Confessions of an Inkaholic

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Okay, time to fess up.

Who uses the whole fill of ink, and who swaps ink before the fill is done?

Extra question: those who only use a partial fill, do you put the remains back in the bottle?



For myself I have, on occasion, here and there, once or twice, not used the whole fill. :redface::redface:

[mhosea]

I always dump the ink before it's out. Thing is, I don't write much, just notes, calculations, and rough design drawings, so eventually I get a clue from how concentrated the ink becomes that I ought to think about doing something. In some cases I just add distilled water, but eventually I just dump out the ink and start over with something else, usually after cleaning out that pen and putting it away. Just this evening, I dumped what turned out to be 3 very concentrated drops of Montblanc Irish Green out of a Forest Green Parker 51. The ink went into the sink, not the bottle. Switched to a Montblanc 146 with Montblanc Lavender Purple. Don't know how long that will last. I like the color, but in the past I haven't lasted a whole fill of a 146 before wanting something else. And the 146 holds a lot of ink. Probably I shouldn't have filled it so full.

[migo984]

Both use up, & also empty leftovers, depending on circumstances.
Never empty back into bottle.

[Sagebrush64]

Both here.....but mostly dump it before it runs dry and never back in the bottle since sometimes I forget what ink is in it!!

[although]

Im guilty of all of the above. I probably write pens dry about 50% of the time. When I decide to clear one out early, I usually dump them down the sink, but I have dumped back in the bottle a couple of times. If memory serves, those times involved cases where I just didn't like a pen / ink combo and had only recently filled the pen. It just felt too wasteful dumping out a full pen... Probably not a great idea in retrospect. Like pouring a partial glass of milk back in the jug :)

[Deb]

My own pens, the ones I use to write with, I use all the ink. I also write-test the pens I sell. I use only part of a fill for that and the remainder goes back in the bottle.

[catbert]

Usually I write my pens dry. If a pen and ink don't get along, I'll dump the ink into a sample vial. If I want a different colour, I'll ink up another pen — I have (more than) enough without having to empty one that's already filled with something else.

[Chrissy]

I always dump the ink before it's out. Thing is, I don't write much, just notes, calculations, and rough design drawings, so eventually I get a clue from how concentrated the ink becomes that I ought to think about doing something. In some cases I just add distilled water, but eventually I just dump out the ink and start over with something else, usually after cleaning out that pen and putting it away. Just this evening, I dumped what turned out to be 3 very concentrated drops of Montblanc Irish Green out of a Forest Green Parker 51. The ink went into the sink, not the bottle. Switched to a Montblanc 146 with Montblanc Lavender Purple. Don't know how long that will last. I like the color, but in the past I haven't lasted a whole fill of a 146 before wanting something else. And the 146 holds a lot of ink. Probably I shouldn't have filled it so full.
I don't fill any of my pens completely full. It saves me wasting so much ink. :)

[ethernautrix]

If the cart. is mostly full (cos I've changed my mind within a day), then I have been known to syringe it out and return it to the bottle, but these days, I tape up the cart. and label what ink it is. Saves me time when whimsy suggests I try that ink again.

Otherwise, I tend to top off the cartridges before they run dry. I fill a few of my pens with the same inks fairly consistently, but there are a few that I haven't quite matched the ink to (thus the "cheapies" for the non-"EDC" colors).

I haven't quite figured out what my "EDC" blue/blue-black is. The candidates are: Pilot Blue, Pilot Blue-Black, KWŻ Niebiesky galusowy #1 (Blue IG), KWŻ Azure #2, and... probably some other blue. Or gray. (Noodler's Lexington Gray is such a beautiful match for the Pilot Falcon (SEF) that recently when I tried to change the ink, I had to change it back within the day.) (The other gray vying for an "EDC" spot is Faber-Castell Stone Grey.)

Most-used ink (currently in four pens) is Noodler's Black. This is the ink that gets topped off the most.


P.S. If I don't save the ink in the cartridge (seal it, however clumsily), then I wash it down the drain. If I don't save it in the cartridge, it's cos there isn't much left.

[VertOlive]

This is why I seldom fill the converter beyond halfway; I have a kind of "Ink Attention Deficit Disorder" and always want to switch pens and inks quickly.

I write them dry, but it doesn't take as long to do so.

[Kulprit]

The only time I dump/refill is when I’m trying a new pen/ink combo and immediately determine it’s not a match made in heaven. In that case I’ll dump it back into the bottle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[grainweevil]

Not quite sure why an aura of guilt and confession has to be ascribed to this, but anyway...

I am an unashamed ink butterfly. There are a lot of inks, a lot of pens, I like to favour as many of them as I can so none of them feel left out. So I usually only partial fill, for a start, because while I will throw ink away I don't see the need to be wasteful with it for no reason. Then I write. If it's a poor pen/ink match, I empty it again. Life's too short for unhappy pen and ink marriages. If it's a good match, I'll probably write it out. If I'm in the middle of something, I may even refill it. If I get bored before the end, I'll empty it out. Never back in the bottle, usually down the drain, recently in an old bottle just to see what colour I might get (mainly on a theme of green, funnily enough). At some point that'll go down the drain too, because I don't hate any pen* enough to inflict such a mish-mash of inks on it.

To sum up: ink is cheap; my time available to use it is short. Would rather waste ink than time.


*Except maybe the Jinhao 922. But that cracked up ages ago and is in the great pen pot in the sky. Or maybe, if there's any justice, somewhere lower down...

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Not quite sure why an aura of guilt and confession has to be ascribed to this, but anyway...

Let's just assume it was a tongue-in-cheek way to start a conversation.


Hadn't thought about saving dribs and drabs and mixing them. Might give it a go. :jester:

Generally though I do use the whole fill, and usually make myself do it if using one of the pricier inks (Sailor for example, because these inks are not cheap to me!)

[whichwatch]

This thread is absolutely fascinating to me and has made me feel better.

I thought I was strange because I don't write that much, like to change pens and inks frequently, and therefore took to only filling the converters part way. Now I find out there are many others who do the same.

I am most certainly still strange, but apparently not because of my ink usage habit!

Thank you all for providing a morning smile!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Okay, time to fess up.

Who uses the whole fill of ink, and who swaps ink before the fill is done?

Extra question: those who only use a partial fill, do you put the remains back in the bottle?



For myself I have, on occasion, here and there, once or twice, not used the whole fill. :redface::redface:

Almost always, I will grind through a fill with gritted teeth, even disliking the ink. I have to absolutely despise the ink/pen combo before jettisoning the fluid.

That said, I rarely do complete fills, unless it's a tried-and-true combination.

[Paddler]

Right now, I am writing with a Sheaffer Statesman with a Touchdown filling system. The pen sports an ink window, but the ink doesn't go there; I can't tell how full the pen is before I go on a real writing toot. So whenever I push the plunger, whatever ink is left in the pen goes into the bottle before the pen inhales a new fill. I haven't seen any biological activity in my ink bottles for many years. Snorkels and TipDip pens have the same "problem".

Lever, piston, VacFill, and cartridge pens easily show their fill levels. I can check them before I "take 'em to the woods".

I always rinse a pen before changing inks. You have to take chemistry into account.

[grainweevil]

Generally though I do use the whole fill, and usually make myself do it if using one of the pricier inks (Sailor for example, because these inks are not cheap to me!)

Ah, cloudless-sky-but-the-sun's-getting-in-my-eyes-and-the-shades-you've-given-me-don't-fit-exactly-right, you fail to value both your money and your time. Save the former and let Sailor and their ridiculous prices go for a long walk off a short pier, and value the latter by using it well to seek the perfect balance of pen and ink in order to embrace true fountain pen nirvana.

You're welcome. Leave a donation in the rice bowl on your way back down the mountain. Ommmmm...

[Chrissy]

Almost always, I will grind through a fill with gritted teeth, even disliking the ink. I have to absolutely despise the ink/pen combo before jettisoning the fluid.

That said, I rarely do complete fills, unless it's a tried-and-true combination.

Because I hardly ever completely fill my pens (apart from when I use cartridges) especially when I'm reviewing an ink, I don't often have a problem of having to "grind through a fill with gritted teeth." If the fill has been in the pen for a while, the unused ink goes into an ink vial.

[Voiren]

I also don't do complete fills unless I know I will be using that pen and ink combo for a while.

[Lady Onogaro]

I always dump the ink before it's out. Thing is, I don't write much, just notes, calculations, and rough design drawings, so eventually I get a clue from how concentrated the ink becomes that I ought to think about doing something. In some cases I just add distilled water, but eventually I just dump out the ink and start over with something else, usually after cleaning out that pen and putting it away. Just this evening, I dumped what turned out to be 3 very concentrated drops of Montblanc Irish Green out of a Forest Green Parker 51. The ink went into the sink, not the bottle. Switched to a Montblanc 146 with Montblanc Lavender Purple. Don't know how long that will last. I like the color, but in the past I haven't lasted a whole fill of a 146 before wanting something else. And the 146 holds a lot of ink. Probably I shouldn't have filled it so full.
I don't fill any of my pens completely full. It saves me wasting so much ink. :)

You know what? I've never thought of doing this. I always aim for a full fill, and then since I usually write the whole thing out, it takes FOREVER to write it dry. I'm going to have to try that.

[catbert]

I've always taken a not-full fill as a given, having started out not knowing the methods for achieving one, and now rarely needing one.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Okay, you convinced me: some DA USC (that I overfilled on a too-dry Nemosine) is going back into the bottle.

[calamus]

I usually end up getting on a roll with a certain pen and ink combination, and then I write till it's dry then refill with the same ink, then write till it's dry again, then refill again, etc., until I decide to change for any number of reasons. If the converter is dry at that point, then I just clean it and the pen and let them dry, and go onto the next pen/ink combo. If the converter is half full or less, I'll dump out the remainder of the ink in the sink, and if it's mostly full, it goes back into the bottle if I feel confident that there's been no contamination.

[aquafox]

I'm a one ink, and (mostly) one pen user. Although as I write exclusively with iron gall inks, using up a whole fill is often problematic, as the nib develops a crust and the flow is just terrible, so the last bit - 1/3 and below of sac or pen body - goes back into the bottle, before I flush the pen with tap water and vinegar.

[azkid]

Definitely both.

For my daily users I like to find which one of my black inks that works best in the pen and then I just write those dry and refill with the same.

If I try an ink and it doesn't work I dump it back in it's sample vial if I have one or down the sink with some regret.

With color inks I usually run the pen dry unless I really dislike using the ink for some reason.

I like converter or piston pens where I can do a partial fill.

[Chrissy]

I'm a one ink, and (mostly) one pen user. Although as I write exclusively with iron gall inks, using up a whole fill is often problematic, as the nib develops a crust and the flow is just terrible, so the last bit - 1/3 and below of sac or pen body - goes back into the bottle, before I flush the pen with tap water and vinegar.
I'm not sure I would flush my pens with vinegar. It's more acid than just water. On the other hand I don't use IG inks, so maybe the ink demands that vinegar is used to flush it.

[Eddie Southgate]

After I decide what ink I like best in a particular pen I do complete fills and always use the same ink in it . I rinse the pen when it writes dry and refill with the same ink . I would have no problem with putting ink back in the bottle since I know exactly which bottle it came from . I usually only have 5 or 6 pens inked at any one time so they are pretty easy to keep up with .

Eddie

[calamus]

After I decide what ink I like best in a particular pen I do complete fills and always use the same ink in it . I rinse the pen when it writes dry and refill with the same ink . I would have no problem with putting ink back in the bottle since I know exactly which bottle it came from . I usually only have 5 or 6 pens inked at any one time so they are pretty easy to keep up with .

Eddie

You must be a lot younger than me. Five or six pens inked for very long, and I'll forget what's in at least one, maybe two of them, particularly if it's a dark blue.

[Sailor Kenshin]

After I decide what ink I like best in a particular pen I do complete fills and always use the same ink in it . I rinse the pen when it writes dry and refill with the same ink . I would have no problem with putting ink back in the bottle since I know exactly which bottle it came from . I usually only have 5 or 6 pens inked at any one time so they are pretty easy to keep up with .

Eddie

You must be a lot younger than me. Five or six pens inked for very long, and I'll forget what's in at least one, maybe two of them, particularly if it's a dark blue.

My secret is, I write it down. ;)

[DickBrowne]

I'm finding this thread interesting because I've been cogitating exactly this over the past few weeks - I have inks I'd like to change, but the level of ink in each pen is still considerable, I've thought about dumping the contents back into the original bottle, but have never done it yet.

[jacksterp]

Fill 'er up. Use it up or dump it into the sink.

I have far too much ink to worry about it...

[VertOlive]

Reading this reminds me that I've got an eyedropper that's gone beyond forever with The Wrong Ink aboard. It's too dry for the pen and I'm tired of the color. Time for a flush and new ink!

[Chrissy]

I'm finding this thread interesting because I've been cogitating exactly this over the past few weeks - I have inks I'd like to change, but the level of ink in each pen is still considerable, I've thought about dumping the contents back into the original bottle, but have never done it yet.
I believe this depends on several factors. How well you clean your pens before you fill them and how long has the ink been in the pen. I am OCD about cleaning and drying my pens, and when I add a converter full of ink to write a review and it's in there for less than 3 days, then I have been known to sometimes put the remaining ink back into the sample that I took it from. After all, the ink was only a sample to start with. :)