Ink Bottle vs. Cartridges

[Davep]

Good places to get ink?

Things to look for or stay away from?

 

[Shangas]

I use bottled ink, and have done since the age of 13. There are several reasons for this...

1. Bottled ink is cheaper in the long-run.
2. Bottled ink looks nicer.
3. Bottled ink comes in more variety.
4. Bottled ink means that you fill and flush your pen when you use it, thereby keeping the pen clean.

I don't use cartridges, because...

1. They're more expensive.
2. They can dry out faster.
3. It adds to landfill.
4. As ink only flows one way (out of the cartridge), there's the possibility of ink drying in the nib and feed, which will clog the pen, something that's less likely to happen if you bottle-feed a fountain pen, with ink going both ways, and flushing the feed clean with each refill.

 

[Widebrim]

I use bottled ink, and have done since the age of 13. There are several reasons for this...

1. Bottled ink is cheaper in the long-run.
2. Bottled ink looks nicer.
3. Bottled ink comes in more variety.
4. Bottled ink means that you fill and flush your pen when you use it, thereby keeping the pen clean.

I don't use cartridges, because...

1. They're more expensive.
2. They can dry out faster.
3. It adds to landfill.
4. As ink only flows one way (out of the cartridge), there's the possibility of ink drying in the nib and feed, which will clog the pen, something that's less likely to happen if you bottle-feed a fountain pen, with ink going both ways, and flushing the feed clean with each refill.

Good points.:eusa_clap

 

[Shangas]

Thanks, WideBrim

In response to Dave's post, at the top of this page...:

Any good pen or stationery store ought to have fountain pen ink. Just make sure it's ink FOR fountain pens. None of this Chinese/India ink, powdered ink, iron-gall ink, etc. As that stuff will clog up your pen and you can kiss grandpa's Parker '51' with which he wrote home passionate love-letters to Nana while fighting the Japs on Iwo Jima, goodbye.

I find that inks made by the old-school, well-established pen-companies, work best.

Waterman, Sheaffer, Parker, Montblanc (but beware of MB blue/black, it can be troublesome), Diamine, Conway-Stewart, etc, are all good fountain pen ink manufacturers. There's also the Noodler's Ink Co. which produces some really wonderful fountain pen inks. More expensive than normal, but then, these come in bigger bottles and in more colours than the known light-spectrum.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

My ink is Quink...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quink

-dixon cannon

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Wow! Guess what I just discovered through this thread?....

The pen I got from my Dad in 1966 is in fact a "Parker 51"

http://www.rickconner.net/penspotters/parker.51.html

While researching my Quink ink, I read up on the Parker 51
and thought, "Hey! That looks familiar!". Sure enough -
mine is the '51 Mark II, Flighter in Bungundy.
Here's a pic for your edification:

-dixon '51 cannon

 

[Davep]

I stumbled onto this, Noodlers' new line of WW2 inks, thier v-mail line
http://fpnkookychick.blogspot.com/2009/06/noodlers-v-mail-ink-series.html

I want a blue, but thier blue isn't dark enough for my liking.

But Dixon's suggestion of "quink" may be more up my alley. Here is a 60+ year old bottle of the stuff, I wonder if it still good? This is "micro-film" black ink

http://cgi.ebay.com/PARKER-QUINK-V-....c0.m14&_trkparms=65:1|66:2|39:1|293:1|294:50


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3652/3600716154_1652b06e04_b.jpg

 

[FinalVestige79]

I got an original bottle of Quink and about 7 sets of original v-mail stationary I'm deciding whether to keep them for my display or not.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

I just bought a new bottle...

...after eleven years! Here's the receipt to prove it! This stuff is the greatest!

-dixon 'quink' cannon

 

[Widebrim]

I stumbled onto this, Noodlers' new line of WW2 inks, thier v-mail line
http://fpnkookychick.blogspot.com/2009/06/noodlers-v-mail-ink-series.html

I want a blue, but thier blue isn't dark enough for my liking.

But Dixon's suggestion of "quink" may be more up my alley. Here is a 60+ year old bottle of the stuff, I wonder if it still good? This is "micro-film" black ink

http://cgi.ebay.com/PARKER-QUINK-V-....c0.m14&_trkparms=65:1|66:2|39:1|293:1|294:50


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3652/3600716154_1652b06e04_b.jpg

I've had and sold a couple of bottles. It will likely still be good, but you would be wise to filter it first to take out any "impurities."

 

[Davep]

I've had and sold a couple of bottles. It will likely still be good, but you would be wise to filter it first to take out any "impurities."

How would you go about filtering it?

For the price the bottled is going for on ebay, it would be very cool to actually be using actual WW2 era ink. But obvious safer to use a new bottle.

 

[Shangas]

Vintage ink is safe to use, provided...

1. It's not mouldy.

2. It hasn't turned to sludge or dried out.

3. It doesn't have impurities.

1 - answer - Can't use it! Chuck it out.

2 - answer - Sludgy ink can sometimes be saved, by adding water to it to reconstitute the ink to its original mixture of dye and water (that's all ink is!)

3 - answer - Strain the ink through something like a sieve or better yet, an old handkerchief, to catch any impurities.

If you're really lucky, you'll get a bottle with none of these problems. If so, go ahead and use it! Ink doesn't have an expiry date.

 

[Edward]

mine is the '51 Mark II, Flighter in Bungundy.
Here's a pic for your edification:

-dixon '51 cannon

I may be wrong, but that looks more like a 61 to me? Or is there just a lot of ink sitting on the business end? This is a 51:

I wish Parker would reissue the 51 in a proper 51 format. They did do one as a special edition a few years ago, but it was silly money and not really a proper 51 internally. I suppose maybe they just think there isn't the market for it - and they'd know better than I, I imagine! - but wouldn't it be great to be able to buy a new 51 aeromatic fill in the sub-USD50 bracket?

Regarding the OP, I personally prefer bottled ink. Several reasons:

a. it's cheaper
b. better range of colours
c. more environmentally responsible (I can recycle the bottled inks).

I use a mix of pens which are traditional fountains, and others which are cartridge pens with which I use converters. I tend to carry more than one so I'm not caught on the hop. I can see how it would be useful to have a cartridge pen if travelling for long periods, though. If looking for a range of colours in cartridges, best I've seen is the Waterman range. Cheapest place to bulk-buy seems to be eBay.

 

[John in Covina]

In a question form please.

What is a "coffee Filter"?

 

[Shangas]

Edward, I don't think that pen is a '61' or a '51'. I think it's a '45'. Parker '45's were produced during the 1960s. They only very recently STOPPED making them.

Whatever pen this is, it's not a 'flighter'. Flighters had stainless steel caps and barrels with black hoods. This only has a stainless-steel cap, and therefore, is not a flighter.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

I may be wrong, but that looks more like a 61 to me? Or is there just a lot of ink sitting on the business end? This is a 51:

Here's the 61: http://www.rickconner.net/penspotters/parker.61.html Look at that tip.
The 61s can be distinguished from 51s by the little metal arrow inlaid just behind the point.

Here's the 51: Mark II (1948-1969)
-Arrow clip
-Aerometric filler (full-length steel capsule with black plastic end cap) under removable barrel.
-Metal barrel models: Flighter (brushed stainless steel), Signet (gold-filled),
-Presidential (solid gold).
-Black, Midnight Blue, Navy Gray, Cocoa, Forest Green, Burgundy, Teal Blue

-dixon cannon

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Ok. I will concede....

... a Parker 45 Burgundy Gold Trim with Dome Fountain Pen Medium Nib, it is!
http://www.montgomerypens.com/product_detail.asp?product_id=1815

Next!

-dixon cannon

 

[Shangas]

Oooh yah! Oooh yah! Who called it? Who called it!?

I KNEW I WAS RIGHT! w00t!!

Nice pen, anyway I like '45's.

 

[Davep]

I recently purchased some blue/black quink. I noticed that after a few days of not using the pen, the ink will start out a faded lite green tinted blue, rather than the deep blue/black.

If I start writing the color comes back, but never as rich. I reloaded the pen with fresh ink, and of course the color is great. But I'm wondering if this is something that is par for the course

 

[Davep]

you shall recieve something that looks like

with which you do...what he shows in the video

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1106754/filling_a_piston_cartridge_converter_fountain_pen/

there...you are now inked and dangerous


ps...i sort of -like- the bizzare colors I end up with by not -really- flushing out pens well...i rinse..but i have not enough patience for it.

I got a pen, that didn't come with the converter. Are most of the good converters, universal?