A List Of Well-Behaved Inks

[cadfael_tex]

I know, and it's been mentioned many times, that Richard Binder and others recommend very well-behaved inks such as Waterman. It seems that the Waterman line is pretty well accepted as being well-behaved. Richard also mentions Diamine inks; I'm curious if that extends across the whole Diamine lineup of inks.

 

Is there a list of well-behaved inks out there that I've missed? If not, can we start one? This can extend to complete company line-ups or individual inks that fit the bill.

 

Bonus question: is there a complete, universally accepted definition of 'well-behaved ink'? If so, what is it?

[Titanic9990]

I I'm curious if that extends across the whole Diamine lineup of inks.

 

From my experience, absolutely not. Diamine Presidential Blue was well behaved, but I had some issues (bleed through especially) with Kensington Blue and Royal Blue, and supposedly Kensington is a know bad featherer.I'd say your statement only applies to some Diamine inks, but many (if not most) are well behaved.

 

Also, for such a vibrant color, and compared to many other blues, I'd say Noodler's Liberty's Elysium was fairly well behaved.

 

I've heard many good things about the Rohrer und Klingner line of inks, and I'm waiting for some Salix right now. Supposedly pretty much all of the colors are well behaved from what I've read. Hopefully that will be substantiated by first hand experience soon.

[JefferyS]

Diamine Ancient Copper has been sort of dry and prone to skip in some pens. I don't want to knock it as being a badly behaved ink, though. I think there would be some Diamine inks that behave better than others.

[Felix1]

No universal definition I'm aware of. It's kind of like Supreme Court justice Potter Steward's characterization of pornography, "I know it when I see it”

 

By and large, Iroshizuku inks meet the test. Get 'em on Amazon for $21 - $22 including free shipping.

[brunico]

Sailor, Noodler's, Herbin, Rohrer und Klingner, Iroshizuku, Aurora, Lamy, Private Reserve - none of these has told a naughty joke or anything. I'm sure there are other brands that are equally polite.

 

I think some people like to use Waterman as a yardstick because it's readily available and isn't saturated with dye, so it can serve to test whether the problem is with a pen or with an ink - much as some people say that if even PR Tanzanite doesn't get a pen started, there's something wrong with the pen.

 

Aside from this forum's golden rule, I don't think such a list would be particularly helpful, sorry. Everyone has different ideas about behaviour, everyone has different experiences of the same ink, and in different pens, and, well, Waterman makes only eight inks, so it would be invidious to elevate one brand when others may make five, ten or fifty times the number of inks but have one or two that stir passions.

 

Ancient Copper, for example, has been fine for me, but I've found more Diamines that feathered or smeared than any other brand. Then again, they make a lot of inks and I've tried a fair few of them. So I don't consider there to be anything wrong with Diamine as a whole, only to say that, personally, I've had a much better hit rate with others. I happen to think that Sailor inks are the nectar of the gods - but I know other people will disagree, and I really don't expect any more objectivity about inks than I do about pens.

 

Better, I think, to ask for a free-flowing orange, or a light blue that doesn't feather, or a water-resistant black. There's enough material for us to sift through and draw our own conclusions.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Pelikan 4001 and Edelstein and MB are good to go too.

[de_pen_dent]

As mentioned above, pretty much everything by Iroshizuku. I can put it in whichever pen i want and know that any aberrant behavior is likely the pen. And that the ink isnt going to stain the pen, clog the feeds or cause it to spontaneously explode in my hand.

[Inkysloth]

I find Parker Quink Black a really reliable ink that rinses out of pens easily, and isn't so expensive I worry about using it as a test ink.

[Scriver]

There are two separate issues. One is whether an ink is low or high maintenance, which I think is the Richard Binder discussion you mean. That has more to do with the behavior of the ink in the pen--does it clog or stain the pen, is it easily rinse from the reservoir, etc. In my experience, both Waterman and Diamine inks are relatively low maintenance across the range.

 

The other issue is whether the ink is well behaved on the paper. This is harder to define, as what people desire in inks differs. If you define it as holding a tight line, not feathering or bleeding through, providing decent flow and lubrication, and the like, then I would say Waterman is well behaved whereas Diamine varies considerably across the line. On the other hand, if you define well behaved as offering saturated color, vibrant tones, or great shading or providing a wet and lubricated writing experience, you may find the Diamine inks better behaved than Waterman.

[iamchum]

I wouldn't agree with richard saying diamine is one of the best behaved inks out there (had some issues with pumpkin before). In personal experience my best behaved inks have been Pelikan and Iroshizuku inks. Although I tend to like it on the dryer (not skipping though) side.

[torstar]

As mentioned above, pretty much everything by Iroshizuku. I can put it in whichever pen i want and know that any aberrant behavior is likely the pen. And that the ink isnt going to stain the pen, clog the feeds or cause it to spontaneously explode in my hand.

 

Plus 1 for WM and Iroshizuku. No trouble from any of them over decades of WM use and 4 shades of Iroshi recently.

 

A few Diamines have on occasion failed to deliver in flow where the other 2 brands did. Still a great brand of ink, just a bit less fantastic than some people like to pretend on FPN.

[Elizabeth in NJ]

There are two separate issues. One is whether an ink is low or high maintenance, which I think is the Richard Binder discussion you mean. That has more to do with the behavior of the ink in the pen--does it clog or stain the pen, is it easily rinse from the reservoir, etc. In my experience, both Waterman and Diamine inks are relatively low maintenance across the range.

 

The other issue is whether the ink is well behaved on the paper. This is harder to define, as what people desire in inks differs. If you define it as holding a tight line, not feathering or bleeding through, providing decent flow and lubrication, and the like, then I would say Waterman is well behaved whereas Diamine varies considerably across the line. On the other hand, if you define well behaved as offering saturated color, vibrant tones, or great shading or providing a wet and lubricated writing experience, you may find the Diamine inks better behaved than Waterman.

 

Good points.

 

I've found Roher & Klingner Fernambuk to be very well-behaved in terms of maintenance, but it feathers horribly on copy paper, even with a fine point. That's unfortunate because I bought it to use for marginalia and editing on work papers, but I love the color to bits. It works fine on Clairefontaine, by the way.

[mongrelnomad]

Sailor and Iroshizuku. You can't go wrong with those two (unless a the pen's a gusher, then you may want to look elsewhere)...

[RLTodd]

I wouldn't give PR a blanket nod, there are a couple that have had unusual characteristics over the years.

 

My well behaved list is Sheaffer, Waterman, Herbin, currently available Pelikan, most Diamine & most PR.

 

Not that I usually buy those as I most of the cupboard is American Made Noodlers and I "adjust things as is necessary."

 

I think sense they did the production rationalization to market demand the Parker inks are now Waterman inks, with maybe a bit of dye adjustment to keep the colors a bit different.

[doggonecarl]

Lamy inks.

 

The first pen I got was a Lamy Vista. Used the cartridge that came with it and bought a couple of boxes of cartridges. I was too new to FPs to even have an opinion about the ink. Soon, though, I had a converter, and bottled inks, and now, 60 pens later I just reinked my Vista with a Lamy Black ink cartridge and I am amazed at how much I like the ink.

 

I think the companies that keep their ink choices to the basic few--Lamy, Waterman, Parker, Sheaffer, Pelikan--all provide "well behaved" ink.

Edited August 1, 2013 by doggonecarl

[N2theBreach]

I find Namiki blue to be well-behaved based on my definition--I know it when I see it (w/ a nod to Felix1). It's neither the wettest of inks, nor the driest. It's not hard to clean from the pen. It's water resistant, yet I have cleaned the results of a leak from a white shirt with no residual stain. As for the color, it's blue. Not a fancy blue. Just a nice shade of blue.

 

On the other side of the balance sheet, the line it leaves on poor paper can be a bit thick, sometimes.

[georges zaslavsky]

Waterman Inks (exception made of the Havana Brown with time), Diamine inks, Montblanc inks, Private reserve inks and Caran d'Ache inks. About Herbin, it depends of the color.

[cybaea]

Slightly off the topic, but my rule of thumb is to use ink from manufacturers that are at least as old as your pen. So I happily put Noodler's in my TWSBI or new Safari, but it stays out even of my Parker Arrow Flighter, while J Herbin goes into anything.

[plumeau]

Sheaffer, pelikan,Waterman, Herbin (except same old) Rohrer&Klinger are very good ink.

New Montblanc inks have bottles which don't closed correctly and ink are very dry.

Pelikan (Günter Wagner) & Roher&Klinger were and are specialists for all kind of inks (not only for pen).

[ethernautrix]

I feel confident using Noodler's Black in all of my pens, new and vintage.