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How to Refill a Fountain Pen

The earliest known fountain pen was created in 1702; more than 100 years later shoemaker Peregrin Williamson took out a patent for an American-made fountain pen. Parker and Schaeffer, other noted fountain pen manufacturers, arrived on the scene by 1819. Even though these companies were hard at work creating a new system that would replace the quill and ink, the concept wasn't catching on with the public. Early pens leaked or the ink dried out inside the pen. Modern fountain pen designs from companies like Mont Blanc, Cross and others have advanced exponentially from the early Parker and Schaeffer designs, and today it is much easier to refill a fountain pen.

Things You'll Need

Paper towels or a large piece of newsprint
Lint-free cleaning cloth
Writing paper

Instructions

- 1
  Check the inside of the fountain pen. Vintage fountain pens have a bladder designed to hold the ink, and you may have to take the fountain pen to a vintage pen dealer to determine if the bladder is usable. Bladders are easily replaced. New pens should be examined to make sure ink has not dried on the inside. If it has, clean the pen before refilling it with more ink.
- 2
  Place paper towels or newspaper on a flat surface.
- 3
  Open a fresh bottle of ink.
- 4
  Open the locking ring, located on the top of the fountain pen, if it has one. Many fountain pens do not have a locking ring; most fountain pens with rings will have an imprinted arrow on the locking ring.
- 5
  Gently place the nib, the metal writing portion of the pen, into the ink. Make sure the ink does not rise over the top of the nib while you are refilling it.
- 6
  Examine the pen to determine how it fills. The three most common types of refilling mechanisms on fountain pens are button, lever and click pens.
- 7
  A button pen has a small button on the outside. Press it slowly to fill the pen's reservoir.
- 8
  A lever pen is easy to identify. Look under the front pocket clip or on the back of the fountain pen for a long metal lever, and extend the lever to fill the pen.
- 9
  A click pen has two small metal tabs, usually on the side of the pen. Slowly depress both tabs at the same time to refill the fountain pen with ink.
- 10
  When it has finished refilling, gently remove the pen from the ink.
- 11
  Relock the ring, if the pen has one.
- 12
  Use a cleaning cloth to remove the excess ink from the nib.
- 13
  Test the fountain pen on a clean sheet of paper.
  
  BWMR3

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