I just came home with a bottle of Bay State Blue, and while I love the color, it's about the worst-feathering ink I've ever used. Is there a fountain-pen-safe additive one can eye-drop in to control this? I have a bottle of gum arabic for my dip pen inks but am nervous about trying it in a fountain pen.

Well, to answer myself, I find that the binders in fountain pen inks are ethylene glycol and glycerine. It might be worth visiting a drugstore to procure the latter and experimenting in a cheap pen.

ive heard of many people having success w/ BSB. You should try some other papers. You could message to someone who has had success with BSB (there are many topics related to the ink so you can easily find someone) and ask what kind of paper they use. Worst case you could always donate it to me =]

I've been following the message boards and people have had wildly different experiences with it. As I said on another thread, it's like a latter-day Penman Sapphire for the heated pro-con responses it evokes. I've tried it on Crane's, Clairefontaine, Rhodia, and Character (an English paper) and it bleeds on all three. It stands up nicely for quite a few seconds off the surface of the Character paper, giving you a moment of hope, but then starts to spread out and feathers all the way through to the other side.

I'll keep playing with it for a while nevertheless but will keep your offer in mind!

I think I've found a solution. A medium nib on Character paper feathers badly. But an extra-fine nib on the same paper, while laying down a track that is one width wider (as if the nib were a fine), doesn't seem to feather at all and doesn't bleed through the paper. This seems to be the unique combination that will let me finally put the ink to use.

What pens/nibs are you using? I have some pens that feather badly with PR inks, and some that don't. Fine nibs tend to lay down a lot less ink than medium ones, and so give the ink less opportunity to flood the paper and thereby feather and bleed.

glad u found something that works. Before, I was just saying that some ppl have had success with BSB so there must be a good paper/pen combination.

dcwaites, I finally settled on an old Moore Non-Leakable safety pen with an extrafine semiflex nib. I prefer to write with a medium, but in this case the ink has the whip hand, so I'll yield to it, as I might to a woman who insists on buying my socks for me.



Yes, I'll try to find a paper with a super-resistant binder. I do want to use this ink with a broader nib to bring out its spectacular color to the best advantage. I'm out of the best paper I've ever used, Zerkall Frankfurt Cream, so I'll need to make a stop at New York Central Art Supply next time I'm in the city to buy another sheet (you have to cut it yourself to size).