Filling Instructions

Below are instructions on how to fill your fountain pen. There are several different types of filling mechanism, so please read carefully and choose the mechanism that is appropriate for your pen. If you are unsure then don't hesitate to contact us.

Lever Fillers

Remove the pen cap. Dip the nib into a bottle of ink. Lift the lever on the side of the barrel to compresses the ink sac. Close the lever and count to ten to allow the sac to re-inflate completely. Remove from the ink and wipe the nib. Replace cap.

Button Fillers

Remove the pen cap. Unscrew the blind cap at the end of the barrel to reveal the filling button.

Dip the nib into a bottle of ink. Press the button firmly to compress the ink sac. Release the button and count to ten to allow the sac to re-inflate completely. Remove from the ink and wipe the nib. Replace blind cap and cap.

Vacumatic Fillers

Remove the pen cap. Unscrew the blind cap at the end of the barrel to reveal the filling piston. There are three types of vac filler, the first is an aluminium piston inside a blind cap (about 25mm long).

The second is a lockdown aluminium piston inside a short blind cap (about 15mm long). To release the lockdown piston push it in and turn it anticlockwise about an eighth of a turn, the piston will release and spring upwards.

The last, and most common, type is a plastic piston inside a long blind cap.

The filling method is the same for all three types: Dip the nib into a bottle of ink. Press the piston rapidly about five or six times or until bubbles stop appearing in the ink. Release the piston and count to ten to allow the reservoir to fill completely. Remove from the ink and wipe the nib. With a lockdown piston, push the piston down and turn it clockwise until it locks in place, replace the blind cap. With the standard aluminium or plastic piston simply replace the blind cap.  

Aerometric Fillers

This applies to Parker pens with the aerometric squeeze filling mechanism fitted to later Parker 51’s and 61’s.It also applies to all the aerometric Duofolds from the early fifties onwards. 

Remove the pen cap. Unscrew the barrel from the nib unit. Dip the nib into a bottle of ink. Press the metal bar on the aerometric filling mechanism rapidly until no more bubbles appear in the ink. Release the metal bar and count to ten to allow the sac to fill completely. Remove from the ink and wipe the nib. Replace the barrel and cap.

Onoto Plunger Fillers

To fill an Onoto plunger pen, unscrew the blind cap at the end of the barrel and gently pull the plunger all the way out, put the nib in the ink and then smoothly and slowly depress the plunger all the way in.

As the plunger travels down the barrel, it creates a partial vacuum behind the washer which is released when the plunger reaches the end of the barrel. Ink is then sucked in to fill the barrel behind the washer. Leave the nib in the ink for around 15 seconds to ensure the barrel has taken up as much ink as possible and then screw the blind cap back into position and wipe the nib.

Note: Most Onoto pens have an ink shut off mechanism to prevent leaks when the pen is not being used. The shut off mechanism is applied by screwing up the blind cap completely (not too tight – just normal light hand pressure is sufficient). To use the pen simply unscrew the blind cap by half a turn, this releases the shut off and allows the ink to flow.  

Sheaffer Snorkel Fillers

Sheaffer Snorkels and PFMs are equipped with a filler tube located under the nib.

The tube extends by turning the knob at the end of the barrel anticlockwise. Once the snorkel tube is fully extended the plunger tube can be pulled out of the pen. Dip only the tip of the filler tube into the ink, then depress the plunger slowly and steadily.

Leave the filler tube in ink for around 15 seconds to allow the ink to flow into the sac, then remove from the ink and turn the end knob clockwise in order to retract the filler tube.

General Care

All pens need flushing out with water occasionally to remove any dried ink and keep the airways from becoming blocked up. It is good practise to flush the pen out with cold water once a month using the instructions above, relevant to your pen. If you know you won’t be using the pen for a while (for example if you are going on holiday) it is best to flush it out and leave it empty. Do not leave the pen unused for more than a couple of weeks with ink in it. This will allow the ink to dry in the feed channels and make it difficult to flush out.

The outside of the pen can be kept clean with some non-abrasive spray polish (Mr Sheen or similar) and a soft cloth. Keep the cap on the pen at all times when the pen is not being used to prevent damage to the nib.