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Modern Iron Gall Ink Effect On Pen (?)


ParkerQuink

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Hi guys-

 

I am really interested in using 2 of the modern gall inks- Diamine Registrars or Roher & Klinger Salix in my fountain pens- both modern and vintage. My main question is...Has anyone actually had issues of corosion with these inks on their pens? I have been reading all around the forum, and people often mention that there is a possibilty of corrosion, but don't give solid examples. Has anyone seen real corrosion problems from either of those two inks? I am just about to bring a Lamy 2000 into use, and I would like to use one of these two inks, but just wanted to post first. If anyone happens to have pictures of what either of these inks have done to your pen- that would be great! Thanks all of reading and for your posts. I really appreciate your input!

 

Thanks!

 

Pat

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I've never yet had any such problems (corrosion etc) with any of the 12 or so IG inks I use. Not even in my P51 aero, but there may be other, much older, pens which could be more easily corroded/etched. Bear in mind that "practically" all IG inks ever manufactured and sold within the last 40 years or so are definitely harmless to FPs (as if they ever were previous to those days, when rhodium, iridium, ruthenium etc were much less used.

 

Mike

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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None here with Salix except needing to regrease my Vac700. Salix is pretty good at degreasing it.

Physician- signing your scripts with Skrips!


I'm so tough I vacation in Detroit.

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In all fairness, MB Midnight Blue (iron gall version) plays well in all my pens.

 

Diamine Registrar doesn't corrode or anything like that, but I noticed that it stains my converters more than I care. I haven't tried a thorough cleaning yet to know how difficult it is to bring back to new, but the regular flushes kept the tubes with a blue tint on them.

 

It's been 4 months for me playing with this ink still, so I still keep it on my vintage pens or Lamy but not about to use in any newer Montblanc or limited edition yet.

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I've only used Salix. I have to agree with Flaxmoore, it seems to make the plunger on my Vac 700 stiffer than normal, but I wouldn't think this would be an issue on a piston filler like a Lamy 2000. I've certainly never heard of any permanent damage because of it, though.

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Thanks all for the responses! I guess my question is now whether to go with Registrar's Ink or Salix. I am sure I will try both at one point, but which to try first...

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I have only used Salix and ESSR. Salix is comparatively benign but does require a wet nib to show what it is capable of.

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I've had ESSR in relatively steady use in an Esterbrook J with a medium manifold nib since November or so. I've had no problems. I've written it dry and refilled it. I thought, "I should clean this out!" but was in a hurry so just reloaded the pen. It's sitting here on my desk now... The nib creep is terrible, but there has been no other effects yet.

 

I use it more than I thought I would. I sign all checks and documents with it, and have written letters and entries in my daily writing. The 9460 is a great nib.

--

Lou Erickson - Handwritten Blog Posts

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In all fairness, MB Midnight Blue (iron gall version) plays well in all my pens.

This has me considering the MB Permanent Blue alongside these Iron Gall. I am looking for a solid blue(blue/black) ink that should last far longer than myself or my children on paper for daily letters that I write and documents, etc.

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I have used Salix and Diamine Registrars.

 

Salix once stayed in an M600 for about 3 months continual use with no problems at all but I did decide the colour was rather pale.

 

Registrars spent a week in my M200 after which the ink window was totally obscured by a varnish-like layer which took a lot of cleaning and I have not used the ink since. A shame since I really enjoyed its colour changing and the way a blue ink turns black.

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The Registrars is IMO definitely too dry. At least the driest of all of my IGs.

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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This has me considering the MB Permanent Blue alongside these Iron Gall. I am looking for a solid blue(blue/black) ink that should last far longer than myself or my children on paper for daily letters that I write and documents, etc.

IMHO the MB permanent blue and permanent black had some issues among other people but I guess it's probably because it has insane dry times and probably because I'm a lefty
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I haven't tried the Salix, but for me the Diamine Registrar's is a strong candidate as "one ink for the rest of time". It's such a lovely, safe (if not overly exciting) ink. It doesn't bleed or feather, it's neither too dry or too wet, it's waterproof, it works on most paper and it's a non-showy colour that is usable in most situations. I haven't noticed any staining of my clear TWSBI Diamond 530, and my P51 hasn't suddenly clogged or anything.

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I have to further comment or add that Registrar is FUN! I love how it goes light blue (almost like Montblanc Royal Blue) and then dries nearly black!

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I bought a 25ml bottle of Chesterfield Archival Vault (xfountainpens.com's iron gall ink, manufactured by Diamine) and filled my Noodler's Indian eyedropper with acrylic barrel. I had to use a cotton swab to get the blue residue out of it. I'm unwilling to put it in anything else except maybe my Konrad.

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  • 1 month later...

I bought a 25ml bottle of Chesterfield Archival Vault (xfountainpens.com's iron gall ink, manufactured by Diamine) and filled my Noodler's Indian eyedropper with acrylic barrel. I had to use a cotton swab to get the blue residue out of it. I'm unwilling to put it in anything else except maybe my Konrad.

 

Oh boy! I just ordered some Registrar's Ink, and I will try it in my Lamy Safari before moving onto the 2000. Otherwise, I have been using the Montblanc Permanent blue, and have had good luck

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The Registrars is IMO definitely too dry. At least the driest of all of my IGs.

I agree. Diamine registrar's ink is by far my favourite ink since I changed the pens I use it in. I had been using it in a cc Lamy Vista but found (1) that it was too dry, and (2) the cc became discoloured. [i completely restored the transparency of the cc by finely twisting some bathroom tissue into the interior, screwing the piston down onto the tissue, and then spinning the tissue so that it cleaned the internal walls of the chamber. Easy but a bit fiddly.]

 

For the last month I have been using the registrar's ink in a Conway Stewart 28 that I had previously found to be far too wet a writer. Well, it is a marriage made in heaven: the dry ink has tamed the torrential flow to produce a pen/ink combo that is an absolute delight to use. I love it — my favourite by far. It is my default daily writer at work. Both the pen and the ink attract a lot of comments.

 

One quality of the Diamine registrar's ink that hasn't been commented on so far is the beautiful shading that it produces. The sample below was from the Lamy Vista.

http://www.eudemonia.co.uk/fp/registrars.jpg

 

... and with the Conway Stewart 28:

http://www.eudemonia.co.uk/fp/cs28&regsink.jpg

Cheers, David.

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It seems to be that some people have had staining problems with IG inks. That's very good to know, since my pen has an ink window. I would very much want to avoid permanently staining it. Frankly, prior to reading this thread, it hadn't occurred to me that IG inks might stain.

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No worries about ill effects in pens from MB Midnight Blue IG formula - I've been using it in several pans for the past year or three without any problems. My only worry is that I might run out of this discontinued blend.

 

ESSR I found too pale and dry in the pens I tried it in and so abandoned it. When looking at the plastic bottle it came in, there was a blue-black precipitate on the bottle. I decanted the remaining ink into a glass bottle (even though I probably won't use it) and eventually cleaned the plastic bottle (because I couldn't bear not to). I don't know if that deposit might indicate a potential clogging problem with some pens but neither will I find out now.

 

The Diamine Registrar's ink was a little darker and a little less dry that ESSR but much more expensive so I didn't persevere once the original bottle was finished. It worked fine in a Waterman W5 with quite a large but fine nib.

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