Hey gang, this is my first post after having read everything I could find here on brown ink.

I love Waterman's Havana brown, but it dries too slowly for my use in the office. Any suggestions on something as pretty in brown that would be quicker drying? I already ordered (while waiting to be allowed to post here... I know, impatient) Noodler's Walnut and Private Reserve's Chocolat. But I'm wondering if there's anything that dries faster.

Thanks for your time, attention, and making this resource what it is!

Grendl

Welcome to FPN!

Noodler's makes a line of quick drying ink for Swisher Pens. Here's the link:

Swisher Inks

I haven't used it, but I really like their Swishmix Line, which this is a component of. The down side is it's really designed to be used on good paper. My Swishmix inks feather like mad on cheap paper.

Pelikan brown is nice, similar to Havana...pretty quick drying.

I like PR Copper Burst too - very bright and lively. Normal PR ink drying time, seems faster than Purple Mojo or Tanzanite.

Visconti Brown is tops in my book, followed closely by Waterman Havana Brown.

I used to like PRs Copper Burst, until the ink in my bottle turned a greenish olive-colored. I understand that there have been some problems with this color.

Jared

I love my Havana and don't ever have drying issues - I guess every pen is different, as they say. Give Levenger Cocoa a try. Not quite as dark, but well pigmented. Good luck.

In my experience, though I love Noodlers and Private Reserve colors, they tend to dry slower than Waterman of other inks that are less pigmented. I have both Walnut and Chocolat and like them both, but they are a bit smudgey. It seems whenever I use some Noodlers or PR inks I always have little ink smears on my fingers when I am done writing.

My favorite inks are Diamine. Their browns are not very dard, but the new browns coming out, raw sienna and saddle brown look quite a bit darker.

IMO, Pelikan Brilliant Brown is lighter and redder than Waterman Havana Brown (I have both).

Omas brown is a pretty nice dark brown that seems to dry faster than Walnut or Chocolat.

Good luck.

Matt C.

I like my Pelikan Brown well enough.

So I've also now purchased the Pelikan Brown and Swisher which were recommended. I guess if I was going to go out and buy that much ink, I shouldn't have bothered asking. But it was fun! Should I buy the Omas and Diamine too, or wait and see what I've got?

I also ordered another Pelikan pen! That makes for some very expensive ink.

Thanks gang!

Well, nobody mentioned FPN Galileo Manuscript Brown (GMB), so I guess I will.

GMB is a great, fast drying, very well flowing, waterproof ink, with great colour, if you ask me .

Check out the review I wrote . Here it is: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=18219

Warm regards, Wim

I suggest you get several inks and experiment mixing them till you get whay you want. I do this to produce my own sepia mix, which I like a lot.

I like Visconti Brown as well.

I really like Levenger Cocoa and it is very fast drying.

I'm waiting patiently for my first shipment . . . .

I use Diamine Dark Brown and have no problems with drying.

That said I live in sub tropical Brisbane so a room temperature of 24 degrees C on average probably helps.

BTW, I almost forgot, I did a 26 brown ink comparison as well, on different types of papers, here it is:

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=18223

And yes, I do like brown inks .

Warm regards, Wim

Another one for Visconti Brown here.

Drying is a variable, but Noodler's Walnut is a nice ink. I've found that two other brown semi-bulletproof inks from Noodler's are also quite nice. Standard Brown surprised me with how nice it looked, and Kiowa Pecan is pretty good too.


And what, if I may ask, is the formula for your sepia ink?

Noodler's Eternal Brown. It may not be THE best brown but it is a good brown. Plus you can't pass up the eternal properties of this ink.

Drying times of Diamine inks are generally fast.
They also have some new browns I read in this section (search the Inky Thought on Diamine).

Wish I'd seen that wonderful review before I bought 4 inks I won't like as much as Galileo. (BTW found I had Parker and Levenger browns in my desk at home, so soon I'll have 7 browns. . . none of which are Galileo.

Quick drying time are what I'm going for right now to avoid fax/copier smears. I work for a law firm with black/blue rules, so my browns are subversive and have to pass for black.

For a "subversive brown", that might "pass for black", have you checked out Rohrer & Klingner Sepia?

It reminds me more of what is called Sepia in paint, with more grey. R & K inks seem to be generally
well-behaved, but I'm right-handed.

Also notice that Diamine Golden Brown is a darker brown than Diamine Dark Brown, as least from the
samples I have seen. It looks like Diamine might be changing their browns around, though. Will they
keep the old browns after the new ones come out?

I'm sticking with the Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown. Nice shading for my wet writers.

I want to offer up one that wasn't mentioned:

Sheaffer Brown-It was one of my first inks.

If any of those inks top PR Chocolat, I'd like to know about it. I've got about 6 browns, and out of the bottle, none top Chocolat. But I guess Chocolat is about as washable as any of the PR's, which is good if you get it on your white shirts, but bad if you live in New Orleans or other areas prone to flash flooding or torrential rainfall.

If you ever get into mixing, brown is a good color for that. You can add reds, yellows, and even blues to it for interesting variations. I mix it up in the cartidge--an idea I got from Melnicki who is just as cheap as I am--maybe cheaper. When you mess up with a mix in the cartridge, you only throw away a small amount of ink.

Grendl seems to have lots of browns to play with, but I'll throw out one more suggestion. I love the color and it seems to dry quickly: J. Herbin Lie de The. I'm no expert on browns, but this color has a nice shading--as the name indicates, a tea-like flavor to the color.

Pick four favorites from Peartreepens in his Ink sampler program.

Ron

I'll second the recommendation for J. Herbin's Lie de The. I bought this awhile back after reading the review here on the FPN, but I just got around to using it yesterday, in my Pelikan M1000. This ink has great flow characteristics and is a darker brown than PR Copper Burst/Bexley Mocha, which is another one of my favorite brown inks. The only down side to the J. Herbin is the price per ounce, but no more than I use - I'll keep buying it.

Greg~

Want to give another vote for FPN's Manuscript Brown. I also love Havana Brown, and MontBlanc's 2005/2006 Holiday Brown.