Confessions of an Inkaholic

[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.