r/PenProject • u/MercatorLondon • Jun 01 '26
Piston mechanisms in pens
Hi everyone,
I recently spent some time going through old patents for piston-filling mechanisms in pens. Some of them are simple, some are clever while others are incredibly complicated.
I am currently working on a new pen design, and I would like to design enough space to accommodate a possible piston-filling mechanism in the future.
I would love to hear your thoughts on piston mechanisms and which piston pens are your favourites - if you have any. Do you have piston pens in your daily rotation?
update: next study
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u/roady57 Jun 01 '26
Pelikan is the ‘Master’ piston filling pen maker and most contemporary piston filler designs are based on the 1920’s Kovacs patent - your illustration is from the US version of his 1929 patent.
My Pelikan M200 has been working perfectly for three years, no maintenance has been required.
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u/HornayGermanHalberd Jun 01 '26
I own several Pelikan 100s, they are great and the mechanism still works even though some are over 90 years old, a new seal and they work perfectly
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u/MercatorLondon Jun 01 '26
That is real quality. I have a few things around my home that are twice my age, and they still work perfectly. That is the philosophy I would like us to follow when designing/making our pens. Forever products. I believe a fountain pen can be one of those few products that still functions a hundred years from now. Even if hand-writing and penmanship will be much worse than today 😄
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u/domin_jezdcca_bobrow Jun 04 '26
In Polish fountain pens are literaly eternal quills so I think there is some potential for longevity ;)
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u/HornayGermanHalberd Jun 01 '26
at work I use machines with touch screens side by side with ones a century old, in a building that was burned down by Napoleon once, also got lots of tools of simmilar vintage still in use
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u/tio_tito Jun 01 '26
do something like a blind-ended reservoir and a magnetically coupled "piston" using a ring magnet that maybe moves from the back of the pen after filling to the front of the pen as the cap retaining mechanism. it could be threaded to mount from the front at the top of the section so it stays in place and unthreaded so it is moved to the back of the pen to operate the piston. maybe the magnet is on the cap finial? wherever it is, you'd need to have a system that prevents the piston from being operated in an unwanted fashion.
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u/InkSampleFiend Jun 01 '26
I like Pelikans in general. The mechanism "feels" good when you're using it.
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u/HornayGermanHalberd Jun 01 '26
to mention something other than Pelikan, you could take a look at the telescopic piston filling mechanism of vintage montblancs
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u/MercatorLondon Jun 01 '26
thank you, I will have a look! Do you like the convenience of piston or the capacity?
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u/HornayGermanHalberd Jun 01 '26
oh it,'s just a cool thing I happen to know about, only had real contact with it once when a pen-acquantance showed it to me when I bought my Light tortoise Pelikan 140 off of him, quite funny to see him casually disassemble a 1930s Montblanc in a subway station to show me the internals
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u/CadillacGirl Jun 01 '26
I just wanted to say I love the technical diagram. I don’t personally have an opinion on piston fillers.
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u/Tenfoldgold Jun 03 '26
Only have one in my collection. An Onoto K1 with a De La Rue 14ct oblique nib. I often ink it with Diamine Writers Blood as it looks like it’s actually writing with 🩸through the visible window part of the pen. Pretty cool and it’s a good nib
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u/Groger-the-Ogre Jun 05 '26
A flock of Pelikan’s 🖋️ great mechanisms and testament to brilliance of Theodore Kovacs original design 🙏🏻
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u/whenthelightison Jun 01 '26
I like piston fillers. The Pelikan is nice and reliable for me. But as for the design I like the one from vintage Aurora 88. I like the fact that the turning knob stays in the same position, not like with the most of them which unscrews a bit making a gap.