Ink converters allow you to draw up bottled ink into your fountain pen, giving you much more flexibility in which fountain pen inks you can use in your pen. This video shows you how to fill and insert a SAILOR converter, but the same principles apply to all twist-style converters.

If you don't like the idea of putting your fountain nib under water, you can also directly fill the converter using a blunt needle syringe.

How to fill a fountain pen via the nib:

  1. Unscrew the barrel of the pen and remove the converter
  2. Wind the handle of the converter so the piston head is fully down
    (furthest away from the handle)
  3. Insert converter into pen in the position where the cartridge would normally go
  4. Submerge the nib into the ink bottle so the nib is fully covered by ink
  5. Wind the piston slowly to fill up
  6. Remove the nib from the ink bottle and wipe off excess ink with a tissue
  7. Screw barrel back onto pen and start writing

How to fill a converter using a blunt syringe:

  1. Unscrew the barrel of the pen and remove the converter
  2. Wind the handle of the converter so the piston head is fully up
    (closest to the handle)
  3. Use a blunt syringe to draw up approx. 1 mL of fountain pen ink
  4. Inject ink into the opening of the converter until it is almost full
  5. Hold pen nib up and insert full converter into the pen
  6. Screw barrel back onto pen and start writing
  7. Rinse out blunt syringe with tap water and disassemble syringe parts to dry