Search the Community

I am looking for ink recommendation for pilot metropolitan medium nib. I have used Pelikan 4001 royal blue and Bril blue extensively on my pilot pen. Bril lacked the smooth flow of Pelikan. Both the inks fade quickly on bad quality papers, when I use them with Pilot Metropolitan. I want a relatively fade resistant (not waterproof) ink that is little saturated in character. Ink must have good flow and lubrication property . Few people recommended Diamine and Pilot blue ink. I wanted some critical feedback particularly about Diamine inks. I don't want to spend a ton of money by purchasing Noodler or iroshizuku ink. I am open to any color as long as it performs according to my criteria mentioned above. It will be great, if the ink that I desire is easy to clean.

Hey guys, time for another hand-written review. TL;DR: Yes it's a sheen monster. Not as much as Skull & Roses / Smoke on the Water. Yes, it's a unique color, sorta. I still would not rec because it's finicky and not THAT unique of a color. If you were waffling I'd spring for Aurora Borealis instead. Review follows!

Nicely shading, quick drying, lightish green with some dark undertones. Loved the color and sharing, and smoothness. I don't have any inks to compare to.

I had a friend write me with Diamine "smoke on the water", produced in Liverpool but only available in Germany - go figure! It seems to be basically two colours that don't mix and come out the nib as two colours. It is described as a "sheen" ink. What is a sheen ink and how do they work?

Hello, I was just wondering if it’s just me or do you guys have a specific pen for a specific notebook? This ink color for this pen color only? I use my pilot kakunos (M,F,EF) with colors black, gris nuage, diamine grey, respectively, for my midori notebook journal. My kawecosport (BB) in the shade earl grey for midori everyday journal. 2 Kawecosport (EF) using Vinta in the shade perya and ubi for midori and rhodia notes. Kaweco perkeo (M) using smokey grey for random scribbles and midori travel journal. Am I the only one? Lol

Put them next to other colours and they're just grey; put them next to each other and the differences become pronounced. In this scan you can see my current selection of grey inks next to each other: Diamine Silver Fox (my basic clear grey, the one I chose over Diamine Grey and Herbin Gris Nuage), Diamine Earl Grey (the new kid on the block that triggered this new exploration), Iroshizuku fuyu-syogun and Diamine Graphite (an ink that I had tried and abandoned but with fond memories that made me get a new 30 ml bottle). I've given up trying to correct scans and monitors concerning colour but the above scan seems alright on my computer, except for the hues of Earl Grey and Graphite, which appear too bluish. The following photograph is a bit darker but closer to the colours I see in daylight. I hope this quick comparison helps anyone looking for a grey ink. It has reaffirmed my own preference for Silver Fox as the clearest grey but I'm quite taken with the shading of Earl Grey. All four inks are well-behaved, even in my often temperamental Pilot Capless pens.

Close-up: Colour: Blue-black, as advertised; without being goes-down-blue, then-turns-black like iron-gall blue-black inks typically would, because as far as I'm aware this is a plain/standard dye ink without any iron-gall component (and with no water resistance) Flow: Slightly on the dry side of moderate, perhaps, on account of my being able to see a fainter line being left by the nib's slit along the broadest strokes Feathering: Not observed on Rhodia Dotpad 80g/m² paper, looking closely at the thinnest hatching lines, and words/glyphs ‘reverse-written’ with the nib upside-down (i.e. the bottom of the feed facing up) Show-through: Low to nil Bleed-through: Not observed Drying time: 11–12 seconds, which is relatively quick compared to most of the other inks I've tested or reviewed lately Smudging after fully dry: Didn't happen when I rubbed my thumb over the hatching/stippling panel and the largest Chinese hanzi characters Water resistance: So apparently poor that I don't think I need to soak some part of the sheet for an hour or so, to establish whether that would completely obliterate the marks made with this ink Shading: Moderate, without having too drastic a delineation between lighter parts and darker parts along the same pen stroke; can be seen even in very narrow ink marks (i.e. when writing with the equivalent of an Extra Fine nib) Sheen: None observed — and I checked with a loupe and a bright LED light Shimmer: None My thoughts: I can't imagine why I'd want to use a sombre blue-black ink that offers neither sheen nor water resistance, notwithstanding that this ink has a nice Delftware kinda colour as far as blue-black goes; but I suppose if someone wanted a blue-black that is cheap, and easy to clean from pens and/or after accidental spillage, this may well fit the bill nicely.

I've got a couple of Rangas and a very tightly-tined nib on a TWSBI that I like to fill with wow greens. I am searching for wet, lubricating inks that will help these pens flow. I like saturated colors, maybe some shade and sheen, and even some water resistance. Noodler's Eel Gruene has been my go to, but I'm not nuts about the color. (I prefer bright greens, nothing Army shaded with grays and blacks.) I've tried Diamine Woodland, KWZ Emerald. What else does the world offer? Unlike Veruca Salt, whose image I'm not allowed to post, I won't scream if I don't get it, but I will keep looking!

It seems Diamine enjoys celebrating its anniversary. This year they added another eight inks to their line of 150th anniversary inks. The inks are sold in nice and quitye comfortable in use triangular bottles. I can't say I'm thrilled with this one. It behaves well on most papers. The flow is good and the ink feels wet - just as I like it. The thing is color is boring and unisnpiring. It has zero water resistance. On some paper (Tomoe River) sheen is visible. Drops of ink on kitchen towel Software ID Color ID Low quality notebook, Some chinese Montblanc Knockoff, F/M Midori, Lamy Al-Star, medium nib Tomoe River, Pelikan M205, medium

Another new winner from Diamine:

I am always hunting inexpensive notebooks or legal pads that are fountain pen friendly for my work. I have been, for the most part, disappointed by the cheap quality of the paper on most pads and notebooks for everyday use. Last night, I spotted a display of these "new" notebooks that boast a high quality paper that resists ink bleed. At $1.97 per notebook, I decided to purchase a couple. A Quick Review of the new Five Star Coillege Ruled Notebook by Acco Brands in A5-related size: This notebook is made in the U.S, and is Number 11231. It has a 2 subject divider and a colorful cover. The paper is a light weight, student quality and likely not archival. The overall feel of the paper is smooth, but has a slight amount of toothiness. The manufacturer indicates that the notebook "Lasts all year. Guranteed!", and contains reinforced storage pockets, water resistant cover and high quality paper, "which resists ink bleed with common student writing instruments such as pencil, ball point pens, gel pens, felt tip pens and markers". I decided to see how fountain pen ink would do. The pens, nibs and inks used in this test for feathering, bleedthrough and showthrough were: Montblanc 144, fine 18K gold nib: Sailor Kobe Ooji Cherry Namisu Nova, medium titanium nib: Montblanc Irish Green Conklin Duragraph, 1.1 stub nib: Midnight Blue ink creation of mine Franklin Christoph Panther, Matsuyama medium italic 14K semi-flex nib: DeAtramentis Aubergine Italix Captain's Commission, medium italic nib: Diamine Woodland Green Lamy Studio, fine 18K gold nib: Akkermann #14 Purple Lamy 2000, medium 18K gold nib: Sailor Nioi Sumire Lamy LX, medium nib: Robert Oster Australian Mauve Opal Delta Capri Marina, broad fusion nib: GvFC Deep Sea Green Lamy Safari, broad nib: Diamine Bilberry Lamy Safari, medium nib: Robert Oster River of Fire Lamy Al-Star, fine nib: Robert Oster Tranquility Lamy Safari, fine nib: Cross Violet Custom made, fine 18k nib: Robert Oster Green Diamond Delta Horsepower, 1.1 stub fusion nib: DeAtramentis Robert Louis Stevenson Jinhao 450, Goulet 1.1 stub nib: DeAtramentis Edgar Allen Poe The following are printer scans of the inks tested on the paper. The image quality is not the best, but it should give you some idea. Note that the pink/red/purple colors seem "fuzzy". This is the result of my printer scanner, not the ink feathering. Page 1: Page 2: Feathering/Spreading: Overall there was minimal feathering. Those which did have some feathering included those inks which came from stub or broad nibs. Almost all fine or medium nibs showed little to no feathering. Bleedthrough: There was no bleedthrough, except with my very wet Italix Captain's Commission with Diamine Woodland Green,there were a few tiny spots where the ink was just beginning to bleed. Showthrough: Almost all of the fine and medium point nibs did not show through. The exception is my Namisu Nova which has an exceptionally wet medium titanium nib, and Lamy Safari medium nib with the very wet Robert Oster River of Fire ink. Almost all of the broad and stub nibs did showthrough, with the exception of Conklin Duragraph because the ink is fairly light in color, and surprisingly the Delta Capri Marina with a very wet broad nib filled with GvFC Deep Sea Green. Overall, I am very impressed with these little notebooks. I would recommend these to any student who uses fountain pens, particularly with fine and medium nibs. And with the black or dark blue cover, this would be acceptable for professional use as well as long as your use is non-archival.

Manufacturers since 1864, Diamine Inks relocated to this purpose built 'state of the art' factory in Liverpool in 1925, where they successfully carried on using the traditional methods and formulas for ink production. Over the years the company has changed hands and are now located close to the world famous Aintree Race Course http://www.diamineinks.co.uk/images/DimaineFactory.gif http://www.diaminein...uk/AboutUs.aspx Classic Green is one of two new inks in Diamine line. The color is quite interesting although I'm not sure what's classic about it. Depending on the pen and nib shade changes from medium saturated and light to darker tones. It has some water resistance (only just),the flow is good but not amazing. I haven't observed any misbehaviour but I have this week for a week so I may discover some surprises in few weeks. Drops of ink on kitchen towel Software ID Tomoe River - Kaweco Sport Classic, eyedropper, B Leuchtturm 1917 - Kaweco Sport Classic, eyedropper, B Lyreco Budget - Graf von Faber-Castell Tamitio, B Clairefontaine, Kaweco Classic Sport, B Water resistance

Ok... I was surprised that this isn't a thread already here even though the post in reddit is 8 days old. (maybe I missed it in the FPN, in that case consider this thread obsolete). https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/en0y35/2020_diamine_reddit_ink_preliminary_round/ Time to load up your preference for the colors ladies & gentlemen. I want a really deep dark red (darker than the Cult Pens) but in the same color palette as the Oxblood. The poll will stay up for 2 weeks if I'm not wrong.

Manufacturers since 1864, Diamine Inks relocated to this purpose built 'state of the art' factory in Liverpool in 1925, where they successfully carried on using the traditional methods and formulas for ink production. Over the years the company has changed hands and are now located close to the world famous Aintree Race Course http://www.diamineinks.co.uk/images/DimaineFactory.gif http://www.diaminein...uk/AboutUs.aspx As I've mentioned few times I have mixed feelings about Diamine inks, however I tend to use them from time to time. They have some amazing colors. Last year Diamine inks introduced their 150th anniversary inks in triangle bottles: http://www.diamineinks.co.uk/images/BB_TerracotaL.jpg http://www.stilografica.it/writable/Oggetti/Inchiostro%20boccetta/Diamine%20150th%20Anniversary%20Collection%20Ink.jpg There are eight colors in this series of inks: Blue Black Blue Velvet Carnival Regency Blue Safari Silver Fox Terracota Tropical Green It's darkest BB I know. I dislike it. http://imageshack.com/a/img540/9797/Fc69y8.jpg Drops of ink on kitchen towel http://imageshack.com/a/img661/5605/Uc9N7n.jpg Software ID: http://imageshack.com/a/img540/694/gFLuSn.jpg Color range http://imageshack.com/a/img540/7256/xDnsii.jpg Oxford recycled - Kaweco Sport Classic, eyedropper, B http://imageshack.com/a/img673/788/avvS8V.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img538/9849/7RQJpl.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img537/6762/WPOZcT.jpg Comparison http://imageshack.com/a/img907/7575/sG7wAg.jpg

Another Diamine ink in the Cult Pen exclusive 'Deep Dark' range has arrived. If you have been looking for a very dark red ink, this one is for you. I absolutely love the colour and it is one of the few red inks I would use in the office. Oh, and it has both shading and sheen! Form an orderly queue now USAGE DAILY WRITER: I can see that BUSINESS USE: I would use it for all but the most formal of communications ILLUSTRATIONS: Not convinced that it stands out enough NOTES: Yes (in a dry environment, at least) PERSONAL: Very welcome LOVE LETTERS: Not really my speciality but I can see this one being used for a serious love letter. PERFORMANCE FEATHERING: 4/4 BLEEDTHROUGH: 3/4 - very slight with the 1.1mm nib SHADING: 3/4 - lots, but can be hard to control? SHEEN: 2/4 - very obvious in the 3.8mm writing FLOW: medium, but can skip or burp on Rhodia though that may be the pens.... WATERPROOF: 1/4 DRYING TIME: 2/4 FADE RESISTANCE: (not tested) REVIEW WRITING SAMPLES Please forgive the even more than usually atrocious handwriting! (Bad cold => no patience) (As usual, the sample text is from the Office of Readings, in this case following the calendar for England and Wales where today is the Feast of the forty martyrs.) Cartridge stock Rhodia Rhodia R COMPARISONS WITH OTHER INKS The lines on the left (from the monster Diamine comparison) were written with the medium nib. This is cartridge stock. I hope this is useful.