Great Iron Gall Inks?

[alvonellos]

I am about 3 mils or so away from finishing a bottle of Rohrer and Klingner Scabiosa -- it's my first iron gall, and definitely won't be my last. I have never written with an ink that behaves so nicely. The only bad thing is that it eats silicon grease and oxidizes my steel nib, but I don't care. It's a Noodler's pen with a Noodler's nib.

 

I get absolutely so much enjoyment out of Scabiosa's broad and diverse character: from how the ink draws itself back up on the letter when I lift the pen off the paper, to how it behaves differently per pen, per nib, per feed, per paper, and even over time. From the time I purchased the bottle, where it was a very faint violet, to the nearly very last drop, where it's darkened and matured in the bottle and on the page, I have enjoyed every second of it.

 

I have even diluted it, mixed it with a couple drops of black, and played with it, and it behaves... Wow.

 

My favorite color is purple. I absolutely love purple, but my favorite shades are darker purples like a "midnight" purple, but I'm open to all sorts of colors.

 

I've been searching all over for a comprehensive resource on iron gall inks, colors, formulations, and manufacturers but I've still been left with a couple questions:

 

1). Is, loosely, the kind of behavior I described something typical of iron-gall inks? Do homemade inks behave this well and have this much character to them? (Again, loosely)

 

2). Where can I get more of this. I'm thinking Salix will be my next ink, but I'm sure there are some really great home brews out there.

 

3). I have a feeling that my iron gall thirst will not be easily satiated, so those that brew their own -- would you mind throwing in some tips? I would like to be able to purchase chemicals from a supply store and do the chemistry that way (rather than extracting, etc.) but I'm not opposed to it.

 

4). What are some great iron gall inks that you recommend?

 

5). Gum Arabic is the component of iron gall inks that binds in a feed, right? So what thickening agents are used as substitutes, if any?

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

I am tickled pink that you find Scabiosa to be so rewarding. It is quite unique, so continuing your voyage of discovery will lead you to different inks.

 

As a next step, I suggest R&K Salix, the Blue-Black sibling of Scabiosa. And like Scabiosa, it can be safely blended with other R&K inks, though blends with Sepia requires vigilance and careful handling.

 

We also have Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars Ink (ESSRI), which should keep one amused and satisfied throughout the 110ml bottle.

 

Platinum Blue-Black and Hero Blue-Black are apparently iron-gall inks, but I've yet to use them.

 

Organics Studio 'Aristotle' is another iron-gall ink.

 

More hand-crafted iron-gall inks are coming to market, so I suggest using the Search tool to see what's out there. Being hand-crafted, availability might not be consistent, so 'catch them when you can' seems a good idea.

 

I will be most interested in other Members' suggestions and home brewing tips.

 

Oh, gum arabic is not for use in fountain pens, so avoid inks with that stuff - most often found in dip pen calligraphy inks. If in doubt always ask; and if you need a lightning-fast single reference, the Ink Review Forum has an excellent Index, so if an ink isn't there, it just might not be an FP ink.

 

Bye,

S1

[Tas]

Have a little look at the inks KWZI is producing at the moment.

 

I've been fortunate enough to play with some and his Iron Galls are mighty fine.

(He likes violets and bluey purples too)

[Oldane]

A little while ago I wrote a post about my experiences with various iron-gall inks:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/273982-iron-gall-ink-for-fountain-pens/

 

I can wholeheartedly recommend Salix. After my stock of the old and now dicontinued Montblanc Blueblack was used up, it has been my daily go-to ink. It's perhaps the best behaving ink I have ever used. A little to the dry side (like all rion-gall inks) but not unlubricationg - so it work excellent in a wet pen. It has the least feathering/bleed of any ink I have ever tried. Despite having iron-gall content, I have yet to see it setting a sediment, so it's not particularly high maintainence. It doesn't stain the pen and wahes out of the pen easily. It's permanent (that is, the grey iron-gall component is very permanent - the blue anilin dye washes away with water). It's not expensive. It's easily available from internet vendors both in EU and US.

[amberleadavis]

Tas and Sandy already stated what I was going to tell you. So, here is a little more...

 

Salix and Scabiosa mixed together is really really pretty.

 

ESSRI is fun to watch dry. (It is much faster than the paint).

 

Diamine Registratars is just interesting.

 

KWZI's IGs are even prettier than Pharmacists IGs. The colors are amazingly vivid. For an IG ink, it is reasonably wet. They are well behaved and interesting.

[Bo Bo Olson]

ESSR is not Diamine register ink, as some think. It is the remnant of a much older company, Stephans or Stevens, saved as part of a managers buy out, when some corporation, bought up the famous English ink company; then closed it down after gutting it, selling the property for this year's bottom bonus line.

 

Those that have both like ESSR better, as I remember it.

 

ESSR has one of the longest threads ever on FPN, could be 20-30 pages of comments.

 

Sandy calls it mischievous, me, I call it sneaky. I once did a 17 pen of various width's and flexs***, 42 paper test of it.

Some papers dry to black with in, minutes, hours or a day, others take a week or a month. One paper kept it a fine blue.

It is paper driven....but real good.

 

Richard says a good IG ink should change color and can take up to a full day to change it's color.

 

***Some day when I learn to run a scanner, I'll put it back up.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Bo Bo Olson

[RudyR]

ESSR is not Diamine register ink, as some think. It is the remnant of a much older company, Stephans or Stevens, saved as part of a managers buy out, when some corporation, bought up the famous English ink company; then closed it down after gutting it, selling the property for this year's bottom bonus line.

 

Those that have both like ESSR better, as I remember it.

 

ESSR has one of the longest threads ever on FPN, could be 20-30 pages of comments.

 

Sandy calls it mischievous, me, I call it sneaky. I once did a 17 pen of various width's and flexs***, 42 paper test of it.

Some papers dry to black with in, minutes, hours or a day, others take a week or a month. One paper kept it a fine blue.

It is paper driven....but real good.

 

Richard says a good IG ink should change color and can take up to a full day to change it's color.

 

***Some day when I learn to run a scanner, I'll put it back up.

 

I got to second Bo Bo's statement that ESSRI is not Diamines Registrars ink. I find that ESSRI is a far better ink than the Diamines and more interesting. I have Platinum's Blue black and it is also better (in my experience) than Diamines and its less expensive per milliliter.

 

As far as favorites, it's in this order:

 

Montblanc Midnight Blue (discontinued Iron Gall formula)

ESSRI

Platinum Blue Black

Lamy blue black (discontinued Iron Gall Formula)

R & K Salix

Diamines Registrars ink

[inkstainedruth]

Akkerman #10 is a very nice iron gall ink. It's the first one I've come across that goes almost black. Have not yet tried ESSRI or the discontinued ones mentioned by RudyR. I found both the Diamine Registrars and OS Aristotle to be somewhat underwhelming (they both tended to oxidize to grey).

Have not tried the KWZI inks yet (I have four on order for the North American group buy).

I have really liked the ones I've tried made by PFN member Pharmacist, as well, but he's had brewing issues the last couple of years.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Abner C. Kemp]

Well I was going to suggest Sciabosa -- what a fantastic ink!! I haven't had much experience with other iron gall inks but I would recommend the old Montblanc Midnight Blue formula. It is not as interesting as Sciabosa but has nice flow and shows some pretty nice shading for a blue black ink. I'll also mention Diamine Registrars ink which I've used a sample of. I really really liked the performance of the ink -- no flow issues and very good behavior on all types of papers including some that are not usually kind to fountain pens. The only drawback to the ink is that the color is rather boring -- it goes on the paper blue and eventually oxidizes to a very very dark blue which I would almost refer to as black. Still, it is an excellent signature ink or an ink for cheaper paper.

[The Good Captain]

Salix and ESSRI are my favourites. I've still got the IG MB Midnight Blue as well. 4001 Blue-Black is a wonderful one that's not supposed to be IG, but...

[SNAK]

I too, love iron gall inks. I have tried a few and I have written an overview of my experiences with them in an older post from a few months back which can be found at the link below:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/269384-iron-gall-ink/page-2?do=findComment&comment=3044277

 

At the bottom of that post I touched on a recipe (or more like ingredients ratio) to create home brew IG inks from chemical components rather than raw ingredients from mashed plant matter. OP may find it useful. I am still wait listed on Pharmacist's IG creations and I am not sure if KWZI's IG inks can be sent to Australia where I am so I haven't tried either of them yet but I would love to one day.

 

At the moment my favourites are slightly amended ESSRI (just a toothpick tip of surfactant added to 20ml glass filling bottle full of ESSRI), along with my old Montblanc Blue-Black which I have only a few bottles of backups left now. Runner ups are Hero 232 which surprisingly is a really pleasant and wet IG ink despite its odd peculiar smell, and Akkerman #10.

 

As you can see, I love all of them and I rotate them in a couple of vintage lever filler pens with bouncy gold nib and simple hard rubber feed. I have tried using IG inks in various modern pens with different filling systems from various countries in mostly Medium and Broad nibs, but I ended up enjoying IG inks in vintage pens the most. They are wet writers and a perfect match for drier IG inks. I think these vintage pens were made and used when IG inks were made and used, so it is no surprise that they work so well together.

 

I really enjoy these IG inks.

[alvonellos]

Oh, dear. I totally got lost in shool work and forgot to reply to this -- sincerest apologies!

 

Lots of great suggestions and advice. I'm going to try to make my own ink and see if it can help quench my thirst for IG. I might order some more of the inks that you guys have suggested.

 

Thanks to everyone for all the time and effort they've put in to their posts here. I'll try to make a more substantive reply over the course of the weekend on a computer!

[alvonellos]

Quick update. I've made some pomegranate ink and it's gorgeous. I'll post pictures later.

[Sandy1]

Quick update. I've made some pomegranate ink and it's gorgeous. I'll post pictures later.

 

No teasing!

[amberleadavis]

Show me the ink! Please......

[thecla]

I too have been exploring iron gall inks for the last year or so. I have tried Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa and Salix, Diamine Registrar's Ink, Akkerman IJzer-Galnoten blauw/zwart, and ESSRI.

 

Scabiosa is my favorite so far. The color is very nice and it behaves well. Salix is also pleasantly behaved but the color is a bit dull. The others are all so dry that I need to periodically shake my pen to get the ink to flow.

 

Still, I like the color of Diamine Registrar's Ink very much so I want to use it. That is why I bought a bottle of Organics Studio Cuddles' Flo-Plus (it's discontinued but I found a seller on eBay who has a few bottles left). I did my first tests today. The first try was a total failure. I added about 0.1ml of Flo-Plus in 20ml of Diamine RI (which is ~0.5% and the instructions recommend less than 1%) and it was way too much. The ink just dripped out of the pen. For the second try I made a solution of 1:4 Flo-Plus and water just so that I would be able to measure a small enough amount of it. I then added 0.1ml of the solution in 20ml of Diamine RI (~0.1% of Flo-Plus in ink) and so far it seems ok. The ink is definitely much wetter but not dripping like the first try.

[Medsen Fey]

Pharmacist makes some very nice ink. I really love the darkening absinthe. His purpura imperialis is a very dark purple. I actually mix it with scabiosa and end up with a beautiful shade that I can still use in professional settings.

[amberleadavis]

So, if we have not yet mentioned it, KWZI IG inks are some of the very best and wettest that I've ever used. The colors are stunning and the ink cleans out of a pen like a champ.

[Medsen Fey]

...KWZI IG inks are some of the very best and wettest that I've ever used.

 

Where can they be purchased?

[amberleadavis]

Where can they be purchased?

 

 

In Europe you can get them directly. The expense for us is the shipping. In North America, you want to be on one of the group buys.