Your first day with a fountain pen

You just bought a new fountain pen and you are SO excited to use it. Congratulations! We're excited for you! Chances are you bought a cartridge/converter pen. That means that the pen can take a single use cartridge or a refillable converter. Both are an easy to use method for filling your new favorite pen.

(We can hear some of you yelling through your screen "but you can refill cartridges!" Yes... technically... but that is outside the scope of this post)

Your pen likely came with a cartridge. If you can't find it, unscrew the body of the pen and take a look inside as they like to hide in there. Once you find it, take a look at the cartridge. One end should look completely closed off and the other end should look like it has a little ball blocking an opening. The side with the little ball is the front. Take the front and insert it into the back of the pen grip (also called the section or grip section) until you hear a click. Whew, ok we're halfway there.

Give the cartridge a few light squeezes and try to write. If no ink comes out IT IS OK. DO NOT PRESS HARDER. Pressing harder will destroy your fountain pen. Give the ink cartridge a couple more light squeezes, keep the pen nib (part you write with) down, and wait a little bit. It can take a few minutes for the ink to make its way to the nib. Once you have ink coming to the nib you're ready to write, draw, or doodle to your hearts content. Enjoy!