Ink Capacities

[rockspyder]

I had a pen cleaning session, and while flushing some of them, I decided to measure the volume of water I could expel from each. This therefore does not include any residual volume in the nib/feed assembly, which I estimate at around 0.17 to 0.2 cc depending on size. There were some surprises, as you will see!

In order of ascending volume:

MB Kafka: 0.88

MB Hemingway: 1.26

MB Dumas: 1.26

MB Twain: 1.35

MB Lennon: 1.39

MB Shaw: 1.48

MB 149: 1.60

 

I also looked at the volumes of some cartridges, not the sold ink volume, but an empty cartridge filled with water and aspirated:

Standard converter: 0.75

International short: 0.87

Sheaffer slim: 1.20

Parker: 1.47

Sheaffer standard: 1.50

International long: 1.66

 

I used a 1.00 cc insulin syringe, calibrated in 0.01cc, and compensated for the needle volume. I repeated the measurements twice on each, and they were consistent.

 

We often make assumptions about ink capacity based on appearance of the pen, or the cartridge/converter for that matter, so I found this very interesting indeed!

[Joane]

Thank you very much for posting this and for taking the time to measure all those ink receptacles. Your research is very enlightening and I will keep that list for future reference.

 

About the Parker convertors, I use a Duofold and I noticed the current convertors available are smaller than the ones that existed for the earlier model Duofolds from 1988 to about four years ago. Assuming you are referring to Parker's twist convertor (as opposed to slide), I was just wondering which Parker convertor you measured.

[hari317]

Very interesting results, thank you for sharing.

[Blade Runner]

Thank you very much. When was your 149 made approximately?

Just an observation - I notice that carts are often not completely full of ink.

[niksch]

When was your 149 made approximately?

 

Good question BR. I believe that the capacties will vary on 149s over the years because of the change in design/shape of the elastomer seal, changes in the piston mechanism and possible changes in how far the piston rod moves up and down the barrel.

 

As I've mentioned in at least on other thread, the very early resin pens with the friction fit piston mechanism from ~1960-65 have a larger interior barrel diameter allowing for a larger ink capacity.

 

During my time spent repairing and servicing MB pens, I noticed the the elastomer seal is standardized now between the 146 and 149, allowing only a slight difference in ink capacity between the two models. And, I've noticed from the work I've done on MB WEs that they use the same elastomer seal, therefore ink capacities in them can be attributed to the differences in barrel lengths.

 

If the elastomer seal is self lubricating, it must be of the most recent design/shape, otherwise we wouldn't see so many complaints about stiff pistons. Almost all of the work I have done on piston repair and servicing were on pens with the older style of elastomer seal.

[PAKMAN]

Thanks for the work and the info! Good stuff!

[rockspyder]

@ Niksch, that makes a lot of sense.

 

@ Blade Runner - I did not mention that I found the same volume on 2 different 149's, one from the early 1990's and one new, from last year. The other MB's are still inked - I will have a look when I clean them too.

 

@ Joane - indeed, it was a twist converter from a late 1980's Duofold Centennial. I'll update on the slide converter volume shortly!

[rockspyder]

Parker slide converter - 0.6cc

[Safari_Camo]

Was about to do this with the Z24 Lamy Safari.

I would like to try some J. Herbin cartridges to test some colours, I know that those cartridges doesn't snap in my Lamy, but I could pull out the ink from those with the syringe, for a $5 a tin container I think is a good deal, also I like to have one of this... (35 mm kodachrome films used to come in those containers)

 

Some ideas... :hmm1:

Another use of this could be, how many doses could yield a bottle for example a 30ml bottle an excel template could be useful.

[KJY]

Thank you for the info. I always thought the capacity was larger for a pistonfiller than a standardcartridge, but never measured it.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have a Woolf, could any one tell me @ which size it is compared to the list.

 

MB Kafka: 0.88

MB Hemingway: 1.26

MB Dumas: 1.26

MB Twain: 1.35

MB Lennon: 1.39

MB Shaw: 1.48

[GardenCity-NY]

Thanks for this research!

[agentdaffy007]

And i thought the Hemi and Dumas would have more ink capacity than my Twain. Good job rockspyder!

[BrandonA]

I'm surprised the Dumas has a significantly smaller capacity than the Shaw/Mann/Twain. I'd assumed that as the barrel was wider that it would have a larger capacity. My Dumas is a fine nib so I guess this helps me reinforce my error as my Mann/Twain are both Mediums.

[Michael R.]

Interesting stuff! Thank's for sharing.

 

I always wanted to do something similar but would use a precisious scale comparing the weight of an empty with a full pen.

 

Using water volume in ml should be very, very close to weight in g.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

Edited July 17, 2011 by Michael R.

[Koyote]

Is a Waterman cartridge the same as an International Long cartridge?

[jar]

Is a Waterman cartridge the same as an International Long cartridge?

 

Yes.

[Koyote]

Is a Waterman cartridge the same as an International Long cartridge?

 

Yes.

 

That makes sense, then. I have always thought the Waterman cartridges are huge, and the OP has provided some confirmation.

 

Kind of puts the lie to that claim that piston fillers always hold more ink than cc pens.

[Koyote]

PS: while a Waterman converter holds less ink than the cartridge (due to the piston screw mechanism taking up valuable real estate in the pen barrel), I suspect that the outcomes are pretty close given how much ink will be held in a pen's feed after filling from a bottle.

[jar]

Is a Waterman cartridge the same as an International Long cartridge?

 

Yes.

 

That makes sense, then. I have always thought the Waterman cartridges are huge, and the OP has provided some confirmation.

 

Kind of puts the lie to that claim that piston fillers always hold more ink than cc pens.

 

And two small international cartridges hold about the same amount of ink and offer the advantage of having that ready reserve as well as carrying an heir and a spare in your pocket.