Your Top Picks for the Best Behaved Ink

What do you consider to be some of the best behaved inks that you use? I just jotted a note in a ledger book that I previously wrote a note in with Waterman Serenity Blue. This most recent note was written with Diamine Midnight. The Waterman is a lighter blue, but did not bleed through the paper at all. Diamine being much more saturated an ink bled through the paper really badly. I love the color intensity of the Diamine, but sometimes you want an ink that plays well with all kinds of paper.

For inks that behave well in your pen and on paper (no or little bleed through or feathering while maintaining good flow), what are your top picks?

Lately I've been partial to J. Herbin inks.

Several varieties in the PIF Passaround box, and I tried them along with quite a few others. Consistently, the J. Herbin inks seemed best to me. Good solid color, flow, etc.

The Mont Blanc inks work pretty well also, but stay wetter longer (IMO).

The combinatoin of ink, nib width, and paper will determine the behavior. I have the feeling that using a Fine nib and a good quality paper such as Clairefontaine Triomphe with your Diamine Midnight would eliminate bleed-through problems.

I would think bleed through and feathering to be more of a function of the paper selection than of the ink, for the most part. But there are certainly many variables in the equation, such as the previously mentioned nib width and flow characteristics of a pens feed. For me a "well behaved" ink doesn't clog my pen, stain or otherwise damage it, has a pleasing color/ shading, drys quickly and has at least some permanence. I've never had a problem with Noodler's Bullet Proof Black, but it is not very exciting. Obviously other Noodler's inks can be problematic, YMMV. Other than a lack of permanence, Iroshizuku inks are a wonder to behold, as far as flow issues and beautiful colors are concerned.

Quink. Not very exciting but very reliable.

ex-bugonaut said:

The combinatoin of ink, nib width, and paper will determine the behavior. I have the feeling that using a Fine nib and a good quality paper such as Clairefontaine Triomphe with your Diamine Midnight would eliminate bleed-through problems.

Click to expand...

Overall, I find Diamine to be pretty good. I can even balance my checkbook with it, but I noticed there was a lesser tendency for Waterman to bleed on cheap paper than the Diamine. Perhaps that's due to the lower dye load of the Waterman.

I've never had any problems with Lamy Blue. But this a very YMMV situation as there are tons of variables.

The Diamine inks are my favorites in terms of color and working in every pen I've tried them in. I've had similar luck with Waterman ink and good old Quink but I prefer the Diamine color.

Over the years I have used many different brands of ink, but have found that my collection now consists mainly of "old standards", as they all seem to work above average in all of my pens. The only non "old standards" that I have in my collection are Akkerman #0 and Akkerman #8, but those a reportedly just repackaged Diamine inks.

The 3 I have been using recently, which work wonderfully, and are very well behaved are Aurora Black, Akkerman #8, and Pelikan 4001 Blue Black. Waterman Serenity Blue (as you have mentioned) was an ink I have had before which worked well in all my pens, as did a vintage bottle of Parker Quink Blue-Black.

I have Visconti turquoise that is well behaved and looks very nice on paper. It's been pretty good about not bleeding on a good number of different paper types. The caveat is that it's only be in two pens (TWSBI ECO 1.1mm, TWSBI 580 Medium), but it's been great in both. I have yet to have any problems with any Mont Blanc inks. They're my go to ink in a majority of pens. I've got a good selection of colors and they all perform well. They feather a little more on cheaper paper than some other inks, but I can deal with that. It's easy to clean out and the colors look really nice.

Parker Quink Blue-black
Pelikan 4001 Blue-black

-Andy

Parker Quink Blue-Black, Pilot/Namiki Blue, Pilot/Namiki Blue-Black, Pelikan 4001 anything, Sheaffer Skrip anything. Generally nothing too saturated. They are a little on the drier side of flow though.

Waterman has a better flow rate, but I tend to smear those if I'm not careful.

Foyle said:

Overall, I find Diamine to be pretty good. I can even balance my checkbook with it, but I noticed there was a lesser tendency for Waterman to bleed on cheap paper than the Diamine. Perhaps that's due to the lower dye load of the Waterman.

Click to expand...

+1 Diamine. I've never been disappointed with a Diamine ink. Diamine tends to have less bleed through on cheap paper than say Iroshizuku. I love Iro, but on cheap paper it goes right through to the other side. The same for Edelstein, though Pelikan 4001 is very well behaved.

Whenever I get a new pen I first give it a flush and then the first ink is Waterman Florida/Serenity blue.

I've had good luck with all the Diamine inks I've tried (about half a dozen). Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black is also excellent but not normally available here in the States. I'm fortunate to have brought some back from Europe the last time I was there.

One slightly controversial ink I like a lot is Noodler's Black. Besides being bomb-proof, bullet-proof, and resistant to nuclear explosions, I've found it to perform perfectly in every pen I've tried it in. I guess one day I might find a pen that doesn't like it, but so far, it's been good to me.

Additionally, I've picked up several bottles of vintage Parker Quink, Sheaffer Skrip, and Waterman's Ink. Despite being almost as old as I am (and I'm pretty damned old!), they perform flawlessly. The colors are nothing special, but they're definitely well-behaved.

Modern inks; Diamine
Vintage inks; Skrip

I love Akkerman inks, but I am biased.

de Atramentis makes a very nice, really well-behaved ink.

I have had great luck with Diamine inks in a fine nib. I often prefer a wider nib but the fine helps on lower quality paper.

I have had good luck with royal blue from Waterman and Mont Blanc.

BigJ said:

I have had good luck with royal blue from Waterman and Mont Blanc.

Click to expand...

Most German royal blue inks are good, in my opinion.

In fact, most royal blue inks are safe and good.