Empty Cartridge Refilling

In this National Letter Writing Month and Write_On, I've been getting a lot of use out of my fountain pen. Mind you, I keep forgetting to buy ink cartridge refills for my Kaweco Perkeo despite the fact that I work where they are sold. And, it is also possible to buy a converter, to have a refillable cartridge ready to go for my pen. Nope. I keep forgetting all of that and end up with a dry pen.

However, I do have in my house the following:

• Bottles of fountain pen ink
• A blunt needle syringe 

So, armed with those tools, I am able to take my empty cartridge from my pen and refill it. Viola! Back in business and able to use the fancy J. Herbin anniversary ink I bought ages ago. Here's the step-by-step visually on Instagram. It's a pretty simple process. The most difficult part is acquiring a syringe if you don't already have one (like me, who is an arty weirdo). 

1. Disassemble your pen and remove the empty cartridge
2. Unscrew your ink and insert the needle 
3. Draw up a small amount of ink into the syringe
4. Insert the needle into the empty cartridge
5. SLOWLY fill the cartridge with ink from the syringe
6. Carefully reload the cartridge into your pen
7. Resume writing

Oh, and clean everything out with water after. I'm a slap-dash fountain pen user and don't get very futzy with flushing my pen. I like the look of the colors blending together as I change inks. As a tip, with the J. Herbin anniversary inks, make sure to shake the bottle to disperse the metallic particles throughout the ink before you fill your syringe. Otherwise you may end up with too many which will clog your pen or too few to make the ink sparkle. So, there's your emergency refill option. Happy Writing!

 

 

Comments

[Joe F.]

Heck, that's become my *preferred* option for getting new ink in a fountain pen. The cartridge holds more than most converters do, and I tend to make less of a mess than with other filling-from-the-bottle methods. (I can generally be trusted not to make a mess if I'm using a manufacturer-filled cartridge. Generally.)

[Victoria]

I actually picked up a pair of eye droppers at a local pharmacy and they work great for refilling the cartridges too!

[Robert Burnham]

I find that it's worthwhile to have a kleenex handy to wipe down the syringe needle after filling from the bottle. If you don't, you can leave ink from the outside of the needle all around the cartidge's puncture hole, leading to a mess when you start injecting ink.

Also, I insert the needle almost to the bottom of the cartridge before injecting the ink. This tends to produce less "bubble up" at the puncture hole.

With a wide-mouth cartridge such fussiness may not matter much, but with small-hole cartridges like Esterbrooks, it reduces the chance of messes.