Inkwells for Vac Fillers

[spencerwilli]

Any recommendation for inkwells that work good for vac fillers? Specifically the pilot custom 823? I know Twsbi has theirs but it only works for their pens. I’m also aware of Visconti’s traveling inkwell as well as the pineider, but I’m looking for more of a desk inkwell of some sorts.


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[FredRydr]

...I’m looking for more of a dash inkwell of some sorts.
What is a dash inkwell?

[silverlifter]

...I’m looking for more of a dash inkwell of some sorts.
What is a dash inkwell?

One mounted in your vehicle!

[spencerwilli]

Sorry haha I meant desk


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[Ole Juul]

There were inkwell inset in the school desks when I first went to school in Canada. They were rather small though.

[Chrissy]

Any recommendation for inkwells that work good for vac fillers? Specifically the pilot custom 823? I know Twsbi has theirs but it only works for their pens. I’m also aware of Visconti’s traveling inkwell as well as the pineider, but I’m looking for more of a desk inkwell of some sorts.


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I must disagree with the statement that TWSBI inkwells only work for their pens. I have several TWSBI inkwells and use them with all of my converter fill pens. There are no TWSBI pens in sight anywhere in my house but I really like my TWSBI inkwells. :)

[Chrissy]

Chrissy, do you have any Wing Sung 3013 (aka Pali 013) and/or PenBBS 355 vacuum-filled pens? It'd be good to establish whether TWSBI inkwells work even for those models, beyond the limitation of other-branded converter-filled pens. :D While I understand the O.P. is looking for an inkwell that works for an uncommon and non-representative model of vacuum-filled pens, his claim in dispute is rather more broad. If his choice of pen model is the root cause of any incompatibility, it'd be useful for others who don't use a Pilot Custom 823 to know.
No I don't have any of the pens you mention. The only piston filled pens I have are made by Montblanc, Pelikan, Aurora and Omas. I've never tried filling any of them from a TWSBI inkwell. However, my converter filled pens often fill from them. It depends on the size of hole in the converter as to exactly how well they fill.

I could only help with that one specific fact.

Edit to say that I forgot to mention my Lamy 2000.

[Chrissy]

Alas, I have two Pali 013 and two PenBBS 355, as well as a Wing Sung 699, vacuum-filled pens but no TWSBI inkwells to do the test myself; and, since the O.P. is so specific about his interest only in the Pilot Custom 823, I'm not going to whether certain inkwells I do have works with the Wing Sung 699, or investigate the physical measurements/specifications of the Pilot Custom 823 and compare it with that of the Wing Sung 699. The hazards of being too specific in one's requests for information. :haha:

(I used to work for a very large and rather bureaucratic corporation, and my wife works in a government department and role dealing with frequent Freedom Of Information requests, so we're quite predisposed/conditioned to look at requests for information in a particular way and respond accordingly.)
I might be being a bit thick here but in order to fill a piston filling pen from a complete TWSBI inkwell, or something similar, would you not need to remove the nib and feed from the pen?
While that is a possibility with Pelikan pens it's not something I ever do routinely so it's not something I would be looking to do with any of my pens as a test.

[FredRydr]

...I see no reason why the TWSBI “inkwell” cannot be used to fill any other-branded piston-filled or vacuum-filled pen model, once that attachment is discarded, when the opening of the bottle doesn't look that narrow to me.
Try it on yours and report back. Or can't you remove the attachment without damage?

[FredRydr]

I already stated earlier that I don't have any TWSBI inkwells.
I don't intend to get one.
I don't need to “report back” or do anything on your say-so, I'm afraid.



Or can't you remove the attachment without damage?

I've linked to both TWSBI's own product page and The Pen Addict's review of the product. If the company is claiming that the product is “designed for every type of fountain pen”, and the independent reviewer has described how the attachment can be removed to expose the “filling cone” or (in TWSBI's terminology) “upper reservoir” for filling non-TWSBI pens, I see no reason to question whether removing the attachment would damage the inkwell and interfere with its usability as such.
Oh brother! Not another one.

[spencerwilli]

https://youtu.be/JYMt1wEdWd4

This video may help explain where I’m coming from. The inkwell is threaded to accept the pen section using the cap threads. If I’m correct, this prevents ink from getting all over the grip. Now from what I’ve read, this system only accepts Twsbi pens. I don’t think my Twsbi cap threads onto my custom 823).
The inkwell posted above is the diamond series which any pen could use by just dunking it in there and filling (it also has a threaded cap insert mechanism which allows the 580 to attach after removing the section).
I’m wondering if anyone who’s familiar with the pilot custom 823 knows of an inkwell more similar to the Twsbi vac inkwell reviewed in the video linked to this post.


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[Ole Juul]

This is not what you're looking for, but to satisfy the desire to not get ink all the way up the section when filling a pen, I simply clamp a wooden clothes pin on the pen at the right place to not let the pen go into the bottle any further than I want. It works extremely well and costs nothing. :)

[Chrissy]

https://youtu.be/JYMt1wEdWd4

This video may help explain where I’m coming from. The inkwell is threaded to accept the pen section using the cap threads. If I’m correct, this prevents ink from getting all over the grip. Now from what I’ve read, this system only accepts Twsbi pens. I don’t think my Twsbi cap threads onto my custom 823).
The inkwell posted above is the diamond series which any pen could use by just dunking it in there and filling (it also has a threaded cap insert mechanism which allows the 580 to attach after removing the section).
I’m wondering if anyone who’s familiar with the pilot custom 823 knows of an inkwell more similar to the Twsbi vac inkwell reviewed in the video linked to this post.


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There are clearly at least two different inkwells made by TWSBI. I have the original TWSBI Diamond 50 inkwells and they are quite different from the Vac-20 that you linked to.
I've never seen that TWSBI Vac-20 plastic inkwell in use with a TWSBI Vac-700 pen before, so thank you for sharing the Goulet Pens link showing them working together. It seems that the Vac-20 is specifically designed to only work with the Vac-700 pen.
That particular inkwell works in a similar way to a Visconti Travelling inkwell and they fit different sizes of pens. It's a neat way of filling a pen without getting ink on the grip, but it doesn't contain as much ink as the TWSBI Vac-20 inkwell.

[Chrissy]

I went and looked at the OP's link and saw the Vac-20. That's the one I referred to and I didn't do a search for other TWSBI bottles.
On the TWSBI site there is a Vac20A. Presumably a newer model than the Vac-20 that has been designed with different tops for different TWSBI pens.

@spencerwill: It does mention on the TWSBI site that one of the Vac20A fillers is suitable for all fountain pens

There is another option that I forgot to mention. The Pineider FP filler (http://www.cultpens.com/i/q/PE63949/pineider-fountain-pen-filler?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnb79BRDgARIsAOVbhRp2QtSzD5Rs1 txwPZIbeAf9kcopE4xy2fntGWjLl_QbnBatezMi7BMaArN_EAL w_wcB) works in a similar way to the Visconti travelling inkwell.

[Lloyd]

The vacuum specific advantage of the Peineider and the Visconti is that they can be inverted. I doubt there's an invertible desktop inkwell.

[Chrissy]

@ A Smug Dill: The TWSBI site link search image flashes on and off in your post. I've never seen a site search do that.
I'm absolutely certain that none of the TWSBI inkwells can be inverted while filling pens. Definitely messy.
It's even messy taking off the filler cap part of the Vac-50 inkwell as you end up with a dripping metal tube of ink to deal with. Also, the first time I unscrewed that coloured part of the cap it gave me a really nasty cut across my thumb. Much care is needed with those.

At least spencerwill now knows there is a TWSBI Vac inkwell that might possibly fit his Pilot as well as two potential travelling fillers.

[Chrissy]

@ A Smug Dill: The TWSBI site link search image flashes on and off in your post. I've never seen a site search do that.

The TWSBI site doesn't do that. I took two screenshots, one of the search (and results) for "vac-20" and the other for "vac20", then created an indefinitely looping animated GIF from them, with a pause of 1.5 seconds between each step in the cycle.
Oh right. NP. I can go directly to the site and look at it.

[ChrisJ]

The vacuum specific advantage of the Peineider and the Visconti is that they can be inverted. I doubt there's an invertible desktop inkwell.

Having used a Visconti travel well with a Pilot Custom 823 i agree that the ability to invert helps the vac filling

However its a tricky manoeuvre with one hand holding the pen and inkwell sealed and the other operating the plunger and I’ve experienced seal leaks on a few occasions (totally my fault)

To be honest Im willing to forgo the slightly fuller filling and prefer to fill nib down now with less accidents