Ink for your Fountain Pen

(apologies if this has been discussed. Being only 3 letters, ink is hard to search.)

So, I've tried my hand with fountain pens again, this time with a Lamy Safari with an extra fine nib and I can actually write with it. My previous experience with a Pelikan Fine nib was full of fail.

So now that I'm progressing with the fountain pen, naturally that opens up the world of inks.

The Safari came with a cartridge of blue that I don't particularly care for. It's just too blue and dull for my taste.

I bought a converter with the the Safari so today I ordered some Noodler's Bulletproof Black and Blue-Black.

(so here comes the flood of questions)

I guess that patience is the key when experimenting with different inks? Either that or waste the ink you've filled your converter with.

Does it effect the performance of the pen if you only fill the converter part-way?

What is the best way to clean a converter? Or should you use a different one with each ink?

What are your favorite inks?

Thanks,
Aaron

aaron-

great pen to start with! it is a very consistant pen.

to clean it just use luke warm water and use the converter to draw water thru the nib/feed until. i usually draw up the water and expel it into the sink so the water stays more or less clean. after flushing about 10-15 times the water should be coming out pretty much clear.

no need for more than one converter per pen. it does not hurt anything to only fill the converter up part way.

my favorite company for ink is private reserve. most of their inks are very saturated (brilliantly strong) and on the free flowing side (which i like- makes for a more wet line). plum, dc super show blue and midnight blues top my list from them.

cheers,
ryan

ada8356 said:

(apologies if this has been discussed. Being only 3 letters, ink is hard to search.)

So, I've tried my hand with fountain pens again, this time with a Lamy Safari with an extra fine nib and I can actually write it. My previous experience with a Pelikan Fine nib was full of fail.

So now that I'm progressing with the fountain pen, naturally that opens up the world of inks.

The Safari came with a cartridge of blue that I don't particularly care for. It's just too blue for my taste.

I bought a converter with the the Safari so today I ordered some Noodler's Bulletproof Black and Blue-Black.

(so here comes the flood of questions)

I guess that patience is the key when experimenting with different inks? Either that or waste the ink you've filled your converter with.

Does it effect the performance of the pen if you only fill the converter part-way?

What is the best way to clean a converter? Or should you use a different one with each ink?

What are your favorite inks?

Thanks,
Aaron

Click to expand...

To prevent skipping and priming the nib, it's always good to fill the converter 2/3 or all the way.

No need in buying separate converters. Flush out the converter with warm to cool water until it runs clear.

Noodlers Walnut
Noodlers Manhatten black
J. Herbin Violette
Private Reserve Black Magic Blue

I don't believe that filling a converter only part-way is in any way detrimental to the pen. I have done this many times in the past.

I clean the converters by flushing in and out with cold water until the water coming out is clear and then let it dry before refilling.

My favorite inks are the Private Reserve branded ones in the following colors: Lake Placid Blue, Naples Blue, and Blue Suede. I'll also occasionally use their Plum or Tanzanite.

ada8356 said:

Does it effect the performance of the pen if you only fill the converter part-way?

What is the best way to clean a converter? Or should you use a different one with each ink?

What are your favorite inks?

Thanks,
Aaron

Click to expand...

In order:

1) No.

2) Warm water works just fine - you should clean the nib/feed as well when switching inks if you really want to see how the different ink works - simply do this by filling the converter with water through the nib as you would to fill the converter with ink.

Before filling with the new ink, take some absorbent paper - kleenex or paper towels work fine and just write on it lightly/blot the nib gently to suck as much water as you can out of the nib/feed so you don't dillute the new ink.

At least this is what I do.

3) In terms of consistency, I really like the Waterman inks - they work well in all my pens, don't stain the nib or ink level windows, they're easy to find and they're pretty inexpensive. I like the blue-black or florida blue (a brighter blue).

I've not tried many inks because I found the Waterman to be such a good/consistent performer and I don't have to order it.

I think the Pelikan ink is ok - the black in particular is good, the blues didn't turn my crank.

The Parker inks all seem a little thinner and tend to feather on all but the best paper - at least that's my experience.

The Lamy ink isn't bad (but the colours are just ok in terms of pigment density) and comes with a nifty container with a built-in roll of blotting paper to wipe the nib with (its like a thin roll of TP around the base - perforated with a leak-proof backing to avoid inky fingers - very well thought out).

I've probably tried a couple of others, but other than the Noodlers stuff that's supposed to be pretty good, I've found no reason to stray from the Waterman - which also has a neat bottle that can be tipped to a 45 degree angle to let you get at the last bit of ink, which is a nice feature.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

I second the Waterman inks. Mainly since that's the only decent one I can get here in NZ and I haven't tried any others but also because I have never had any issue with it and it does work well.

Simon

I love all the Noodlers Ink I've used. Honestly the only bad ink I've used was Montblanc though.

All I can say after decades of using fountain pens.... Noodlers

colours galore and specialty inks for special occasions- look up their Moby Dick Tribute Ink-

Wil said:

All I can say after decades of using fountain pens.... Noodlers

colours galore and specialty inks for special occasions- look up their Moby Dick Tribute Ink-

Click to expand...

Isn't that the truth! It was all I could do to only order two. The Zhivago sounds awesome - a kind of green-black.

I'm pretty happy with Noodler's Squeteague (Blue-Green). I've run it through my Lamy, Pelican, and Rotring without any problems. My black ink of choice right now is Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black.

I was told (I think it was by the instructions that came with my Mont Blanc pen) to add a couple of drops of ammonia cleaner (such as Parson's) to the water.

I was told by a very serious pen collector that Sheaffer blue is one of the very best inks available. That was 25 years ago, though, so I have no idea whether it still holds true.

Tim

I've been having fun with a few Noodler's inks. So far, so good. Aurora Black and Blue (the only colors they make) are excellent, too.

<snip> (so here comes the flood of questions)

Does it effect the performance of the pen if you only fill the converter part-way? No. The converter will be partially filled 99% of the time.

What is the best way to clean a converter? Or should you use a different one with each ink? Fill and empty. Repeat until clear. Actually, this is one of the best ways to clean the nib and feed. One converter is enough.

Use cool water to rinse the pen. After the water runs clear, I place the pen nib down in a glass with a wadded-up paper towel. This pulls the rest of the moisture out.

What are your favorite inks? Lemmee see... Waterman, Pelikan, Noodlers, Penman, Quink, Conway Stuart, Aurora, Rotring.

To avoid problems with new pens, always flush them out with a gentle ammonia + detergent solution (followed by multiple plain water flushes) before inking them. This will rid the pen of any residual manufacturing residues that may contribute to skipping and flow problems.

Wayne

I use Noodler's Hunter Green; Private Reserve Tanzanite and Burgundy (a bit too brown for me, though); Parker Quink black; Sheaffer blue-black (nicer than I expected). I've got some Pelikan Brilliant Red for editing/proofreading that is absolutely the worst excuse for ink I've ever used, it's so washed-out looking. I know that others like Pelikan's other colors, but this red is so bad that I'll never take a chance on another bottle of Pelikan ink.

For sampling ink, it's hard to beat Pear Tree Pen Co.'s ink sampler program. For a nominal fee they'll send you a few samples of any ink they have in stock. You can only get four samples every 30 days (to keep people from abusing the service) but what better way to try inks you're not so sure about?

Did I mention not to buy Pelikan Brilliant Red?

I just love Noodler's Ink. I mix a few of their blues together to get the color I want. I like the fact that it's permanent on paper. I hope you have the same success that I have with their products!



==Tom

farace said:

I use Noodler's Hunter Green; Private Reserve Tanzanite and Burgundy (a bit too brown for me, though); Parker Quink black; Sheaffer blue-black (nicer than I expected). I've got some Pelikan Brilliant Red for editing/proofreading that is absolutely the worst excuse for ink I've ever used, it's so washed-out looking. I know that others like Pelikan's other colors, but this red is so bad that I'll never take a chance on another bottle of Pelikan ink.

For sampling ink, it's hard to beat Pear Tree Pen Co.'s ink sampler program. For a nominal fee they'll send you a few samples of any ink they have in stock. You can only get four samples every 30 days (to keep people from abusing the service) but what better way to try inks you're not so sure about?

Did I mention not to buy Pelikan Brilliant Red?

Click to expand...

Amen to using the ink sampler service from Pear Tree pens...you get 4 tiny bottles of different inks so you can try them out. It is cheap and a good way to see if you like/dislike certain colors.

As for ink, I love Noodler's as well. Zhivago is great, and I use Noodler's Old Manhattan (dark black) that they only sell that Fountain Pen Hospital afaik.

I didn't like the Noodler's Luxury Blue because when I used it it looked washed out, sort of like a faded blue jean color.

I think based on this I might try some Private Reserve stuff just to check it out

That's odd. I have two Pelikans that I bought in NYC that I love, and I bought a Safari from isellpens.com because of the rave reviews, and the thing writes like crap. I think the nib is misaligned, because it feels like I'm scraping. I probably could have sent it back. My everyday writer is a Pilot somethingerother, very fine. The people in the meetings at work probably think I'm a nut.

I've written maybe one sentence with my Safari. I hate it, and I doubt it's worth sending to get fixed.

I also keep a Parker Vacumatic in my desk for when I feel like feeling fancy.

I just use Pelikan and Sheaffer ink. I like the brown Sheaffer to show my displeasure.

TENroaches said:

That's odd. I have two Pelikans that I bought in NYC that I love, and I bought a Safari from isellpens.com because of the rave reviews, and the thing writes like crap. I think the nib is misaligned, because it feels like I'm scraping. I probably could have sent it back. My everyday writer is a Pilot somethingerother, very fine. The people in the meetings at work probably think I'm a nut.

I've written maybe one sentence with my Safari. I hate it, and I doubt it's worth sending to get fixed.

I also keep a Parker Vacumatic in my desk for when I feel like feeling fancy.

I just use Pelikan and Sheaffer ink. I like the brown Sheaffer to show my displeasure.

Click to expand...

My Safari writes incredibly smooth......moreso than my Pelikan M1000 and Namiki.


==Tom

Noodler's Legal Lapis is all I write with