15.0 How do I fill my fountain pen?

By dipping it into ink, of course! In truth, there are many methods of filling fountain pens, but you have to know what kind of pen you have in order to know how to fill it.

Some pens use a disposable ink cartridge. Those pens may also be equipped with a "converter", a small cartridge-like container which uses a piston to draw ink up inside it. Kind of like a small syringe: ink is drawn up into the converter when the knob at the end is turned.

Other pens use a built-in ink container which is also not part of the barrel. In these pens, a rubber "sac" is depressed by a lever or some other method. When the air is forced out of the sac, the nib is placed in the ink and the lever is released. The sac then returns to its normal shape as ink is sucked up into it.

Some pens are "piston fillers". In these pens, the body of the pen is used just like a "converter". These pens usually have a knob at the end of the barrel which, when turned, either pushes the piston toward the nib or away from the nib. Of course, pushing the piston toward the nib will force ink out, and toward the end of the barrel will suck ink in.

Some pens use buttons, or a rod, or some other method to force ink out of the chamber. In all cases, one direction is used for flushing, and the other is used for filling.