What's new

How adventurous are you with inks?

One ink only. I wanted the violet ink French schoolchildren used to write with, and I found it: J. Herbin Violette Pensee. All I use, and I am happy. I tried some other inks and they were either too weird or too boring for me.
 
Pelikan 4001 Turquoise would be my "You can only have one ink forever" ink. Unless I need it water resistant...

Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses and Diamine Ancient Copper are others that I can use daily and have no problem giving notes to bosses or underlings.
 
Not at all, at least anymore. After using fountain pens continually since the early 1980's, I have arrived at what I like. That's almost exclusively iron galls or permanent inks. I abhor smudging or running, so these inks work excellently for me. As I get older, they are also much more legible on the page.

Some of my favourites are:

  • Montblanc Midnight Blue (IG, long out of production)
  • Diamine Registrars
  • Akkerman #10 IJzer-Galnoten
  • KWZ iron galls, especially Blue Black and Blue #3
  • Platinum Blue Black
  • R&K Salix
In the permanent camp:
  • R&K Dokumentus Dunkleblau
  • Sailor Sei-boku
  • Platinum Carbon Black

All of these are extremely well-behaved inks. Sure, there may not be much in the way of colour range, but most shade brilliantly, which is enough for me. :)
It sounds like we have very similar taste in ink. I’ve recently ordered some Diamine Registrar’s and am thinking of also picking up some KWZ iron gall.

Between the KWZ iron gall #1 and #3, which would you say finishes darker?
 

Legion

Staff member
Pelikan 4001 Turquoise would be my "You can only have one ink forever" ink. Unless I need it water resistant...

Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses and Diamine Ancient Copper are others that I can use daily and have no problem giving notes to bosses or underlings.
Black swan is my is my go to. But I no longer work in an office. When I did, BSIAR was what I used in my home pens, and I used Diamine Damson at work, which is a dark purple.
 
Between the KWZ iron gall #1 and #3, which would you say finishes darker?

Blue Black is the closest to a traditional iron gall. It cures to black. As you move through the blues (#1 --> #5), there is more of a blue dye load that remains. #3 cures to a very dark blue black, #5 to a dark teal. So, if you are wanting a darker finish, #1.

Bear in mind that Konrad is discontinuing some of the IG Blues. If I had to choose between #1 and Blue Black, I'd just got with Blue Black, it's a wonderful ink.
 
Blue Black is the closest to a traditional iron gall. It cures to black. As you move through the blues (#1 --> #5), there is more of a blue dye load that remains. #3 cures to a very dark blue black, #5 to a dark teal. So, if you are wanting a darker finish, #1.

Bear in mind that Konrad is discontinuing some of the IG Blues. If I had to choose between #1 and Blue Black, I'd just got with Blue Black, it's a wonderful ink.
Thanks. I’m looking for a highly saturated and permanent IG. The Salix and Pelikan colours were too washed out for my taste. How does the KWZ Blue Black compare to your Diamine Registrar’s.
 
KWZ IG BB is much wetter than DRI, and cures to a darker black. DRI, after some time, is more of a dark grey/black.

DRI is also a monster shader, if you like that (I do!), and is much more waterproof. KWZ will withstand a soaking, but will shed more dye, whereas cured DRI is practically immovable.

Both are great inks, just slightly different.

Dependng on where you are, you could also throw Akkermann #10 IJzer-Galnoten into the mix; it's similar to DRI but a little wetter and darker (mid-way between it and KWZ, roughly).

Happy writing! :)
 
KWZ IG BB is much wetter than DRI, and cures to a darker black. DRI, after some time, is more of a dark grey/black.

DRI is also a monster shader, if you like that (I do!), and is much more waterproof. KWZ will withstand a soaking, but will shed more dye, whereas cured DRI is practically immovable.

Both are great inks, just slightly different.

Dependng on where you are, you could also throw Akkermann #10 IJzer-Galnoten into the mix; it's similar to DRI but a little wetter and darker (mid-way between it and KWZ, roughly).

Happy writing! :)
In typical B&B fashion, I got them all.

KWZ IG Blue Black
Akkerman #10
Diamine Registrar’s

The hunt for the perfect blue black continues…
 
I’ve just received a nice selection of iron gall blue/blacks on the recommendation of @silverlifter.

The first cab of the rank was Akkerman #10 Ijzer Galnoten. This is the kind of blue black that I’ve been looking for. The colour change is quite dramatic and it finishes to a deep midnight blue.

9A06D0D8-0269-4637-A83F-6375C4C35CB8.jpeg
 
Glad you like it. It is definitely one of my favourites, not just because of the ink, which is awesome, but the bottle really nails it! :)
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
After battling through a phase of having too many pens inked, I've come to the conclusion (for now, it may change :001_tongu), I've got way too many colours. Like so many other aspects if life, "enough" only comes clear when you hit "too much".

I have 8 bottles, and 11 different boxes of carts, and my mind is starting to group them for simplicity. Blue/black (7 colours), red/orange (6 colours), and "other" (6 colours). Any 2 or 3 colours in those groups would be plenty to keep me interested (doesn't matter which, they're all perfectly adequate for me). It will be a VERY long time before I work my way down to that level though. :lol:
 
Rambling post follows. All inks described below are from the bottle.

I started out very pen/ink brand centric. I acquired Pilot, Parker, Lamy, Waterman and Pelikan pens, all in the sub 50.00 range. Each brand of pen was mated to their respective brand of inks in blue, black and blue/black. The "sets" worked just fine. I felt like I was avoiding some fountain pen pitfalls going that route. Not very adventurous at all.

Soon, I added some seasonal/"affiliation" inks-A Private Reserve Green for Scouts/A J. Herbin Orange for Fall/a Lamy Red and a J. Herbin Gray Ink with Gold Shimmer Ink for Xmas.

A few years went by. I learned that most quality pens will works with most quality ink so long as you were writing on quality paper.

I also learned that some inks transcended brands of pens i.e. Waterman Serenity Blue and Pelikan Black are two inks that have a reputation for being well behaved out of many brands pens on many types of paper etc.

A few more years have gone by. I have trimmed down my collection a bit, selling off plastic bodied Watermans and a few others modest plastic bodied pens as I simply no longer like how they "feel" i.e. Pilot Petits, Platinum Preppys etc.

I am no longer buying inks that were temperamental ( slow drying and/or too wet) for me, i.e. A Noodler's Blue and Parker Black for sure.

Since March of 2020, I have tried to eliminate clutter and let go of things that do not bring me joy. I am making a conscious decision to "buy quality and cry one" v. the intersection of quality/value and I am avoiding buying anything Made in China or owed by a Chinese conglomerate when it can otherwise be avoided, even at additional expense.

In that vein, I have settled on Lamy as my go to ink brand because it just works well, it is well priced and I very much like the bottle/integrated blotting paper dispenser. Simultaneously, I have been buying a number of Lamy Al-Stars to correspond to the various colors of Lamy inks. Some of the pens are supposedly "limited editions" as are the inks. I also happen to think that Lamy just does it better in the sub 50USD space than anyone else given how well they write, how easy it is to write "well", how well their converters work, how easy it is to change a nib and how they "feel" in the hand given their colored aluminum nature.

When I run out of Waterman Serenity Blue and Pelikan Black, I will not be replacing them as Lamy will do the trick.
When I run out of Parker Blue (purchased by the US GOVT when I convinced my office supply admin person that a GSA priced 8.19 bottle of ink will last me a lot longer than a 12.96/12 count Pkg of Skillcraft Gel Pens), Lamy will do the trick as well.

My next ink pivots are two fold:
1. Identify microbrand/small brand ink makers and buy from them for my "season/affiliation" inks.
2. Consider custom mixing already owned inks.
View attachment 1332180
I'm curious to know what Lamy ink you will use instead of Waterman Serenity Blue (formerly Florida Blue)? I love this blue, but would be interested in trying an equivalent Lamy color
 
TT
Standard Lamy Blue. I confess that function and simplicity is driving the train more than "color" itself.
FWIW.

 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
TT
Standard Lamy Blue. I confess that function and simplicity is driving the train more than "color" itself.
FWIW.


That's why I haven't strayed from Diamine, aside from one bottle of Quink Black Permanent. The Diamine inks just work, and my pens have been tuned to them somewhat. If I start introducing different inks, I don't know if everything will perform the same way.

Not that I expect to need more inks for a few years anyway :001_rolle
 
TT
Standard Lamy Blue. I confess that function and simplicity is driving the train more than "color" itself.
FWIW.

 
Top Bottom