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I picked up this Maitland Smith Brass Ink Well. There are three "wells." I would like a detailed explanation of how these inkwells were used. I am having a difficult time finding anyone who knows for sure without assuming/guessing. Why are there three wells? How were all three intended to be used? Is there glass containers missing from this model or is the ink supposed to be put right into the brass well? Here is the product on ebay : https://www.ebay.com/itm/303899003446?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20180105095853%26meid%3Db3b00280c2bc447f9891f7ecb7678b45%26pid%3D100903%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D16%26sd%3D374216600907%26itm%3D303899003446%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2510209&_trksid=p2510209.c100903.m5276

A long shot, I know, but I wonder if anyone has figured out where to find more of the blotter paper that comes with the dispenser on the bottom of Lamy ink bottles? I can't find it from Lamy, but I can think of several reasons for them not to provide refills.

Many of us saw this inkwell during tonight's Presidential address. I found the following information about it and thought to share it with other curious types: "Before the Speaker calls each session of the House to order, this coin-silver inkstand is placed on the rostrum. The inkstand is considered the oldest surviving artifact of the House and was made between 1810 and 1820. Although its origins are mysterious, it most likely came into the House around 1819. The inkstand is stamped with the mark of J. Leonard, a Washington silversmith and watchmaker. It contains three replacement crystal inkwells and is adorned on both sides by swags and eagles. The feet of the tray take the form of fasces with snakes winding around them, classical symbols of unity and wisdom, respectively." https://history.house.gov/Collection/Detail/29585

Hello everyone! I wanted to share with you my little project. I decided to make for every ink bottle I have an ink reservoir. To make it happen I made 3d model and printed reservoir for Diamine 80ml, Pilot 30 ml, and Pelikan 4001 70ml bottles. Examples you can see in the photo. I'll leave here the models for mentioned bottles, but it is possible to sail the size of the model for the exact ink bottle. Also, I can scale it for exact height and diameter. It is my firs topic, so I am intersted in your opinion diamine_70ml.stl pilot_30ml.stl pelian_4001_70ml.stl

I was looking for a new ink last night and found myself continuously coming back to Sailor Jentle Black. Now, I am sure that this is a fine ink, but I already have four black inks and to be honest four is about two too many. The reason that I kept coming back to Sailor was not because it is a particularly amazing black, but rather because the bottle just happened to have an ink reservoir in it. As much as I would like to try some Sailor inks I have to admit that if they did not have the reservoir in their bottles, then I would not be nearly as interested. Ink reservoirs are great little devices that help to make using bottled ink an easier process. They make filling pens less messy, they make using all of the ink in a bottle much easier, and they are just plain nifty. Ink reservoirs are great devices and should absolutely be in more bottles (I'm looking at you, J. Herbin). The very first ink bottle that I ever purchased (Pen & Ink | Sketch No-Shellac India Black) had an ink reservoir in it, and I have to admit that when I bought another ink I was pretty disappointed that it did not also come with a reservoir. Since then I have come to understand that ink reservoirs are the exception rather than the rule, and any time I find an ink with a reservoir included I become inexorably drawn to it. Which is why I found myself staring at a black ink that I would have had no real interest in otherwise. I ended up passing on the Sailor Jentle Black, but I DID buy an empty Sailor Jentle bottle from iSellpens.com (I plan on putting some of my Noodler's Heart of Darkness into it). I have never been interested in buying empty ink bottles, but it seemed like the lesser of two evils to me, and I now have very little interest in spending money on an ink that I don't really need. So, I am interested to know how many other folks out there have an obsession with ink bottles containing reservoirs. I can't be the only one. What are your favorite reservoir containing bottles? Would you ever consider one ink over another simply because one of them had a reservoir? To get things rolling here are a list of all of the inks (that I am aware of) which include reservoirs in their bottles: Akkerman Levenger Mont Blanc (the long bottles) Pen & Ink | Sketch Pilot (70ml bottles) Platinum (there three standard inks) Sailor Jentle Sheaffer Skrip (vintage bottles) TWSBI (Not an ink, but they do make a reservoir containing ink bottle) http://www.carpediemstore.com/mCustomPage/images/AAINDIAINK.jpg http://static2.jetpens.com/images/a/000/019/19851.jpg?s=0f16f7d983a13d62105460a6a912018d http://www.levimage.com/IMAGE/Web/Product/Pen_Ink/Refills/PR1420_paLEVINK_s1.jpg

This probably goes with the Eagle Pencil Co. fountain pen I just posted. I cannot identify this item. I'm guessing it's roughly 100 years old, but can't be sure. On the reverse, it has two markings: one says "No 4" one says "RD505078" I'd greatly appreciate any input on its identity and value. Thanks! Doc1.pdf

This probably goes with the Eagle Pencil Co. fountain pen I just posted. I cannot identify this item. I'm guessing it's roughly 100 years old, but can't be sure. On the reverse, it has two markings: one says "No 4" one says "RD505078" I'd greatly appreciate any input on its identity and value. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I was wondering if I was about to commit what some of you might call a "crime against humanity", do you think it is sacrilegious to remove the label from an old Sheaffer Skrip Bottle that has an inkwell? I intend to use the bottle for storing different black inks and I mostly bought it for utilitarian purposes because it is great design and bottles like that just aren't made anymore. But I also know it's place in history and was wondering if I was about to ruin an object that has in some sense, historical significance even if it is still quite common... Here's what it looks like with the label still intact (the picture is badly framed, sorry): http://i65.tinypic.com/i19x6s.jpg

My question is simple--does such a thing exist? I fell down a rabbit hole of looking at ink blotters the other day, shortly after crawling out of a rabbit hole of looking at inks (and their cute little bottles), and it struck me that a lot of the smaller rocker blotters kind of have a profile that could be the shape of a bottle. I tried Googling, and the closest thing I could find to a bottle in that shape is this half moon bottle, and it's definitely not suitable for holding ink with that narrow opening, nor for blotting being that it is so narrow overall. Just about all of what I come across are sets which include both items, rather than an item which is both, and the rest is simply one or the other. The root of the problem is that now that I have had the inkling that it might work, I sort of want such an item

Did anyone else notice that? I was trying to figure out if it was possibly something else but kept coming back to a tray with multiple wells. It was really something.. Anyone else catch that? I'm really not into inkwells but that really caught my eye.

Im sorry, haha, you are all probably face palming. However i have seen this word being used here and im not really sure what it is, could someone please explain?

Hello all! Hope I'm at the right place to ask this! If not please mods move this thread where it's supposed to be at! Well my sister is in Argentina for business and she just messaged me on facebook out of her mind with happiness. She found me a gift and could not resist sending me pictures. It's obviously a inkwell that seems to be made of either bronze, brass or copper. My sister said it's quite heavy but all those metals would be heavy at that thickness. She got it in a antique store I have nothing more. I checked ebay and did see a lot of similar inkwells often in pairs and almost always on some sort of marble or metal base. This one here has nothing else then the one inkwell. I'd love it if someone could either tell me what it is or point me to resources on inkwells so I can maybe have a chance of identifying this one. In any ways I cannot wait to get my hands on it. It's already beautiful but I bet a little light polish would bring it right back. Thanks in advance!! http://i.imgur.com/pRAqn6O.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/8swMSZT.jpg?2 http://i.imgur.com/0YIUIUJ.jpg?2 http://i.imgur.com/2AuXOB1.jpg?2

This is my first question on this forum, so I don't know if I'm in the right place. Anyway, I'm a college student that writes exclusively with fountain pens. I prefer piston fillers (my current daily driver is a Reform 1745). Being a student, my budget is very modest, meaning that if I need a portable inkwell, I cannot afford the Visconti Portable Inkwell. Does anybody know of any alternatives, either modern or antique, that could allow me to carry some ink in case I run out? Preferably, it would be reasonably-priced, sturdy enough to keep in a bag, and have a pretty small form factor. It doesn't need to hold a whole lot of ink, just enough to keep me going if I still need to write a page or two more after my ink runs out. Also, I would actually prefer if it wasn't something really fancy looking. I don't want to draw attention to myself by pulling it out in the middle of class. Thanks guys!

Over time, I observed that the 580 could not find much use, primarily because my writing preferences have graduated towards softer and larger nibs along with time. So here comes the saviour from TWSBI - The Vac 700, with a bigger nib of #6 size, and a vacuum plunger mechanism. Personally, I prefer the concept of an ink shut off valve. If you are looking for a review of the 580, here it is. If you like the blog view along with pictures, just click below: TWSBI VAC 700 with a VAC 20 Review TWSBI TWSBI (pronounced Twiz-Bee) refers to San Wen Tong, i.e TWS spelled backwards and it means ‘Hall of Three Cultures’ and if you wish to know more, the information is available on their website. BI at the end. refers to writing instruments. Ta Shin Precision has manufactured a range of things starting from toy lego parts to high-end writing instruments, for several luxury brands (both American & Japanese) for well over 40 years. So that’s plastic, metal & precision, precisely what’s required to make and sell a good looking writing instrument, under a brand name. Which luxury brands? They don’t reveal those due to privacy agreements. I have reasonable doubt from various reviews that one of them is Levenger. Also, the shaft mechanism inside Pilot Custom 823 seems similar to the one in the Vac 700. TWSBI sources its nibs from JoWo (earlier it was Bock & Schimdt), Germany (same as for Faber-Castell Stock Steel nibs). PRESENTATION Clean, clear and minimal packaging! A transparent pen lying inside a clear plastic case, encased within a brown cardboard box with adequate cushions of foam. There is an instruction sheet on filling & disassembly of the pen, highlighting the pen parts. Below the white pen-holding shelf, you will find the 7mm TWSBI wrench, couple of O-rings for the filler collar and a vial of silicone grease in two push slots. Neat! DESIGN - TAPERED TRANSPARENCY (4/6) The VAC 700 used to come in four transparent colours - Sapphire, Amber, Smoke & Clear. Now TWSBI has retained the production of the clear model only. I was looking for a clear model, since I already have a few other coloured demos. The build of VAC700 is sturdy and it seems that a substantial amount of acrylic has been used. Honestly, it never felt cheap nor does it feel luxurious. I think this pen endorses practical utility rather than art, with which you will probably associate a Visconti. More of an industrial look, for which I like this pen. Plastic & Acrylics economise both cost and weight of fittings. Most of it is visible engineering & the use of a steel plunger rod along with rubber piston and valve seals can be seen from the outside. The barrel and cap are made of thick polycarbonate, with a protective heat treated layer to increase resistance to scratches & abrasions, thus preserving the crystal transparence. The blind cap and the section exhibit translucence with smoky hue and I strongly fill that its takes out some beauty element out of the equation. But then, I wanted the clear one to enjoy the ink colour itself. The cap feels substantial and unscrews with one and a half turn, revealing a nicely sized steel nib. There is a metallic collar for the nib unit, supplying necessary chrome accents for the aesthetics part of it. The smoky translucent blind cap has a rather broad ring making the mark for usage and disassembly. The barrel is smooth and rounded with a decagonally cut blind cap, which fails to prevent the open pen from rolling away. The pen rolls on the broad steel ring below the blind cap. The acrylic orchestrates light well and dazzles the ink inside the barrel. The cap has a widish chrome band carrying a laser engraved TWSBI on one side of it and VAC 700 TAIWAN on the other. The finial carries a vibrant red & silver TWSBI logo of three pillars within a dome of transparent acrylic. The clip has a frosted aluminium feel and finish and is spring-loaded within a visible system with a chrome tassie. The cap has a geometrical decagonal cut, though the clip prevents any rolling away. The frosted look & feel of aluminium and somewhat stands out unevenly compared to the overall dazzling steel chrome trims. The cap is moderately heavy (@13g). You can also see a transparent inner cap, which prevents the nib from drying out. FILLING SYSTEM (4/6) As a plunger filler, it does have a good ink capacity around 1.8~2.3 mL (a full fill which is easy to do from an inverted Vac 20 bottle or repeated air removal filling). The smoky translucent blind cap unscrews with three complete turns. The rod is made of stainless steel and is resistant to most of the commonly used inks. For IG (Iron Gall) and Pigment Inks, care must be taken to clean the pen several times, to prevent clogging or deposit accumulation inside the ink passages. With the usual ink bottle, the pen fills to around two-thirds of its capacity, once the nib is completely dipped in ink and the plunger is pushed back in. This can give a good amount of ink inside with a comfortable volume of 1.5 - 1.8 mL. Sometimes, I have to repeat it several times to create a good vacuum, an issue I never had with the Custom 823 or the Homo Sapiens. The Custom 823 takes only a second vacuum to fill well. But YMMV. Cleaning the pen could be a similar ritual accompanied with some shake and I suggest you do it on a regular basis, for the ink stains if left may look ugly with time, and might require a light ammonia solution to go-off. Else you could just disassemble the shaft mechanism from the barrel and clean the transparent barrel with some a light dishwashing liquid water solution. And as mentioned in the manual, while writing with the pen, you would need to keep the piston-knob slightly unscrewed & pulled to the first stop (at a 4 mm distance) relative to the chrome ring. This will displace the conical valve rubber seal below the piston seal, to allow passage of ink to the feed. Given the high ink capacity of these pens with plunger filling mechanism, it has been introduced to prevent ink-leakage. And this is a nice thing to have, if you intend to carry the pen by air. The feeder hole looks like a channel to enable efficient ink suction. A problem I have landed up with this piece is that while filling it from a VAC 20 bottle, there are some ink drops coming out of the rear end of the filler collar. I emailed TWSBI Customer Service and Philip asked me to replace the filler O-ring with the spare one, which is actually thinner. However, this did not solve the issue completely and Philip was kind enough to have his factory send an immediate replacement of shaft mechanism. We both think that the inner O-ring of the shaft mechanism is the culprit. FILLING WITH THE VAC 20 INKWELL (INDEPENDENT RATING - 5/6) The VAC 20 inkwell comes within a small cardboard box. Unlike the well packaged Diamond 50 bottle, the packaging is pretty plain. It’s made of plastic and weighs around 20 grams without ink. Ink Capacity is 20 mL, of course (Thus VAC 20, but wait, what about VAC 700! ). The below bottle is around two-thirds filled. The bottle used to come in five simple variants - black, orange, red, green & blue top-caps and occupies a fraction of space taken by the Diamond 50 inkwell. The new one however is called VAC 20A and it has an additional insert for the VAC Mini. You have to remove the top cap for filling the VAC 700. The base cap has the threads of the VAC 700 pen inside, so as to fit the pen precisely. And with an inverted configuration you can pull/push the plunger to suck the ink to full capacity of the pen. And there is no need of cleaning the VAC700 after filling ink, as only the feed area is exposed. Cool ! The outer cap has a good sealing tube and I never found any ink leakage from the bottle itself even after keeping it inverted in my backpack for 2 days. Personally, I find it comfortable as a travelling inkwell since the dimensions are minimal and the base bottle offers the height of ink to completely immerse nibs of most pens with standard nib sizes. The only quibble I have is: when you fill ink in any other pen, the base cap (black) has to be unscrewed and it exposes the broader opening of the bottle. The secure bottle acting as a pen stand is now gone. The inner taper of the base cap block sections of most of the similar sized pens (except VAC 700 & a few slimmer ones). Besides it’s priced pretty decent (in US), and you do travel with 20 mL of your favourite ink. DISASSEMBLY (6/6) In cases where the piston has become stiff or there is any leakage of ink from the rear, it would require you to disassemble and self-service the pen. You can find two spare O-rings with the wrench and silicone grease. You can have a look at a 700 disassembly video. I like this one. Make sure you thoroughly flush the pen with water before disassembling it. Rotate the blind cap counter-clockwise, till it rotates freely. Pull out the blind cap till it comes to an end stop. The same thing you do while longer writing sessions. Fit the wrench below the blind cap on the area of the filler collar which has two parallel cuts on the otherwise circular section. Rotate counter-clockwise till the collar comes out of the inner threads. There is an O-ring on the collar (at the end of those threads ideally) that goes inside the barrel, to prevent leakage of ink. (the same ring for which spares are provided) Then you can pull off the shaft mechanism along with the blind cap from the barrel. The nib unit can be easily removed by first unscrewing the grip section from the barrel Since, nib is friction fit, you may remove the nib and feed from the unit, in case there is some heavy cleaning required (in case of a bad flow, sometimes the feed is coated with grease which restricts ink-flow). Make sure you carefully apply adequate amount of silicone grease with a earbud/toothpick to the sides of the conical frustum like rubber piston seal/lip before reassembly. Don't use any grease on the conical valve seal, else the grease may block the section slit, thereby the flow of ink. NIB - ALL THAT MATTERS (6/6) This is a silver accented stainless steel nib from Jowo of size#6. It carries off the TWSBI traditional dagger-like design well. Across four stock widths - EF, F, M, B and two special widths of Stub 1.1 & Stub 1.5, this looks pretty industrial and minimalistic. The nib/feed unit can also be taken out of the sleeve after unscrewing the section. The tail end specifies carries the nib width, while the name TWSBI along with the logo rest above the tail. There is some simple scroll within the symmetry of its tines, reflecting the rather industrial look of the pen. A black plastic feed with a adequate feed channel for ink suction provides the inflow of ink. The thin fins ensure an acceptable buffer capacity, although I have always found better feeds in Pilot & of course the Pelikans. The feeds are said to be a bit brittle. So suggest you take care if you are replacing the nib. These are sourced from JoWo. Earlier, TWSBI used to source its nibs from Schmidt and then Bock, which is incidentally the nib-supplier for Faber-Castell smoothy nibs too. The nib being a medium is a juicy wet delight to write with. And it lays a line which runs a tad thicker than Japanese Medium/European Fine nibs. More of this in the last section with writing sample. PHYSICS OF IT (6/6) – RELATIVELY SPEAKING The pen even without ink, does have a good balance in terms of both weight and length. The pen is not meant to be posted for the likes of me. The grip is quite comfortable for me, with a girth of 1 cm for me. The weight of the pen is mainly due to the steel/aluminium metal parts along with the steel rod used in the shaft mechanism. Uncapped Length ~ 13.2 cmCapped Length ~ 14.4 cmNib Leverage ~ 2.4 cm #6Overall Weight ~ 32 g (Cap Weight ~ 13 g)Max Ink Capacity ~ 2.3 mL Capped and uncapped comparisons with a Pelikan m805 and a Pilot Custom 823, run below for your reference. An uncapped vac 700 along with others. ECONOMIC VALUE (5/6) The VAC700 retails at around Rs 9,500 ($ 141 @ 67 INR/USD) here and I got it from Manoj (of Manoj Pen Mart) at around Rs 4500, in exchange for another sparsely used TWSBI. The pen retails at USD 65, in the US and cheaper in other countries. A major problem with ordering it from TWSBI’s website is the heavy FedEx shipping charges, and also un-calculated duties to be paid for. Thankfully, Pradeep (FPN@Prads) arranged an exchange of the 580 with Mr. Manoj, I had to pay a fraction of the Indian MRP for the Vac 700. I bought it from Mr. Manoj (of Manoj Pen Mart, Fort, Mumbai). OVERALL (5.2/6) This nib is wet and smooth with most of the inks. Since, I am used to a few large pens, I did not find a problem with either the heft or the balance of Vac 700. Many people don't find the heft/weight comfortable. There is no noticeable line variation but the #6 nib does render some spring, which can cushion your writing. The medium nib lays a line which runs a tad thicker than Japanese Medium/European Fine nibs. The pen feels balanced for my hands both with or without pressure and given the tapered profile of the section, it has a good grip. I have used single fills of Waterman Florida Blue & Sailor Yama Budo inks in rotation, and the pen nicely in the case of Sailor ink. Being a wet writer out of the box, the Medium nib puts up a nice juicy line, which takes around 22-25 seconds to dry a Sailor Yama Dori ink on MD Paper. The spring and length of this steel nib reminds me of the fact that a good steel nib can always be of joy. However, if you ask me to compare the Custom 823#15 nib with this steel nib, I would say it’s great but the 823-14k nib wins in terms of cushion, softness and additional spring by a fair margin. REFERENCES TWSBI 580 Diamond Review FPN TWSBI History Disassembly - Removing ink shut off valve (Warranty might be voided) Thank you for going through the review. You can find some more pen and paraphernalia reviews here.

The review is a part of the larger TWSBI VAC700 review. You can go to the original post here. I thought that this review could be useful for people, who like me are searching for an inkwell, that's okay for travel, holds a fair amount of ink and does not exactly make a hole the wallet. The full review is also live on my personal blog. Click below if you enjoy pics in a tablet/mobile optimized view: TWSBI VAC 700 with a VAC 20 Review I was looking for an inkwell at a decent capacity & price (that's why skipped the Visconti Travel Inkwell), which could fit comfortably inside the visiting cards slot of my laptop backpack. So here goes the review. The VAC 20 inkwell comes within a small cardboard box. Unlike the well packaged Diamond 50 bottle, the packaging is pretty plain. It’s made of plastic and weighs around 20 grams without ink. Ink Capacity is 20 mL, of course (Thus VAC 20, but wait, what about VAC 700! ). The below bottle is around two-thirds filled. The bottle used to come in five simple variants - black, orange, red, green & blue top-caps and occupies a fraction of space taken by the Diamond 50 inkwell. The new one however is called VAC 20A and it has an additional insert for the VAC Mini. You have to remove the top cap for filling the VAC 700. The base cap has the threads of the VAC 700 pen inside, so as to fit the pen precisely. And with an inverted configuration you can pull/push the plunger to suck the ink to full capacity of the pen. And there is no need of cleaning the VAC700 after filling ink, as only the feed area is exposed. Cool ! The outer cap has a good sealing tube and I never found any ink leakage from the bottle itself, even after keeping it inverted in my backpack for 2 days of travel. Personally, I find it comfortable as a travelling inkwell since the dimensions are minimal and the base bottle offers the height of ink to completely immerse nibs of most pens with standard nib sizes. The only quibble I have is: when you fill ink in any other pen, the base cap (black) has to be unscrewed and it exposes the broader opening of the bottle. The secure bottle acting as a pen stand is now gone. The inner taper of the base cap block sections of most of the similar sized pens (except VAC 700 & a few slimmer ones). Besides it’s priced pretty decent (in US), and you do travel with 20 mL of your favourite ink. So, I give an Overall Rating of 5/6 to the VAC20. The VAC20A has an additional insert, so it would stand a bit taller compared to the VAC20.

Luxury Brands just came out with a couple of ink wells to get every last drop from your ink bottles. Both are now available Ink Miser Intra-bottle Inkwell This inkwell was specifically designed to fit inside a Noodlers bottle of ink but can also work on other bottles such as Monteverde or Platinum. With the inkwell inside the pen you can rotate the bottle and catch the ink inside the inkwell making it easier to fill your pens when the ink get low. https://www.penchalet.com/pen_accessories/inkwells/ink_miser_intra-bottle_inkwell.html Ink Miser Ink-shot Inkwell The ink-shot is designed to transfer ink from your ink bottles making it easier and safer to fill. https://www.penchalet.com/pen_accessories/inkwells/ink_miser_ink-shot_inkwell.html

Luxury Brands Ink Miser Inkwell videos. The Intra-Bottle Inkwell is good for getting that last drop of Noodler's from bottle to pen. That is assuming you ever empty one of those 3 ounce bottles which is something I have yet to do. Besides the uses shown in the videos, soaking a pen just up to the nib would be a really good use for the Ink-Shot. I might just need a row of these to clean pens after paper tests.

My new favorite inkwell's a baby-formula holder: $3.99, spill-proof, with a lid, three compartments, and a pour-spout that rotates among the compartments: http://www.amazon.com/Nuby-Milk-Powder-Dispenser-Colors/dp/B000MQQR7W

Trying to find an inkwell appropriate for use with an oblique pen holder. Looking for something heavy and wide mouthed, obviously but also not so deep as to require 2-3 bottles of ink on hand to keep it filled to the brim. Right now I am using sake cups, but they have no heft and I always fear I will knock it over. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks!

Here is a link to a drafting inkwell I found on ebay. I have seen these before and I am curious as to how they worked--how one used the device. Can anyone offer an explanation? Thanks http://www.ebay.com/itm/Theo-Alteneder-Sons-drafting-inkwell-patent-Nov-14-1930-vintage-milk-glass-/161735796058?rmvSB=true

So, as I've been trying to expand my horizons and try some interesting inks, I've stumbled across a few brands that sell their inks in sacs that have to be emptied into something (because I'd spill ink all over my lap trying to fill from one of those). I've also gotten kinda interested in ink mixing and I've found a few mixtures that I just love. Anyway, I've been looking around for inkwells and not finding many of them. Those of you who have had experience with stuff like this: What do you recommend? I've found old inkwells on eBay that are pretty cheap... and I've found empty ink bottles. What works for you? It seems that the only "inkwell" sold anywhere nowadays is the TWSBI inkwell, which is neat and all, but since I don't have a ton of TWSBI's, it's not really worth the price tag.

Hello, Our neighbor gave me this pen tray before she moved out of state. She said they'd thought that it was an ashtray. She was from Sweden, but I think she bought it second-hand. I was hoping maybe someone would recognize the stamp on the back, and share any information they know about it. My internet searches haven't had any results Thanks!

TWSBI "Tweeted" these photos a few days ago which show prototypes of a new inkwell they are developing to replace Inkwell 50. I think they're both very interesting designs. Here's what they said: "R&D drew up some samples of possible bottle looks. What do y'all think?" Moderators...please feel free to move this post if it belongs in a different section. Thanks.

Hi, I purchased an antique inkwell in the shape of a knight's helmet (with neck). It has no liner but a 'martini glass' shaped Visconti ink bottle may fit perfectly. Would someone be so kind as to measure their Visconti bottle(s) for me and post up the dimensions please? I know they have a variety of versions in glass and plastic. I'm seeking the base diameter, height to first curve outward, height to maximum curve outward, total height including lid, and maximum diameter of the bottle towards the top. It would be helpful if a pic were able to be posted to show me which edition of the bottle has been measured. Thank you.

I've tried for 20 years to see if anyone can tell me more about my old inkwell. Patent Date (stamped on the Hinge is Aug 8 88). Photos below:http://images16.fotki.com/v378/photos/8/848245/6026081/Inkwell1-vi.jpg http://images14.fotki.com/v1375/photos/8/848245/6026081/Inkwell2-vi.jpg