Seeking Superb Safe Sepias For Vintage Pens

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for your input! I'll look into Omas and Visconti.

 

I just got a sample of Whaleman's Sepia and will try it out in a cheap modern pen first. It looks quite viscous, so I wonder if dilution might help reduce potential flow, nib creep, and clogging issues. Like you said, it does look like some kind of murky paint, so maybe dilution may make it look a little more like a traditional sepia. Have you tried diluting it?

 

My experience with Whaleman's Sepia was that it was a fabulous color but it would NOT flow until I diluted it with distilled water. Complete disappointment....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[truthpil]

My experience with Whaleman's Sepia was that it was a fabulous color but it would NOT flow until I diluted it with distilled water. Complete disappointment....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Yeah, that's what I heard too and why I just got a sample first.

Once I finish my write up on Prime of the Commons, I'll start experimenting with Whaleman's Sepia. It seems sticky so I'm definitely going to keep it out of my vintage pens even if I do end up liking it.

[Mew]

 

or the real deal---Hakase Sepia?

 

 

I don't know about others, but I do have Hakase sepia, both light and dark. It is a high maintenance ink which requires you to use the pen daily in if inked with this ink.

If you can use it daily, this is as real as it can get.

[truthpil]

I don't know about others, but I do have Hakase sepia, both light and dark. It is a high maintenance ink which requires you to use the pen daily in if inked with this ink.

If you can use it daily, this is as real as it can get.

 

Hi Mew,

 

Thanks for the informative post! Hakase definitely sounds like an ink best not used in a vintage pen or a pen that's difficult to clean.

I've been dying to try that ink, but can't justify getting 50ml of it. Any chance you'd be interesting in selling a sample?

[Jan2016]

Reading the fora it looks like youcannot go wrong with J. Herbin.

My next vintage will have Lie de The, Ambre de Birmanie, or Cacao du Bresil.

The feathering surprises me, what paper do you use? You do not want to spoil your vintage pen on cheap paper

 

Diamine Sepia is also very nice and has a sheen ( i am a sheen lover :-)) , but I dont have any experience.

Diamine makes good inks and in all my other pens I use them a lot.

 

Stipulo Calamo has Terra di Sienna, very nice color, but I could not find anything on behavior in Vintage.

 

Good luck and show us your result!

[truthpil]

Reading the fora it looks like youcannot go wrong with J. Herbin.

My next vintage will have Lie de The, Ambre de Birmanie, or Cacao du Bresil.

The feathering surprises me, what paper do you use? You do not want to spoil your vintage pen on cheap paper

 

My bottle of Lie de The arrived a few days ago and I absolutely love it! It performs well on the cheap paper at my work, but of course has much better shading on good paper. I don't actually have my vintage pen yet and will have to wait a few months to pick it up in the States.

 

Diamine Sepia is also very nice and has a sheen ( i am a sheen lover :-)) , but I dont have any experience.

Diamine makes good inks and in all my other pens I use them a lot.

 

I've been eyeing Diamine Sepia as well (I too love sheen), but was concerned about using it in a vintage pen.

Please let us know if you try it out in a vintage. The price is right for sure.

 

Good luck and show us your result!

 

Will do, but it will have to wait until next summer.

[Mew]

 

Hi Mew,

 

Thanks for the informative post! Hakase definitely sounds like an ink best not used in a vintage pen or a pen that's difficult to clean.

I've been dying to try that ink, but can't justify getting 50ml of it. Any chance you'd be interesting in selling a sample?

Hi,

 

I suggest that if you do end up getting it, use it in C/C pens only. It's a vintage type colour seen in those old parchment.

It wasn't difficult to clean out, but that may be because I was using it daily.

Also, don't buy from eBay, get it from Hakase directly. They will ship it worldwide.

I don't have PayPal to accept payments and I don't know where to get the sample vials from. Sorry.

I can share a writing sample if you like.

Edited November 3, 2016 by Mew

[dcwaites]

Richard Binder is generally quite supportive of Diamine inks. He is a bit equivocal about reds and browns, though, but the Diamine Sepia is a bit less intense than some of their other browns.

 

So long as your pen cap seals properly, so that it starts up immediately after several days you should have no problems. This is a feature of the pen, not the ink.

 

If it doesn't then you will need to use the pen every day at least for a few words to keep the ink flowing.

 

If you are not sure, then try your pen with one of the Diamine Blues for a few weeks (buy the 30 ml bottles to minimise expense) and see how it goes.

 

If you are not sure about the colour of the Diamine Sepia, try one of the other browns on this page and dilute it down to get the shade you want. A diluted Diamine ink will be even safer for your pens.

 

I generally use a blend of Diamine inks called Faux Penman Sapphire #9 on all my new pens as it is over 40% water, and so very safe for any pen.

Edited November 3, 2016 by dcwaites

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

To follow on with the above contribution from Member dcwaites, here's my Rough Guide to Dilution @ Post № 23 : http://www.fountainp...pens/?p=2315439

 

Bye,

S1

[dcwaites]

Yeah, what she said... +++

[Uncial]

Has anyone tried photoflo in Whaleman's Sepia? The trouble I have with it is that it seems to take forever to dry, especially if used in a flex nib. It takes on a mirrored appearance when dry too so it can look like it is permanently wet. This causes much irritation when I have to touch it to see if it's dry yet, only to discover it isn't and I've smudged it! I suspect photoflo might exacerbate this problem though - solving a flow issue but creating another.

[truthpil]

Richard Binder is generally quite supportive of Diamine inks. He is a bit equivocal about reds and browns, though, but the Diamine Sepia is a bit less intense than some of their other browns.

 

Thanks dcwaites,

I've been meaning to try Diamine Sepia for a while. The color looks representative of the "old-timey photograph" concept of sepia and has nice shading.

 

Does anyone have any experience using undiluted Diamine Sepia in their vintage pens? It doesn't seem as concentrated as some other Diamine browns that can stain or cause nib crud. Would love to hear from others' experiences...

 

Hi,

 

To follow on with the above contribution from Member dcwaites, here's my Rough Guide to Dilution @ Post № 23 : http://www.fountainp...pens/?p=2315439

 

Bye,

S1

 

Thanks Sandy1 for the reference!

I followed your guide for re-bottling ESSRI in glass bottles and it worked perfectly.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of dilution to make misbehaving Noodler's inks fare better in my modern pens. Having more specific guidelines is quite helpful!

[truthpil]

By way of summary, here are the various sepia inks that have been recommended as safe for vintage pens in this thread:

 

Gray-leaning Sepias:

 

- Rohrer and Klingner Sepia <-- this was the top recommendation by far

- Papier Plume Sepia

- Herbin Cacao du Bresil

Brown- or Yellow-leaning Sepias:

 

- Waterman's Havana Brown
- Omas Sepia

- Visconti Sepia/Brown
- Diamine Sepia

- Herbin Lie de The
- Herbin Ambre de Birmanie

 

I now have Herbin Lie de The and R&K Sepia with Diamine Sepia on the way. The first two are wonderful colors and extremely well behaved. Once I'm able to pick up my vintage pens in the States I'll try all these out and post the results.

 

Thanks for all your help!

[Sandy1]

[hinky]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but, for those who recommended R&K Sepia for vintage pens, how do you guys think it'll fare with gold plated parts? I couldn't find anything regarding the ph levels of R&K inks, and the whole nibs getting pitted or losing plating kinda scares me 😓

 

Thanks in advance for any input 😊

[abstract49]

Gold is more non-reactive (or less reactive if you prefer) than other metals, so, depending on the gold content (i.e., 14 ct, 18 ct, etc.) and the particular alloy, it should be safer than steel from pitting from +/- pH levels.

[ENewton]

According to this page, it seems that pH level varies widely among Rohrer and Klingner inks:

 

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/care/ink_ph.htm

[hinky]

Gold is more non-reactive (or less reactive if you prefer) than other metals, so, depending on the gold content (i.e., 14 ct, 18 ct, etc.) and the particular alloy, it should be safer than steel from pitting from +/- pH levels.

That's good to know. I guess I'll just use my "unsure" inks in gold nibbed pens. Thanks for the input 😊

[hinky]

According to this page, it seems that pH level varies widely among Rohrer and Klingner inks:

 

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/care/ink_ph.htm

Hmm...I can't seem to access Richard's site. I'm on mobile right now so I guess I'll try again on my desktop when I have the time. Thanks for the link 😊

[inkstainedruth]

I see this thread has resurfaced....

If the OP can track down vintage Skrip Brown (red box era), that may be just up his/her alley. It was a lovely sepia brown (actually says "Sepia" on some sides of the box, while saying "Brown" on other sides). Sadly, I had a leak (fortunately contained by a ziplock bag) and lost most of the contents. But it was a wonderful ink. If the price was right I would definitely buy another bottle of it. (I think the red box stuff is more recent than the yellow box stuff -- one of my boxes of Skrip in the yellow box has directions on one of the box lids on how to fill a Snorkel! )

The original formula of Birmingham Shadyside Walnut Street Brown was very good -- but they changed sources for the dye components, and the newer version is much redder.

Another vote for Iroshihzuku Yama-guri, but the Iroshihzuku inks tend to be wet -- sometimes too wet for the pen they're ink (it was way too wet, for instance, for a 1990s era Pelikan M400 Brown Tortoise, with a juicy and springy F nib -- quite disappointing because I thought it would be a good combo for doing drawings).

Might not be sepia toned *enough", but last year's Edelstein Ink of the Year, Smoky Quartz, is also very nice.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: If you can still manage to track DOWN a bottle of Smoky Quartz, that is....

Edited January 9, 2018 by inkstainedruth