Hello!

I was doing some research on shellac, the resin that is used in drawing inks and so on, that seems to be clogging fountain pens.

I stumbled across this wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_ink

It says "...An exception to this is Pelikan Fount India, which does not contain shellac, the substance which can cause clogging. ..."

Does anyone have any more information or experience with this ink?

Cheers!

I used Pelikan Fount India all through my graduate school years with no problems; in fact it was the best black ink I've ever used. One of my fellow graduate students also used it. He and I both used it in Cross Classic Century fountain pens. I haven't seen this ink in many years, so I now use Aurora Black and Noodler's Nile Ebony.

Pelikan Fount India
Don't know where you can buy it, though. This might help...

I've never used it, but I see Pendemonium and Nibs.com are 2 online sources.
(no affiliation with either)

The Writing Desk to the rescue (again!):
click here - it's £3.60 for 30ml.

Emma

I've never used it but have seen it a couple of times in stationery stores. German FP folks say it is a dark black, free flowing and lightproof ink, but it is not as waterproof as shellac ink.

I think there is a translational problem that may lead to misunderstandings with the Fount India ink. In English, "drawing ink" or "india ink" (i.e. ink containing shellac) is more a special variety of ink; in German, there are different terms for fountain pen ink (="Tinte") and india/drawing ink (="Tusche"), which make clear which one is for fountain pens and which one not. Pelikan Fount India is advertised as "Füllhaltertusche" (~ fountain pen india ink) to indicate that it has the charakteristics of india ink (lightproof, color intensity, whatnot) and is generally different from fountain pen ink, though water based.
Am I making any sense?

Boy, German can really pack a lot into a word!

I knew that Pendemonium carries it, but my timing is consistently off, as they seem always to be out of stock when I check, But thanks for the heads up on nibs.com, I'm going to order a bottle.

The word on the street is that one is well advised not to leave a pen with this stuff in it for great lengths of time, and to clean it carefully between fillings. Caveat Scriptor.

I use it for addressing envolopes, because water-proofness or water-resistance is needed there and “bullet-proof” -features of Noodler’s Ink are not really needed there. For me Pelikan Fount India is not so expensive per litre than Noodler's Ink Black.

I use Pelikan Fount India only in Pelikan pens, currently Pelikan Steno. If pen by Pelikan is ruined by ink by Pelikan, Pelikan can’t help fixing it for me. But I still haven’t got problems. I flush that pen about once a year, but it does not hurt if you flush it more often.

I have an old bottle of this. I tried it recently with some dip pens, and found that it was nicer to use than Windsor & Newton India Ink. The W & N ink was thicker and runnier than the Pelikan Fount India ink.

I had a look at the label. The German section says clearly that it is Füllhalter-Tinte. According to antigone's translation that means that it is Fountain Pen Ink. The English section says that explicitly, and also that it "protects fountain pen and nib".

It may be that Sailor's Kiwaguro Nano Carbon Ink may be a more modern equivalent. I have some coming and will do a 'compare and contrast' when it arrives.

I'll be interested in that!

In the USA, Dick Blick Art Materials stocks Pelikan Fount India. Blick has "bricks & mortar" locations in major cities and a webstore too (www.dickblick.com). At the store here in Pasadena, California, I've seen lots of bottles of Pelikan Fount India on the shelf.

I've seen it, never touched it. OTOH, I know someone who uses real india ink in their Pilot VP and says he has no problems

Here y'ar.



This is a simple "Write on paper, wait 20 minutes to dry, dip for 30 seconds in water, hang up to dry" test.
The 'blue washes' in the top half of the scan are artifacts.

The Sailor Jentle Blue is the most degraded, followed by the Parker Penman Black (modern replacement for Penman Ebony).
A lot more black came off the Pelikan Fount India, but more than enough was left behind to be easily readable. The least ink came off the Sailor Nano Black, and it is definitely the most readable.

My bottle of Pelikan Fount India ink is very old, and very evaporated and thick. A new bottle, in good condition, might not put as much black on the paper, and might wash off more.

Executive summary is that the Sailor Nano Black washes off less than the Pelikan Fount India Black for fountain pens.

All samples were written with the same pen, an Easterbook 314 Relief dip pen.

I think this scan deserves its own thread in the comparisons area!

Neill