the means to apply it to the paper. The feel and look of the pen is the other 1/3.
With fountain pens however it is more complex. This is one of the reasons that they are becoming so much more popular in recent years. The diversity of all the components, makes the fountain pen a very personal experience.

At one time in history, Ink for fountain pens was very basic in colour choice. Today, the choices of ink colour are almost limitless. They come in every colour in the rainbow and can also shimmer or contain gold flecks. The chemical make-up of ink just as diverse.
The reservoir is also quite diverse, with Cartridge/Converter (CC) being the most common today. As mentioned above, International Standard Cartridges abound, their are also a quite a few proprietary designs. Converters are even more diverse, because not only are some proprietary in shape, but there are a variety of designs that are Standard International comparable. On top of the converters, there are a number of different built in reservoirs, that employ silicone sacs, levers, pistons etc...

The next step is the nib and feed. This is the method of actually applying ink to paper. Any nib will write but how it feels, when writing, is a very personal thing. Nibs and feeds are generally kept together and are not interchangeable between manufacturers. That said, there are only a few manufacturers that supply the vast majority of distributors, suppliers, kit makers and pen makers. Many of the big name pen makers such as Pilot, Montblanc etc... make their own nibs in house and there is now a few Artisan makers that produce their own nibs. The tip of the nib is the business end, and it not only comes in many sizes and shapes, it is adjustable, with the proper techniques. There are nibs as sharp pointed as a hypodermic needle to as broad as 2mm or more. Even the shape of the point is varied.

As @More4dan mentioned above, many fountain pen users snub the kit pen, mainly because of the nib. Some because it is "cheap Chinese nock off" and others because they have had bad writing experiences with them. The first is often a huge misnomer, as many of the kit nibs come from one of the big manufacturers I mentioned above. However they are often a less expensive, lower tier (lower quality control), than brand names. This isn't necessarily bad, as almost any nib can be tuned to write well. However sometimes the lower quality cannot be overcome by tuning.

The last aspect of the journey, is the pen design itself. This is the portion we are most familiar with and is where Ballpoints, Rollerballs and Fountain Pens are all equally diverse.

This has been a long winded way of addressing your original question about the ink availability. The ink is only a small part of the fountain pen experience. Odds are that anyone who buys your fountain pen will know where to get ink, and in short order you will likely discover many local sources yourself. You mentioned that you are adding this because the museum sponsors are fountain pen lovers. If they are like the majority of FP Lovers I have met, they will be more that willing to aid you in learning your way around fountain pens. This includes pointing you to local ink sources as well as constructively critiquing your pen. They may be able to point you to a local club/group. If your really lucky, you may even find one who enjoys tuning and repairing nibs and is willing to give you some guidance.

A good learning resource is Brian Goulet's Pen 101
Here is a link to a great article. Pens are Back

Good luck with you museum showing.

 

[Woodchipper]

Darrin, the manager of the gallery said the trend of certain generations is to get away from email and texts. More personal to write a note, obviously the FP is a more personal touch.