Starting to Use my Fountain Pen

It isn't so very long ago that everyone owned at least two or three fountain pens, but then the bic biro, and other inferior writing tools grew in popularity forcing the time honored fountain pen off the market; few bought fountain pens, few stocked fountain pens and few made fountain pens.

But that has all changed. Fountain pens have made a remarkable come back, and are now one of the must have accessories of 2007.

A few die-hards never stopped using fountain pens, and for them filling a ink converter or inserting an ink cartridge is second nature, but for others, especially the young uns amongst us who have never used a fountain pen, it is a little bit of a learning curve - steeper for some than for others. So we thought we'd give you a few practical tips. Feel free surf elsewhere if you can fill a converter in your sleep.

Fountain pens need a steady supply of good quality ink. They can hold ink in two ways. No. 1, in an ink converter, No. 2. in an ink cartridge.

Ink Converters:

All our pens come with an ink converter; they come in two different designs, one is designed like a syringe (remember the ones you used to play with as a kid after you had your needles), the other is a simple rubber condom. Remove the pen's cap and then, depending on the design of your pen, you need to twist, or pull, the pen into two sections to expose the converter - and have a look to see which converter your pen comes with.

If you would like to use the ink converter, rather than ink cartridges, you need to fill it with ink. First, remove the ink converter from the pen - pull it out firmly, if necessary give it a slight twist to loosen it. Second, taken the open end of the converter and dip it into the ink well (you should be able to purchase a bottle of ink from any good stationary store). Three, if your converter is designed like a syringe then you need to twist the black plunger right down to the bottom of the converter, and then gently twist the black plunger back up - this will pull the ink back into the ink converter. If your converter has a simple rubber condom then squeeze the soft point several times allowing the ink to fill the converter.

Okay, now that your ink converter is full of ink, take the converter and insert it back into the pen pushing it in firmly to ensure it is secure.

Alternatively, you can fill the ink converter via the nib without removing the ink converter from the pen. Simply insert the nib, rather than the open end of the converter into the ink well, and pull the ink up into the converter.

You are now ready to write. The first time you use your pen you may need to give the pen a few firm shakes with the nib pointing down to encourage the ink to flow. The more you use your pen, the more smoothly and easily the ink will flow.

Ink Cartridges:

If all that sounds a little too complicated for you, then you might be better off with ink cartridges - though I think you'll find that like most small practical skills it is much easier to 'do' than to 'describe.'

If you would like to use an ink cartridge then you need to begin by removing the ink converter from the pen; pull it out firmly, if necessary give it a slight twist to loosen it. Be sure to keep it in case you decide to use it at a later date. Then take your ink cartridge and insert the the narrower of the two ends into the pen - into the same opening that the ink converter came out of. You can push the ink cartridge quite firmly without causing any damage, and again giving the cartridge a little twist may help to push it in.

You are now ready to write. The first time you use your pen you many need to give the pen a few firm shakes with the nib pointing down to encourage the ink to flow. The more you use your pen the more smoothly and easily the ink will flow.

We hope this helps. If you have any difficulties at all please don't hesitate to contact us. And/or if you have some interesting tips that might help others please feel free to blog away.