Fountain Pens

[John Wagenseil]

I recently had to go to the office supply store for ink cartridges and file folders for next year, and saw a pack of made in Japan Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens on sale. I had seen good reviews of them but up until now they had not been available in my area. They priced out at just over 2 dollars per pen when bought in a multi pack.
It was a worthwhile buy, they write as well as or better than fountain pens at many times the price. They are refillable, the colored cap on the pen body can be popped off, a hole drilled into the ink chamber (which takes up only 1/2 the volume of the pen body), the pen filled with ink using an eyedropper, and the cap popped back on and maybe sealed with a dab of nail varnish or silicon seal.
If you loose it or give it away at work it is no great loss.
If you are into calligraphy they are a source of nibs that can be ground into custom shapes.
An empty pen could be re-purposed into a nice long writing dip pen for desk use.
They can be used to roll paper cylinders and the end caps can be used to burnish paper.
All in all a pack of Pilot Varsity Pens is both useful and a good source of toys.

[Yale]

Several years ago a bunch of these showed up in our supply cabinet at work, and they were an interesting alternative to markers and rollerballs. Unfortunately, they suffer from the same limitation as any other fountain pen -- you can't press down hard enough to make carbon copies, which I do constantly with checks. Don't get me wrong -- fountain pens can have a distinctive and classy elegance, but they're just not practical for me. Nevertheless, I'd still grab a box of these disposables should I ever see one at Staples, Office Depot, etc.

[John Wagenseil]

Originally Posted by Yale

Several years ago a bunch of these showed up in our supply cabinet at work, and they were an interesting alternative to markers and rollerballs. Unfortunately, they suffer from the same limitation as any other fountain pen -- you can't press down hard enough to make carbon copies, which I do constantly with checks.......

Back in the 20's and 30's some fountain pen manufacturers made "banker's pens". These were fountain pens that had a either a very rigid steel (instead of flexy gold alloy) nib or a stylus tip that could press down hard enough to make carbon copies without damaging the pen.
I remember the horror of making carbon copies. The carbon paper could fold back on itself, or putting the wrong side down made a reversed copy on the backside of the original, and cheap low bid carbon paper shed black stuff all over everything. Chester Carlson liberated a lot of us from the tyranny of carbon paper.

[Zakopious]

I did not know who Chester Carlson was.
He invented the Xerox machine.
Chester Carlson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ashevilleangler]

John, have you tried refilling them yet? I remember considering this as an option but found that they were a bit more complicated than just drilling, filling and capping.

Curt

[Madbrit]

Along with a vast assortment of other pens,markers and pencils I use these pens when working in my sketchbook or doodling concepts. They are sturdily built, have a nice nib, come in several color inks (blue back and red) and are a bargain. I've never considered refilling them . I have several cartridge pens that fulfill that function. The ink flow is consistent and that makes them a reliable tool for me. If memory (always a problem for us old codgers…) serves I believe my current batch was available from Blick (here in the US).

Derek

[dto]

Just noticed this thread, and I did a quick web search on this subject.Staples and Office Depot both offer the Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pen online, though I don't know if it's stocked in their US retail stores. And of course Amazon.com has them.I glanced at some reviews, and they were generally very positive, though one observed that Japanese "medium" nibs appear closer to US/European "fine" sizes.And don't bother drilling the cartridge when refilling a Pilot Varsity -- check out this message board thread, which includes recommended replacement inks. You can possibly reuse a Pilot Varsity several times before the friction seal wears out or the fiber feeding wick clogs:Tweaking a Pilot Varsity (aka V-Pen aka V4) - Japan: Pens from the Land of the Rising Sun - The Fountain Pen Network don't draw or sketch much anymore, and I suffer panic attacks when I can't find my trusty gold Cross ballpoint. But I'll keep an eye open for Pilot Varsity pens the next time I need office supplies. Thanks for the tip!David T. Okamura

[dto]

Sorry if my above post is difficult to read, folks. I formatted it in paragraph style, but somehow all my returns and skipped lines were dropped. And I can't edit it anymore.

More inportantly, that above link does not work because the address includes the "I" that's missing from the next sentence! Please use this link below.

Thanks!

David T. Okamura

Tweaking a Pilot Varsity (aka V-Pen aka V4) - Japan: Pens from the Land of the Rising Sun - The Fountain Pen Network

[John Wagenseil]

Originally Posted by ashevilleangler

John, have you tried refilling them yet? I remember considering this as an option but found that they were a bit more complicated than just drilling, filling and capping.

Curt

I did try to refill one, by prying off the end cap and drilling into the ink reservoir, it worked but was messy filling pen with syringe, and after a few refills the end cap got leaky.
I found best use for these disposables it to use them as a carry around pen when I am away from home. I can have a fountain pen with me, but don't feel too bad if I misplace it, while I would be very unhappy if I lost one of my hard to replace fountain pens made in the 1950's.

[subnuke]

Wow, a cheap fountain pen that I can refill with India ink, now that is a valuable pen. Gotta get me some of them.