Inkwells - help required

[ghislain]

 

I have only recently started using fountain pens again and bought some J. Herbin ink that I absolutely love.

However, I find the bottle this particular ink comes in rather impractical and am therefore considering using an inkwell.

 

Not having any experience with these, I am wondering if there are any particular hints, tips that you can share with me?

Which are your recommendations?

Do I really need one or am I just better off buying another form of container to store the ink in?

 

Thanks!

Edited March 12, 2010 by ghislain

[tanalasta]

I also use J'Herbin inks and it really depends what type of pens you use.

 

If you use convertors or cartridgge pens, you can use syringes (I have 1mL insulin, very narrow syringes) to refill them. You can use a blunt drawing up needle if you have to.

 

If you use piston pens, the options are:

- Buy an inkwell (although you need to place it on your desk and fill it up, so you may need to purchase an eyedropper or syringe anyhow. Pouring direct from an ink bottle into an inkwell is a recipe for mess.

- Buy a portable inkwell - The visconti travelling inkpot is nice. But VERY expensive for whwat is essentially a plastic tube, 5mL capacity and rubber tapered 'funnel' seal. But works extremely well and comes with an eyedropper. No good for non-standard sized nib units (e.g. Pilot VP) and I haven't tried with my L2K yet.

- Finish or pour out the ink in your favourite bottle. The old Visconti (though keep it in the box to stop it tipping over); Waterman; MontBlanc; Lamy bottles are favourites.

- Buy nalgene or other bottles.

[ghislain]

Thank you for that, for beginners this is all far from obvious!

 

I think I'll stick to the (glass or crystal) inkwell idea for now as I very much like the design of some. The Montblanc one is absolutely gorgeous (but it comes at a price).

 

Now, returning to the inkwell thing, I presume the best thing is to find one with a screw on cap (securing the content and limiting evaporation) or is there no difference compared to the ones using a (chrome - I am not really into brass) lid?

I really want something that can be left either on a desk or can be gently stored in a cupboard without any danger of spilling ink all over the place.

 

I also looked at the nalgene bottles but I find these to be a little too large and too tall (at least the ones I have found) but they sure are easy on the budget

 

 

 

 

 

[Shangas]

Hi,

 

Inkwells have various positives and negatives, as you will soon discover.

 

They're good because they're nice and heavy (and therefore, not prone to tipping over), or they have nice, fat and/or wide bases which give them a low center of gravity.

 

The majority of inkwells have hinged lids which you can just flip open, allowing easy access to ink.

 

They come in prety designs which will look great on any desk.

 

However...

 

Inkwells do not have an airtight seal. Even without using the ink in the well, your ink level will gradually diminish over time, regardless of how infrequently or frequently you use your ink.

 

Inkwells hold a smaller amount of ink when compared to ink-bottles.

 

They're not portable (well, some are, but not the majority of them).

 

That said, I have an inkwell which I use regularly and I love it.

[Stiliketheblues]

Hi,

 

Inkwells have various positives and negatives, as you will soon discover.

 

They're good because they're nice and heavy (and therefore, not prone to tipping over), or they have nice, fat and/or wide bases which give them a low center of gravity.

 

The majority of inkwells have hinged lids which you can just flip open, allowing easy access to ink.

 

They come in prety designs which will look great on any desk.

 

However...

 

Inkwells do not have an airtight seal. Even without using the ink in the well, your ink level will gradually diminish over time, regardless of how infrequently or frequently you use your ink.

 

Inkwells hold a smaller amount of ink when compared to ink-bottles.

 

They're not portable (well, some are, but not the majority of them).

 

That said, I have an inkwell which I use regularly and I love it.

 

I have faced similar problems as the OP as I am sure many others have. I too like the J.Herbin Inks. Unfortunately as has been noted before, they have a horrible bottle that entertains only my P51 and the Pilot VP. Anything with a bigger nib... tends to be a struggle.

I looked into the Visconti travelling inkpot idea and checked it out in DC at a store. For the $$ its a lot of tedious hassle. I rotate through various inks (about 10) at any given time... I would forever be washing, draining etc. I also do a lot of writing at work... where doing that would be very difficult.

I recently bought a Pilot 823 BNIB. This came with a Pilot ink bottle. The ink is OK but I like the idea of the bottle. It has an inner plastic insert that acts as a receptacle for filling ink. I find it difficult to explain... but it does the job pretty well. I might look into buying a few bottles like that and adding my favorite inks into them.

Are there other ink bottles that folks have used that are filling friendly?

[lapis]

I too like the idea of an inkwell, especially for inks in otherwise unpractical bottles.

I love their heaviness, lead crystal, solid silver/pewter and all that.

The main thing as said above is that the lid really does close tightly, otherwise things may get uncool.

Frigzample I can recommend this:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu264/peli46/Rubinato_A.jpg

 

but not this (cap was left on for 1-2 weeks: :mad:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu264/peli46/Rubinato_2.jpg

 

Both are from Rubinato. (NA).

 

Mike

[ghislain]

I too like the idea of an inkwell, especially for inks in otherwise unpractical bottles.

I love their heaviness, lead crystal, solid silver/pewter and all that.

The main thing as said above is that the lid really does close tightly, otherwise things may get uncool.

 

Exactly my thoughts too.

However, this eliminates most of the gorgeous looking inkwells as they tend to have lids that do not screw on (which might or might not be airtight)

I found one by Herbin that seems to fit the bill but it certainly is not a great looker, anyone with other suggestions?

 

Just found this Inkwell which looks like it might do the job

 

Edited March 12, 2010 by ghislain

[BucolicBuffalo]

I just add a little distilled water from time to time to my inkwell to make up for evaporation.

[lapis]

A. I like the square job better. Square (cubic) bottles are always nice and easy and practical to hang onto while opening, i.e. ==> Herbin's and CdA's.

B. I'd never add water to my inks because I can't/won't "procol that well enogh. Of course if I always knew what volume /weight/density the ink first had, then I'd know what to add. A good medical/scientific measuring column wouzld be nice (I even have a few) but that's all too compliccated and I'm a perfectionist. Sorry. But if you always want to add a shot of water, by all means do so. I still don't like "watery" inks.

 

Mike

[LedZepGirl]

Another thing you need to be sure of is the depth of your inkwell. I have a crystal inkwell at home and it is not deep enough to fill some of my pens with larger nibs.