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I Need A Wet Ink


Calabria

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I have a newish Aurora EF nib that is a dry writer. Don't necessarily want to tweak it, because it probably will adjust a bit over the next few months. In the meantime I'd like to use a wet blue ink, in the color range of Aurora. Suggestions?

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

– Lin Yu-T'ang

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Hi,

 

Kindly consider Montblanc Royal Blue. It is not particularly wet - I described the flow as 'more than willing'.

 

Oh, one thing to watch for if comparing the hue of inks in the range of Aurora Blue is that scanners/cameras/display devices do not accurately depict the Violet aspect of that ink: rather than the spectral hue of Violet it is emulated as Purple (Red+Blue).

 

Also, one might consider increasing the flow of an ink of appropriate hue by adding a whisper of surfactant. viz https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/268124-inky-t-o-d-improving-ink-flow-make-a-dry-writing-ink-wetter-or-help-ignition-problems/?p=3016908

 

Bye,

S1

 

__ __

See also

> OOTT Summary http://https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/196998-one-of-the-ten-blue-inks/

> 11 2 20 Blue Inks http://https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/212759-11-2-20-blue-inks/

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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Thank you for the replies! Sandy1, as an admirer of your expertise and prose (poetry?), I was hoping for a response that would point me in the right direction. I would not have thought of MBRB, but I have a bottle somewhere and will give it a try!

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

– Lin Yu-T'ang

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If Aurora Blue is not doing the trick, I doubt anything else will. The Aurora inks (blue and black) are the wettest inks I have.

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PS I really want to try the surfactant way. Maybe I'll come across a syringe somewhere

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

– Lin Yu-T'ang

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Adding surfactant to your ink can be as simple as flushing your pen with soapy water and filling it with ink without rinsing it.

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Some of the wettest inks I know are Diamine. Diamine Midnight is bonkers. I have not tried it yet but perhaps one of the other Diamine blues closer to your hue will work. Asa Blue or the new Blue Velvet. Though for a dry EF a darker blue might be just what the doctor ordered.

 

Asa-gao is indeed pretty darned free flowing as well.

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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Adding surfactant to your ink can be as simple as flushing your pen with soapy water and filling it with ink without rinsing it.

wouldn't that compromise the piston seal or lubricant?

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

– Lin Yu-T'ang

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Some of the wettest inks I know are Diamine. Diamine Midnight is bonkers. I have not tried it yet but perhaps one of the other Diamine blues closer to your hue will work. Asa Blue or the new Blue Velvet. Though for a dry EF a darker blue might be just what the doctor ordered.

 

Asa-gao is indeed pretty darned free flowing as well.

I was thinking of a darker ink. OMAS perhaps, though Aurora is already pretty dark.

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

– Lin Yu-T'ang

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Other candidates that you might want to consider are Caran d'Ache Idyllic Blue, although Caran d'Ache inks are very expensive. This ink flows quite nicely from every pen I have tried it in, and does wonderfully in my Aurora fine nib. It is just every so slightly darker than Aurora Blue (which is one of my favorite blues). You may also want to consider De Atramentis Hyacinth. It is a scented ink, but flows very nicely. I have used this ink on several occasions to "break in" a new pen and it works well. It is about a shade darker than Aurora Blue.

 

I have not tried using a surfactant in my inks. But another thing that seems to works for me, especially with a new pen, is to clean the nib and converter very well with water, then use a pen flush (for convenience, I use Goulet Pen Flush), then rinse well with water, allow to dry completely, then fill with ink. Sometimes I will allow them to soak in the pen flush for a few hours. The flush also cleans out any manufacturing residue in new pens, and ink buildup in a used pen.

"Today will be gone in less than 24 hours. When it is gone, it is gone. Be wise, but enjoy! - anonymous today

 

 

 

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Some of the wettest inks I know are Diamine.

Diamine Midnight Blue, Diamine Bilberry, Diamine Sapphire, Diamine Royal Blue. All wonderful (well, except for the Sapphire, which does not play well...), wet.

Tim

 timsvintagepens.com and @timsvintagepens

 

 

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wouldn't that compromise the piston seal or lubricant?

Not in my experience. I flush every new pen I get with room temperature soapy water (a few drops of detergent in a cupful).

 

Detergent is merely the most common surfactant available. I have never seen a pen manufacturer contraindicate flushing with soapy water. Hot water is a different matter.

 

If a little bit of soap is going to compromise your lube and seal, so will adding some other surfactant to your ink. If you search FPN, you'll find plenty of references to people adding miniscule amounts of detergent to their inks (particularly diluted inks) to make them flow better.

 

I wish you luck with your Aurora.

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Some of the wettest inks I know are Diamine. Diamine Midnight is bonkers. I have not tried it yet but perhaps one of the other Diamine blues closer to your hue will work. Asa Blue or the new Blue Velvet. Though for a dry EF a darker blue might be just what the doctor ordered.

 

Asa-gao is indeed pretty darned free flowing as well.

 

It might be wise to try a sample of an unfamiliar Diamine ink before committing to a bottle. I have had flow problems with Diamine ink in fine-point pens (no trouble so far in a stub, but the poster is looking for an ink to use in an extra fine). As always, it makes sense not to generalize about inks by a specific manufacturer. I understand that older Diamine inks were uniformly well behaved but that some of the newer, more saturated ones can present more challenges.

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Adding surfactant to your ink can be as simple as flushing your pen with soapy water and filling it with ink without rinsing it.

 

I would not do this, especially on a piston filler. YMMV but I really don't like this approach.

 

 

I was thinking of a darker ink. OMAS perhaps, though Aurora is already pretty dark.

 

If you can find the old Black box dark Blue Omas it is epic. But it is hard to find and a lot of the Black Box old stock is that hideous mislabeled turquoise. You'd have to check the bottle.

 

 

 

It might be wise to try a sample of an unfamiliar Diamine ink before committing to a bottle. I have had flow problems with Diamine ink in fine-point pens (no trouble so far in a stub, but the poster is looking for an ink to use in an extra fine). As always, it makes sense not to generalize about inks by a specific manufacturer. I understand that older Diamine inks were uniformly well behaved but that some of the newer, more saturated ones can present more challenges.

 

Diamine has those 30ml bottles that are pretty cheap. I agree that it is difficult to generalize across brand and I have only tried about 10-15 Diamine inks (and they have a huge line) so it maybe that i should not draw any conclusions but all the blues I have yet tried were free flowing.

 

But enough folks have chimed in a claimed Midnight (not midnight blue but just plain midnight) as TEH laxative ink and i have been through several bottles of it and it is super wet. If your pen is not wet with Midnight there is something wrong with your pen. (though I my opinion it should write great with Aurora Blue and if it doesn't I would be grumpy about that).

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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I would not do this, especially on a piston filler. YMMV but I really don't like this approach.

 

 

 

If you can find the old Black box dark Blue Omas it is epic. But it is hard to find and a lot of the Black Box old stock is that hideous mislabeled turquoise. You'd have to check the bottle.

 

 

 

Diamine has those 30ml bottles that are pretty cheap. I agree that it is difficult to generalize across brand and I have only tried about 10-15 Diamine inks (and they have a huge line) so it maybe that i should not draw any conclusions but all the blues I have yet tried were free flowing.

 

But enough folks have chimed in a claimed Midnight (not midnight blue but just plain midnight) as TEH laxative ink and i have been through several bottles of it and it is super wet. If your pen is not wet with Midnight there is something wrong with your pen. (though I my opinion it should write great with Aurora Blue and if it doesn't I would be grumpy about that).

I just want to thank you all for your feedback!!

 

I've had a quite a few Aurora nibs, and at least one of them was a dry writer for the first few months.

 

This particular one has extremely tight tines which I really like. So I don't want to tweak it. But it is a stingy writer. Since pens (especially those with big, ebonite feeds) are sensitive to capillary action, I also think that trying some different inks is the way to go, at least at first. Also because Sandy1 has pointed out (and I agree) that Aurora Blue is not the wettest ink.

 

I did try a bit of soap (though not as much as Nomad suggested, just a smear on my finger tip in a large cup of water), and I'll let you know how that works.

 

I also realize I have that old OMAS ink that I can't wait to try. Also, I should have some Asa Gao somewhere. I'm currently traveling so I don't have access to my inks, but I'll try all of your suggestions!

 

I also noticed that the paper may be an issue. We had a thunderstorm last night and heavy fog this morning (I'm in the mountains), and my paper is really damp which may make the nib drag a bit.

 

Thanks again!!

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

– Lin Yu-T'ang

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Best of luck. If it doesn't work out you can just send me your Aurora and I can send you back a really nice wet Pilot Metropolitan.

 

:P

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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Just an update, I have an oldish bottle (ca 10 years) of OMAS Blue which is a dark hue and has good flow properties. It seems to be doing the trick, adding just a shade of emphasis to the thin EF line and coaxing the new nib and feed assembly to a bit of wetness (6 out of 10, which works well for me).

 

Xo

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

– Lin Yu-T'ang

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If Aurora Blue is not doing the trick, I doubt anything else will. The Aurora inks (blue and black) are the wettest inks I have.

Agree!

 

If Aurora Blue is not wet enough, you will have to go the DIY route and add a very small quantity of a wetting agent. There are recipes on FPN.

---

Please, visit my website at http://www.acousticpens.com/

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That old dark Omas blue is something. I just found some of this. I am going to go back and get whatever else they have of it on their shelf. Really good stuff.

 

 

Just an update, I have an oldish bottle (ca 10 years) of OMAS Blue which is a dark hue and has good flow properties. It seems to be doing the trick, adding just a shade of emphasis to the thin EF line and coaxing the new nib and feed assembly to a bit of wetness (6 out of 10, which works well for me).

Xo

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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