Longest writing pen with single fill?

[SincerelySpicy]

I'm looking for a pen that will write a lot between fills.

 

What filling system, vintage or modern, holds the most ink in a single fill?

 

That said, what would you say would be the pen, vintage or modern, that writes the longest with a single complete fill, given the same nib size?

[RyanL27]

Eye-drop fillers are definitely some of the best for ink capacity, and Danitrios are probably the best EDs by the same standard as they are BIG pens.

 

If you'd like something a little smaller, my Pilot Custom 823 also holdS a lot of ink with its vacuum filling system.

 

For Vintage, Parker Vacumatics hold a substantial amount of ink, as do Sheaffer Vacuum fillers.

 

Note the theme here: for each of these pens, the entire barrel fills with ink rather than just a sac, converter or piston chamber. Piston fillers would be next after the aforementioned pens, but pistons hold less only because the actual mechanism takes up valuable space inside the barrel.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited July 26, 2006 by RyanL27

[Johnny Appleseed]

I can't say I have done an exhaustive analysis, but here are a few comments.

 

1. The most ink would have to go to some sort of big eyedropper-fill pen. A Wality is often mentioned as a likely candidate for a modern pen, though I would suspect that for "normal" pens a big vintage eyedropper like a Waterman 58 might out-do a Wality, as the Wality has thick walls and a long bit at the end that doesn't contain ink.

 

The real winner for the most ink would probably be either a Waterman 20 or a Parker Black Giant, or one of the other "giant" eyedroppers of that era. Anyone have a Waterman 20 to measure?

 

2. The most ink does not necessarily = the most words. Frank Dubiel reports a test done with a number of vintage fountain pens with the same nib size, and reports how many words each wrote. The hands-down winner was a Sheaffer Snorkel, despite the fact it had a smaller ink capacity than most of the other pens tested. The reason - more efficient ink delivery and lower evaporative ink loss than other pens. I suspect a PFM, being a larger size of Snorkel, might have even better results due to it's large ink-sac.

 

I am actully doing a little test of a couple of pens. It is not the worlds most scientific test, and it has a few flaws, but I filled a Wality ED with Noodlers Legal Lapis and started a new journal at the end of June. I am going to see how many pages I can get out of that Wality, and then try to turn that into a word-count. After that I will use a Snorkel, then a Waterman 12 Eyedropper. I only write about 6-10 pages in an average week, so it will be a while before I have results (and may give different results than it would if the test was done with more continuous writing) but it will be something.

 

John

Edited July 25, 2006 by Johnny Appleseed

[steersbylitning]

The Conklin Word Gauge (not an eyedropper) holds a ton of ink. I have two of them.

One came with a scratchy nib, but Conklin replaced it quickly. You can often find them on special at various fine online pen emporia.

 

Debbie

[The Man]

Hmmmm. Without skipping? I'd actually have to say "Cross products." At least the Townsend I used to carry and the Apogee I have right now. They may not hold as much ink at one sitting (MAYBE that's the way), cartridge or filler, as some other pens, but, the one that I can rely on to write every time and have a sense of when the ink's gonna' start dropping down . . . gotta' say it's my Apogee.

 

To be more direct to your q, though . . . something that holds a lot, at least in my experience: 1) Visconti Van Gogh; 2) Bexleys seem to do the trick, too . . . at least the one I tried of my pal's.

 

Good question.

Edited July 25, 2006 by The Man

[meanwhile]

Like Ryan, I'd bet on the Dani. The ink tank is what - 7.5 mls? Plus in the real world what happens to a pen when it is NOT writing is crucial - P51s lose less liquid to evaporation so they are among the most effective writers (and the more tightly sealed aero writes longer than the more capcious vac - although I think the vac is cooler). The Dani EDs excel here because you can seal off the ink tank with the filler knob when not actually writing, ending evaporation.

Edited July 26, 2006 by meanwhile

[Nimrud]

I'd say Danitrio as well. I'm still on my first fill of a Densho ED, and it's been, what, 2 weeks? I'm actually getting a little impatient to refill it.

[TheNobleSavage]

Hopefully I will be revceiving my DaniTrio Genkai Tamenuri from Winedoc tomorrow. I think this is by far the highest ink capacity fountain pen in production today and if not ever. If there is a higher capacity, I would like to know. The Genkai makes the Mikado look short in comparison.

 

 

TNS

[BillTheEditor]

I'd say Danitrio as well. I'm still on my first fill of a Densho ED, and it's been, what, 2 weeks? I'm actually getting a little impatient to refill it.

I cheat and top mine up every few days. Maybe this is some kind of OCD ... :blink:

[Richard]

I cheat and top mine up every few days.

Topping up your pen every few days is a good thing. Where does the cheating come in?

 

The longest write-out you're going to get from a current commercial fountain pen would be a Dani Trio ED with its point reground to a super needlepoint (0.004", 0.1 mm) stroke. I make these points for artists and calligraphers, but I have yet to do one on a Dani ED. Who's willing to be the guinea pig?

[Johnny Appleseed]

So Richard - any idea how it compares to a Waterman 20?

 

John

[Dillo]

I cheat and top mine up every few days.

Topping up your pen every few days is a good thing. Where does the cheating come in?

 

The longest write-out you're going to get from a current commercial fountain pen would be a Dani Trio ED with its point reground to a super needlepoint (0.004", 0.1 mm) stroke. I make these points for artists and calligraphers, but I have yet to do one on a Dani ED. Who's willing to be the guinea pig?

Hi,

 

The longest write out you will ever get is with a CS exhibition with a needlepoint on it.

 

Dillon