Fountain Pen Ink Manufacture Advice?

[Sadiq]

Hi my fellow FP buddies

 

Ive been a member of the FP community for some years.

Check out my profiles at FPG - link & FPN - link - well...Ive been an FP freak a while before I found an online FP community.

Lately Ive been on the quiet side, browsed a few threads occasionally, but been mostly off the grid for some time now.

 

Apart from the usual family life responsibilities, Ive been busy experimenting with producing my own ink. Ive contemplated manufacturing my own ink, but have been a little hesitant as I know there have been a few ink companies that have closed down in recent years. So...Id like to know from you wonderful guys & gals, if youd like to see a new ink company? I trust you to give me some honest feedback.

 

A little bit more about my plan of action (dependent on the feedback I receive)...

 

I havent perfected my recipe yet, although things look very promising colours can be done in a rainbow of choice, nothing is impossible to achieve. I still have a few things to tweak. Initially, Id like to start with 20-30 colours & grow from there to over a 100 different colours. As my colour range grows, to follow would be permanent inks, maybe a line of sparkly inks (maybe not), then possibly something unique, who knows... .

 

Im not sure when exactly this would happen, seeing as the ink is still in final experimental phase & a 1-2 years into the madness already. When Im 100% happy, Ill need to first get samples out to as many interested people willing to review my ink. Thereafter, if God Willing I finally bring my ink to market, Id initially be shipping orders once a week (as I think giving up my day job isnt a good idea right now). Thereafter Ill move on to next day shipping & then possibly same day shipping on weekday orders placed before 12pm (GMT +2)

 

I intend to sell direct to you wonderful guys & gals through my own website & cut out the middle man (its a scary thought thinking of the huge task at hand, but I guess everyone needs to start somewhere). Id like to keep prices lower than the competition even taking into account international customs. This way, on the plus side my South African FP buddies will be getting them super low priced. Then all you guys & gals will have extra bucks to buy some more awesome fountain pens .

 

Let me see how the feedback goes & then hopefully make my decision based on that.

 

Fellow FP freak

Sadiq

Edited August 21, 2016 by Sadiq

[visvamitra]

Well - I'm always interested in new ink and new ink makers, especially if they try to offer range of unique colors instead of copying others. Sure Turquoise will be turquoise but potent shading or some unusual undertones may cause it'lll stand out in the crowd of others. It would be great if you would offer sample packages for international customers, or maybe even smaller bottles (10 ml?))> I would definitely want to try some

[Sadiq]

Well - I'm always interested in new ink and new ink makers, especially if they try to offer range of unique colors instead of copying others. Sure Turquoise will be turquoise but potent shading or some unusual undertones may cause it'lll stand out in the crowd of others. It would be great if you would offer sample packages for international customers, or maybe even smaller bottles (10 ml?))> I would definitely want to try some

Thank you for your reply, really appreciate it. I'll take note of the part where I need to stand out from the crowd

 

My initial samples, once I've finalised my recipe...which would be free to people willing to review them, would be sent in 5ml vials.

 

As for the 10ml samples - I think the reason why no one has tried it, is that would be the quickest way to kill their business. Suddenly people would be purchasing 10ml samples & the actual product would sit unsold. I intend to sell 3ml sample vials & 60ml glass bottle (which holds about 62-63ml when filled - so the buyer scores slightly).

[PaganArcher]

I'd definitely be interested to see how it turns out and test new stuff. I've been itching to see if some new brown ink is possible. I still long for a caramel brown.

[Sadiq]

Thank you PaganArcher.

 

I did not mention this in my initial post...but if you guys & gals have any colour suggestions or would like something between two specific colours, I can try my best to accomodate it in my first 30 colours if possible. I'm trying to get it to cover most of the spectrum as possible without leaning to a single colour.

 

It's has already been so exciting & fun messing around with ink, I'm sure some more experimenting wouldn't be bad the only issue is that I may not have those inks in my collection so I'd need to judge the colours based on my PC screen & colours I have.

[max dog]

A new ink manufacturer would always be welcome in the fountain pen community. Keep in mind though there are quite a few boutique ink manufacturers offering a wide array of colors. You would need to differentiate yourself from these numerous ink manufacturers in order to be successful I think.

 

If you could offer the following, I think you would do well:

1..Well behaved ink. Dries quickly, does not bleed and feather on cheaper paper. Many boutique inks are just too saturated and do not work well in a variety of lower grade papers. They are impractical.

2.. Shades really well. Giving the ink a lot of character. Everyone wants shading inks.

3..A practical ink bottle with an ink well that makes filling a large nib (up to #9 size) of the Montblanc 149 size easy.

4. Easy and safe on the pen. Does not stain the nib, ink window or converter. Cleans out of the pen easily. Does not cause ink flow issues.

5..Wide variety of colors from conservative blues, blacks, blue black, grays etc for business to vibrant colors with a lot of pop.

6..competively priced.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited August 21, 2016 by max dog

[visvamitra]

OK,

 

Youa argument about business is perfectly reasonable You're right

 

I'll prepare some color recommendations with codes to corresponding colors on encycolorpedia.com. Personally I tyhink that if you would manage to create well-behaved, really black ink with strong red sheen you would win the market of black inks

[visvamitra]

Golden Brown / Sepia

Fulvous

Xanadu

Falu

Razzmatazz

 

More will come.

[Sadiq]

visvamitra, on 21 Aug 2016 - 14:14, said:

OK,

 

Youa argument about business is perfectly reasonable You're right

 

I'll prepare some color recommendations with codes to corresponding colors on encycolorpedia.com. Personally I tyhink that if you would manage to create well-behaved, really black ink with strong red sheen you would win the market of black inks

 

Thank you visvamitra. Will have a look at those colours. Cheers

 

max dog, on 21 Aug 2016 - 13:51, said:

A new ink manufacturer would always be welcome in the fountain pen community. Keep in mind though there are quite a few boutique ink manufacturers offering a wide array of colors. You would need to differentiate yourself from these numerous ink manufacturers in order to be successful I think.

 

If you could offer the following, I think you would do well:

1..Well behaved ink. Dries quickly, does not bleed and feather on cheaper paper. Many boutique inks are just too saturated and do not work well in a variety of lower grade papers. They are impractical.

2.. Shades really well. Giving the ink a lot of character. Everyone wants shading inks.

3..A practical ink bottle with an ink well that makes filling a large nib (up to #9 size) of the Montblanc 149 size easy.

4. Easy and safe on the pen. Does not stain the nib, ink window or converter. Cleans out of the pen easily. Does not cause ink flow issues.

5..Wide variety of colors from conservative blues, blacks, blue black, grays etc for business to vibrant colors with a lot of pop.

6..competively priced.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Thank you so much for your input max dog.

 

I think I can cater to most of the ideas. The ink well bottle is a little issue, seeing as I'd like to come in priced below the other established companies. The bottle I have is conducive to filling various pens & is sturdy enough to remain planted while doing so.

[Flaxmoore]

My one color idea is easy. A real, honest to Goddess, Prussian Blue. I'm working on a classically made one, but can't get flow and dry times to balance. I can get instant dry but junk for flow, or great flow but eons to dry.

 

Mind tossing me some tips on pm, if it's not too much trouble? Love the color, can't get the character right.

[BlazeOrangeGuy]

OK,

 

Youa argument about business is perfectly reasonable You're right

 

I'll prepare some color recommendations with codes to corresponding colors on encycolorpedia.com. Personally I tyhink that if you would manage to create well-behaved, really black ink with strong red sheen you would win the market of black inks

 

visvamitra hit the nail on the head for me... a well behaved, easy to clean, dark black ink that sheens red. Wow, that would be great! Call it "Cosmic Dust" or something to that effect.

It makes me think of this:

http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news2/Unveiling-the-Origins-of-Cosmic-Dust-2.jpg

[Arkanabar]

+1 on the need to stand out. To succeed, you have to offer something the competition doesn't. Concentrate more on what the end user gets out of using your inks than on the technical means you use to achieve it (eg, permanence without feathering on bad paper, where IG inks, "Bulletproof" inks, and nano-pigment inks all compete).

I see that you're in South Africa. This may give you much better access to the world market (outside the USA) than Noodler's. You could also try to supplant Private Reserve, which has closed down following the death of their inkmaster.

I don't know how much more help I'll be. I'm months, if not years, from buying more ink, and right now, I'm only in the market for lightfast medium-to-dark brown and purple.

[Noihvo]

[Sadiq]

My one color idea is easy. A real, honest to Goddess, Prussian Blue. I'm working on a classically made one, but can't get flow and dry times to balance. I can get instant dry but junk for flow, or great flow but eons to dry.

 

Mind tossing me some tips on pm, if it's not too much trouble? Love the color, can't get the character right.

 

Thank you for your reply Flaxmoore.

 

Will take your colour choice into account. I can try to formulate the perfect prussian blue for you as part of my initlal or later inks, send me some colour palletes, maybe I can make it happen for you.

 

About the tips, like all other manufacturer's - I gaurd my recipes with my life just kidding lol...but they're trade secrets which took a whole lot of experimenting to get to. A good place to start if google, as there are tons of articles to read & tons of recipes to try - one thing is for sure, there is a lot of fun to be had in the process

 

 

visvamitra hit the nail on the head for me... a well behaved, easy to clean, dark black ink that sheens red. Wow, that would be great! Call it "Cosmic Dust" or something to that effect.

It makes me think of this:

http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news2/Unveiling-the-Origins-of-Cosmic-Dust-2.jpg

 

Thank you for your reply BlazeOrangeGuy.

 

Will take your colour option into account - not sure whether in my initial offering or later inks...it is one of the first suggestions, so it's on top of the list

 

+1 on the need to stand out. To succeed, you have to offer something the competition doesn't. Concentrate more on what the end user gets out of using your inks than on the technical means you use to achieve it (eg, permanence without feathering on bad paper, where IG inks, "Bulletproof" inks, and nano-pigment inks all compete).

 

I see that you're in South Africa. This may give you much better access to the world market (outside the USA) than Noodler's. You could also try to supplant Private Reserve, which has closed down following the death of their inkmaster.

 

I don't know how much more help I'll be. I'm months, if not years, from buying more ink, and right now, I'm only in the market for lightfast medium-to-dark brown and purple.

 

Thank you for your reply Arkanabar.

 

I did not want to mention any names, but the companies I regarded as my main competitors would be a wonderful ink producer in USA, one in UK & the one you've mentioned. I've used many of these inks & love them, some others...but these have sparked my love for ink. They're established, so even getting noticed initially will be a monumental task I guess.

 

Initially, I'd be producing regular, fairly water resistant inks...at a later stage permanent versions of those, then expand from there. Having everything come together overnight is not going to happen, but I am willing to take it one day at a time if this does happen (really hoping it does).

 

 

Thank you for your reply noihvo. Appreciate the hand written note, I'd do that in a lot of my past posts - just replying & posting all of these would take forever, lol.

 

Thank you so much for the advice & points raised - "noted"

[Sadiq]

Hi all...

 

I've been going through all my responses everywhere I've posted my "fountain ink manufacture advice thread" & had a long think about some of the responses. And even though I've dreamt as far as producing, I have a name in mind & in my excitement I may have jumped the gun & even designed the logo & bottle sticker, seeing as they're spin offs from my actual day job (not an expert, but I can get around such things ok-ish). Even though I would really like to see this happen, my thinking has evolved slightly since posting...

 

Someone mentioned that producing ink in South Africa may be a good thing as SA doesn't have any ink producers...but, as I've mentioned in previous threads, its a dying hobby in this part of the world. Asia, Europe & USA have FP movements me & the handful of SA FP enthusiasts can only dream of. What I'd give to attend any of your conferences/expos with a few nib meisters & test inks, etc. I do hope the demand grows this side of the pond, but from the responses alone, the SA online crew doesn't even know I exist. My reasoning for reducing my prices below other international producers was to enter their markets with a great ink & not have my international customers have to pay more due to customs & shipping, etc. I now think that this may hurt my growth some & to make this happen beyond just a hobby, I may need to price myself into a category that allows me to grow & the only way I can do that is offer my product to a SA market. My main fear is that we are at the stage of FP development I mentioned earlier.

 

Can someone please tell me how to check google search words in SA for "fountain pen ink" to see what kind of interest we have? (I may be using the wrong terms, I know IT guys get very hyped up when people use the wrong wording ) This would be the tipping point swaying my decision. I can always offer bulk discounts so international customers or FP groups can get them at a great price.

 

If, just if this idea doesn't see fruition, I will still send out some samples of my final ink to the ink reviewers & some other interested parties (as far as my pocket allows). Don't stress as yet, this is a last resort.

 

Thank you for all the responses thus far.

Sadiq

[hbdk]

As already mentioned start out with a few colours. I have been trying to order from a small manufacturer a couple of times - always getting an answer along this line: "Ohh...I'll make another batch of that colour in 3 months time!" You soon give up if you get that kind of message every time. So, be sure that you can meet demand, and that ordering on your web page is straight forward so that you don't have to answer a lot of questions via mail.

 

Apart from that I think it is a splendid idea, and I'll be following your thoughts and progress on this.

[Sadiq]

As already mentioned start out with a few colours. I have been trying to order from a small manufacturer a couple of times - always getting an answer along this line: "Ohh...I'll make another batch of that colour in 3 months time!" You soon give up if you get that kind of message every time. So, be sure that you can meet demand, and that ordering on your web page is straight forward so that you don't have to answer a lot of questions via mail.

 

Apart from that I think it is a splendid idea, and I'll be following your thoughts and progress on this.

Thank you for your response hbdk.

 

Meeting the demand wouldn't be a problem, if I had any thoughts that it would be a problem, I wouldn't even have thought to take this further. Turning customers away due to low stock levels is a definite NO from my side...from past work experiences I know the value of customers & keeping them happy

 

Thank you for reminding me about it, will note this as well.

 

Cheers

Sadiq

[El Gordo]

I like the idea, very much indeed, but if I read all responses I have some questions. Maybe it is nonsense and the answer could be f course I know and I took care of that. But when reading about new ventures I always remember some venture capitalist telling me that the purpose of business is making profit (maybe I do not completely agree, but I can accept that the purpose of doing business is earning you a living). So, I see a lot of requests for colors, specialities, etc. With some buzz words: what is your unique selling position, do you have a business plan, do you know who your competitors are (well maybe, did you include the companies that make high volume (inkjet eg) inks and do some small volumes for fountain pens aside, have you considered being an OEM supplier for boutique labels, who are your competitors then, did you estimate the volume of inks you would like to sell, how much time it would take, and would it bring you the income you expected? Do you now the volumes sold by competitors, what part of the market share are you targeting, Does it match with what you would like to sell, or would be able to make? If you want to ship worldwide, can you use the same ink composition everywhere, or are some additives and ingredients banned in EU, USA, Asia, ... ? Well all of this info can be found, either free or by consultation, but the bottom line is, will it still be fun when cash outflow is larger than the inflow. Just wondering and in no way wanting to scare or take away dreams, On the contrary, realising dreams asks for some reality, not everything is or should be known upfront, but whatever risk could be taken out a business is worthwhile, at least in my opinion.

[Sadiq]

I like the idea, very much indeed, but if I read all responses I have some questions. Maybe it is nonsense and the answer could be f course I know and I took care of that. But when reading about new ventures I always remember some venture capitalist telling me that the purpose of business is making profit (maybe I do not completely agree, but I can accept that the purpose of doing business is earning you a living). So, I see a lot of requests for colors, specialities, etc. With some buzz words: what is your unique selling position, do you have a business plan, do you know who your competitors are (well maybe, did you include the companies that make high volume (inkjet eg) inks and do some small volumes for fountain pens aside, have you considered being an OEM supplier for boutique labels, who are your competitors then, did you estimate the volume of inks you would like to sell, how much time it would take, and would it bring you the income you expected? Do you now the volumes sold by competitors, what part of the market share are you targeting, Does it match with what you would like to sell, or would be able to make? If you want to ship worldwide, can you use the same ink composition everywhere, or are some additives and ingredients banned in EU, USA, Asia, ... ? Well all of this info can be found, either free or by consultation, but the bottom line is, will it still be fun when cash outflow is larger than the inflow. Just wondering and in no way wanting to scare or take away dreams, On the contrary, realising dreams asks for some reality, not everything is or should be known upfront, but whatever risk could be taken out a business is worthwhile, at least in my opinion.

 

Thank you for you response El Gordo,

 

I have the answer to some of these questions, however, I will be noting the rest of your questions & answering them in detail for myself at a later date. They're all definitely important moving forward.

 

These threads on various boards have been mainly to see what our FP community thinks of another ink manufacturer. I haven't seen much response from the usuals...at least the ones I know that have lead other discussions -maybe this isn't one of the important ones

 

I managed to get some stats off google trends website & things do not look good my side of the pond. When I initially thought of producing, my main markets were UK, USA, Canada, so my pricing would need to justify the tiny extra wait on shipping & also come in slightly lower than already established companies. I do realise the mamoth task generating interest from all the way this side of the world via website & forums, but having an awesome product with awesome customer service at an awesome price could see this happening. I was hoping to have a little more input from the regulars (at least the ones I remember from 1-2years ago), maybe I should have alook at how many have read my thread instead of only the ones responding

 

Thanx again...cheers, great weekend!

Sadiq

[Sadiq]

Hi all,

 

Quick update...

 

Over the past year, enjoying myself experimenting with ink - during the same time pondering over this huge endeavor. Ive seen a few new ink companies & some old ones pop up, all with their own great inks. Currently there are so many options, I cant even count them all.

 

Honestly, I havent had much response, especially from South African FP enthusiasts - they being my main market. Ive done some more coatings & with the monumental task at hand breaking into this market & surviving, regrettably Ive sadly decided to put a stop to my ink manufacturing ideas.

 

Now I think its by time that I put down my nutty professor coat, go buy some pens & inks, and just enjoy writing, sketching anything or just doodling till the wet ink dries!

 

Happy holidays all!!