Which of your teal inks is actually in that pen?
“gazing forlornly at a pen, wondering which of the four thousand teal inks I had it filled with.” — real buyer, https://inksharks.blogspot.com/2018/08/keeping-track-of-pens-and-ink.html
Once you have a dozen pens inked at once, memory stops working — you uncap one and have no idea which of your near-identical teals is loaded. The fix is a 'currently inked' list: for every inked pen, record the ink, the date you filled it, and the nib. That single view answers 'what's in this pen?' instantly and shows you which fills are getting old.
Dates matter more than collectors expect. An ink left in a pen for months dries into a cleaning job — or worse, a clog. Tracking the fill date turns maintenance into a glance: anything inked more than a few weeks gets a flush. Pair the list with a cleaning log and 'I forgot it was even inked' stops happening.
Notebooks fail here because you update them once and then forget. A tool that lives on your phone next to your pen case doesn't. Fountain Pen Studio keeps your currently-inked list, full ink and pen inventory, and nib/cleaning logs in one offline file — also handy as an insurance record of the collection.
Fountain Pen Studio — one file, offline, yours forever.
No account, no subscription. One purchase, personalized with your name, works without internet.
Common questions
- How do I keep track of which ink is in which pen?Keep a 'currently inked' list with the ink, fill date, and nib for each pen. Update it when you fill or flush. That one view replaces guessing and memory.
- How often should I flush an inked pen I'm not using?If a pen has sat inked for more than a few weeks, flush it before the ink dries. Tracking the fill date makes overdue pens obvious at a glance.
- Can I use this as an insurance inventory?Yes — a dated pen-and-ink inventory doubles as the itemized record insurers ask for, kept privately on your own device.