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Hi all I've read that the Visconti limited edition double reservoir pens hold 'a ton of ink'. How much is 'a ton of ink'? Subjective, I know, but I'd consider 'a ton' to be more than 0.6mls. That's all that my limited edition Michelangelo Grande holds. 0.6mls. I've just conducted an experiment by filling and emptying it 12 times in succession; each time (using an ink sample vial to get an accurate measurement) it has only filled 0.6 mls. Here's my fill process....can anyone spot an error in this method? I unscrew the blind cap with the nib pointing upwards Pull out the plunger fully Hold the pen nib down and depress the plunger fully just to check that the pen is completely empty. Re-pull out the plunger fully. Put the entire nib fully into the ink (so that the ink also covers 1/4 inch of the section) Depress the plunger in one smooth, confident steady movement Count to five (though I've also counted to ten, for good measure) Remove the pen from the ink. Wipe the section. Hold the pen nib down Close the blind cap. Following that process, when I empty the pen into a sample vial, it contains just 0.6mls of ink. Not 0.6mls in the top reservoir, and a further ml or two in the main reservoir. Just 0.6mls in total. Am I being a total numpty and missing something? Is there a way of releasing the ink from the main reservoir that I'm overlooking? I've tried unscrewing the blind cap and jiggling the plunger when the nib is pointing downwards...no joy. I've tried unscrewing the blind cap, jiggling the plunger and trying to move ink from the main reservoir with the pen held horizontally...no joy. The main reservoir seems to be completely empty. Or is a 'ton of ink' 0.6mls and I just have unreasonable expectations? Ideas, anyone?

Hi all I feel like throwing in the towel on my most expensive pen (a double reservoir fine nibbed Visconti Michelangelo Grande LE in beautiful green celluloid). By my standards, this pen cost me a fortune a few years ago, but it has been problematic since day one. I bought the pen second hand but was told it was uninked and in mint, unused condition. It certainly seemed to match that description when it arrived. It looked (and still does look) mint...it's a beautiful pen. However, regardless of how often I flush it, and regardless of what type of ink I try in it, I have a perennial problem. The pen usually starts from the first stroke, but after half a page of A5 writing, it starts to skip...first just on the occasional downstroke, but within a line or two it skips on practically every stroke of every letter. I check and it has plenty of ink...I unscrew the bottom and tip more ink from the reservoir - it hardly make a jot of difference. If I persevere to the end of the sheet and turn to the next page in my notebook, it often starts writing like a dream again...until the dreaded half way point of the page, when it starts to skip again....start a new page and often it writes well again...until the midway point. It seems to happen in all my notebooks (although, admittedly, these tend to be restricted to Rhodia, Clairefontaine or Paperblanks journals). Smooth papers seem to exacerbate the problem (it hardly writes at all on Clairfontaine paper)....if the paper's a bit toothier it tends to happen less, but ALWAYS happens eventually, regardless of the paper. I've just bought some Midori cotton paper to see if it happens on that - I haven't yet tried it - but really I don't want the pen to be so temperamental that it only writes on one or two types of paper. I've wondered if it's something about the oils from my skin rubbing on the bottom half of each sheet of paper, but I've tried covering the writing surface with a covering sheet and it still happens...and I have quite dry skin and ought to use hand moisturiser, but I'm lazy and rarely do, so I can't see oil transfer onto the paper being a contributory factor. My husband suggested it could be that I'm inadvertently changing the angle at which I write as I reach the halfway point of the page...but he's observed me and can't spot any noticeable different in my writing style between the top and bottom halves of the page. Could it be something to do with the double reservoir design? But if so, why does the problem tend to resolve itself when I turn to a new page? Then recur at the halfway point? For clarity, I write on both sides of each sheet of paper, and the problem occurs on both sides of the paper and on both the verso and recto sides of the notebook. I am mystified, frustrated and fed up. The nib itself seems well aligned and I can't see any evident signs of baby's bottom (not that I'm an expert). I thought it could be a feed/flow issue, but when I switch to a new page it often starts wrting again prefectly...until the half way point! At this point I'm so frustrated that I feel like chucking the pen in the bin! Does anyone have any insights or ideas about what could be causing this problem?