Inkwell Recommendations?

October 30, 2015

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.

October 30, 2015

An inexpensive to inkwells are nalgene bottles. Get the ones with the wide mouth openings. They might not be the best for permanent storage, but for the short term they're pretty good. REI has several different sizes (we don't have The Container Store around here).

Depending on the price (and the type of cap) inkwells or empty ink bottles would also work -- if you can find the old Sheaffer bottles with the ink reservoir they work great; and if you can find some that sill have ink in them for not too much money that's just a bonus....

The problem with a lot of the "inkwells" on Ebay, etc. is that they aren't really designed for FP inks -- they tend to be more for dip pens. A lot of them don't really seal all that well (if at all).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

October 30, 2015

The nalgene bottles that Ruth mentioned or old ink bottles.

Forget inkwells. The traditional ones do NOT seal, so ink will evaporate, or if you tip it, it will LEAK out.

Several of the online shops (like Goulet Pens) sell their empty ink bottles that they use to make ink samples from. Or buy some from someone on FPN.

Edited October 30, 2015 by ac12

October 30, 2015

Thanks for the feedback... I think I'll check out the nalgene bottles!

October 31, 2015

As an FPN ink tester, I needed to come up with something that worked with a short timeline. I went to Hobby Lobby and found some that work. The ones I have have metal caps and may not seal as well as a regular ink bottle like you would get from say Goulet. Hobby Lobby has several styles. My need was for size as much as anything. There are also some companies that sell bottles, vials (5 & 10 ml sizes) among other things.

October 31, 2015

Personally, I love the TWSBI ones and don't even own one of their pens. They might be expensive but they sure as hell give you almost every last drop and that's worth every penny.

October 31, 2015

I've used little Muji bottles to put ink into. I got a little frustrated at the lack of inkwells that actually seal. Or use an old empty bottle of ink.

October 31, 2015

The wide mouth Nalgene bottles are excellent and their spill-proof caps work as advertised. I got mine at The Container Store, around $2 each, iirc. You can fill any pen from a TWSBI inkwell and they look great filled. Empty ink bottles work well, too.

As others have mentioned, old inkwells were for dip pens and don't seal well (generally) so wouldn't work for ink storage due to evaporation. They're great filled with distilled water for a quick dip of hard-starters.