Fountain Pen Cartridge Caddy for refilled cartridges
If you use a fountain pen then you've either chosen to use pre-filled cartridges or to use a converter to fill your pen using an ink bottle. The former is quick & easy, but generates waste & limits you to the ink colours & manufacturers that you can get as pre-filled cartridges.
Converters give you more choice of ink, but tend to be smaller in volume than a cartridge (the filling mechanism has to use some space in the pen barrel).
You can refill cartridges, using a syringe & a blunt needle, but sealing the open mouth can be a challenge & if you opt to just re-use the one in the pen then you need the syringe + needle + ink bottle with you when you run out of ink.
There is the option of refilling cartridges ahead of time & then sealing them so that they don't leak or dry out before you want to use them - which is why you're reading this!
This is a 3D printed (in ABS) holder for 4 ink cartridges. I messed around with purely 3D printed options & came to the conclusion that using some metal hardware just made things so much simpler. I meant to do a better quality version, but this one just works - so I've not got around to it! As you can see it's not without ink stains 😄
The 4 filled cartridges are clamped in place by the bolt (the nut is in the knirled piece at the bottom right). The TPU circles form a compliant gasket to seal the ink in (although the model also comes with a template for cutting rubber gaskets from something like an inner tube).
The bolt is glued into a hexagonal recess at the bottom of the main section (couldn't be bothered to make it a tight friction fit & there's no need for it to move - all the movement comes from the nut pressing the top section down to hold & seal the cartridges.
When the ink in the pen runs dry it's a quick process to unscrew the top, tip a new cartridge out (put a finger in front of the ones that you want to stay put & tip the holder forward so that you can grasp the cartridge that you want by it's middle as it tips forward). Then put the empty into the space (keeps it from making a mess with the little bit of ink left around) & seal things back up. When you get time just wash out & refill the cartridges & put them back.
Here's the model: you'll need to 3D print it!
