Inks You Just Can't Connect With For Some Reason.

[Flaxmoore]

I see a topic of inks that you'll never finish, so, spinning from that, what are the inks you just can't connect with for some reason?

 

I'll start off with Noodler's Black Eel. It has everything I want in an ink, in theory. It's bulletproof, good flow, nice and dark, should be perfect.

 

Yet, I simply can't like this ink. It's boring. I use it as a mixer, but I can't think of the last time I did a fill of it.

[Trom]

I never use black nor white ink.

[KBeezie]

I see a topic of inks that you'll never finish, so, spinning from that, what are the inks you just can't connect with for some reason?

 

I'll start off with Noodler's Black Eel. It has everything I want in an ink, in theory. It's bulletproof, good flow, nice and dark, should be perfect.

 

Yet, I simply can't like this ink. It's boring. I use it as a mixer, but I can't think of the last time I did a fill of it.

Black Eel is the only black I use lol. But it's only in one pen currently, and that's a Montblanc 225 with a Japanese-sized extra-fine nib, the pen and ink are pretty much married in this case. Since it's so thin and on the dryer side (which helps make the dry time less than a few seconds) it's more of a really dark grey or almost graphite instead of just black.

 

I guess out of my bottles (not counting samples), I'd probably say Apache sunset, not that it doesn't look great, but it's kind of like writing with water sometimes, on smoother surfaces depending on the nib, it won't catch onto the paper quite write and will just pool down to the end of the middle and end of the stroke, and on more absorbent paper it has a tendency to bleed/feather a bit. Though I haven't tried it in just a straight stub though (mainly tried it in round and flex nibs).

 

Texas Live Oak is another I'd like to love, it's an almost deeper chalky green, it's completely waterproof, it flows very well, and it dries in under a second even with my 1.9 stub nib. It however behaves very wet (very easy to bleed or feather at the start/end of a stroke even though it's dry and smear free in under 1 to 2 seconds).

 

PS: Black Eel + Diamine Eclipse makes for an interesting mix, dries decently fast, the black eel part keeps it legible when wet, and it has a sort of sheen to it. However it will stain the $*$* out of anything it's in such as the sample vial I had it sitting in it's all stained pitch black around the walls of the sample vial.

Edited September 15, 2014 by KBeezie

[bullet08]

J. Herbin Rouge Opera. i'm just not "connecting" with this ink. too pink.

[tendollarword]

I haven't yet come across a green, yellow, orange, pink, bright blue or turquoise ink that I like.

[Tasmith]

Noodler's Liberty's Elysium. Don't care for he color and it dries out in my nibs.

[FayeV]

I'm not sure if I'll use Akkerman Shocking Blue any time soon after it clogged up my Pilot Metropolitan.

 

I noticed the pen became a hard starter (or not start at all). I can't see how much ink is inside the opaque squeeze converter (that came with the pen) so I gave it a squeeze and a blob of ink came out. Running out of ink was not the problem. Pen still won't start up. I decided to empty and flush the pen. While running the nib section under some water, I noticed "stringy" bits of blue ink come out.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Sounds like SITB to me!

 

I can't connect---yet---with Stipula Green Musk, even after seeing some artwork done with it. I may have to dilute it. We'll see.

[FayeV]

Sounds like SITB to me!

 

 

I've heard of SITB but have never seen it before. Well this is disappointing ... this it is a brand new bottle and this was the very first time I filled from it.

[NedC]

Quink blue-black, it's like the diluted dregs from some forgotten ink manufacturers vats, only without any sense of mystery that may imply. The distillation of ennuiin a bottle.

[WaskiSquirrel]

I'll avoid the "don't like" category and just focus on the "can't connect with". I like the looks of these inks, but they leave me cold.

 

• J. Herbin 1670 Rouge Hematite: it's cool, it looks cool with the gold, but it just does nothing for me. When I leave it in the pen overnight, it quits working. I always hate to ink a pen with it.
• Noodler's Manjiro Nakahama: it looks okay, it has nifty properties, but I just can't get any feeling for it.
• Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi: I purchased it as an alternative to Noodler's Black for a pen that wasn't dealing well with that ink. But, it's just black, and not all that special.

[KBeezie]

Quink blue-black, it's like the diluted dregs from some forgotten ink manufacturers vats, only without any sense of mystery that may imply. The distillation of ennuiin a bottle.

 

I don't care for Parker Quink Blue either. It flows and behaves and what not, but it's just so boring, and leans too purple and light for me.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I've heard of SITB but have never seen it before. Well this is disappointing ... this it is a brand new bottle and this was the very first time I filled from it.

That would be sad. Is it possible the ink was reacting to a previous ink in the Met?

 

You couod decant some into a sample vial and watch for 'stuff.'

[Morbus Curiositas]

I never use black nor white ink.

White ink???

[tendollarword]

White ink???

 

Noodler's makes one called Whiteness of the Whale for mixing with other inks. I don't think I've seen any others.

[Mr. JW]

Parker Quink black. I have tried to like it, but it is just way too washed out. More of a purplish grey than a true black.

[arcadeflow]

Sheaffer Turquoise is a nice color, I enjoy that color in the world outside, but not on paper, I found out. Also, I dislike brown color in most of the things outside the leather range, but Sheaffer Brown is the nicest looking ink I own. I bought a lot of "wrong" inks last year, so I ordered some more now that I know what I like.

[LuisAAbrilRomero]

Quink blue-black, it's like the diluted dregs from some forgotten ink manufacturers vats, only without any sense of mystery that may imply. The distillation of ennuiin a bottle.

 

Wow, you really nailed the description of my feelings for THAT ink!

[tinysnail]

Private Reserve Spearmint is a super vibrant, lovely green, and I WANT to like it (and I do in theory!) but I just can't. It's perfect theoretically but I tend to gravitate towards muted and swampy colours in practice, I guess.

[KBeezie]

Private Reserve Spearmint is a super vibrant, lovely green, and I WANT to like it (and I do in theory!) but I just can't. It's perfect theoretically but I tend to gravitate towards muted and swampy colours in practice, I guess.

 

I actually have a sample of this from AmberLea which she added some flow enhancer to it. It's actually not too shabby if you stick it in a very very very fine nib like the accountant nib on my evergreen green sheaffer touchdown admiral. Gives it a slightly darker profile at that line thickness and wetness, but still vibrant.

 

But I'm like you with greens, I tend to want them darker but not all the same shade. Noodler's Texas Live oak does that for me a little if it wasn't so wet-like (behaves wet, but dries instantly), and Noodler's Sequoia Green isn't too shabby bit it's too wet (but doesn't dry quickly), and Diamine Salamander is... different, it's more like a bog/swamp than most the others. Noodler's Bad Green Gator is nice and deep, but it's also very very wet flowing (something bout noodler's greens always being too wet?).