Hi--I'm not actually new here, but it's been a little bit since I posted last.

Question for the group: I've got a couple of inks I like to use on a pair of pens: Aurora Black and Quink. (The two pens are a 144 and a Sailor brush pen.) Right now, I always flush the pen out before changing between the two. Is that necessary, or even advisable? What are the concerns with just--at least occasionally--filling the pen with the other ink whenever it runs dry, or close to it? Are those inks similar enough, or do they end up a 00 on the miscibility table (old AD&D "joke" for some of you).

Thanks for any advice you folks can offer.

Its important to flush pens between inks however opinions may vary, but I feel that a clean pen usually prevents the two inks from mixing.

see http://www.richardspens.com/ref_info/care.htm for more info why.

I switch from ink to ink with reckless abandon. Sometimes I even do it just to create an interesting new color mix... if only for that little bit of ink.

Some inks can cause some pretty nasty things to happen in your pens if they are mixed with others, PR Orange Crush (that was the one, right?) and Noodler's Baystate Blue being some examples. I don't know how Aurora and Quink would mix. I always flush my pens when changing inks, because I like to be on the safe side. Maybe someone else can chime in with some specifics on these two inks.

No, it was the old Tangerine Dream, Candy Apple Red, and Bubblegum Pink that were the unmixable PR inks.

Also, I read on the Pendemonium site that Sailor inks are alkaline and should not be mixed with other brands.

If mixing a recipe you don't know, a precaution is to leave the mixture alone a day and then check to see
that the inks haven't precipitated. Inside a pen, it's a bit too late.

I'm with jbb. I'm careless, but I have a LOT OF FUN observing all the different colors. I keep an ink journal to chart all the weird things I've seen.

I know it's not healthy for the pens, but pens were meant to be written with, and nothing's broken down since doing this for a couple years. However, I DO flush them with water when I want to put a particular pen in the drawer for an extended amount of time.

Thanks, I couldn't quite remember what the names were.

I did this with PR American Blue and Diamine Blue-Black. They're both blue, I thought, and I'm too tired to flush the pen. I emptied the pen of the American Blue into the sink, shook it a little, and wicked all that I could out of the feed with a paper towel. Then I dipped my pen into the Diamine Blue-Black and filled. The pen worked fine...no problems.

Two days later, the P.R. was floating in little "bubbles" of American Blue inside the Diamine bottle. I shook the ink, and as soon as I got the lid off the bottle, it had separated again (actually I think it never mixed in the first place). I had to flush an entire bottle of Diamine down the drain thanks to that little adventure. Never again. EVER.

ALWAYS flush your pen before changing inks..at least before changing brands. The P.R. and Diamine on their own are generally considered safe, but they just don't play well together. I'm sure there are plenty of other such combinations out there that do the same. Now I don't take a chance.

I flush with water even when I am using the SAME ink from the SAME bottle, a feel the little time it takes is worth it, if you roll 05 and have to roll again downwards, well better safe than sorry in my mind...

I've become pretty devil-may-care on this.

I would say that these two inks are among the most reliable and "safe" inks out there and I seriously doubt mixing them would be an issue. I can see where PR or Noodlers might clash with other brands (though I've not experienced it.)

While King Joe's inks didn't mix - I doubt they would have created a problem in the pen. Some variation in color and flow perhaps, but no real damage. After all, they *didn't* mix so they didn't interact in a way to create a precip.

That said, I mix inks in vials, not in full bottles. I do recommend at least keeping your individual bottles pristine just in case there is a bad reaction between brands.

Of course, the way to know for sure is to mix small amounts in a separate container, set the mix aside for a few days then see what happens.