Favorite Filling Mechanism?

[Honeybadgers]

I must've missed the humour because I don't get the frame of reference. Is Conid so good with their refilling [/mechanism/] and implementations thereof, that a 0.6ml converter it makes to fit the shape of (say) the Sailor 1911 and Professional Gear Slim, would be superior to what Sailor itself makes and sells?

 

Conid just makes glorious filling mechanisms. Personally, I think Pilot could pull it off too. The CON-70 is freaking great and genuinely makes me more willing to pick up a new pilot over a sailor or platinum with a C/C.

 

Sailor has the weakest converter of the big 3 japanese makers by far. I like its smoothness, but it has a very wide body and nothing inside to break surface tension. my 1911 Zoom nib will occasionally run dry with the converter in place and a big fat miniscus of ink just sitting at the top of the converter and laughing.

 

Platinum doesn't have anything in it for agitation either, but a smaller diameter barrel means it has less propensity to create the surface tension required to fail (Pilot has the wide body of sailor but uses agitators in all but the CON-20, which is the "economy" converter) and Platinum's converter can be fully disassembled for greasing, which is a really nice touch.

[A Smug Dill]

It's easy enough to stick a spring coil (like the ones that come with converters supplied with Duke-branded fountain pens) or a small ball bearing inside a standard Sailor converter to serve as an agitator; Sailor converters are so easy and safe to disassemble, and I love them for that.

 

I haven't tried disassembling a Pilot CON-70. Personally, I don't like them. They're hard to thoroughly clean, even with the aid of an ultrasonic cleaning bath.

[bass1193]

I've also always had good luck with the CON-70, though it isn't disassemblable. Definitely second adding agitators to converters without them! I often sacrifice a cartridge for the ball, since I don't use them except to refill.

[XYZZY]

I must've missed the humour because I don't get the frame of reference. Is Conid so good with their refilling mechanism and implementations thereof, that a 0.6ml converter it makes to fit the shape of (say) the Sailor 1911 and Professional Gear Slim, would be superior to what Sailor itself makes and sells?

 

I don't own a Conid. The way people consistently talk about them it reminds me of 2007 when everybody (me too) was comparing a "standard" (for the day) cell phone to an iPhone. If that's the case then I'm happy to believe it's one of those things I won't appreciate until I hold one in my hands and fill it myself. And I'm the kind of person that would appreciate it.

 

But I will probably never own a Conid, not because of the price, but because I *like* the idea of a converter in the pen. I like the idea that I can replace the filling mechanism for under $10. So if Conid can put all their goodness into a $10 converter for a Pilot... yeah I'm still chuckling at that thought Or twist that however you want...maybe a $300 Conid converter in a Preppy, and I'm still

[TheDutchGuy]

Hmm, let's see. By now I've got the following in my small collection: C/C, vac, piston, lever, aerometric and button. I could play these out against each other, but C/C is such as vast group... So let's start with C/C.

 

On the one hand you have huge cartridges like those from Sailor, Platinum and Sheaffer which are gripped tightly by their respective pens and can be re-used many times. I love those! Those are my overall fav filling method, by far! No surface tension issues. Cleaning the pens and the cartridges is very easy and re-filling is a breeze. On the other hand you have the tiny standard international cartridges that aren't even "standard international"; some of those will only fit securely in certain pens. There's a risk of them dropping out (I solve that with cheap ballpoint springs in the barrel). I'm not fond of those. They're more difficult to re-fill and tend to have surface tension issues.

 

Of the others, button is my least favourite by far, followed by vac (difficult to clean), piston (ditto), lever, aerometric, in that order. Aerometric only "wins" because of how fast the filling process is and because of the significant capacity of the Parker 51. Lever is very interesting, I quite like that.

[mitto]

I would like an autofiller that wouldn't need doing anything on my part. Meaning the pen goes by itsellf to the ink bottle, get itself reinked and comes back to my hand. All cleand and ready to write. I would like to wait for that kind of a pen to be produced as early as possible.

[Dip n Scratch]

I have never had a sac filler pen. I was tempted by a 'cracked ice' Conway Stewart, but not keen about replacing the sac.

Eyedroppers are as basic as you get, but you do have the burping issue.

It all depends on whether the wall of the barrel is thick enough the cut heat transfer from your hand. I have not had so much trouble with my Ranga ED's

Having said that I don't understand the presence of the sponge inside the barrel of a Pilot 'tank'.

It just makes cleaning a royal PIA.

Just like an aerometric filler...

 

That's the issue I have with the aerometric filling system. Whether it is on a cheap Hero, Wing Sung or on a Parker '51' you can never seem to completely empty the pen. I do have a beater '51', but have hardly used it because I find the nib to be too broad for my taste.

 

Cartridge/converter is convenient. If you have a syringe with a thin blunt tip you can refill empty cartridges and even the converter. When you have little ink left in the bottle the syringe is your friend. If you like to change inks often the c/c system is for you.

A Ranga c/c pen can also be an eyedropper as the barrel threads are long.

 

The only piston-fillers I have have been a Wing Sung 6059 and another, which I think was a Lanbitou that had Lamy-style nibs. I never had a German Pelikan.

 

I have never had a vacumatic filling pen. I guess that the comments around the issues with ink sacs also apply here.

[Honeybadgers]

It's easy enough to stick a spring coil (like the ones that come with converters supplied with Duke-branded fountain pens) or a small ball bearing inside a standard Sailor converter to serve as an agitator; Sailor converters are so easy and safe to disassemble, and I love them for that.

 

I haven't tried disassembling a Pilot CON-70. Personally, I don't like them. They're hard to thoroughly clean, even with the aid of an ultrasonic cleaning bath.

 

If you can stick a ball bearing in, it can fall out - too much hassle for me to keep track of and the issue isn't common enough for me to care about tapping the nib on the page once in a long while. I don't like CC's to begin with much, so I'm just going to aim for the piston filler sailors. Pilot uses an integral cage in the 50 to hold the bearings and the 40 has the singular piece inserted from behind. And I don't recall ever running into a surface tension problem with the platinum converter.

 

I don't know if the 70 can be disassembled. I don't think the 40 or 50 can.

 

Cleaning the 70 is actually not hard if you have a syringe. Just fill the syringe, insert the tip in and spray. I use a 10CC syringe with a transfer tip (blunt, like 8 gauge or so) and I can have the converter flushed in a single pass.

Edited November 3, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[Honeybadgers]

I would like an autofiller that wouldn't need doing anything on my part. Meaning the pen goes by itsellf to the ink bottle, get itself reinked and comes back to my hand. All cleand and ready to write. I would like to wait for that kind of a pen to be produced as early as possible.

 

parker 61 capillary filler or the sheaffer snorkel is as close as we get

[pajaro]

parker 61 capillary filler or the sheaffer snorkel is as close as we get

So serious. So erstwhile. You still have to do something.

 

Didn't get it.

[XYZZY]

So serious. So erstwhile. You still have to do something.

 

Didn't get it.

Micro-teleporter in converter to continuously materialize ink as you use it. Effortless.

 

Idea from Larry Niven, although his intent was a cocktail glass that would never run out.

[Almu]

Most of my pens are piston fillers, but I much prefer cartridge/converter.

[Karmachanic]

For testing inks and nibs - piston converter, short fill.

For pens inked and occasionaly used- piston converter

For pen/ink combinations that I know I'll use for a while - Bulkfiller and/or ED.

For travel - Bulkfiller/ED with shut-off valve.

 

Add vacuum filler for travel. Have purchased a Penbbs 456 for that purpose.

[Honeybadgers]

I don't know if the 456 actually shuts off - not all vac fillers do, and some can be tweaked to not do it (like the vac mini, uses a separate o ring to seal from the one used for filing)

 

Will definitely be something for me to check when I get mine

[Karmachanic]

I don't know if the 456 actually shuts off - not all vac fillers do, and some can be tweaked to not do it (like the vac mini, uses a separate o ring to seal from the one used for filing)

 

 

Yeah. I'm hoping/assuming it does follow 823/700 precedent.

[Runnin_Ute]

Piston or converter (c/c). It's been long enough since I actually voted I don't recall which I did. If you go by what I use most it would be piston. I think I have six or seven pistons inked at present. All but one of the rest are c/c pens. The loner? A 51 aerometric.

[georges zaslavsky]

Piston Filler followed by Vac Filler for practicality and reliability purposes

[txomsy]

Piston filler.

 

Back in the days when I carried only one or (at most) two pens (loaded with a different ink color each), C/C had the advantage of allowing me to swap in a cartridge if needed.

 

Now, I can afford bringing a couple of pens with the same color in case one runs out, and find piston fillers more convenient or enjoyable.

[Arkanabar]

I prefer piston fillers, but I also like syringe fillers (Noodler's Ahab, FPR's Himalaya), and c/c.

Right now I'm using a Noodler's ED filled with 1:1 diluted Bad Black Moccasin as a Lenten penance, and it's acutally working quite well for me. But I keep it really full, because it has a christmas-tree feed without a lot of ink capacity.

I have some sac fillers -- a lever, a button and a snorkel, and none of them sees much use. Heck, I refill the cartridge in my Pilot Prera more often than I use those pens. But I also have a squeeze-fill Hero 616 ("51" knockoff homage) that is ALWAYS inked and I keep that one inked constantly. But that's because it can be clipped to the outside of my breast pocket, tugged loose for a quick jot, and recapped without issue.

I'd call the TWSBI Go a spring-assist syringe filler.

Edited March 31, 2019 by Arkanabar

[Mr. Pink]

Piston - as long as it has a window. Button next.

 

I like ,lever fillers, but the levers like to stab me under my finger nail