FPGeeks Give Away #9

[eriquito]

This week's Give Away is a veritable grab-bag of goodly goodies!

• A Moleskin Sketchbook
• A bottle of vintage Skrip Ink
• Two (count 'em, two) Hero Fountain Pens

To enter the Give Away, just reply to this thread telling us which fountain pen filling system you prefer. I'm currently enamored with eyedroppers. How about you? Piston? C/C? Vacumatic? Let us know your preference and your reason - perhaps you'll sway someone =)

The deadline for entry is Sunday, May 23rd at 11:59PM (your local time). Good luck!

[Wile E Coyote]

The Pilot vacuum filling system used in the 823.

[James]

I really like the Parker aerometric style converters, with the rubber sac surrounded by a metal cage.

[penspouse]

I like the piston fill first, and then the aerometric "51". Ease of use and capacity are the main reasons. I don't care for C/C fill systems. IMHO integrated systems with simplicity are the way to go.

[donwinn]

I am back and forth between the Parker Vacumatic filling system, as in the 1946 Black Vacumatic I carry daily, and the button filler in the 1930s Duofold Junior I also carry daily. Eyedropper is actually my least favorite, because of the blobbing/burping, and, I like to change ink colors around, and an eyedropper takes forever to run out of ink.

Donnie

[onedumbtrucker]

I would have to go with the Sheaffer Snorkel filler. I am an engineer by nature and education and I love the elegant complexity of it, how much fun it is to play with (ahem, I mean fill) and most of all, I love working with all the little pieces and how nice it works when restored well.

Dan

[Koyote]

I have a piston filler (Pelikan), a c/c filler, a lever filler (Esterbrook), and a Sheaffer Legacy with a weird system -- it takes a Sheaffer cartridge or a converter that allows it to be used like a Touchdown to fill from a bottle without opening the pen.

I guess I should prefer the piston filler for it's large capacity, but really, any of them will hold enough ink for me. So, umm, I have to choose a favorite? Okay, let's go with the weird Sheaffer c/c Touchdown thingy. Works well, holds enough ink, and if the converter ever breaks I can just pop in a cartridge.

[twigee89]

I love the eyedropper fill because there is something therapeutic about rinsing the pens then filling them...plus its fun to watch the ink swish back and forth :-P

[MaryMG]

My favorite filling system is the piston filler for their large capacity and ease of use. My second favorite would be lever fillers. I really don't like C/C systems. Thanks for the give-a-way.

[Kelly G]

I am currently preferring the Sheaffer Vacuum filling system. When properly restored they fill easily and hold a ton of ink. One of my current carry pens is an OS Sheaffer Balance vac filler and it is great. But, I'll use any filler system if I like the pen - no use letting the secondary considerations discourage one from using a great writing pen.

[Ted H]

I'm kinda liking eyedroppers, too, with piston fill in second place. It can be fun to convert c/c's into eyedroppers--besides the huge ink capacity, they also seem to have better ink flow.

[TWRDO]

I'm a fan of Sheaffer Snorkels. Not a simple design, but elegant and effective.

[Sharkbait]

My favorite is the aerometric filling system is my favorite because its the easiest to clean and fill!

[JohnCruzNg]

The fountain pen filling system I prefer is Pilot's C/C fillers. In my Custom 74 it allows me to choose between an aerometric filler, a piston filler, a button filler (I think that is what it is called), and a cartridge. So many choices all within one pen. I like to keep my options open because during classes I ran out of ink my piston filler so I just removed the piston and inserted a cartridge. I love it!

[Okami]

I love my bulb filler but my Mitaka eyedropper is pretty cool. Both hold a ton of ink and are easy to flush.

[Tberry010]

I like C/C systems because of the ability to quickly change ink, but I also like piston fillers forthe ink capacity, and I have several eye droppers that I use regularly.But, C/C ismy favorite.

[Maruk]

Based on what I have seen at Richard Binders site for filling systems, I would probably have to say that I would be most enamored with piston and vacuum-fill (plunger) for their simplicity and volume. As an engineer, the snorkel and aero-metric systems intrigues me - but I know that more complexity is not always the best.

I view C/C with only one advantage - it is easy to use a bulb syringe to clean the nib assembly with. Some filling systems do not allow for this quick-clean method without a complete strip or various other methods of dis-assembly. I don't like the trade-off of capacity/ease of filling to maintanence, but I do recognize it.

[nrepose]

I have used only a few filling systems: c/c, lever and aerometric. I have also converted several pens into eyedroppers by using silicon gel. I have yet to try a piston filler, but it seems to me the most simple way fill without having to worry about cartridges. I do love converters and the piston system it, as I see it, a converter that is built into the pen. Convenient and easy. Nr

[vmuniz]

I like the aerometric converters, the Parker 51 or Hero 100 style. They're simple, relatively quick to fill, and they flush the pen better than pistons.

[Thrage1]

The filling system I prefer most is piston filler. My number 2 pick would be the crescent filler. It looks somehow so feirce.