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Best Pen And Nib For Enjoying Platinum Lavender Black


Johnnie-T

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I have been fascinated with the Lavender Black IG ink since I first saw it mentioned. I'd love to make it one of my everday inks. However, I'm having some trouble getting it to consistently work the way that I like.

The writing in the first picture used a simple dip pen with a fairly broad nib. Not surprisingly, it thins out after a few words, as I didn't re-dip. But it was so great for those first few letters!

I've also tried it with different Preppy nibs. The second picture shows some unusually good results at the top, then fading quickly. I don't know just what's going on.

In another test (not shown) I got pretty good results from 0.2mm and 0.3mm Preppy nibs, but lighter than I like.

Any ideas?

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post-151256-0-26652200-1563750201_thumb.jpg

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No experience with this ink. You might get better reponse if you post this in Inky Thoughts though.

Brad

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling
"None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

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Wet nibs and flex nibs work best with iron galls. I also wouldn't use a demonstrator since they will stain.

 

It shouldn't be too hard on a sac, either, so vintage pens should be fine.

 

But the wetter the nib, the better. At least, that's been my experience with all iron galls, platinum classic citrus black in particular.

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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Thank you! Is there any way that I can move a thread, since I started it?

And what are some good wet writers near the intro end of the pen market? (I just looked up flex nibs and I have already taken the recommended first step: get a dip pen holder and some nibs for that.)

 

Please follow up to my thread in Inky Thoughts.

Edited by Johnnie-T
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Jinhao medium nibs tend to be nice and wet.

 

TWSBI's eco is acceptable too. I find their F nibs pretty wet.

 

Lamy's pens (safari, al-star, CP1, vista) in B should be pretty wet.

 

Vintage pens almost all trend towards extremely wet. If you look around on ebay, restored pens with firm gold nibs can be had in the $30-50 range.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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Jinhao medium nibs tend to be nice and wet.

 

 

 

I am using an iron gall ink in a (rebranded) Jinhao x750 right now, and I get a nice, dark line after a fill--it surprised and delighted me the first time I tried it, a year or two ago--but the writing gets paler and paler as I write, and also from day to day, unless I occasionally work the converter to replenish the flow. Is there anything I can do to get the flow to be more consistent?

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I often use IG inks in my Parker Vectors because IG inks need to be flushed a bit more often -- and converters for c/c pens don't have a huge capacity. But I'm now thinking that I should pull out the Vector calligraphy set and play around with some of the other nib units, because I DO have Lavender Black and like it a lot....

But why are you just dipping the nib and feed and not actually filling the pen?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Ah -- I see you have answered someone asking the same question in a different thread. Because you'll have gotten the same answer from me (which is of course the same reason why I don't do swabs and don't really like using glass pens or other dip pens for testing -- you don't get the same color/flow as when you've actually got the ink coming through the feed.

Edited by inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I am using an iron gall ink in a (rebranded) Jinhao x750 right now, and I get a nice, dark line after a fill--it surprised and delighted me the first time I tried it, a year or two ago--but the writing gets paler and paler as I write, and also from day to day, unless I occasionally work the converter to replenish the flow. Is there anything I can do to get the flow to be more consistent?

 

What I think is happening when you cycle the converter is that you're partially filling the fins, which helps bypass any blockage in the ink channel. When the fins drain, the ink has to pass the blockage again and the writing gets paler.

 

I use Diamine registrars Ink - the strongest IG ink, as my everday ink.

 

It helps to use your pen everyday to stop the IG precipitating and clogging the pen.

 

Also, whenever you clean you pen, rinse it with vinegar. A 10% w/v solution of citric acid or pure vitamin C also works very well. This should rid the pen of any solidified iron gall.

 

For further information, see: http://kwzink.com/language/en/manufactured-inks/iron-gall-inks/fountain-pens-iron-gall/

 

It's very informative. Iron Galls are KWZ's speciality.

 

If your pen is getting very clogged, I would fill the pen with vinegar or Vitamin C/Citric acid solution, then stand it with the tip touching tissue paper. This pulls to solution down the ink channel. Wait for 5 mins or so to let the pen drain, and repeat. I find you'll always get some more ink out, so the extent to which you do this is based on personal preference. I'm a tad obsessed, so I multitask it with something else, and keep doing it until the liquid comes out is clear, but that isn't really necessary.

 

If all fails, pull out the feed and the nib, and run a thin piece of paper/plastic/metal throught the ink channle and between the tines to remove any solidified iron gall.

Edited by stenolearner
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I am using an iron gall ink in a (rebranded) Jinhao x750 right now, and I get a nice, dark line after a fill--it surprised and delighted me the first time I tried it, a year or two ago--but the writing gets paler and paler as I write, and also from day to day, unless I occasionally work the converter to replenish the flow. Is there anything I can do to get the flow to be more consistent?

 

You may be kind of expecting a little too much. A freshly primed feed will always be insanely wet, but most pens are not firehoses, and I think you're asking firehose-status of the ink.

 

Also, platinum classic inks are iron gall. They're MEANT to be quite pale and darken up within a few minutes. Diamine registrars goes down almost unusably pale blue but goes to a dark blue black within a couple minutes and nearly black within an hour.

 

You really need something with a big open ebonite feed paired with a nib tuned a bit for extra wetness If you want that huge amount of ink flow

 

It's a little more pricey than a preppy, in the $30 range, but a Ranga eyedropper will give you that super wet flow. You may need to adjust or swap the nib, but it's got the feed for the job.

 

alternatively, a FPR himalaya or noodlers konrad, ahab, or nib creaper.

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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I tried to open up an EF nib yesterday with one of Goulet's shims. I really tried to pull the tines apart, and it did increase ink flow somewhat. Now I'll have to see if this works for Scabiosa as well.

I think I'll get better results when I switch to one of the pen/nib combinations that you guys have mentioned. I'm also interested in TWSBIs: would any of them be good for this purpose?

Edited by Johnnie-T
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Yes, any wet nib will work nicely, plus the wider the better.

 

After trying the ink in a few different pens, I'm now happy with it in a simple Sheaffer 440 with a medium nib and even happier with it in my Carene with stub nib.

 

I also have Diamine Registrar's currently in a TWSBI Diamond 530 with stub nib. Same nib width, but the Registrar's is much drier. Still, it's one of my favourite inks.

 

My only complaint with Lavender Black is that it looks nothing like lavender, but it's still a lovely colour.

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What I think is happening when you cycle the converter is that you're partially filling the fins, which helps bypass any blockage in the ink channel. When the fins drain, the ink has to pass the blockage again and the writing gets paler.

 

I use Diamine registrars Ink - the strongest IG ink, as my everday ink.

 

It helps to use your pen everyday to stop the IG precipitating and clogging the pen.

 

Also, whenever you clean you pen, rinse it with vinegar. A 10% w/v solution of citric acid or pure vitamin C also works very well. This should rid the pen of any solidified iron gall.

 

For further information, see: http://kwzink.com/language/en/manufactured-inks/iron-gall-inks/fountain-pens-iron-gall/

 

It's very informative. Iron Galls are KWZ's speciality.

 

If your pen is getting very clogged, I would fill the pen with vinegar or Vitamin C/Citric acid solution, then stand it with the tip touching tissue paper. This pulls to solution down the ink channel. Wait for 5 mins or so to let the pen drain, and repeat. I find you'll always get some more ink out, so the extent to which you do this is based on personal preference. I'm a tad obsessed, so I multitask it with something else, and keep doing it until the liquid comes out is clear, but that isn't really necessary.

 

If all fails, pull out the feed and the nib, and run a thin piece of paper/plastic/metal throught the ink channle and between the tines to remove any solidified iron gall.

 

 

No, I don't think the pen is clogged, and the ink is Scabiosa, which means it is very easy to flush with distilled water alone. I've been using it for years, and when I have it in a pen, I use the pen all day, every day. It gives a very consistent line in my Platinum Balance. I just thought it would be interesting to try in a wetter pen. I'll try one of those Honeybadger mentions.

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