Refilling your Pilot Varsity Disposible Fountain Pen

After a few requests from my review earlier this week of the Varsity, I decided to post a presto- chango ink change how to of sorts. It was just about dead anyway so let's breathe some new life into the patient.

Here we have the tools prepped for surgery. You can get away with an eyedropper, but what's fun about that? Go for the danger of the syringe. Oh and I don't condone drinking and operating, but sometimes it's needed.

The secret is to not scratch the crap out of your nib, use a rag, or plastic covered pliers and give it a gentle tug, this pen actually gives a refreshing pop to let you know it's out. Now go clean up all the ink you just spilled if you were not patient enough to wait till your pen was dead.

Rinse in warm water, rinse till it runs clear and then rinse it for another 5 minutes. Trust me. After rinsing--- dry thoroughly with paper towels, or I use an old jar stuffed with paper towels that I put the nib point down in. Acts like a sponge. Make sure all parts including the cap are rinsed clean. No need to pull the metal nib off of the feed, just rinse it all as is.

Because I only have two hands, I cant shoot and fill, but I have 2 cc's exactly of ink here in the body. The nib goes on the same way it came out. I had to put a little more pressure on the way in, but it popped in and sealed nicely.

Without hesitation, the ink started flowing and I have a brand new disposable fountain pen that I won't be disposing of. It's a new good pen. Oh, and I recycled the bottle my beer was in so that's two green things for the day.

More importantly... the Boston Red Sox equipment truck leaves for Florida today. Suddenly it's not so cold outside. Have a great weekend and I will have a fresh pen on Monday.

Fountain pen ink in my Pentel Energel

Every now and then I crave a different color ink in my gel pens, or I finish a disposable pen and feel like it still has some life in it, so I grab the pliers and go to work. I know I can buy a replacement for a few bucks, but that's no fun at all. Plastic tipped pliers will separate the point from the body of the pen, if your pen is not empty, prepare for a mess. (Clean up aisle 3.)


Do a proper cleaning to the tip and the tank, warm water and lots of it are the keys. Run water through all parts till it runs clear. Here everything is empty and dried out and ready to fill.

No mom, I do not do drugs, so please...no surprise interventions over Thanksgiving, I just happen have a sweet selection of syringes for refilling my fountain pen cartridges and other pens. Tip the body back and fill it up, I think this pen will hold about 1.5 cc's of your favorite color and brand of ink, in this case, I am putting in my waterproof Baystate Blue made by Noodler's.

Close everything back up, wipe it down, check for a good seal and scribble to get the ink flowing.



Voila, your standard run of the mill liquid gel pen can hold the color of your choice. All in, this took me about 5 minutes. It's a new Good pen.