What Ink Is In What Pen?

[DriedUpBob]

I'm sure there are many ideas here on this subject so I'm hoping to find the perfect solution for me

 

I'm ordering ink samples and inking up my meager entire pen fleet of five pens with the new colors. How does everyone keep track of what ink they have in what pen. I'm sure most don't have five different colors inked up at once but I'm hoping someone is old like me and can't remember what is in which pen

 

How do you keep track?

 

Thanks

[rbadger332]

I'm sure there are many ideas here on this subject so I'm hoping to find the perfect solution for me

 

I'm ordering ink samples and inking up my meager entire pen fleet of five pens with the new colors. How does everyone keep track of what ink they have in what pen. I'm sure most don't have five different colors inked up at once but I'm hoping someone is old like me and can't remember what is in which pen

 

How do you keep track?

 

Thanks

I've learned to ID inks by the color. All I have to do is write a short line and I know what ink it is.

[sexauerw]

I use an Excel spreadsheet for my pen collection inventory and other miscellaneous pen recordkeeping. One of the many worksheets in the workbook keeps track of which pens are inked and what the inks are. All I have to fill in is the ID number, the ink and the date filled. All of the other fields are auto-copied from the inventory sheets by formulas.

 

Of course, I have 375 pens to keep track of so I needed a more complex system than you do with only five. But a system like mine is relatively easy to start when you have only five and is very difficult to start if you wait until you have 100 or more. You get overwhelmed by the mass of data you need to deal with and you discover that you didn't save a lot of the data that you wish you had kept. If your collection starts to grow beyond the five, think about some kind of inventory system before you get to about 20-25 pens or so.

 

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j66/sexauerw/InkedPenList-1.jpg

Edited March 19, 2012 by sexauerw

[imadeadend]

Keep a notebook or pad of what ink and pen you have. Or take another format like the excel spreadsheet above

 

Funny, I had only recently thought of doing this very thing too!

[noodlesinabag]

I keep a lot of pens inked at once (10 at the moment). I'm a student so I need a lot of different colors with different properties at one time.

I keep a notecard with the pen name and ink brand/color on it. I also coordinate pen color to ink color... I used to do a one pen, one ink policy, but I recently bought a ultrasonic so I do on occasion switch inks in my pen if I run across a color that is closer to the pen color..... :embarrassed_smile:

http://i.imgur.com/mwrhgl.jpg

[mcbender]

I usually only keep 5 or 6 pens inked at a time, and I keep all of my inked pens in a separate location from my un-inked pens. That's usually enough to remember (it helps that by now I've more or less associated one ink with each pen for normal use, which I don't change up very often, and if I do use something unusual it will probably be in only one of those pens at any given time, which also isn't so hard to remember).

 

If my collection gets much bigger and I start inking more pens, or using greater ink variety, it might start to get harder to remember. That said, most of the inks I use these days are high-maintenance (iron-gall or Noodler's bulletproof), so I interact with all of the inked pens in my rotation regularly enough that it's hard not to remember...

[VanRocket]

I started a notebook for my small collection for this very reason. I start the page with the description of the pen and when I received it (if known). Then I'll put the date and the current ink I have in it along with notes about how I feel about the ink with that pen. If I change the ink, I will log it in the notebook with the date so I know what is in the pen. I can also look back and see what I thought of a certain ink in a particular pen. I leave 4-5 pages between pen entries so I will have room to log the ink changes in the future. This has worked well for me so far.

 

I like the spreadsheet idea but when I log an entry I also use the pen and ink I am writing about to make the note. That way I can also see how it behaved on paper, in addition to knowing what ink is in what pen.

 

 

 

Jeff

[PaperDarts]

I keep a notebook as a record of pens and inks - although I bow in respect to the Excel spreadsheet. Usually I know exactly which ink is where, but right now I'm testing out a number of dark blues so sometimes I have to check the notebook to see what the heck I'm using. This information is critical if I'm deciding to dump ink back into a sample vial or a bottle and clean it out - without that notebook I'd have some pretty weird ink colours.

[geoduc]

I keep an electronic sticky note on my computer desktop (Microsoft Vista OS) to remind me which ink is in each pen.

[Paddler]

I keep at least eight pens inked all the time. Each is filled with a different color. I keep track of them the old fashioned way. The first page of my pocket notebook contains the list. To me, using a spread sheet for such a simple task is like pounding a thumbtack with a sledgehammer. When I want to write something with green ink, say, I don't want to power up a computer, wait for it to boot, run Excel, and do a search. Get outa here! I just flip the cover on my notebook and look. Done!

[RayOski1]

I do the Excel for inventory of pens and ink. I keep 2 Lamy 2000 inked with a blue and one other pen inked with black

[P.A.R.]

I write the name of the ink I'm using in the margin of the notebook I use for my journal, though this is more for future purchasing references. . I only have seven pens and as many inks, and have only about four or five of those inked at a time. That makes it fairly easy to remember, as well as the fact that with the exception of my two black inks none of my inks look extremely similar, so I can usually tell by writing a word or two or marking my finger. I also don't change inks that often, though that may change once I get more inks.

 

I would like to have four Noodler's Ahabs, one for black, two for blues, and one for a color other than those (getting several samples from the Goulets next month.)

[Bo Bo Olson]

index cards.

I have some 30 inks (sort of noobie) and @40 working pens.

And some inks are close to another in tone.

Tone can be influenced by nib width & flex and what paper you are using.

 

Last month I got tired of ???? what ink...so finally got around to writing down the name of the pen, and what ink is now in it on index cards.

 

Should have done that a long time ago.

[pompa]

I'm a student so I need a lot of different colors with different properties at one time.

Just keep telling yourself that :roflmho:

[MaikeruS]

Wow, all these in depth answers. I have only two Safaris and a handful of V-pens so keeping track of inks is simply just remembering a couple of words. I can only sympathise for those with ten or more pens inked at once. Finding a pen is sometimes hard enough for me/

[danimath]

For my five pens and about a dozen inks (more in the future ;-) ) I use a Moleskine. Starting from the last page I note every new ink:

 

 

From the beginning, every pen gets an own page, where I write when I filled a pen with what ink:

 

 

best regards

Andreas

Edited March 19, 2012 by danimath

[dickydotcom]

Most of my pens are either clean or have black ink because that's what I need to use for work.

I have a box of Herbin colour carts that haven't been used in years.

A Parker Duofold with Pelikan Violet,

A Lamy with Sheaffer Peacock blue 1.5mm nib for addressing envelopes,

And a Sheaffer with green Skrip that I use for a journal.

Also have a bottle of red Skrip but no pen inked with it at the moment.

So no need for spreadsheets or notebooks here.

Dick D

[Nonsensical]

O.O So many fancy systems...I have...I don't know how many inked up...let's see.

 

Platinum Preppy 0.3 with Noodlers Black

Platinum Preppy 0.3 with Diamine Imperial Purple

Pilot 78G B with PR Electric DC

Lamy AL-star M with Diamine Chocolate Brown

Online 1.1mm with Noodlers Blue Eel

Jinhao 500 CI with Noodlers Black/Green mix

Kaweco Sport F with Diamine cartridge (some green, it came from a mixed pack)

TWSBI 530 EF with Noodlers Green Marine

Pelikan 120 EF with Noodlers Black

Esterbrook J 9556 with Noodlers Blue Eel

Pelikan M200 EF with Diamine Twilight

Platinum Balance F with Noodlers Black/HOD mix

Hero 616 with Diamine Evergreen

Pilot Prera F with my custom purple mix

Esterbrook LJ 2556 with Noodlers Cactus Fruit

Parker 17 (Ladies)with PR Electric DC

Wing Sung 220 with Noodlers Baystate Concord Grape

Hero 329 with Noodlers La Couleur Royale

Lamy Safari EF with Noodlers Blue Eel

Pelikano M with Diamine Prussian Blue

Pilot Custom Heritage 91 MF with Noodlers Ottoman Rose

Sailor Sapporo Mini-slim F with Noodlers Black/HOD mix

Pilot VP M with Diamine Emerald

Wet Noodle with Diamine Turqoise

Flexible WHS with Diamine Majestic Blue

Pilot Parallel 1.5 with Noodlers Blue Eel

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 2.4 with custom purple mix

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 3.8 with Noodlers Ottoman Rose

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 5.0 with Noodlers Habanero

 

Oh dear. That's a long list...No spreadsheets necessary, I just keep it all in my mind. Not sure how it works, but it does. :roflmho:

[danimath]

...

...No spreadsheets necessary, I just keep it all in my mind. Not sure how it works, but it does. :roflmho:

 

Either you are much younger than me or you have a superbrain :roflmho:

[Nonsensical]

...

...No spreadsheets necessary, I just keep it all in my mind. Not sure how it works, but it does. :roflmho:

 

Either you are much younger than me or you have a superbrain :roflmho:

Probably just much younger...XD I'm only 20.