If I wanted to swab an ink sample without inking a pen, what's the best method of doing that (what do people use)? I wonder if swabbed ink will look differently than if it were layed down by a pen.
It would be a quick way to have some inks down on a single page for comparison.
Stephen
Full Version: How to swab?
Swabs with a Q-Tip are useful, but can mislead, also. Get an inexpensive dip pen and do both!
QUOTE (Roger @ Mar 3 2006, 04:52 PM)
Swabs with a Q-Tip are useful, but can mislead, also. Get an inexpensive dip pen and do both!
I guess, as other people have mentioned, having a feed that's either wet or that has other inks on it can throw you off. I'll have to check out pendemonium for a cheap dip pen the next time I place an ink order ...
Come to think of it, I have an old Safari nib that I pulled off the feed, maybe I could glue that to a chopstick.
Stephen
I agree with what Roger said. I have used a toothpick also
I got a glass-nibbed dip pen - super easy to clean.
QUOTE (Stephen-I-am @ Mar 3 2006, 11:18 AM)
If I wanted to swab an ink sample without inking a pen, what's the best method of doing that (what do people use)? I wonder if swabbed ink will look differently than if it were layed down by a pen.
It would be a quick way to have some inks down on a single page for comparison.
It would be a quick way to have some inks down on a single page for comparison.
I ran into the need to lay down some samples of the inks I've bought. I didn't want to use cotton swabs for two reasons: 1) I'm using a lot of Noodler's permanent inks and the cellulose reactive dye is going to react with the cotton and I'll either not get a good example of the ink or I'll suck up a lot of ink in that swab, and 2) a cotton swab is very unlike a nib, IMO.
My solution was to use a soda straw.
No, I didn't drink the ink! Although given how much of it I've bought in the past year or so one could imagine that I'm doing just that.
I take the soda straw, I'm using the transparent ones you get with a soda in a store, and I use a pair of scissors to cut the end of it at about a 45 degree angle. Then I use it like a dip pen. It puts down a generous amount of ink but can also taper off at the end, so you see both a lot of ink and a little ink laid down. For the next ink I wash out the straw and then snip a 45 degree bit off the and. That way I have absolutely no concerns about one ink sample contaminating the next.
And this is a damned cheap way of doing it as well.
QUOTE (Ink Stained Wretch @ Mar 4 2006, 01:18 AM)
My solution was to use a soda straw.
. . . .
I take the soda straw, I'm using the transparent ones you get with a soda in a store, and I use a pair of scissors to cut the end of it at about a 45 degree angle. Then I use it like a dip pen. It puts down a generous amount of ink but can also taper off at the end, so you see both a lot of ink and a little ink laid down. For the next ink I wash out the straw and then snip a 45 degree bit off the and. That way I have absolutely no concerns about one ink sample contaminating the next.
And this is a damned cheap way of doing it as well.
. . . .
I take the soda straw, I'm using the transparent ones you get with a soda in a store, and I use a pair of scissors to cut the end of it at about a 45 degree angle. Then I use it like a dip pen. It puts down a generous amount of ink but can also taper off at the end, so you see both a lot of ink and a little ink laid down. For the next ink I wash out the straw and then snip a 45 degree bit off the and. That way I have absolutely no concerns about one ink sample contaminating the next.
And this is a damned cheap way of doing it as well.
How
and 
! I can see how that would work excellently for samples. Full variation in the amount of ink in one swipe, absolutely no contamination, and a cheap tool!
Here's thought...
If soda straws had been invented earlier, would people have used quills to write with?
I have to try that
Chris
If soda straws had been invented earlier, would people have used quills to write with?
I have to try that
Chris
QUOTE (Goodwhiskers @ Mar 6 2006, 11:30 AM)
QUOTE (Ink Stained Wretch @ Mar 4 2006, 01:18 AM)
My solution was to use a soda straw.
. . . .
I take the soda straw, I'm using the transparent ones you get with a soda in a store, and I use a pair of scissors to cut the end of it at about a 45 degree angle. Then I use it like a dip pen. It puts down a generous amount of ink but can also taper off at the end, so you see both a lot of ink and a little ink laid down. For the next ink I wash out the straw and then snip a 45 degree bit off the and. That way I have absolutely no concerns about one ink sample contaminating the next.
And this is a damned cheap way of doing it as well.
. . . .
I take the soda straw, I'm using the transparent ones you get with a soda in a store, and I use a pair of scissors to cut the end of it at about a 45 degree angle. Then I use it like a dip pen. It puts down a generous amount of ink but can also taper off at the end, so you see both a lot of ink and a little ink laid down. For the next ink I wash out the straw and then snip a 45 degree bit off the and. That way I have absolutely no concerns about one ink sample contaminating the next.
And this is a damned cheap way of doing it as well.
How
and ! I can see how that would work excellently for samples. Full variation in the amount of ink in one swipe, absolutely no contamination, and a cheap tool!Thanks, but I really should note that Mrs. Ink Stained Wretch came up with the soda straw idea. I'd been looking for something that would work this way and was looking at some plastic tubing that I have and she suggested a soda straw.
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