Another two paths out of the low-ink-level conundrum
This post continues an earlier reflection on methods for emptying the final drops of ink from ink bottles. Check out the first post for more context.
Filling a pen from a nearly empty ink bottle can be challenging. Exciting, too. Especially if you think outside the proverbial box. The box is simply packaging.
Last week’s reflection covered my most commonly encountered use cases. Ink bottles tall and/or wide enough for a pen to fit inside and fill.
However, the necks on some ink bottles are too narrow to accommodate a pen and section. Other bottles are so short that the ink level can’t physically tilt deep enough to cover your pen’s ink ingress; regardless of how hard you try to ballerina.
Too short. Too squat. Too little ink.
Two more paths for snagging those last drops of ink come to mind, each with its own pros and cons.
3. Dunk your converter into the ink bottle, aka. “the direct dunk”
4. Decant the ink into a narrow tube, then use your choice of 1, 2, or 3
Path three: Direct-dunk a converter. Use your converter like a blunt syringe. Stick the open end below the ink level and turn the converter’s piston. Wipe any rogue ink droplets from the outside of your converter. And then install the converter into your pen as you normally would. Bingo-bango.
Pros. A quick wipe with a cloth and your converter is ready to install. No need to clean a syringe. And it’s quite easy to fully fill a converter this way.
Cons. Converters a short, by design. They’re engineered to fit inside your pen’s body. As such, aim to use bottles that are short enough that your converter can reach the bottom with the piston mechanism still above the bottle’s rim. Otherwise you run the risk of losing your converter inside your bottle.
Path four: Decant the ink into a narrow tube. Why bother with the bottle at all? Pour some ink into a narrow sample vial. Some companies make plastic vials for just this purpose. Akkerman even uses bottles with a narrow tube built in. Pretty and decanting-friendly.
Pros. You can now easily fill your pen with any other method.
Cons. You need a second piece of equipment, be it a sample vial or an Ink Miser. You also still need to use one of the other three methods. Perhaps this fourth path is more of a corollary.
Teeny, tiny inking space
This week’s Inked Tines update includes my most recent currently inked writing tools.
Toolset
Pens. Another week without a true standout writing combo. Such is life.
Franklin-Christoph 03 (EF) — Empty. This antique glass version of the 03 keeps the pen in hand. While listening to students during class. While listening during meetings. While commenting on students’ papers. Magnetic and a runaway favorite. Wrote perfectly on Rhodia paper: reliable, true EF line; dried quickly; shaded noticeably. Five stars.
Sailor Pro Gear (Z) — Empty. Hisoku was dry enough to prevent ghosting and bleeding on Rhodia’s Goalbook paper. A proper combo. The reverse EF line was a reliable writer in my pocket Stalogy and during meetings. Meeting notes, pocket notes, lesson plans, journaling, reading notes.
Narwhal Schuylkill (EF) — 1/2. The Narwhal is this titanium Bock nib’s new home. Moderately wet. Well-behaved. And smooth now that the nib is properly tuned and seated. Brane shades prominently, encouraging me to pick this pen up for short and long writing sessions. Journaling, lesson plans, reading notes, scratch notes, and meeting notes.
Montblanc 146 (EF) — 3/5. Interesting combo. Writes dry and scratchy at first. Writes wetter and more consistently after a a full line. It’s not dried out, just drier, at first. Best suited for long or medium writing sessions as a pair. But 441’s bright hue is excellent for short accent notes. Journaling, lesson plans, reading notes, margin notes, and scratch notes.
Pelikan m805 (F CI) — 4/5. Runs moderately dry after a few lines, for a Pelikan. A bug that is definitely a feature as Exupéry shades more towards the ends of lines. As such, this combo was the most fun during long writing sessions like journaling and manuscript drafting.
Visconti Homo sapiens (F CI) — ?? The soft palladium nib keeps me focused on my writing form. This is an excellent feature when I need to slow down and think about what I have to say. Writes reliably, even with Shogun’s ample rose-gold glitter. A warlord writer with panache. Journaling, teaching reflections, and lecture notes. Perhaps some manuscript drafting.
Notebooks. Work bujo. Rhodia Goalbook (A5). Last week lived in two different lists. Visiting, revising, revisiting, and revising each list over and again throughout the week. Movement without distance.
One is a showtime tracker for a documentary I showed to my ancient world history classes.
It begins with a partial lesson plan at the top in Sailor 441’s piercing blue. The lower two-thirds of the page tracks start and stop times for each of my three sections, by class period. All in business forward Kiri-same.
“I don’t always show movies when teaching, but when I do, I track time.” — The Most Interesting Teacher in the World
The second list is more involved. I sorted my research students’ papers thematically into three special issues of our school’s research journal. I then returned to the list to record the page numbers for each article. And returned yet again as I tracked which students I had emailed the publisher’s author copy to. Three times — and three colors — is the charm.
I alternated Brane and Kiri-same to keep the list easily scannable. With 441 for page numbers that visually jump off the three lists. Worked splendidly.
Seven new pages in all, including my patent-pending two-page teaching weekly spread. The remainder of the pages were meeting notes. Next week will begin on page 46.
Journal. YT Bindery Yu-yo (A5). I had a banner week of journaling. 21 pages of longform reflections, analyses, and poetry. And I wrote across six evenings. My first week of daily journaling since I started this blog. Journaling daily is not a goal for me, but it certainly feels an accomplishment.
Now, quantity is distinct from quality. I drew meaningful lessons from last week because I took the space to think my actions through. A true benefit of journaling is the focusing of my attention; the unpacking of the versions of myself I bring with me where I go.
I reflected on methods for structuring a more inviting pen meetup. The Visconti’s soft palladium nib lends a careful frivolity to writing.
And on the immediate psychic benefits of protecting my reading time during the school day. That titanium Narhwal concoction I’ve raved about for two weeks.
The rest is a smattering of opposites. The Sailor’s broad Zoom lines immediately followed by the Montblanc’s true-to-size EF lines. Teal and then blue. And finally the Pelikan’s “Fine” cursive italic in fancy Montblanc red-purple.
Just a smattering of shiny
The end is nigh. The four riders approach. I have arrived at the last signature. The final 20% of this little handmade notebook.
Written dry. Dos bolígrafos. The Franklin-Christoph gave up the ghost, so to speak, during a Friday morning meeting. I was able to switch over to the Sailor without much ado. Nice to have a backup.
The Sailor currently has an empty converter. It’s writing on, doggedly, with only that Hisoku that remains in the feed. Commitment.
Sailing away …
Newly inked. Ha. Hahaha.
The collection
Incoming / new orders. A $50 gift card led me to Yoseka’s online shop — resulting in an exciting delivery of new stationery last Thursday.
That notebook cover is chic
Tsubame’s ink collection cards were strongly recommended to me by both my father-in-law (himself a stationery addict) and the Fountain Pen Pharmacist. Excellent for what I plan to use them for. More thoughts in a future post.
I also added a two-stage brass Dux sharpener to my cart. The square has a smaller footprint and so is a great fit inside my traveling reading kit bag.
Lastly, I have an encroaching need for a new journal. A new journal. With a fun new-to-me 2mm grid pattern. Exciting.
Outgoing / trades or sales. I bask in the open pen tray slot that used to house my Nagasawa-special Sailor Black Proske. A great pen friend, Jo, bought it during last weekend’s pen group meetup.
It’s a lovely little Sailor Profit-sized demonstrator. The 14k H-MF nib was consistent and toothy. And Nagasawa’s black rooster logo added fun personality to an otherwise stealthy colorway.
Despite all the aesthetic loveliness, that Proske had lay curiously uninked in a storage tray since 2021. Time, clearly, for a more attentive home.
Currently reading and listening
Fiction. Last week proved challenging when it came to reading nonfiction. End of year grading was taxing — especially preparing my research students’ papers for the printer. I was asleep by 9:00 pm almost every night.
To say: Mariel of Redwall’s adventure to find and challenge the terrible pirate rat-lord Gabool will wait for next week.
Nonfiction. I dug into The Last Empire, a collection of essays by Gore Vidal. My trusty Blackwing Natural and pair of Mildliners at my side.
The extra firm core in the Natural line suits the tiny, scribbled letterforms I leave across the margins of nonfiction books like Vidal’s. The point keeps sharp enough for tiny jottings across two or three notes at a time before I need to re-sharpen. Endurance, friends.
My bookmark sits astride page 334. However, I skipped over the book review essays in favor of Vidal’s political reflections. I find his prose thought-provoking.
Music. Salome Scheidegger is a talented pianist who specializes in covers of anime and video game soundtracks. Giggle you should.
Her arrangements balance personality and subtlety. Scheidegger’s Studio Ghibli and Skyrim covers, in particular, comprise an amazing reading and teaching soundtrack all on their own. Well worth a listen.
I had more students ask me about the music in play classroom last week than any other week this year. Nerdery for the win. Yep. A definite win.
And remember your umbrella
