I started working with the ink yesterday according to the following test criteria I set up.... my results are in blue.

1. Mix a 4:1 solution of ink and place in clear glass vials .... ink was mixed using a syringe for accurate water measurement. Solution mixed smoothly with no problems
2. Allow ink to sit for 24 hours to test for any separation..... ink did not precipitate or separate at all
3. Fill pen and test with a fine and a medium nib to show color at 4:1 dilution ... Filled two Esterbrook pens (1 medium, 1 fine nib), see attached color samples at all dilutions. Pens wrote smoothly, no skipping, not overly wet, and no feathering. Color was clean and had some tonality, colors matched samples sent by Sean earlier (see below).
4. Dilute to 5:1 and fill pen and test with a fine and a medium nib to show color at 5:1 dilution .... Filled two Esterbrook pens (1 medium, 1 fine nib), see attached color samples at all dilutions. Pens wrote smoothly, no skipping, not overly wet, and no feathering. Color was clean, just a slight tint shift from the 4:1 dilution, colors matched samples sent by Sean earlier.
5. Dilute to 6:1 and fill pen and test with a fine and a medium nib to show color at 6:1 dilution .... Filled two Esterbrook pens (1 medium, 1 fine nib), see attached color samples at all dilutions. Pens wrote smoothly, no skipping, not overly wet, and no feathering. Color was clean and there was a definite tint shift from the 4:1 and 5:1 dilutions.

These are both very nice colors. Neither seems to be highly saturated to the point of causing a problem in a normal writing pen (even at the 4:1 dilution). The recommended 5:1 dilution seems to be almost exactly the same tint as the 4:1 dilution and is what I would suggest for general writing. I found the 6:1 dilution of both colors to be a bit too washed out for my personal taste.
I compared the New York Central Green to J Herbin Lierre Sauvage and found the colors close, but I think the NYC Jade has a crisper cleaner color green with just the slightest touch of blue... almost like a fresh spring grass color... very pleasing to the eye.
I compared the Antilles Blue to Noodlers Navajo Turquoise (my favorite Turquoise) and there is a bigger difference in color. The Noodlers is a bluer turquoise with no green under toning. The Antilles Blue is a nice clean turquoise with a pale green undertone that is not at all unpleasant to the eye. I also found the Noodlers to be a darker turquoise and the Antilles Blue to be a less bright, but pleasing color.

Overall I find the concept to be interesting and easy to work with. The two colors I tested were pleasant to the eye, easy on the pen and did not show any feathering, even on ink jet paper at 6:1 dilution. I can see a place for these inks, especially for someone who is doing a lot of traveling. I can also see a place for these inks premixed for sale. Personally, I would prefer to purchase the inks premixed. See the attached color samples. These samples were photographed with a Nikon D50 and on camera flash. Other than simple lighting correction in Photoshop, there were no other color corrections done to either sample.

........

Wow

I'm glad the Colfer's Inks worked out great

Thanks, Sean and Tom! The results look very nice indeed. I had this feeling that these inks might just flow to freely, but luckily they don't.

Any chance of seeing that Signal Red in a review any time soon?

Great news. The world needs more inks Congrats Sean.

It sounds so fun! I'm going to enjoy getting to know how my inks are brought to life with water. Interactive ink-- I like it!

-Hana

P.S. Thank you so much for all your work, Mr. Mullane!

I'll echo that, thanks Griz!

Hana,
Please do me a big favor....
Stop calling me Mr Mullane.... you are making feel sooooooooooooo old...
Now I am old... but please stop reminding me...
Just call me Tom or Griz like everyone else

Sorry, it's a habit.. It feels so disrespectful to...hm.

Griz..san, what does "Griz" mean?

-Hana

Thanks for your diligence, Griz! Did you use ordinary tap water, filtered water, or distilled water? (did Sean specify which one to use....and does it matter at all, I wonder? When I was a pharmacist, certain medications---antibiotic powders--had to be reconstituted using distilled water, thus my question...)

Thanks Tom. I love the jade and the African violet...great colors!

Hana,
When I was younger my nickname was Bear.... when I got older a buddy started teasing me and said I was now an ornery old Grizzly Bear... it got shortened to Old Griz...
Hence the name Griz.

Ooh. Thank you very much for the explanation! My little sister's nickname is "Teddy".. I dunno where they got that.. Maybe her hair color?

-Hana

Nice! Great work, Tom! Would love to see some of the other colors diluted with similar precision. Especially the blues.

Thanks for the nice thorough review, Griz.
I like the idea of a concentrate so it would be easy to get a colour variation without much trouble.
Great idea Sean!
Hope to see this ink on the market soon.

Hello Maja,

I'll take this question- you should use distilled water. Tap and bottled water would also work in theory, but they could adversely affect the ink's performance and color. Fortunately, distilled water is very easy to find- I've never come across a supermarket that didn't sell it. My local Kroger’s sells it by the gallon for 89 cents.

Thanks for your continued interest Maja,

Sean

Thanks Sean & Tom,
I've been waiting to hear more about this ink. Will it be available like Tom received it so that we can mix it to the strength that we prefer?

Fields of Green will be the first I'll want to try...Is there a market date?

Best, Ann

Thanks for the reply, Sean. After I posted the question, I was hoping you didn't think I was nit-picking, but once a pharmacist, always a pharmacist. I guess !
Distilled water is readily available and is very inexpensive. The ink looks great, by the way.

Hello Ann,

Yes, these inks will be made available in concentrate form- just how Tom received his. The release date is scheduled for late November with a retail price of $11.95 for the 1 oz. glass dropper bottle, (if the price seems high, remember the one ounce concentrate yields 4 to 6 ounces of ink).

You may want to check out the Marketplace section where I posted three polls. Thank you for your interest.

Best wishes,

Sean

[quote=Maja,Oct 18 2006, 03:19 AM] [/QUOTE]
Thanks for the reply, Sean. After I posted the question, I was hoping you didn't think I was nit-picking, but once a pharmacist, always a pharmacist. I guess !
[/quote]
Hello Maja,

Not at all- not at all. It was a perfectly legit question.

All the best,

Sean

Thanks Old Griz. I enjoyed your review. Now, being an old chemist, I wonder what changes the ph if you use ionized water (ph should be neutral at 7.0)? I know not a question for you. And, I am just curious. Buffers create stable ph's. I note some on the acid side while others are on the base side.

I suspect nothing to do with performance. Just curious.

I would like the ink either way. Being an old chemist, the mixing would not bother me. Great idea using the syringe.

Hello Rob,

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, but I've got my hands full preparing for Columbus. At any rate, I'm not quite sure what your asking here, if you are asking anything. If you do have a question, please feel free to e-mail me and I'd be happy to go over it with you when I can.

Thanks again for your interest and pledged support- I can use all the "pre-sales" I can get.

Best wishes,

Sean

Thanks Tom for the wonderful review. Glad to see things are progressing with these new inks --- I also like the scan showing all the various inks. Some good looking stuff in there!