Favorite Filling Mechanism?

[PAKMAN]

Piston fillers for me!

[mitto]

Both piston filler and aerometric filler for me.

[artart]

Another vote for piston fillers

[DanceOfLight]

 

 

I thought Conid's Bulkfiller system was not a vac filler, but rather an improved piston?

OOps you are right, more like a syringe. Like em anyway

[hari317]

Among self fillers, I really like the squeeze filling(and button filling) systems in general. You can fill the pen with one hand, the other hand can conveniently tilt the ink bottle without tipping it over when the ink level is low.

 

The best squeeze systems that i have used over the years are the squeeze converters made by Sheaffer and the larger ones made by Parker, I also like the fixed squeeze fillers used by the UK Parker company for their "English Duofold" family of pens, the pli glass sacs make these fillers everlasting. The US and Canada Parker Duofold button fillers are of course superb and easily maintainable to this date.

 

Among the "non self fillers", my favorite pen is the Waterman's Safety, absolutely wonderful engineering.

 

Among syringe fillers(a rotating knob operated syringe filler becomes the piston filler), the best one I found is the 2 stage telescopic system developed by Montblanc followed by the modern Pelikan piston fillers, amazing smoothness, nearly imperceptible static friction due to their seal design.

Edited September 28, 2018 by hari317

[Octo]

Cartridge, syringe, and bottle ink

[eharriett]

The best part of the hobby to me are the inks! Converters are the quickest and easiest way to do this.

[ridiculopathy]

Syringe into a cartridge: large enough volume (I don't have many pens that use standard international) and easy to clean/refill.

[Bo Bo Olson]

In the '50's I started with lever filling, for filling nothing faster, and not all that hard to clean out if one stays away from supersaturated inks...which one must in according to repeatable repairmen eats the rubber sacs.

Once it was not unusual for a rubber sac to last 30-40 or more years.

Late '50s-60's cartridge pens had taken over and were too expensive for a worker's kid....not if he wanted to buy Spidy #1, which I folded up, put in my back pocket and swapped the next week. Or a coke or a big nickle Snickers...once a week.

 

I now prefer piston pens. Living in Germany was able to get them cheap over the last decade.

 

In '70-71, I bought a P-75, opened up the box and tossed it. I knew how it worked...that squeeze mechanism, like the P-51.

40 years later.... ...it also takes a cartridge (didn't look in the bottom of the box).......and those newfangled converters.

Edited September 29, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson

[aardvarkbark]

Piston, but in Delta's, which I am told are actually captive converters. I like them best whatever they are.

[Orval]

The best system for me is the Conid bulkfiller. I don't know if it is an improved eyedropper or an improved pistonfiller. It has the capacity of an eyedropper, is easy to clean and to disassemble.

[pajaro]

Favorite filling system? Does one get a thrill or enjoyment from the filling system? I suppose some might. It's not outside the realm of possibility. I just use the filling subsystem that comes with a pen, and, at best, hope to never have to mess with the filler. As the years went by, I found lever fillers would leak as the sac perished. I only use them with some sense of distaste now. Converter/cartridge systems seemed OK, until the converters, sac-based or piston-based started to fail (5 to 10 years average), costing money and becoming a nuisance. Then, after a longer time, about twenty years, piston fillers started to leak from where the blind cap screws down. So, I began to only use these with an awareness of potential failure. Seals. And then there was one. The Parker 51. The sacs on these have not failed for me in up to forty-eight years of use. Unless you destroy the pen somehow, the 51 keeps on working. The filling system would be immaterial to me except for the failures that eventually occur. Except when they don't. I don't get off on the filler system. I do get satisfaction from a pen that never fails.

[penzel_washinkton]

I think the term favorite here does not solely means the enjoyment out of the filling mechanism itself but is also based on simplicity, reliability and the maintainability of the mechanism itself. So in a way your favorite is actually the sac filler on the Parker 51

[pajaro]

I think the term favorite here does not solely means the enjoyment out of the filling mechanism itself but is also based on simplicity, reliability and the maintainability of the mechanism itself. So in a way your favorite is actually the sac filler on the Parker 51

And I can't quite manage to get rid of the rest of the pens. It's all good, Fun with drying up nibs and leaky pens.

[max dog]

Piston filler. They all have provided the most reliable and consistent ink flow. Can't say the same for c/c and others.

[wangjianwei]

Practically I like cartridges the best. For most cases like Parker, Lamy, Pilot and Sailor the ink capacity is more than sufficient for me.

I syringe filled these cartridges to save money.

My experience is that those cartridges with wider mouth are more durable, I've used the same Sailor cartridge for at least 5-6 years without problem.

While I have one Waterman cartridge whose mouth cracked after a few refills.

 

Pistons are also great, aesthetically they give the impression of sturdiness and quality. But for me the ink capacity is a curse more than blessing.

Most of the time the ink just dry out after weeks without using. With cartridges I merely syringe some water to restore the preferred viscosity.

[penzel_washinkton]

And I can't quite manage to get rid of the rest of the pens. It's all good, Fun with drying up nibs and leaky pens.

 

That's why we love this hobby isn't it?

[amper]

Is my pen still an eyedropper if I pour the ink straight into the barrel from the bottle?

[Ben Looijesteijn]

I prefer the crescent filler. Robust and good looking. A close second place for the Sheaffer vacuum filler type. Works like a small miracle...

[fountainbel]

The best system for me is the Conid bulkfiller. I don't know if it is an improved eyedropper or an improved pistonfiller. It has the capacity of an eyedropper, is easy to clean and to disassemble.

 

The Conid Bulkfiller is an improved syringe filler : one can lock/park the piston after filling , un-couple the rod from the piston and store the rod in the barrel.

When closing the filling knob completely the ink in the barrel is completely shut-off.

Both the Bulkfiller and the classic piston filler are the only "positive displacement" filling systems : ink intake being identical to the volume displacement of the piston.

Hope this helps

Francis

 

PS : it would be nice if the Bulkfiller alternative was included as as option in the poll.