Fountain Pen Help Please

vickym

Hi Sorry if this is in wrong thread please feel free to move it

I have been bought the most gorgeous DUKE fountain pen. The problem is that inside the bit where the cartridge normally goes has a metal cartridge style tubing which seems to have a rubber sac in the centre. I have looked on various websites and realised that this is the "mechanism for refilling the fountain pen with ink"

But - I am unsure on the following
1) the sac is visible inside the metal casing and is dark blue/black - does this mean that ink is already in the pen or not - I have tried fitting the metal bit into the pen like you would a cartridge but the pen doesnt seem to work - so then I washed the nib - but still no joy

2) To refill the mechanism do I take the metal tubing bit out of the pen then dip the end in ink and press the small metal bar hovering just over the sac to suck ink into the sac OR
Do i dip the nib of the pen in ink and press the metal bar

Any help most appreciated.

Thanks

Vicky

Phil51

Ahh, the old days come rushing back!!

If the pen is new there will not be any ink in it. To start with you can put any colour ink in that you want. To change the ink colour though the sac must be empty and completely dry. The colour of the rubber sac is just its colour.

To fill the pen is like filling a turkey baster! Dip the whole of the nib into the bottle of ink, press the sac and off you go.

Dee140157

Oh the joy. This will save you so much money. Ink is so much cheaper than refills and definitely in the spirit of mse.

When you hold the pen in the ink, you will need to squeeze all the air out and then release to allow the ink to be taken in. You may need to do three or four times to get the best refill.

Be warned though, you will need a tissue to wipe the nib when finished.

After that write away!

looby-loo_2

Do as has been explained above but when dipping the pen nib in the ink pot be careful not to accidentally press it on the bottom of the ink pot or you will damage the nib IYSWIM.

vickym

Thanks so much to you all for your kind help

I was starting to think I was going mad - thinking the sac already had ink in. you would think they would make the sac clear wouldnt you - that way you could tell if it has ink in it or not.

Off today to get a bottle of ink (decent one) for my lovely new pen.
my sister advised me last night to try to source some cartridges for it (parker ones dont fit too long) but like Dee says using bottled ink is true money saving and if I am being honest I am really looking forward to giving it a go the old way using bottled ink.

Will defo have tissues at the ready - no doubt I will have ink on my hands after my first attemp - but hey no pain no gain.

I will report back and let you all know how I get on. Once again thank you so much for all your kind help. I spent about an hour searching on the internet yesterday for this advice and couldnt find anything and then my husband said "why dont you ask them on MSE - you are always raving about that site" - I think he was trying to be sarcastic - but hey who's laughing now.

MSE'rs are GREAT :beer:

Who needs search engines when we all got each other with practical day to day advice

Have a great day everyone

Love Vicky xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx