New Year, New Inks

[KCat]

I am thinking, that as a sort of odd New Year's celebration, I will change inks in many of my pens. I'll flush them all clean and let them dry thoroughly. Then decide what ink to put in what pen. I get into ruts - putting only DC blue in my M400 Blue stripe for example. I've had Emerald in my M200 green marble for over a year now. I doubt that I'll change that.

 

it just seems like the thing to do.

[Keith with a capital K]

Sunday morning is usually when I do my weekly check and service of the pens that are going to be in the rotation... I make sure they are all well fed, clean the inner caps, and make sure everything is working smoothly.

 

Since these pens stay in the rotation and dine on the same ink they aren't generally flushed with water.

 

I'm not one to do much ink switching unless it's changing to another brand's (same) colour to slightly adjust a pen's flow. ie. switching from Skrip black to Waterman black.

Edited December 27, 2004 by Keith with a capital K

[georgem]

I did that a couple of weeks ago, mainly because a few of my pens were filled with the same color ink. I have more inks now and each pen uses a differenct color. Cool!

 

Some will become favorites, others less so. After I use them for a while, I'll post some comments.

[KCat]

well, it's 2005 and I've had to rethink the inks for various pens I use.

 

some will still get what they always get:

 

Esterbrook red cartridge pen (slim model) with 9128 EF flex nib - Diamine Claret. Makes a great editing combination - can write noticeably large or in tiny lettering to fit into a margin.

 

Esterbrook seafoam cartridge pen with 9128 EF semi-flexnib - Sheaffer NOS Lavender. Just a beautiful colour in a flexible nib. (note, same nib number but slightly different flex). When I run out of the Lavender someday - I'll switch to J. Herbin Pensee which is very close.

 

M200 green marble with Dockal fine, sharp demi-oblique stub - This pen refuses to drink anything but Penman Emerald (with a bit of Sherwood mixed in to stretch the volume. I think Noodler's Emerald quick-dry would work in as a mix-in as well - have to test that.

 

From there - I'm not sure.

 

Namiki VP, red with rhodium appts., Fine (more like an XF) - had a Legal Lapis/Ottoman Azure mix. Considering Levenger Cobalt which looks lovely in an EF line.

 

M200 Grey marble, Dockal soft demi-oblique stub- had Pelikan b-b.

 

M200 Green translucent - had PR avacado.

 

M400 Blue stripe, .6mm Binder demi-oblique soft stub - had PR DC Blue

 

M400 White Tortoise - one of the few I didn't flush because I'm working off just a sample of Diamine Prussian Blue that I like much. It seems to suit the pen - being a "subtle" slate blue ink. This pen requires an ink that isn't overpowering.

 

Esterbrook J Copper - the new baby. I'm not loving the copperburst/red mix. I think I overcompensated the red loss. So perhaps just more copperburst. otherwise this ink does well in this pen.

 

enough for now - i have at least 6 other pens to figure out. But way too many inks!

 

For today, as the nibs soak and dry out, I will be using the M400 White Tortoise and the Estie Copper because they already know what they like to drink.

 

I'm also finding that a lot of my heavy-dye inks are not behaving as well as I'd like. I may be adding a drop of ink safe here and there to see how it goes. I'll report on that later.

[Keith with a capital K]

Kcat - The bright copper colour of the Esterbrook is very closely matched by the colour of Pelikan Brilliant Brown... this is probably my favourite ink.

 

Off the top of my head, the pens in the case and their inks are:

 

Pelikan Future (silver) - Waterman Florida Blue

Parker Vector (stainless) - Waterman blue black

Parker Vector (black) - Waterman black

Water-WASP (green) - Quink green

Pelikan M200 (black) - Sheaffer Burgundy

Sheaffer Cart (red) - Waterman red

Sheaffer NN ED (green) - Waterman green

Sheaffer NN BF (brown) - Noodler's Eternal Brown

Namiki VP (blue) - Noodler's Legal Lapis

Pelikn L5 (purple) - Cartier Royal Blue

Estie J (copper) - Pelikan Brilliant Brown

 

These are the "usual suspects" that travel with me everyday.

[georgem]

I bought several new inks a few weeks ago. This is the current line-up of pens and inks. I tend to leave the same color ink in a pen once I've inked it, although from time to time I may flush out a pen and use a different color or brand.

 

Parker Sonnet -- Herbin Bleu Azure

Lamy Joy Calligraphy -- Herbin Bleu Pervenche

Rotring Core Lysium -- Herbin Diablo Menthe

Rotring Core Eternium --Herbin Orange Indien

Green SheafferTriumph -- Herbin Vert Resada

Rotring Core Coridium -- Noodlers Aircorps Blue Black

Blue Sheaffer Triumph -- Noodlers Navajo Turquoise

Waterman Laurent Black -- Noodlers Turquoise

Parker 51 Aeromatic -- Waterman Black

Rotring Core Titanium -- Waterman Blue

Parker 51 Vacumatic -- Waterman Blue Black

Colibri Scrooge -- Waterman Green

Parker 75 -- Waterman Havana

Wooden no-name -- Waterman Havana

Rotring Core Tecnor -- Waterman Purple

Red Lamy Safari -- Waterman Red

Cross Townsend -- Waterman South Seas Blue

 

It's interesting that the Herbin inks tend to "bleed through" more than Noodler or Waterman including the Bleu Azure which appears rather faint on the page.

 

I generally have the two Sheaffers, Waterman Laurent, and Lamy Safari in my briefcase and at least one of the others in my pocket. I try to give each pen "equal time" so they don't get jealous!

 

Happy New Year!

[TheNobleSavage]

Hmm lets see:

 

Pelikan 600 -Aurora black

Pelikan 400 White Tortoise -PR DC Blue

Parker 51 Vac- Waterman south seas blue

Pelikan 400 brown tortoise- Waterman Havana

Pelikan GO- PR Tanzanite

Pelikan 250- PR DC Blue

Pelikan 250 Demonstrator- PR Plum

Parker Vacumatic- Quink Black

Parker Vacumatic- Quink Blue Black

Parker Duofold- PR Midnight Blues

 

 

The rest of my pens are waiting to be filled