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Blue Inks For Not-So-Great Paper


tonybelding

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For a while now I’ve searched for inks that work well with not-so-great paper. I want ink that I can daily-carry and use on random documents that are handed to me, some of them printed on cheap copy paper, and not have my ink just cut right through. For years I’ve considered Noodler’s Black the champion at this. Recently I have discovered Diamine Eclipse, which is also remarkably well-behaved.

 

But they aren’t blue. I wanted a blue ink with this attribute. First I discovered Organics Studio Accident Blue, which is a pigment-based ink that is amazing and wonderful when it works well, but other times can be a disaster. It’s a lovely, attractive, aqua-blue color, and it resists bleeding or feathering better than any other ink I have ever tested, easily beating even Noodler’s Black. And the shading! It’s a shading monster. Unfortunately, it also sometimes cakes up nibs and feeds, or even comes out of suspension in the bottle or in the pen. I think Accident Blue is out of production for a while now, which is both unfortunate and also completely understandable. I wouldn’t dream of using it in a pen that I can’t easily disassemble and sonic clean.

 

So, I sat down and did some extensive testing using a long list of more conventional blue ink samples, a Lamy 2000, and a pad of Dollar General paper (made in India—not the worst, not the best). Most of the inks I tried were wet and penetrating, but a few bucked the trend. The winners were:

  • Aurora Blue
  • Colorverse Saturn V
  • J. Herbin Bleu Myosotis
  • Mont Blanc Midnight Blue
  • Pilot/Namiki Blue
  • Pilot Iroshizuki Kon-Peki

Honestly, Mont Blanc Midnight Blue shouldn’t even be on the list, since it’s not what I would call blue at all. It’s a cool gray that might, just barely, qualify as “blue-black”.

 

Aurora Blue and Herbin Myosotis are blue, but not shades that I personally find very attractive. If you like a little bit of purple tinge in your blue, then you might favor them, especially Aurora Blue.

 

I do like the dark blue (but not blue-black) Colorverse Saturn V. However, I am not sure if that’s a color that was limited production or will be available long-term.

 

Pilot Blue and Kon-Peki were favorites of the ones I tested. These are not in the same exceptional category as Noodler’s Black, but they should work acceptably on most random paper, especially if used in a pen that is not too wet.

 

As an experiment, I mixed four parts Kon-Peki and one part Diamine Eclipse. This produced a dark blue that I find attractive, and it retains good performance on the Dollar General paper. It may be similar in tone to Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo, but I did not have a sample of that ink to compare. (I would like to test it soon.)

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Thanks and interesting results.

 

I've found that the staple inks from the major pen makers, and especially the dryer German inks(Pelikan, Lamy, Mont Blanc) to largely be well behaved on not-so-great paper. Edelstein Sapphire seems particularly well behaved, but the color isn't to everyone's taste. My old work had fortunately switched over to a better brand of paper that I found good enough for most purposes was long as I didn't get too fancy with ink(no Baystate Blue welcome unless I wanted uncontrollable bleed-through) but where I am now unfortunately has cheap spongy paper-or at least the ream in my office is(hard to say how long it's been kicking around-I "inherited" it).

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Hi there!

fpn_1603136848__5_blues_cut-throughs.jpg

 

I'm not sure if you're still looking for the "right" ink for your purposes, or if you've just found it, so here goes....

tsuki-yo is greener and Visconti Blue is redder. The darkest and definitely wettest of all 5 is Oxford Blue. In any case, the last 3 don't cut through any more than your first 2 do. Paper I used here is the least expensive copy paper I can find in town: HP's "Home&Office" paper. (Pen = Herbin glass dip pen)

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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I'm not sure if you're still looking for the "right" ink for your purposes, or if you've just found it, so here goes....

tsuki-yo is greener and Visconti Blue is redder. The darkest and definitely wettest of all 5 is Oxford Blue. In any case, the last 3 don't cut through any more than your first 2 do. Paper I used here is the least expensive copy paper I can find in town: HP's "Home&Office" paper. (Pen = Herbin glass dip pen)

 

I don’t trust any dip pens much for testing purposes because ink flow from them is too different from a fountain pen with a feed.

 

I have had a sample of Tsuki-yo before, so I have a pretty good idea of the color. I mostly liked it, though maybe a bit dull. However, I never tested it at that time for bleed-through.

 

Visconti Blue is one that I did test on this DG paper, and my sample cut through the page about as much as a typically wet blue ink. The same was also true of Edelstein Topaz, by the way. Both nice colors, but not what I was looking for. Some others that looked good but failed the bleed test: Monteverde Horizon Blue, Diamine Pelham Blue, Diamine Aurora Borealis, Lamy Amazonite, Colorverse Rainy Day, Jacques Herbin Bleu de Minuit, Jacques Herbin Bleu Astral, and a whole handful of Robert Oster samples.

 

Also a note on the Dollar General paper… I have two writing pads, both the same size, bought from the same store, labeled identically, Made in India. The two pads have different paper, one being notably smoother and more resistant to ink (actually quite good!), and the two pads are also ruled slightly differently. My comparative testing was done on the pad with the shabby paper.

 

BTW also… I am almost out of Kon-Peki, so I decided to mix what was left in the bottom of the bottle with a little bit of Diamine Eclipse. I didn't measure very exactly, but I think the ratio is even smaller than before, maybe 8:1, and the result actually looks very good to me.

Edited by tonybelding
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Hi Tony,

 

Have you tried Pelikan 4001 Blue?

 

IIRC, it works well on (blank) papers.

 

 

- Sean :)

 

PS: Adding a little distilled water to "runny" inks might help, too.

https://www.catholicscomehome.org/

 

"Every one therefore that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father Who is in Heaven." - MT. 10:32

"Any society that will give up liberty to gain security deserves neither and will lose both." - Ben Franklin

Thank you Our Lady of Prompt Succor & St. Jude.

 

 

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What about Platinum Pigment Blue? Sailor STORiA Night Blue? Sailor seiboku?

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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I just tried writing on cheap photocopier paper with 8 different inks- in a wet pen all inks, bar the 2 greens, bled through. In a dry-writing fine nibbed pen there was no bleed through with Serenity Blue, which is the 'wettest' of the blue inks I have, and is fast absorbed on cheap paper. I suggest the pen you choose is more important than the ink. Fine and dry and it'll be great on copy paper.

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I agree with the Pelikan ink suggestion. Also, many of the Papier Plume inks I've tried are dry enough for 'bad' paper.

 

Any specific color or shade you'd like?

 

(Dollar TREE has writing paper and pads from India, and theirs tend to be higher quality than any other dollar store)

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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The ink you are looking for is Platinum Blue Black. It has a little IG voodoo that makes it work on just about anything. You can write legibly on paper towels with it. Unlike traditional IG ink, it goes down blue and stays blue.

 

- N

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Great ink- a pity so few shops sell it!

 

Edit: Cult Pens have all Platinum items on a 10% sale (no affiliation).

Edited by RJS
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Great ink- a pity so few shops sell it!

 

 

Were you referring to Platinum Blue-Black? Cult Pens sells it (and I bought a bottle from them recently), Stilo e Stile sells it (on its own web site, as well as on Amazon UK as a Marketplace seller), Fountainfeder sells it, ...

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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Do you want to list how many don't sell it, by way of comparison? I reiterate, it's a pity so few shops sell it. Cult Pens are the only UK seller I can see with it in stock, and even they didn't have it in stock a few days ago. That Italian shop sell it, but their price with postage isn't at all competitive (over 3x Japanese price).

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Have you considered Montblanc Permanent Blue? Personally, I do really like it, having used it for a very long time.

If you are to be ephemeral, leave a good scent.

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I support the Platinum Blue Black ink suggestion. One pen or another of mine seems to be filled with this mid-blue IG ink. It's one of the brightest blue/blacks that I've used & its blue colour does not darken or fade as with some other iron-gall inks do.

Has a respectable performance on inexpensive (copy type) paper. I am starting my fourth bottle.

*Sailor 1911S, Black/gold, 14k. 0.8 mm. stub(JM) *1911S blue "Colours", 14k. H-B "M" BLS (PB)

*2 Sailor 1911S Burgundy/gold: 14k. 0.6 mm. "round-nosed" CI (MM) & 14k. 1.1 mm. CI (JM)

*Sailor Pro-Gear Slim Spec. Ed. "Fire",14k. (factory) "H-B"

*Kaweco SPECIAL FP: 14k. "B",-0.6 mm BLS & 14k."M" 0.4 mm. BLS (PB)

*Kaweco Stainless Steel Lilliput, 14k. "M" -0.7 mm.BLS, (PB)

 

 

 

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Lamy Blue works well on poor quality paper, but it's a very unexciting shade of blue. I'm thrilled to have used up all the cartridges I had on hand.

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I don't know since no one seems to remember this guy but how about classic like waterman serenity blue.

Lamy blue ink is great option too.

 

Also pelikan blue 4001 is good too.

Platinum pigment blue should work fine on most papers (have not used it myself though)

Tacia inks are very well behaved, you can look at ao, sora and Hokusai fukakihanda. Sora (turquoise-ish) is lighter blue shade, ao is darker blue color while hokusai is dark blue (hokusai, I have not used personally but that's what color seems to be).

IG inks will work great too.

Iroshizuku is always great for most papers.

R&K inks work well on most papers, sallix is my personal favourite in terms of behaviour (dry type and works anywhere...not really a blue ink, IG ink..tends to fade is what I feel..)

 

Happy hunting.

Edited by Dimy
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I don't know since no one seems to remember this guy but how about classic like waterman serenity blue.

Don't you find Serenity Blue runs out rather fast on cheap paper? Unless the pen is dry you'll see a lot of bleed through- as much as any ink I own, I'd say.

 

Edit: Serenity Blue is extremely well behaved on quality or coated paper, where it doesn't bleed through at all, even in wet pens, and show through is minimal.

Edited by RJS
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Great ink- a pity so few shops sell it!

 

Edit: Cult Pens have all Platinum items on a 10% sale (no affiliation).

 

I've never had trouble getting Platinum Blue-Black in the US. Isn't the OP in Texas?

 

- N

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I’ve been using KWZ IG Blue Black for a few months, more or less as an EDC ink, in a number of pens. It goes down a lovely deep blue, and in most pens turns quickly to a dark navy blue/blue black. In a couple of pens (one a Platinum Coarse ground to a stub) it remained more blue than black, which was a pleasant surprise. Even in broad, wet nibs, I haven't seen any bleedthrough and min. ghosting on inexpensive papers. Not surprisingly, it feels a bit dry in some fine nibs, but in most of the rest I wouldn't have guessed it was an IG ink.

Edited by Herrjaeger
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I've never had trouble getting Platinum Blue-Black in the US. Isn't the OP in Texas?

 

- N

I haven't checked availability outside of Europe... I'm merely stating that for such a good ink I think it should be sold by more of the retailers in this field. Especially as most have a huge range of inks these days.
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