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Inky T O D - Vintage, Nos Or Just Old - Is It Still Safe To Use?


william2001

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I found a bottle of black ink covered in dust. I'm pretty sure this is what my grandpa used back in the mid-1900s, so it's a very old ink. I'm about to use it for my Parker Sonnet, but I just want to make sure that it's OK to use a ink that hadn't been used for many many years.

Edited by william2001

“My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen, of course. Ball-point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane. - Graham Greene

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Honestly, I'd hang on to ink that old! Heck, I'll trade you a bottle of whatever you would like for it, if all you want is an ink to use!

 

Any idea what kind it is? Bottle photos? :D

Edited by Komitadjie
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Also make sure that it doesn't have any SITB (i.e., mold). You may be fine, you may not -- but check the bottle before you ink up.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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William, we get this topic a lot, so let's make it an Inky TOD. If that's cool with you?

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Well, the labeling is all torn up, so I don't know anything about what kind of ink it is or the brand.

I don't know what a Inky TOD is, but I guess that is fine with me.

“My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen, of course. Ball-point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane. - Graham Greene

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William, we get this topic a lot, so let's make it an Inky TOD. If that's cool with you?

OK, but can you tell me what a TOD is?

“My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen, of course. Ball-point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane. - Graham Greene

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So, the larger question - what do look for before using an ink that is a little older.

 

No surprise, you are looking for the same things ink new inks too.

 

If it has MOLD or SLIME - don't touch it.

 

If it has particles on the bottom or just floating around ... well, you might be able to use it, but don't use it in a difficult to clean pen.

 

More Points to Ponder will also appear, but I'm still using some of my Skrip inks from decades ago.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks y'all

“My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen, of course. Ball-point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane. - Graham Greene

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No mold, slime, sludge, fibrous material, or other stuff that makes you say *yuck* then it's probably okay.

If any of those other things, kill it, kill it with fire.

Imagination and memory are but one thing which for diverse reasons hath diverse names. -- T. Hobbes - Leviathan

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