A hand sketching an olive sprig with a steel fountain pen in a dotted notebook, with the pen cap, a spare ink cartridge and a bottle of ink nearby.

How to Use a Fountain Pen, from First Cartridge to Clean Nib

Published 14 Oct 20266 min read

A fountain pen writes with liquid ink drawn down to the paper by the pen itself, with almost no pressure from the hand. That is the whole appeal: a line that flows, varies a little with speed, and never needs the push a ballpoint does. It also means a fountain pen asks for a few habits a ballpoint never did. None of them are hard, and once they are learned, the pen is easier to live with than its reputation suggests.

The parts that matter

The nib is the metal tip, split down the middle by a fine slit. Ink runs along that slit to the paper. Under the nib sits the feed, a plastic piece with thin channels that meters ink from the reservoir to the nib and lets air back in to replace it. The section is the part you hold, and it unscrews from the barrel, which hides the ink supply. That supply is either a cartridge, a sealed plastic tube of ink you push onto the back of the feed, or a converter, a small refillable reservoir with a piston that fills from a bottle.

Cartridges: two systems, and why it matters

The first thing to know about any fountain pen is which cartridge it takes, because they are not all the same.

Kaweco, the German maker of the pocket-size Sport, uses cartridges in what it calls the international standard cartridge size, and describes them as compatible with any fountain pen that takes that standard. Each Kaweco cartridge holds about 1 ml of ink, and the ink is water soluble (shop Kaweco royal blue cartridges).

Lamy uses a cartridge of its own. Lamy describes its T 10 as a giant ink cartridge for all Lamy fountain pens except the LAMY 2000, sold five to a pack. The safari comes with a T 10 cartridge, and Lamy recommends its own Z 28 converter for bottled ink, so a safari owner buys Lamy cartridges. Kaweco's cartridges follow the international standard instead, so check which maker's cartridge a pen names before buying.

Which pen takes what

Pen	Cartridge	Converter for bottled ink	The mistake to avoid
Kaweco Sport family (steel, brass, AL Sport)	Standard international, short	Kaweco Mini Converter, made for the Sport and Liliput	Expecting a full-size converter to fit the short barrel
Lamy safari	Lamy T 10	Lamy Z 28	Buying a cartridge Lamy does not list for the pen
Lamy AL-star	Lamy T 10	Lamy Z 28	Same as the safari
Lamy Vista	Lamy T 10	Lamy Z 28	The clear body shows the ink level, so there is no excuse to run dry

Lamy lists the Z 28 converter as fitting the abc, safari, Vista, joy, AL-star, Lx, nexx and nexx M. Kaweco describes its Mini Converter as made for its smallest pocket pens, the Liliput and the Sport, with a folding piston rod that saves almost 20 percent of the length while holding the same amount of ink as the standard version.

Putting in a cartridge

Kaweco's own instructions are short: unscrew the front part with the nib, take out the empty cartridge, and insert the new one. Push the cartridge straight onto the back of the section, narrow end first, and press firmly. On most pens there is a small, definite give when the seal at the cartridge mouth is pierced. Then screw the barrel back on.

The ink does not arrive at the nib at once. The feed has to fill first. Hold the pen nib down for a minute, or write a few loops on scrap paper until the line turns solid. If a pen still will not start, a gentle squeeze of the cartridge pushes ink into the feed; a hard squeeze floods it.

Holding the pen

A fountain pen writes with the nib's slit facing up, away from the paper, and the tip touching the page. Hold it lower than a pencil, at a comfortable slant, and let the pen's weight do the work. Pressing hard spreads the two halves of the nib and can bend them. If the line skips, the usual cause is a pen rotated off center, so the tip is touching the paper at its edge instead of its point.

The Kaweco Sport is meant to be written with the cap posted. Kaweco gives it a length of about 10.5 cm closed, growing to a standard length of about 13 cm with the cap pushed onto the back (shop the Kaweco Steel Sport fountain pen). The Lamy safari, introduced in the 1980s, has a polished steel nib and shaped grip surfaces that guide the fingers into place (shop the Lamy safari fountain pen); the AL-star takes the same cartridge and converter (shop the Lamy AL-star fountain pen). Lamy nibs come in several widths, and a fine replacement nib can take the place of the medium (shop the Lamy safari fine replacement nib).

Filling a converter from a bottle

Bottled ink is cheaper per page and comes in more colors. To fill a converter, fit it in place of the cartridge, then:

Twist the converter's piston all the way down to push out the air.
Dip the whole nib into the ink, past the little hole at its base.
Twist the piston slowly back up to draw the ink in.
Lift the pen out, turn it nib up, and twist down a few drops to release trapped air back into the bottle.
Wipe the nib and section with a tissue.

Lamy's T 52 ink comes in a 50 ml bottle made for exactly this (shop Lamy T 52 black ink).

Cleaning between inks

Ink left to dry in a pen crusts in the feed's fine channels. Lamy's advice for dried ink is to fill a converter with water and flush the pen several times, and, if that is not enough, to soak the front section in plain water for several hours, then let it dry fully before putting it back together. It cautions against soap or detergent. Kaweco recommends flushing with its cleansing syringe when changing colors, so the old ink does not tint the new one.

A simple routine covers most pens: when a cartridge runs out or the color changes, rinse the section under cool running water until it runs clear, then stand it nib down on a folded paper towel to dry.

Altitude, planes and the drive into the mountains

Fountain pens leak in flight for a physical reason. Federal rules require airliner cabins to be pressurized to a cabin altitude of no more than 8,000 feet in normal operation, which means the air inside the cabin is thinner than at most airports. Any air trapped in a half-empty cartridge or converter expands as the pressure drops, and it pushes ink out through the nib.

Denver gives the same effect a local twist. The city already sits at about 5,280 feet, and a drive up into the mountains climbs several thousand feet more. A pen filled at a desk in Denver and taken to a cabin in the high country meets the same expanding air.

Three habits prevent most leaks: travel with the pen either full or empty rather than half full, keep it nib up in a pocket or pouch, and uncap it on arrival over a tissue. A leather pouch protects the pen from scratches on the way, which Kaweco offers for exactly this.

Paper

Fountain pen ink is wetter than ballpoint ink, and thin paper can let it bleed through or feather along the fibers. A notebook with heavier, smooth paper shows a fountain pen line at its finest. The notebooks collection is the place to look, and LEUCHTTURM1917 notebooks come in ruled, dotted and squared pages.

Short answers to the rest

Can a fountain pen use any ink? Use ink made for fountain pens. India ink and drawing inks contain binders that can clog a feed.

Which nib width should a beginner choose? Kaweco recommends medium for beginners, which is a forgiving middle between fine and broad.

How long does a cartridge last? It depends on the nib width and the handwriting. A wider nib lays down more ink and empties a cartridge sooner.

Can a left-handed writer use a fountain pen? Yes. Lamy offers left-handed nib versions for the safari, and a quick-drying ink and a pen held slightly below the line help avoid smudging.

The pen and pencil guide covers how to choose a pen in the first place. The fountain pens collection gathers the pens, with the full ranges in the Kaweco collection and the Lamy collection.

A fountain pen rewards the same things a good kitchen knife does: the right fit, a light hand and a little care after use. Learn the cartridge, let the feed fill, rinse it now and then, and it will write the same way for years.