very easy, just vote for your favourite fountain pen ink.

darn - if it really were that easy..

problem is - I have to say "what is your favorite ink in the following colors?"

Brown
Red
Blue
Green
Violet/Purple
Blue-black

and so on. I find many great inks in the PR brand, but also in Diamine and Noodlers. Not so many in Quink, WM, Sheaffer, etc. They're good inks, just not on my list.

That said - since Diamine inks dominate my rotation right now... i guess I'll go with that.

What is the "best" ink. Safest is Skrip but, if you mean "best" as favorite I think there should be a lot of different answers.

Roger W.

The best? Oh that's easy... it's the one that's in the right colour, in the right pen at the right time

Sorry, that's not helpful is it...

I'm with KCat on this - different colors, different ink brands. I went with Noodler's because: 1) I have a lot of them and like most of them, 2) deep saturated colors appeal to me more than lighter colored inks do.

Definitely a tough choice, though, since I also love Aurora Blue, Waterman Purple, PR's Black Magic Blue, J Herbin's Mood Dust...

I have a dead tie between Diamine and Waterman, but I voted for Waterman since Blue-black is my one, true love.

It's hard to single out a particular brand of ink that's "best" for a pen, but I chose Waterman because it's the most trouble free ink I've used. Waterman Blue-Black and Waterman Florida Blue being my favourites from the brand.

The most trouble free ink that is very slow to turn dark (if at all) in my pens is J. Herbin, so it voted for it.

I can and do use Pelikan, Waterman, Lamy and others and just wish they didn't turn dark as quickly as they do since I have a lot of pens inked and do not get the ink in all of them used quickly enough to avoid the problem.

Best, Ann

Waterman is the "Best" as it is the best for use, flow and cleanliness.
I have other colors I like better.

Of all four of the inks I own, I like the Waterman best because it can keep up with my large loops and flourishes that I do. The flow is still not as wet as I'd like it - writing my first name - Jared - the whole word is dry by the time I get to the 'd'. I'd like an ink that would be free-flowing enough in the pen I have so that at least some several words would be wet - I just like the glistening look.

Aurora Black is too boring for me and isn't as wet in my pen as the Fl. Blue.

I probably would have said Waterman a week ago, but I voted 'other'. I just bought a couple of bottles of Sailor Jentile ink(blue and blue-black), and I'm hooked. The BB has a vintage look to it, and the blue is nice as well. Flow is the best I have seen. I have a very dry writing Sheaffer Prelude(xf nib) that was transformed when filled with Sailor blue. Good stuff!

Larry

Anyone know whether Waterman Blue Nuit is the same as blue-black?

Stephen

I would assume so, since a person typically associates black with night, and that would be the meaning of nuit in french...

Does anyone have Blue Suede? Does it flow well? I want an ink that gushes.. absolutely gushes.

I voted Noodler's. I like the range of colors, the saturation of color and the flow characteristics.
One thing that the Noodler's does much better than most other ink mfg.s is UV protection.

Fade protection is probably not important for everyday writing, and I will use non-Noodler inks such as PR Tanzanite for writing. But many top-drawer inks I've bought and applied a simple sun-ray fade test to did not do well at all. Every one of the Noodler's inks I've tested have been very good.

Also, I like the range of waterproof/semi-waterproof inks that Noodler's offers.

Black is my favourite ink colour. When writing on white paper, i think black is the best ink colour for your eye. In my country, we have an idiom: "black ink on white paper", that means clear, obvious, and universal truth. With me, the best ink in black, is Sheaffer Skrip. I use Sheaffer Prelude with skrip every day, and i feel it is better than Waterman Allure with waterman ink, or even Parker Duofold with Quink

ps: I'm from Vietnamese, nice to meet you.

Black Quink on the 75 /:)

PR Blue Suede?

it flows well but it isn't a gusher like Tanzanite or Black Magic Blue.

It also isn't blue. It's a dark teal - mostly green.

waterman ink is the leader


I have never used waterman ink before. Is waterman Ink really a perfect ink for all pen ? Or, there are more people who use Waterman's fountain pen than other ?

I once spent over an hour trying to get black Quink flow in a 75. I flushed the pen, I flushed the converter with diluted ammonia solution, I tried a different converter, I adjusted the nib, I flossed the nib, I pulled the nib off the feed and flossed the feed. It simply would not flow. Finally I flushed the pen once more and loaded it with Waterman Blue-Black, and it worked like a champ.

I know from experience that Waterman inks are reliable, non-staining, and have great flow properties. I've heard time and again that they are very benign for all types of pens. Richard B seems to use exclusively this ink in his favorite pen, and Wim uses it to prime his new pens. The only aspect of Waterman ink which gives me pause is the high content of particulate matter. Makes me wonder if my favorite ink maker, Aurora, is even more benign.

particulate = deposits ?

I didn't like Noodler's Black--on Moleskines it would never dry. I tried it on MUJI notebooks as well--same problem. A few days after writing something, the ink would still smear. It did work OK on rough, or porous paper.

I bought a bottle of Pilot blue ink (the "Namiki" bottle), and I much prefer it. The ink works on every surface I've tried, and it dries reasonably quickly. Also, Pilot blue is reasonably water-resistant, and writes smoothly.

The downside is that it's hard to find bottled Pilot (aka "Namiki") ink in stores, and shipping is expensive.

Does Waterman inks stand up as well as Noodler's? I mean do they stand up against forgery techniques?

It's Noodler's waterproof (black, especially) that is made to be "forgery proof."
Waterman's inks are not waterproof, not forgery proof.

HTH, Ann

Not at all. Waterman's Florida Blue is a nice enough looking ink when I write with it, but I think that you could completely erase an entire page of writing with it by the judicious application of a single drop of water. When water hits a page full of Waterman's Florida Blue there's just a blue flash and it's all gone.

I voted for Noodler's (despite a recent thread about how much ink is in a bottle) mostly because of the waterproof nature of it. I mix a lot of the waterproof Noodler's inks with the non-waterproof Noodler's inks and some Swisher's non-waterproof inks. Nathan Tardif has assured us that all of his inks can be mixed together without precipitation or anything.

I'm very much enjoying mixing inks and writing with the results. I really like the idea that what I put on the paper will stay on the paper, at least one component of it will. So all of my ink mixtures include one of the Noodler's "eternal" inks.

And Noodler's colors are interesting as well. Since Nathan is actually into this stuff I guess that he looks for colors that would please a fountain pen writer.

Hi Amin,

Where did you get the idea that WM inks have a high content of particulate matter?

One of the reasons they are so reliable is that they don't contain particles whatsoever, only dyes, and not very concentrated. And actually, very few inks these days contain particles, provided they are fountain pen inks.

Oh, particles I understand to be tiny non-soluble bits, which are really held in suspension. If you are talking inks, this generally means pigments. All water based fountain pen inks contain dyes, not pigments.

The only modern true fountain pen inks with particulate matter are black inks and iron gall inks. Black inks because they contain finely ground soot for the black colour, and the blacker, the more soot generally, and iron gall inks because they are made from, yes, iron galls, the stuff that grows on oak and some other leaves, where wasps emerge from eventually when you leave these where they are. The process of making iron gall ink always leaves particulate matter behind in the ink, which is one of the reasons why I always warn against these inks.

HTH, warm regards, Wim

Comparing Namiki and Waterman brand inks against Noodler's is like comparing a man pushing a wheelbarrow against the Santa Fe Express in a race. Waterman inks need to emphasize those first two syllables of their name because that is what they are. Their inks feather to the point that when I write what I have written looks like a Rorschach test. I will grant that some of their colors like Havana brown are nice to look at, they aren't much in way of substance. Waterman inks are just platinum plated potatoes. As for namiki, their inks are solid, lacking the feathering of Waterman, but by that same token they are unexceptional. I regard them the same way that I regard Dodge automobiles: functional, but uninspired. This explains the appeal of Noodler's Inks.
Even the name catches your eye. Noodling is a unique activity for those who know what it is and requires the kind of risks as well as the rashness that seems to mark this company. The designs of the packages and the functionality of the ink almost stink of total innovation. Perhaps the real clencher is the fact that Noodler's seems to almost mystically become one with the paper. The ink's permanence exposes an enviable gap in the industry.
And to be fair, if I cannot use Noodler's, I go then for J. Herbin's ink because the ink, in the dipping types, has an adequate body, read coherence, to it and doesn't rust the paper as what Waterman's did for me on my paper stock. I respect other people's opinions on inks, but some brands are just not hardy enough for real life. I am sorry if I have offended, but I have a very unsympathetic view on issues of real importance, like the weather, comics, or choosing the right fountain pen ink.

Wim, two things made me say that. First, I remember a certain pen expert telling me it was so. I won't name the expert who said it, because I could well have misheard him or completely hallucinated it - I wouldn't want to pin it on this gentleman if he didn't really say it. The second thing is that I remember actually seeing particles in suspension in my Florida Blue and Havana Brown. I am very willing to consider that my memory is twisted. I don't have a bottle nearby to take another look.

will these thing make black ink become the worst ink ? Oh, black is my favourite color, so should i change my habit ?

I'd have to say Waterman, for many of the reasons stated above. Florida Blue and South Seas Blue, which I use for editing, have never given me any fuss. I also like Sailor Black in my Duofold Centennial. Sailor Black flows evenly, smoothly, and it dries fairly quickly. With either brand of ink, I don't have to worry about clogging like I did with some of the more saturated inks.

My favourite ink is MB Blue/Black. I love the color, and it performs very well in my pens! Except in the Sheaffer TD and Snorkel pens; I only put Skrip in those.

I vote for Waterman, it is my most used ink when the day begins. I also have a few
Herbin's but they seem to get used only once in a while.

I mostly use WM Blue-Black and WM Purple.

I've used skrip, quink, waterman, MB, Noodlers and PR inks at one point or another. They all have redeeming qualities. I sure miss skrip peacock blue from my childhood. Waterman seems to be about the most solid middle of the road flow/saturation ink I've used consistently. But it sure does flow and flow fast out of a broad nib.

PR and Noodlers are popular for a reason and their colors and properties set them apart. But I have to admit that Noodlers black doesn't flow terribly well compared to, say, Quink black. A small price to pay for permanence, I suppose. PR colors are breathtaking and in my experience the flow pretty nicely as well.

All that being said I voted for PR although Waterman was a very close second. Just the substance of the PR inks is quite appealing.

Oui, monsieur.

Je vous remercie mille fois.

I think Waterman are very good at what they do in providing a good solid ink however I choose Noodler's as they have such a wide range of inks with consistently good quality, always innovating inks and they're constantly expanding their collection.

Have you considered mixing the Noodler's Black with another black ink? I haven't had any flow problems with Noodler's Black, but if I did I'd try to mix it with another, freer flowing black ink and see if that improved things. Also, Swishmix Nile Ebony is a mixture of Noodler's Black and, probably, Swisher's Midnight Black. The latter ink will really flow and sort of takes the Noodler's along with it. A very dark, black ink.

Am I missing discussions of viscosity?
I'm new at this, but when I started my mentor (pentimentor?) advised me to use only Sheaffer and Parker inks in pens older than 1960. Well, being the smart guy that I am, I totally ignored him and fired up my couple of Sheaffer vac fills with my favorite PR- Tanzenite. The confusing thing was that PR worked fine in my Lamy Safari, Pelikan, Cross Radiance and a Rotring 600 Newton. But it wouldn't work in my nice Sheaffers!w. Then I bought some Pelikan at my local stationers. The Shaeffers choked on it!. I finally broke down and found a bottle of black Quink at Office Depot. Now my Sheaffers write.

I found a great discussion of viscosity at Richard Connors website. He puts Quink, Scrip and J. Herbin in the low viscosity (thin) catagory, and Pelikan in a high viscosity (thick) catagory.

Opinions where the others fall? How 'bout Waterman?

I'm now trying to mix up Tanzanite using Scrip Purple and Quink Black. Oh well, if this stuff was easy, it wouldn't be so interesting.

i like Quink. I like it for the simplicity and easy-mixing.

It also seems to dry quick and run fast

I like PR for saturation. I seem to value saturation very highly.
But it won't work in all my pens.
Therefore J.Herbin gets my vote- it works in all of 'em and ther are plenty of colors from which to choose.

Forgive the rookie question, but most of my experience is with new pens. I was given a lovely "51" for my birthday, and the nib is great, but the line is grayish, not a nice saturated black. I'm coming to understand this may be a flow issue. Should I consider switching inks and seeing if that fixes it? I'm using Noodler's permanent black, and until I read the last few posts it hadn't occurred to me that that could be an issue.

I believe opinions differ on whether or not Noodlers works well in vintage pens such as the Parker "51". I've been hesitant to use it, and so far have stuck with Watermans and Parker Quinck.

Do you know if the pen was cleaned recently? You could flush the sac and soak the nib overnight in water with a little bit of dishwashing liquid or Windex in it (just a little). It could be that the collector is clogged with old ink, and this is affecting the flow. I always soak my "51"'s when I buy them unless I know they've been professionally looked over.

Ron

I will try that--because it was a gift I don't know who the seller was, so I'm not sure how thoroughly they cleaned it up.

Well, it could be the ink, or it could be the pen. Noodler's Black is pretty hefty ink. Obviously, changing inks it the far more cost effective thing to do.

But I've never had any problems with it. I have it in new and vintage pens without any difficulties.

-Bruce

I have a bunch of Levenger's, I believe they flow pretty well, so I will see if perhaps their Cobalt behaves any differently. And first I will give it a nice soak.

I have two 51s. Both inked with Noodler's black. One of them writes perfectly with it. The other one has a little trouble starting up and is a bit scratchy, but otherwise writes fine.

Considering getting a bottle of Quink Washable Blue as I hear it helps to clean out pens. My temperamental 51 might appreciate it.

I also have Noodler's Beaver in an Esterbrook SJ and it writes very nicely.

Does anyone use a Parker Vector? I got one cheap on eBay and I popped in the Quink Washable Blue cartridge and I didn't care for how it wrote. I emptied out the cartridge and filled it with Noodler's Blue Black which writes nicely in every pen I've inked with it, but I still don't love the way it writes.

Wondering what ink works best in the Vector.

You may just have gotten a Vector that is not quite right. Both those inks should work OK. What is the pen doing wrong?

I always used Quink black in my Vectors, as that was what the Vector cartridges were loaded with. Worked great for me.