A Bit Of Water Earns Some Inks A Second Chance

[mrloco]

I'd almost given up on Hero 234 black and 232 blue-black - it seemed fine-nibbed pens inked with either just wouldn't want to start after being idle for a day or two. I find fine nibs tend to be fussier starting so I'm always looking for an ink that won't let me down or require a dip in the waterjar to get going.

 

I wanted to love these inks because they're very economical. I paid around $2.50 for a 60ml bottle Oriental Culture Enterprises in NYC.

 

Upon seeing my friend BlueMagister's posts on diluting inks I started adding water and it made a world of difference.

 

I've arrived at a mix of 30:2 Hero #232 blue-black : Hero #234 black + a bunch of water...started out with about 10% and added more 'till it got to the edge of 'too light' I'm thinking the dilution is now about 30-40% h2o. The color reminds me of Hero #62 blue-black and it has fantastic shading as well.

 

It's been reliable in my carry-everywhere pocket pens, switching between the YongSheng 533 and the Lanbitou mini pen, both of which are fine writers. Because I'm swapping between the two pens for daily use, one or the other is often idle for a few days. But each of them starts right up with this ink mix.

 

There is no bleed-through on cheap 20# copy paper if I'm writing with a fine pen, though the ink will show through if I doodle or saturate the paper a bit with it. With 28# HP paper there's no bleed-through at all.

 

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/8993/heroinkmix.jpg

Edited October 16, 2010 by mrloco

[majorworks]

I've got a bottle of Hero 234 black that I gave up on for pretty much the same reason. I'll have to try this... thanks! Should have thought of it myself seeing as how I already dilute some Noodler's inks.

Edited October 16, 2010 by majorworks

[bluemagister]

Excellent! I will also try that specific ratio.

[fabiana]

I love you, guys!!!

I always learn so much in here! Thank you!

Just diluted mine with water and now it's working better. How couldn't I think about it before? It works!

 

Do you guys heard about a chinese ink brand named Kin's Ink? Same kind of this Hero inks, I think. It was so cheap I had do try. I'll try to take a shot.