I don't know what I don't know about inks.

[nortac]

Is there a primer on the desirable attributes of fountain pen inks. I have browsed a few of the stickyed ink reviews but I feel there is a lot that I'm not quite getting from them, not to criticize the reviewers in any way. Some aspects are self evident, such as drying time. Bleed through would seem to be at least partially dependent on the type of paper used. Feathering, is that desirable or undesirable, or does that change with different uses? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Snargle]

Ink feathering is not a desirable characteristic. It's usually caused by a combination of cheap, coarse, fibrous paper; an ink that flows very freely; and a fountain pen nib that lays down a lot of ink.

Here's an ugly example:

 

[nortac]

I thought not, but wasn't entirely sure. Are certain ink types known to be free flowing as compared to others and is this ever a desirable feature? Is free flowing ink OK or desirable in one type of pen/nib and not in another?

 

[syngent]

Some inks can behave on most any paper as well.. but like shaving the only way to know how any one aspect of the gear behaves is to know the rest of the gear...

I know my pens.. I review on the same paper so the differences between reviews comes down to the ink

 

[nemo]

Feathering is bad and is the #1 reason that I won't use a particular ink often (or twice), which unfortunately is probably one-third of my supply. I need to get rid of these disappointments.

 

[syngent]

Feathering is bad and is the #1 reason that I won't use a particular ink often (or twice), which unfortunately is probably one-third of my supply. I need to get rid of these disappointments.

Could fund a custom pin stripe job on the car lol

 

[Craig9802]

A couple of ink things I've learned, FWIW,

Depending on the filling mechanism and nib, certain pens need, or at least behave better, if the inks have some lubricating properties. Not many inks list this in their advertising, but some do, so read as many reviews as you can.

I tend to look for inks with near-neutral ph. Although I use all modern pens currently, my wife is a scrapbooker who has warned me about the benefits of "acid-free" papers and inks. I take all of that with a grain of salt, but I still take it into account. I at least try to find inks that aren't going to deteriorate my paper or the innards of my pens before I can eventually gift them to my kids or other family.

Thought I like to try new colors and brands from time to time, the inks in my normal rotation generally aren't super-saturated or those known for nib-creep. I don't like to waste time flushing out my pens more than necessary or scrubbing my sinks and countertops more than necessary, so for me some of the super-staining or potentially-clogging brands and colors just aren't on the radar. I tend to gravitate toward more a more subdued palette anyway, and a bottle (or 5) lasts me a very long time, so I don't experiment all that much. My favorite non-standard (blue or black) color is brown. I used to be a CPA. Go figure.

 

[LouieGrandie]

Here is a link to a great web page that talks about ink and explains a lot.

http://www.marcuslink.com/pens/ink/index.html

 

[purerockfury]

Thank you for this thread it would never have occurred to me to look for certain characteristics of ink. I just figured with decent paper and nib most inks would perform similar. Actually my only experience with ink is through miniature painting and I have been curious if pen inks and paint inks are similar.