Fun with Fountain Pens

I like fountain pens, but often find that the choices in ink cartridges are too limited, and because I like switching colors, I'd need several pens unless I want to be cleaning them out all of the time. I found a solution that, while it may not get me into the pen snob club, makes it pretty easy to have a bunch of fountain pens with practically any color of ink I want at a pretty affordable cost! And, unlike the cheap calligraphy set of my teens that I tried journaling with (in turquoise ink, naturally), my fingers are free of ink stains. I'm sure this isn't a secret to the fountain pen community at large, but it was news to me, and I wanted to share.

It all started with a bottle of ink. I stumbled across a particularly cool ink on Instagram, and started looking around for it. I finally found some on Goulet Pens, and ordered the only bottle they had in stock (4.5 oz). Several of these bottles come with a free pen, "converted to eyedropper." I had no idea what this meant, but figured it to be a bonus since I was getting it anyway.

I also ordered a basic fountain pen (Platinum Preppy, about $4 USD), thinking it was the same brand as some calligraphy pens I had, so I could use the converters* that came with them. I think my favorite part about this site is their massive selection of ink samples. Almost every in-stock ink is available in sample size, so you can try it out before committing to a bottle.

The order arrived promptly, and I soon discovered that the converters I had wouldn't fit the new pen I'd ordered, because they were totally different brands (I should have confirmed). I was so eager to try out this ink that I got it and no way to use it. Then I took a good look at the freebie pen, remembered the "eyedropper" thing and did some looking around online.

I was saved! I could use my new ink, because "converted to eyedropper" meant that the pen was temporarily sealed with an O-ring and silicone grease, so I could take an eyedropper (built into this particular bottle) and fill the entire body with ink.

I had a worthless (to me, at the time) Platinum Preppy pen, but learned that for about $3.50, I could buy enough materials to convert four pens, so of course I ordered what I needed, plus three more pens. I have enough of the grease left to last a loooooong time, so converting future pens will cost roughly 25¢.

Goulet Pens sells the Platinum Preppy fountain pens, markers and highlighters as-is, or already converted for an extra $2 each, but for $3.50, you can convert four if you don't mind getting a little grease on your fingers.

Now for the big test: do I like writing with these pens? I mean, they cost about $4. "Good" pens start in the $25-30 range and go up into the hundreds. Guess what? I really do like writing with these, and I don't care that they're cheap. I do better with some inks than with others: I dearly love the J. Herbin inks I've tried; others have been hit or miss.

I have mostly medium nibs right now, but see that some inks might do better with fine, so I've ordered a couple to try out, plus a couple of the markers. Imagine making your own markers! I'll report back on my experience with those. What I need to do now is label each pen so I can keep the ink and nib combo straight.

Here's how!

You need:

• Platinum Preppy fountain pen** or marker, found at Goulet Pens or JetPens
• Small O-ring
• Silicone Grease (not caulk!) 
• Ink
• Eyedropper or disposable pipette (what I use)

I'm embedding the video that I followed and recommend that you watch it, but it's pretty basic. Put the O-ring over the threads, down to where the nib would screw on snugly, then smear some of the grease around the threads. This makes it pretty waterproof but allows you to open it again. (Do not use silicone caulk! That will permanently seal your pen.) Use an eyedropper or pipette to fill the clear body of the pen, then screw on the nib. Done!

*A small, refillable tool that you can fill with any ink and use in place of a plastic cartridge.
**Note about prices: Jet Pens sells the fountain pens for $3 each and has free shipping at $25. I love them and can't recommend them highly enough. However, they don't sell the silicone grease, O-rings or ink samples, so I got my first few pens from Goulet at $3.95 each after calculating shipping, etc. .