Lamy 2K Nib For Shimmering Ink?

[justj]

I have a letter and some documents I want to write/sign with a specific ink (Diamine Dragon Blood, it's a red ink with gold shimmer)

I had hoped to use a Lamy stub or a wet medium nib... but, the shimmer doesn't show up nicely, and the bottle says to use a broad nib.

 

After thinking about it; I really like my Lamy 2000, so figure that's a good starting point - but not sure if I should go broad or double broad. Nothing will be written fast, and I want a nice shimmer to show up, dry time is not important. But, I don't want to end up so fat that the lines bleed together.

 

I tried a couple of stubs (cursive italic, 1.1 and 1.5) but nothing seemed to really lay down that shimmer, more of an occasional sparkle (and yes, I shook the ink before inking up; also tried shaking the ink, dipping the pen...

 

Or, am I expecting too much out of the ink? The only way I could spot the shimmer was to use a spot-led at a sharp angle, otherwise, the shimmer was not visible. (I tried a total of 5 pens, on 4 different papers, 3 quality, 1 "regular" paper)

 

thanks

[BaronWulfraed]

The only real "shimmer" I've seen occurred when the pen had been allowed to sit nib-down, and all the shimmer particles settled on the nipple and were drawn into the feed en-mas. Then the Arctic Blue came out as a waxy silver. Anything else I've done with tilting/shaking the pen to put the particles into suspension results in just a few flakes in the ink. And since those flakes tend to "flatten" against the paper, the shimmer is only visible when the light is glancing at an angle the reflects to the viewer.

[Honeybadgers]

No. No. NO. NO.

 

Do not do it. You will NEVER get the damn thing properly free of glitter if you ever put glitter in it.

 

likely the lamy z50 nibs you used are too dry and need opening up a bit. Also consider flex nibs and wide channel feeds.

 

Also, shimmer particles settle, any pen with glitter needs to be tipped around a few times to re-suspend the glitter.

 

If you want a self-filler for glitter purposes, make sure it can be completely disassembled and run through an ultrasonic cleaner. TWSBI, penbbs 456, etc.

Edited March 19, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[Bo Bo Olson]

My Herbin dark gray with gold glitter works well.

 

My Diamine are less successful but that could have to do with the ink colors. I have to tilt the paper to see the gliltter. Others get sheen with them too, not me.

I splurged on four bottles of Diamine glitter ink in 'gold' and 'silver'.....and wasn't as dazzled by them as hoped. The last bottle is still unopened. That Herbin was always in mind as great...but the dark color allows more glitter.

I of course kept shaking the pen to keep the glitter suspended......daylight is better than the overhead, but still it's tilt the paper.

 

Hopefully, what ever pen I used for the Diamine is not too contaminated..........what ever pen I used for the Herbin wasn't contaminated (it's been a long time since I used that ink...not being into black or gray inks much)..............but I should have thought to make a special list of for Glitter pens.

It's not I'm sure as bad as Bay State Blue.

Edited March 19, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[ENewton]

You might want to try one of the De Atramentis shimmer inks. I friend gave me Brilliant Violet with Copper as a gift, and when I used it in my Kaweco Sport fine, there was so much glitter on the page that it was really distracting. I would never use Brilliant Violet with Copper in an expensive pen; I'd hate to think of those gobs of glitter leaving residue in the feed.

 

I have J Herbin Amethyste de l'Oural and don't see glitter, even in a we medium cursive italic, but it was the base color of the ink that attracted me in the first place, and the scarcity of the glitter makes me feel I can use it in a wider range of pens.

 

Would you consider using a dip pen for signing the documents with Dragon's Blood? Or dipping a fountain pen, instead of filling it with the ink? Dipping tends to lay ink down more thickly, and if you use a dip pen, you won't have to worry about clogging a feed or other internal mechanism with particles.

[Mulrich]

I've used Herbin 1670/1798 inks in a variety of pens and nibs (mostly F nibs) without much problem. My experience with glitter inks is similar to those above. Shaking the ink bottle before filling is very important but so is (gently) shaking the pen before, and during, use. You can see how quickly the particles settle to the bottom of an ink bottle and the same thing happens inside the pen. And too many particles trying to get through the feed at the same time creates problems (either clogging the feed or laying down so much glitter you can't see the ink). It's common for me to get a lot of glittery bits after the nib has sat for a few minutes and then the glittery bits trickle off dramatically. And depending on how the pen is used, by the time the pen is ~1/2 empty, I may not see any glittery bits at all.

 

I haven't experienced many issues cleaning out a pen once I'm done with one of these inks. That said, I typically only use these inks with pens that have removable nibs or converters so I can more easily clean them out.

[SpecTP]

I've used Organic Studios' sheen inks and they have not been an issue at all in my Conid. No staining issues either.

[jekostas]

Don't use shimmering inks in pens you aren't willing to disassemble and clean regularly. The particulate can clog up a feed very quickly.

[pajaro]

Don't use shimmering inks in pens you aren't willing to disassemble and clean regularly. The particulate can clog up a feed very quickly.

Can you prevent the fed from being clogged?

[jekostas]

Can you prevent the fed from being clogged?

 

Not really. Particulate will tend to settle once the pen is at rest, either in the feed or reservoir. Feed channels are very narrow and it doesn't take much to block them.

 

There's a reason why fountain pen inks with particulates, either shimmering inks or pigmented inks, are still few and far between.

 

If you're going to use shimmering inks, put them in things that you're willing to disassemble and clean regularly.

[Honeybadgers]

NEVER use shimmer inks in a pen that you aren't willing to regularly disassemble for cleaning. You should almost never, ever need to disassemble a 2000

[JonSzanto]

In a word: NO.

[Runnin_Ute]

Not in a Lamy 2000. I use a Parker 45 or other pen I can take apart completely. Noodler's Konrad comes to mind as a good option.