Parts of your fountain pen

Your fountain pen consists of four parts when assembled—the cap, the nib, the barrel, and the ink reservoir. Most reservoirs are either a piston converter, a cartridge or an ink bladder. The converter and ink bladder require fountain pen bottled ink. The cartridge is a self-contained, disposable unit filled with ink.

How to Fill a Fountain Pen

Fountain pens can be filled with ink several ways. Two of the most common are with an ink cartridge or with an ink converter.
1.Removing the barrel
First remove the cap. Then you must take the pen apart by unscrewing the grip section of the pen from the barrel.
2.Filling with an Ink Converter Attaching the Ink Converter
The next step, is to attach the ink converter to the pen. Most cartridge/converter style pens will come with a converter included, and most are attached to the pen. If the converter is not attached, you will need to attach it.. Ink converters match the style of the cartridge the pen uses. Most pens will use a standard international ink cartridge, but some brands have proprietary ink cartridges. Make sure you get the correct converter for your pen. Insert the ink converter onto the back side of the grip section. The ink converter will either press onto the pen using a compression fit, or some ink converters are threaded and must screw into the pen.



Filling the ink converter
Flush the air from the converter. This method will vary with the type of converter.Place the fountain pen, nib first, into the bottle of ink until the nib is entirely covered. Twist the piston converter counterclockwise at the top. This forces the air out of the converter. Then twist the top of the piston converter clockwise to draw the ink up into the converter. While holding the nib above the bottle of ink, slowly twist the piston converter counterclockwise until a bead of ink flows from the tip of the nib. Gently blot excess ink from the nib with a lint-free cloth or blotter paper.



3.Filling with a Cartridge
Remove the piston converter by gently pulling it away from the nib. Insert a fountain pen cartridge into the nib and push firmly until the cartridge seats itself. You will hear a small click. You can easily switch between bottled ink and cartridges by rinsing the nib and piston converter with cool water periodically.



4. Reassemble your fountain pen and you’re done. That's all there is to it.

HOW TO USE A FOUNTAIN PEN

1.Hold It Right
Hold the pen so that the nib is above the feed and at about a 45 degree angle to the paper. It won’t write well if you hold it upside down or at too high or low of an angle.Also, try not to twist the pen clockwise or counterclockwise in your hand. The tips of the two nib tines need to rest evenly on the page as you write. Otherwise the ink slit between them will lose contact with the page and cause the pen to skip or stop writing altogether.
2.Don’t Press Too Hard
Fountain pens need a lot less writing pressure than a ballpoint or gel pen. In fact, too much pressure will prevent fountain pens from writing well and can even damage them. Many fountain pens can write without any pressure at all, while others require just a tiny bit of pressure.
3.Keep It Capped
Fountain pens should always be capped or retracted when you aren’t using them. Otherwise, the ink in the nib will dry out and the pen won’t work the next time you use it. If your nib ever does dry out, you can usually get it writing again by scribbling for a bit or adding a drop of water to the nib to rehydrate the ink.
4.Clean It Periodically
Over time, fountain pens get clogged up with tiny paper fibers and microscopic bits of dust and dried ink. We recommend cleaning your pen every 1–2 months for best performance. You can read our guide to cleaning fountain pens here.
5.Use Fountain Pen Friendly Paper and Notebooks
This isn’t strictly necessary, but using fountain pen friendly paper and notebooks will make your experience far more enjoyable and less likely to end in frustration. Fountain pens will work on most normal paper, but you can run into problems with bleed-through, feathering (when the ink spreads out into the paper fibers in a feathery pattern), and sometimes even skipping. This can happen regardless of whether the paper is good or not so good—most paper these days just isn’t made with fountain pens in mind.Also, fountain pen inks can be very sensitive to dust and skin oils, so paper that’s been sitting around for a while or handled a lot may not perform as well as fresh, untouched paper.

HOW TO CLEAN YOUR NIB

• Remove the cartridge or converter.
• Flush the nib and gripping section with cool water.
• A converter not being used for ink can be used to flush the nib by drawing cool water up through the nib and forcing the water out.
• Lightly blow air through the nib assembly to clear all liquid out of the nib.
• Dry the nib and gripping section with a lint-less soft cloth.
• Repeat this several times, then dry the nib and gripping section with a soft cloth or paper towel.
• If a pen clogs, place the nib and gripping section in a cup of cool water.
• Let the nib and gripping section soak up to 24 hours.
• Remove the front end from the water and rinse it with a slow stream of cool water.
• Gently blow into the nib assembly to remove any excess water.
• We recommend that you dry the nib and gripping section with a soft cloth or paper towel.
• You may now place a new ink cartridge or an ink converter into the front end.

HOW TO STORE YOUR PEN

• The nib should remain writing point up when not in use. The ink will drain down into the converter or cartridge. This avoids drying or clogging of the nib.
• Placing your pen into a pen case or pouch will protect the pen from being scratched, keeping the finish looking new.
• When flying, store your pen with the writing point upright when not in use. Ensure that either a full cartridge or converter is inserted or remove the existing cartridge/converter prior to the flight.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us:

ATEEAGN INTERNATIONAL, H/215, Ansa Industrial Estate,Saki Vihar Road, Andheri East, Mumbai 400072. INDIA. Email: onlinemantra@ateeagn.com