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Chesterfield Archival Vault Ink Review


fiberdrunk

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Great review! Your batch of ink seems darker than mine, more like Montblanc Blue-Black, which I've noticed goes on immediately darker than Archival Vault. Maybe I'll do a scan for comparison. I just got a bottle of Montblanc Blue-Black a few days ago (also an iron gall ink). Rockydoggy did the same test but said his looked identical. He used the same pen, same paper. Your handwriting sample does look close, but the thicker swabs are quite different.

 

Yeah, it's strange how the inks looks so different. I gave the Diamine and the Chesterfield a good shake so any possible separation or sediment did not interfere with the color, but who knows? Maybe Diamine's batches are all subtly different--like yarn, lol.

When you reach the Stars, boy, yes, and live there forever all the fears will go and Death itself will die.

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Interesting. I think I'll go back and try to do a more careful comparison of Archival Vault and Diamine Registrar's. One thing I've noticed about both inks over the past couple of days is that each can look different to me depending on the wetness of the pen and the type of paper used. In fact, on some paper the Archival Vault doesn't seem to darken up as much as I would've anticipated, based on how it behaved when I first tried it. (I've seen this occur sometimes with other iron gall inks as well.)

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Interesting. I think I'll go back and try to do a more careful comparison of Archival Vault and Diamine Registrar's. One thing I've noticed about both inks over the past couple of days is that each can look different to me depending on the wetness of the pen and the type of paper used. In fact, on some paper the Archival Vault doesn't seem to darken up as much as I would've anticipated, based on how it behaved when I first tried it. (I've seen this occur sometimes with other iron gall inks as well.)

 

Yes, on some papers the color change can take days/weeks or not happen at all.

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Yes, on some papers the color change can take days/weeks or not happen at all.

 

 

I've noticed this as well.

Find my homemade ink recipes on my Flickr page here.

 

"I don't wait for inspiration; inspiration waits for me." --Akiane Kramarik

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I've been using my Chesterfield Archival Vault for the past few days. I'm experiencing different darkness depending on if the ink is "fresh" or not. In my Lamy Vista, the first few words will be quite dark and then lessen as fresh ink is drawn from the converter (is my guess). I'm putting it between Lamy and MB. The ink starts off light, like Lamy, but darkens almost as much as MB. MB starts dark and gets quite dark.

 

Very difficult to compare. I only have a feel for the differences by using it for a week. Can't really compare the color side by side since it changes with time/age. On absorbent paper (tissue, newspaper) it doesn't darken at all and just stays blue (as does my Lamy BB), same as Rockydoggy's experience.

 

Writing with it is the oddest feeling. It's so pale, like Fiberdrunk's writing samples above. Yet by the next line, it's darkened considerably, and completely different by the next day.

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Writing with it is the oddest feeling. It's so pale, like Fiberdrunk's writing samples above. Yet by the next line, it's darkened considerably, and completely different by the next day.

 

 

That's pretty typical of iron gall ink. My homemade ink does this... it goes on a very pale brown, almost invisible, then as it dries it darkens to a jet black on some papers, dark brown on others. And it seems to transform itself day by day on the page. I think this transformation is half the fun of iron gall inks. It's part of the reason I like them so much.

Edited by fiberdrunk

Find my homemade ink recipes on my Flickr page here.

 

"I don't wait for inspiration; inspiration waits for me." --Akiane Kramarik

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Here's the promised scan between Chesterfield Archival Vault and Montblanc Blue-Black. Both are written with the same pen/nib (Parker Vector fine nib) on Strathmore 100% rag (a paper that feels very dry to write on with iron gall ink). The ink tends to stay light blue on this paper, as well, though it darkens on other papers much more quickly.

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5048/5322797822_432bdd6ed2_b.jpg

Edited by fiberdrunk

Find my homemade ink recipes on my Flickr page here.

 

"I don't wait for inspiration; inspiration waits for me." --Akiane Kramarik

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  • 2 months later...

Great review! Your batch of ink seems darker than mine, more like Montblanc Blue-Black, which I've noticed goes on immediately darker than Archival Vault. Maybe I'll do a scan for comparison. I just got a bottle of Montblanc Blue-Black a few days ago (also an iron gall ink). Rockydoggy did the same test but said his looked identical. He used the same pen, same paper. Your handwriting sample does look close, but the thicker swabs are quite different.

 

Yeah, it's strange how the inks looks so different. I gave the Diamine and the Chesterfield a good shake so any possible separation or sediment did not interfere with the color, but who knows? Maybe Diamine's batches are all subtly different--like yarn, lol.

 

I went to my bottle of Diamine Registrar's and found a thick layer of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. A good shake didn't seem to do anything. From what I'm reading here, I shouldn't be worried? I guess I should spend longer shaking it, and hope that it doesn't gunk up my feed?

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  • 3 years later...

I received a bottle of this for Christmas year before last and have only now gotten around to actually putting it in a pen. It seems a bit on the dry side so I look forward to trying it in a wet pen, otherwise it seems to be a fantastic ink. It's my first true IG ink and my 8 year old and I had fun watching it turn color and then seeing how it held up under 5 minutes under running water. Pretty incredible stuff!

"What? What's that? WHAT?!!! SPEAK UP, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" - Ludwig van Beethoven.

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  • 6 months later...

Fiberdrunk, you never did get back with us regarding sun/fade resistance. Iron gall ink being what it is, I expect it to do well.

 

I did 2 samples with various commercial and homemade iron gall inks + black walnut ink-- one sample was kept in a sunny window for almost 7 months, the other in a dark, cool room inside the pages of a closed book. Pharmacist's Urkundentinte was added later, so it only got about 4 months UV exposure.

 

Before:

 

8016250586_a3bfee7478_c.jpg

 

After:

 

8016249592_c0f4b5d029_c.jpg

 

Chesterfield Archival Vault held up quite well, while R&K Salix performed the worst. But all iron gall inks are UV-sensitive and will have some fading. I don't think they will fade away 100%, though, no matter how long the exposure. The iron will turn brown but stay on the page (and in the fibers of the paper). I have done longer UV tests than this where the inks did not fade completely away, unlike dye-based inks which fade pretty rapidly and thoroughly-- there is always some initial fading of the dye component in iron gall inks, but it seems to reach a certain point and then stop. However, I do believe that black walnut ink (the homemade kind made from black walnut husks) is more archival. It fades very little. The only problem is, you can't use it in a fountain pen.

Edited by fiberdrunk

Find my homemade ink recipes on my Flickr page here.

 

"I don't wait for inspiration; inspiration waits for me." --Akiane Kramarik

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  • 3 months later...

 

I did 2 samples with various commercial and homemade iron gall inks + black walnut ink-- one sample was kept in a sunny window for almost 7 months, the other in a dark, cool room inside the pages of a closed book. Pharmacist's Urkundentinte was added later, so it only got about 4 months UV exposure.

 

Before:

 

8016250586_a3bfee7478_c.jpg

 

After:

 

8016249592_c0f4b5d029_c.jpg

 

Chesterfield Archival Vault held up quite well, while R&K Salix performed the worst. But all iron gall inks are UV-sensitive and will have some fading. I don't think they will fade away 100%, though, no matter how long the exposure. The iron will turn brown but stay on the page (and in the fibers of the paper). I have done longer UV tests than this where the inks did not fade completely away, unlike dye-based inks which fade pretty rapidly and thoroughly-- there is always some initial fading of the dye component in iron gall inks, but it seems to reach a certain point and then stop. However, I do believe that black walnut ink (the homemade kind made from black walnut husks) is more archival. It fades very little. The only problem is, you can't use it in a fountain pen.

Have you done any testing with Diamine Registrar's ink?

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Have you done any testing with Diamine Registrar's ink?

 

Well, Chesterfield Archival Vault is the same as Diamine Registrar's ink; it's just repackaged.

Find my homemade ink recipes on my Flickr page here.

 

"I don't wait for inspiration; inspiration waits for me." --Akiane Kramarik

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