Ink usage 3017?

[ruckin]

When I first got interested in fountain pens several years ago I went a bit crazy on ink acquisition. I have enough ink that I have no doubts about being able to use it up in my lifetime. I suspect that my son (also uses a fountain pen) will inherit my ink stash and he will be hard pressed to use it up.

I have been 3017ing my shave soap since I began using a DE. I have come to the realization that 3017 seems to be creeping into other aspects of my life as well. I 3017 my AS, blades, and it seems like I 3017 my ink as well.

I don't strictly 3017 my ink. I keep a bottle of blue or black (MB blue at this time) that is used primarily in various roller balls (wife doesn't want to use a fountain pen) to write checks and the odd times when I don't want to use a fountain pen. I also have a primary ink that I use in my fountain pen and use this ink almost exclusively.

Do others 3017 (or nearly 3017) their inks? It takes me a long time to finish a bottle of ink and I am usually ready to switch to a new color when I get near the bottom of the bottle. However I find it quite satisfying when I get the last bit of ink out of the bottle and move on to the next.

Ruckin.

 

[Doc4]

Right now I'm focusing on using up my samples, and a few bottles I've selected to focus on right now. Obviously we can't "3017" ink like we can a shave soap, because you only really "need" one shave soap to be "active" at a given time, but you likely need several different colours of ink to be "on the go" at any given time (a standard blue or black, a red, some "other" colour, at a minimum).

But the general idea of focusing on using a select few bottles until done and then moving on to new select few bottles ... rather than dipping a bit out of each of many bottles in turn ... is what I'm doing.

Hopefully that huge pile of ink bottles on the shelf will start to get a bit smaller.

 

[Slivovitz]

Although it isn't explained, I gather from your post and the response that by "3017" you mean use one product until it's done, then move on to the next. Is that correct? If so, where does this expression come from?

I've been doing this with shave soaps for a while now, except when I travel and bring along a shave stick. I don't do this with inks, but I have been watching with interest as the bottles of a couple of my favorites get lower and lower. Still, although I always like to have at least one pen filled with either Pilot Blue or Blue-Black (those are the ones that are getting really low), I do prefer to use a variety of my other inks. I'll run out when I run out. And there will probably be a lot of unused Noodler's bottles when I make my final report. My early fascination with this brand didn't last.

 

[Jut]

I don't 3017 much of anything.

I don't have a crazy amount of anything (other than pens) and have never felt the need.

Sent from my SM-S902L using Tapatalk

 

[ruckin]

I am just a noob but I believe the 3017 thing started in the soap thread forum. Someone decided they had way too much soap and posted a picture of the collection and he said that he would use the soaps one at a time to use them up. He had enough to last until ... 2017 but a mod changed the title to 3017 and the joke began. Over the years it has morphed beyond just "using up my excessive stash" to include concepts such as learning how to get the most out of a soap by using it every day. Here is a link to the thread: My Guess... 3017 but fair warning ... it is very long. Some are very strict and only use one product at a time while others take a break now and then for travel or special events.

For ink usage I mostly have two bottles going. One is a blue or black that I mostly use in my roller ball pens. The color is chosen by my wife and is what she uses to write checks and various other things. I have another color that I put in a fountain pen and use for everything I don't need to press. I have a couple other bottles that have been cracked open and are used for special occasion correspondence (thank you notes, rsvp, etc)

I guess my goal with ink is similar to the original 3017 thread in that by mostly concentrating on a single bottle I can see progress being made in using up my over supply of ink. Recently I have been having fun with seeing the character of the ink change depending on which pen I am using. I find that there is quite a bit of difference in how an ink looks depending on which pen I am using.

Ironically if I try to write more every day I should be getting low in ink by 3017 or so..

Ruckin

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

I can't imagine that I'll 3017 any of my inks. I used one of my soap pucks continuously for a month once, and it drove me crazy. I was so very relieved to use a different soap after the month's end.

 

[NinthSphere]

It's an odd thing to say, considering I used to use black almost exclusively with the occasional red or blue, but it would drive me crazy to 3017 any ink. I've been spoiled by variety, to the point that I dislike having any in more than one pen & I can't bring myself to reduce to less than six inked pens at a time (currently 11). Probably the only bottles I'll see the bottom of soon are my 15ml Iros.

 

[ruckin]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess working on a single ink is not common. For now I will continue to work on using mostly a single bottle of ink in a variety of pens.

Ruckin

 

[Doc4]

Although it isn't explained, I gather from your post and the response that by "3017" you mean use one product until it's done, then move on to the next. Is that correct? If so, where does this expression come from?

My Guess... 3017

 

[beginish]

I 3017'd a bottle of de Atramentis ink and found it dreadfully boring. I only keep one pen inked at a time and it takes me a long time to empty the bugger.

 

[blethenstrom]

I have been using fountain pens for a couple of years now and I cannot see myself 3017 any ink. I am way to much of a butterfly when it comes to ink usage. I rarely stay with the same ink on the next refill. On top of that I have way too many ink bottles to choose from.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I have been working to reduce the inks in the arsenal, but without feeling limited for choice. I do still like having a few options around, and of those, I will use what I want, when I want.

I have about sixteen inks bagged up to give to a friend, who I am hoping to meet tomorrow. That leaves me fifteen bottles of ink in the drawer, some of which I have in cartridges too, plus another four colours I only have in carts. Of those nineteen colours, nine won't be replaced if I ever finish them. The other ten will be bought again when used up.

I see no reason to just limit myself to one of them, and tend to have three inks/pens in play at any time anyway. Sometimes when a pen is empty, I will refill the same pen with the same ink, but sometimes I will flush and put a pen away, and switch to another pen with a different pen and ink colour.

The ten long term keepers are:

Quink Black Permanent
Diamine Midnight
Diamine Sapphire Blue
Diamine Bilberry
Diamine Misty Blue
Diamine Sherwood Green
Diamine Majestic Purple
Diamine Ochre
Diamine Burnt Sienna
.... and whichever red I finish first. The current choices being Red Dragon, Crimson, and Matador.

 

[blethenstrom]

I have been working to reduce the inks in the arsenal, but without feeling limited for choice. I do still like having a few options around, and of those, I will use what I want, when I want.

I have about sixteen inks bagged up to give to a friend, who I am hoping to meet tomorrow. That leaves me fifteen bottles of ink in the drawer, some of which I have in cartridges too, plus another four colours I only have in carts. Of those nineteen colours, nine won't be replaced if I ever finish them. The other ten will be bought again when used up.

I see no reason to just limit myself to one of them, and tend to have three inks/pens in play at any time anyway. Sometimes when a pen is empty, I will refill the same pen with the same ink, but sometimes I will flush and put a pen away, and switch to another pen with a different pen and ink colour.

The ten long term keepers are:

Quink Black Permanent
Diamine Midnight
Diamine Sapphire Blue
Diamine Bilberry
Diamine Misty Blue
Diamine Sherwood Green
Diamine Majestic Purple
Diamine Ochre
Diamine Burnt Sienna
.... and whichever red I finish first. The current choices being Red Dragon, Crimson, and Matador.

Looks like a very nice lineup!

 

[KW Driver]

I played with several inks in bottles, more samples. They’re still on the shelf in various levels. I 3017’d a 30ml bottle of Diamine’s Reistrar’s and won’t buy it again.

I’m getting to the bottom of an ESS Registrar’s and will buy it again. It’s my go to one and done ink. It’s in a couple pens.

I keep a Parker Jotter gel that I’ll occasionally carry out in public when it’s hot or there’s decent indoor/outdoor temp swings to prevent burping a fountain pen. And a Fisher Space pen from the pre-serious fountain pens days lives in the car.

Any color work/highlighting I need gets done with Sakura Pigma pens

 

[blethenstrom]

I played with several inks in bottles, more samples. They’re still on the shelf in various levels. I 3017’d a 30ml bottle of Diamine’s Reistrar’s and won’t buy it again.

I’m getting to the bottom of an ESS Registrar’s and will buy it again. It’s my go to one and done ink. It’s in a couple pens.

I keep a Parker Jotter gel that I’ll occasionally carry out in public when it’s hot or there’s decent indoor/outdoor temp swings to prevent burping a fountain pen. And a Fisher Space pen from the pre-serious fountain pens days lives in the car.

Any color work/highlighting I need gets done with Sakura Pigma pens

You prefer the ESS Registrar's over the Diamine Registrar's I take it as. If you don't mind me asking. How are they different?

 

[KW Driver]

You prefer the ESS Registrar's over the Diamine Registrar's I take it as. If you don't mind me asking. How are they different?

The Diamine has a lot of particulate in it. A lot a lot. I quit shaking the bottle on reloads to keep the big chunks out of my pens. The ESS is much finer on the ingredients and flows better. It’s a thinner viscosity ink to my eye in the bottle and on a shake. I like the shading and color it lays down better. Its just better all around in every subjective means I can measure.

@Doc4 likes it too and praises my wisdom and good taste any time I mention it.

 

[blethenstrom]

The Diamine has a lot of particulate in it. A lot a lot. I quit shaking the bottle on reloads to keep the big chunks out of my pens. The ESS is much finer on the ingredients and flows better. It’s a thinner viscosity ink to my eye in the bottle and on a shake. I like the shading and color it lays down better. Its just better all around in every subjective means I can measure.

@Doc4 likes it too and praises my wisdom and good taste any time I mention it.

Very cool! Thank you for your input. I would not recommend shaking any iron gall based ink bottle, since it will precipitate particles when exposed to air and you probably don't want those in your pen. It is just the nature of iron gall inks. I do shake all my other ink bottles though.