Out Of Date Mb Ink

[Pentode]

My bottle of MB black is marked W, Germany. It's fine and I have no problems with it in any pen.

 

That said, the above advice is what I've always gone with: if it looks and smells okay, it is okay.

Edited July 23, 2017 by Pentode

[meiers]

I agree.

[Chrissy]

So to sum up... it seems as if the answer is that there is no reason you cannot/should not use "out of date" ink in a fountain pen, unless it plainly looks/smells different to how it should.

 

That seems to sum it up

[niksch]

At the risk of piling on...

 

I purchased 9 or 8 years ago on eBay, several lots of 1970 and '80s vintage inks. Probably a lot more than I'll ever use (estimating 40 or more years left). However, I never even question whether nor not the inks have spoiled. And they all still work as designed in my 1960s vintage 149s.

[zaddick]

At the risk of piling on...

 

I purchased 9 or 8 years ago on eBay, several lots of 1970 and '80s vintage inks. Probably a lot more than I'll ever use (estimating 40 or more years left). However, I never even question whether nor not the inks have spoiled. And they all still work as designed in my 1960s vintage 149s.

Out of curiosity, mostly the 50ml glass shoes with the ridges on the side, the gold "gumdrop" plastic bottles, or the white plastic triangle bottles of 100 ML? Any interesting colors? I also have more than a lifetime supply of 20+ year old ink but I tend to but more if the price is good. I also like some of the older colors better.

[Stitchpunk]

Out of curiosity, mostly the 50ml glass shoes with the ridges on the side, the gold "gumdrop" plastic bottles, or the white plastic triangle bottles of 100 ML? Any interesting colors? I also have more than a lifetime supply of 20+ year old ink but I tend to but more if the price is good. I also like some of the older colors better.

I'd love to get hold of a bottle of Bordeaux sometime. From what I recall it was more brown and less pink than the current Burgundy, which doesn't appeal to me at all.

[tamiya]

Ink is not a dairy product. Best before dates don't apply.

Very true - it's a diary product

[niksch]

Very true - it's a diary product

 

Best quotes of ALL TIME!!! Great one Tamiya.

[niksch]

Out of curiosity, mostly the 50ml glass shoes with the ridges on the side, the gold "gumdrop" plastic bottles, or the white plastic triangle bottles of 100 ML? Any interesting colors? I also have more than a lifetime supply of 20+ year old ink but I tend to but more if the price is good. I also like some of the older colors better.

 

zaddick,

 

The bottles of ink I am referring to are similar to the modern "shoe" bottles, and they are 52mL. They date to just after the spaceship (conical) looking ink bottles, timewise. (I think I have all of the colors in those conical bottles, BTW). Most of these bottles don't have a written description, only a rectangle showing the color.

 

Mostly, the colors are what we can source today, but probably the most exotic are Turquoise and Oriental Red. Turquoise is not corrosive, but it's a pain in the arse to fully eliminate from a piston filler in which it has dried. I think Oriental Red is probably like today's Poppy Red, at least from what I can tell from an online comparison.

 

Side note. The conical bottles you mentioned contained 100mL of ink, the triangular ones held 58mL.

Edited July 27, 2017 by niksch

[zaddick]

Yes, yes, you are absolutely correct on the measurements for the older bottles. A bit of a mental vacation on my part.

 

I don't have the "oriental red" so I will need to keep looking for that one. I seem to recall a ruby red in my desk drawer but I may have made up the name.

 

Thanks for letting me know.