Ink "maturing" Inside The Pen

[Tadeo]

Here's a topic i'm sure have a degree of recurrence with the community, therefore here I am.

 

I am fairly new to the FP world and just started to notice some things about FP behavior that most seasoned aficionados must be familiar with. I noticed how ink behavior changes even when i am using the same pen-paper-ink combinations. Specifically Lamy safary with Lamy blue cartridge ink.

 

If my pen have been recently flushed, which I do with every ink charge, the color of the ink is very washed-out. I noticed that in new-out-of-the-box pens lamy blue cartridge ink has a washed out look too. I suppose the case for a recently flushed pen is for ink dilution with water stuck inside the feed. Because of this I was no particularly thrilled by Lamy blue, considering it sort of a meh blue.

 

Since my pens rise in number and I of course want to use them all and have them all inked, the natural course of things made some pens sit inked but unused for a while. What a nice surprise was when I retried my safari with lamy meh blue and instead of a pale blue ,what was laid on the page was a dark saturated lovely blue. It totally changed my appreciation for this ink and for any other ink as a side effect.

 

Later on, as I was reading comments here in FPN I realized that of course, I am not the only one that happen to notice such wonderful thing happening to FPs. So, I would love to hear your stories.

 

Cheers

 

Tadeo.

 

 

[usk15]

It happened to me, different inks and pens too. I believe is related with water evaporation in time, leading to a more saturated ink.

[LizB]

Absolutely. I find my Lamy Safaris dry out fairly quickly (compared to other pens), meaning that at some point the ink inside is fairly saturated compared to that in the bottle. It can give you exaggerated sheen from already well-saturated inks too.

[PAKMAN]

I've noticed this too if I leave ink in pens too long. Some blues become almost black as time goes on.

[Cyber6]

+1 to sheen.

 

Back in the days were manufacturers were not making sheening ink on purpose, you could always get some sheen be leaving ink in the pen for a long period of time.

 

 

 

 

Absolutely. I find my Lamy Safaris dry out fairly quickly (compared to other pens), meaning that at some point the ink inside is fairly saturated compared to that in the bottle. It can give you exaggerated sheen from already well-saturated inks too.

[minddance]

Yes, Lamy Safari, and Jinhaos and many Chinese pens, especially older models, evaporate inks. This is due to poor sealing ability. If you like evaporated inks, Pilot 78g and Prera and Sailor Young (somiko) also do that for you. Inks inside these pens can only get darker and darker until they stop flowing, depending on how long you keep them in these pens.

 

I usually ink these pens with inks that are under-saturated and appear watery or too light, e.g. some Diamine and Iroshizuku mid-light colours, extremely shadey inks.

 

Sheen is another feature that can very often be achieved when ink has evaporated. But note that sheen will almost always smear. One doesn't have to buy 'sheeny inks' because in pens that evaporate inks, e.g. Lamy Safari, basic inks like Waterman Serenity Blue and Pilot Blue can also sheen. And you don't really need Tomoe River paper to do all that

 

Just leave the ink long enough in those poorly-sealed pens and you will have shiny crickets all over your page.

Edited July 14, 2018 by minddance

[Tadeo]

Yes, Lamy Safari, and Jinhaos and many Chinese pens, especially older models, evaporate inks. This is due to poor sealing ability. If you like evaporated inks, Pilot 78g and Prera and Sailor Young (somiko) also do that for you. Inks inside these pens can only get darker and darker until they stop flowing, depending on how long you keep them in these pens.

 

I usually ink these pens with inks that are under-saturated and appear watery or too light, e.g. some Diamine and Iroshizuku mid-light colours, extremely shadey inks.

 

Sheen is another feature that can very often be achieved when ink has evaporated. But note that sheen will almost always smear. One doesn't have to buy 'sheeny inks' because in pens that evaporate inks, e.g. Lamy Safari, basic inks like Waterman Serenity Blue and Pilot Blue can also sheen. And you don't really need Tomoe River paper to do all that

 

Just leave the ink long enough in those poorly-sealed pens and you will have shiny crickets all over your page.

It is nice how one can find virtue in a "flaw"

Yes, I do like sheen in inks

[minddance]

Yes, only you can decide whether it is a virtue or a flaw, my 'job' is to report as it is

 

As always, have fun!

[Chrissy]

+1 to sheen.

 

Back in the days were manufacturers were not making sheening ink on purpose, you could always get some sheen be leaving ink in the pen for a long period of time.

 

Yes, +2 for sheen in this way. Parker Penman Sapphire does this all of the time in my Parker 45 Consort. The pen always uses this ink.

 

Reds can go nicely darker and more saturated too. I once mixed up a batch of Binder Burgundy and it went much darker and more saturated after being left in the pen.

[senzen]

It works both ways, some inks can look better (to each one's eye!) lighter rather than darker, for me these are:

 

Ama Iro.

Kon Peki.

Asa Gao.

 

These have required either extreme measures, like a piece of cellophane between the feed and nib (too much can cut off flow, doesn't look very pretty), and keeping the pen in a case or velvet pouch; or a pen that writes more dry and doesn't evaporate as quickly, like a Pelikan m600.

 

Other inks look nice fully saturated (again, to me):

 

Équinoxe 6, Tsuyu Kusa.

 

The two inks that looks really cool when darker are Fuyu Gaki and Orange indien, but I also like them in their original tone. A pen that evaporates quickly and almost guarantees a darker ink: Parker Sonnet; just watch out for Chinese imitations.

Other inks change dramatically depending on the paper: Rouge Hematite blooms into orange in more absorbent paper like Fabriano EcoQUa, as opposed to HP 32 lbs or Rhodia.

[katerchen]

Pelikan 4001 Konigsblau does this wonderfully as it ages in the pen. Becomes darker, shadier (in the good sense of the word ) and as others noted with more sheen.

 

The trick is to catch it where it doesn't congeal too much to a tar-like substance that never dries on paper.

 

I keep meaning to run an experiment (I have a whole damn 1 Liter bottle of that thing) to decant some into a 30/50ML bottle and let about a third evaporate and just fill from there, see what happens.

 

-k

[SchaumburgSwan]

Hi,

 

some IG inks do not only get darker, but also change its color due to oxidation. Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black does it.

 

Jens

[Noihvo]

 

[wallylynn]

I have an extreme example of this with my Noodler's Creaper, plus Noodler's Rome Burning. The ink starts out yellowish, then as the weeks go by, becomes purple.