Opposite Of Kodak Photoflo

[minddance]

I have read some threads here, particularly Sandy1's, amongst others, experience with Kodak Photoflo as a surfactant in ink and tried it with very good success. (Thank you)

 

Of course, nib work and feed hacks can increase flow but these effects can be irreversible. Kodak Photoflo (200) is magical, it makes inks flow exactly the way I want.

 

Now, instead of adding water which could dilute the ink, what can I add to make ink flow slower (retard drying by absorbtion)?

[Parker51]

Evaporating the ink a bit should do the trick, if you are patient.

If not, you could freeze it. Do so with a small sample that you can skim the ice off of. This would safely remove some of the water.

If you need to concentrate the ink quickly, boil it, preferably in a lab with an appropriate exhaust hood.

[OCArt]

Counter-intuitively adding water makes the ink drier by diluting the surfactants.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

I am tickled pink that Photoflo met your needs/wildest desires (ink-wise).

 

In concert with Member OCArt, I use dilution to reduce the native dye-load and % surfactant of an ink. Most often that is undertaken to adjust Value (light-dark) to wriggle into a specific pen+paper combo. And then we have inks that I chivy to evoke shading, as shown in my IR of N54M: nice Hue and admirable performance profile but some shading would top it off.

 

As ever, what comes in the ink pot is but a starting point, so I hope to learn more about tuning inks from other Members.

 

Wheee!

 

Bye,

S1

Edited November 24, 2017 by Sandy1

[Chrissy]

Evaporating the ink a bit should do the trick, if you are patient.

If not, you could freeze it. Do so with a small sample that you can skim the ice off of. This would safely remove some of the water.

If you need to concentrate the ink quickly, boil it, preferably in a lab with an appropriate exhaust hood.

 

I sometimes do this.

 

Recently I bought a half full bottle of ink in a Montblanc shoe shaped bottle and it seems quite watery, so it's sitting on a windowsill that will get any sunshine that peeks through the clouds, with just a little piece of kitchen towel over the open neck.

 

If it doesn't improve the ink will get thrown away and the bottle will be refilled with some other ink.

[minddance]

Thank you all veterans for your kind and enthusiastic advice. I am currently feeling a tad more adventurous than I ought to be and would like to experiment with chemicals which could alter inks in the direction of being less flowy, any advise on where I could possibly start please?

 

Probably absorb water content in inks (dessicant) (although, of course as Chrissy amd Parker51 pointed out, evaporation might just do the trick) or change its viscosity so that it might be more sensitive to writing pressure (and probably paper), or slowing down dry time.

 

I am looking for a chemistry lesson. Please tell me some organic - or inorganic - compounds

 

Sandy1: I am a great admirer of the work you have done or, rather, I am an admirer of the great work you have done. You have shown me, and many others, nuances and possibilities of fountain pens and inks and papers in your reviews to which I, very often and repeatedly, refer. Thank you!

 

If such chemistry could possibly jeopardize commercial ink makers' interests, I would not want to be in a conflicting position and would be more than pleased to take private messages

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Hmmm...

 

Some time ago I tried exposing an ink to simple atmospheric evaporation, but the results were less than desired; and unlikely to be repeatable. Snake eyes.

 

It seems to me that a predictable desiccant that will draw surfactant from the ink might fit the bill. BUT drawing away water alone actually increases the % of surfactant in the ink, If out of balance you'll have 'gummy bear' ink.

 

It is well known that I am not a Chemist, so I await those who lean in that direction ...

 

Let us not forget that blending inks of similar hue, but different performance profiles, can smooth-out the wrinkles. (Then again, I do not iron my sheets hung in the open air to dry.)

 

Bye,

S1

Edited November 24, 2017 by Sandy1

[Chrissy]

I remember I once added a little too much Organics Studio Flo-Plus to some ink and it became too foamy. I made contact with a UK Company that sent me a free sample of something that de-foamed it, but I don't know what it was, and I don't think it particularly reduced the action of the Flo-Plus. I would be interested to know what reduces the action of Kodak Photoflo

[amberleadavis]

Adam Voss tried adding glycerin which is a surfactant and it turned out that adding just a little made the ink a little drier. (Despite our expectations). The other options include adding ghost blue - if you find that ghost blue is a dry ink for you. It won't change the color.