How to Fill a Fountain Pen

Fountain pens have a wide selection of inks and need to be re-filled after several uses. For beginners, refilling a fountain pen can be a messy task. As you become more experienced, the process will become easier and mess-free.

It is important to understand the parts of a fountain pen before you refill it. There are four parts including the cap, nib, barrel and ink reservoir. Your fountain pen will most likely have a piston converter as the reservoir. Other fountain pens have cartridges or ink bladders.

Step 1: Gather Materials

To refill a fountain pen, the first step is to gather your materials. Have your pen, ink, paper towels or newspaper ready next to a sink.

Step 2: Remove the Cap

Once you have your pen ready, remove the cap and the barrel by turning it counterclockwise. When you unscrew the barrel, you will be able to determine what type of reservoir you have.

Step 3: Dip the Nib

A pen with a piston as the reservoir will have a blind cap. The blind cap sits at the end of the barrel and needs to be unscrewed to fill. Keep in mind that the cap never comes off the pen. To start filling, dip the nib and the section where you hold the pen into the ink. The nib needs to be completely covered.

Step 4: Unscrew Blind Cap

Start unscrewing the blind cap in a counterclockwise direction until it stops spinning. This pushes the air out. Once it stops rotating, you must twist the top clockwise to begin drawing the ink up into the converter.

Step 5: Release Ink

The final step is to hold the pen over the bottle of ink with the nib facing down. Twist the converter counterclockwise one more time so that some ink flows out of the tip. Use blotter paper to blot excess ink from the nib.

Refilling Cartridge Pens

Other types of fountain pens have different refilling methods. A cartridge pen requires you to unscrew the nib, remove the old cartridge from the converter, and push in a new one into the nib. Once you hear a click, it means the cartridge is installed.

Refilling Ink Bladders

Some fountain pens use ink bladders for refilling. To start, you must place the fountain pen nib into the bottle of ink and press a metal bar that is located on the side of the pen. This deflates the bladder. To refill, you must slowly release the bar so that it draws up the ink. You may have to repeat this step a couple times to completely fill.

Once you have refilled your fountain pen, be sure to use blotter paper to get rid of excess ink before writing. Most fountain pens come with instructions on how to refill.

Fountain Pen Resources

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