In Defense of Small Deposits.

A common complaint among stylophiles is about how most modern pens do not implement self-filling mechanisms and, regardless of the price, manufacturers opt for the simple and cheap cartridge/converter solution. The criticism continues along the lines of the small size of those ink cartridges and converters. That was one of the reasons behind my chronicles on their ink capacity for Japanese brands Pilot, Platinum and Sailor. The data showed that they range between 0.6 and 1.2 ml (for unmodified deposits). Now, is that small?

Regular Sailor cartridges can hold up to 1.2 ml of ink.

The relevant question, however, might be different: How do we stylophiles enjoy our pens? “Writing” might be the immediate answer, but most of us, collectors and accumulators, enjoy ourselves by trying new pens and new inks, filling that new arrival and cleaning that old one. And often, we look forward to finishing the ink load of that pen to ink that one we bought a couple of days ago with that new ink. Sure enough, we can always ink another pen, but there is also a limit on how many inked pens we can have at any given time.

The very small Platinum converter—just 0.6 ml of ink fit inside.

The argument of needing big ink capacity to avoid running out of ink does not apply either since most of us carry several pens with us—that is the extent of our fetishism.

Therefore, in view of these attitudes towards our objects of desire, I wonder what the actual reasons were to demand big ink reservoirs. As a user and accumulator I am not so sure of wanting them. A small deposit would push me to try pens and inks more often.

And on another chronicle I will argue in favor of traditional self-filling systems.

(Pilot Vortex – Sailor Red Brown)

Bruno Taut
March 20-21, 2011
[labels: conversor, soluciones técnicas, estilofilia]