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I'm playing around with inks, and I'm trying to figure out why Iroshizuku and Sailor are always priced the highest in most retailers I see. Does anyone know why? Guerlain's lipsticks have powdered rubies in them (I kid you not), so I can see why the're 30, 40 euros a pop. Do Iroshizuku and Sailor have similar properties? Or maybe a millennium warranty? I just can't think of any reason why. I really want to try them out, but the price tags are scaring me off! Windsor & Newton's paints are fairly pricey, but the colour-fastness shows that it's priced quite aptly. Do those aforementioned inks have similar traits?

I have bought dozens of Diamine ink bottles - I find that less than 3 pounds per 30ml bottle is a steal for such a quality ink. Bought a number of 150th Anniversary inks, too. One thing I found about them is, they seem to come too saturated/concentrated, almost black. They look different from the swabs, either the (horrible) pictures of the Diamine site or the (great) pictures of Goulet. I have also bought samples and bottles from Goulet as well, but these ones seemed to have the right dillution - the color was more or less the expected. Save for the brighter colors, I add around 10% water in every Diamine bottle, and then the color gets "there". Has anyone experienced something like that?

HI, I'm new to the network having a revived interest in fountain pens over lockdown, resurrecting some old pens and adding a few (too many!) new ones... lots of fun!! I have some pretty dry inks and some F and EF nibs, and after research I'm wondering if getting some White Lightning Ink Additive might help the pens write a bit wetter. However, I cant seem to find a UK retailer that stocks the product and paying almost $40 for shipping seems a bit OTT... Does anyone know of a retailer that stocks it in the UK or Europe? Thanks, Joe

After a long absence, I have returned to using my fountain pen ink again. Breaking out my drawer full of fountain pen ink cartridges, I began using my favorite color, Waterman South Seas Blue. But when I went to purchase more of it, I can't find it. Did they discontinue it (God forbid) or simply rename it? Thanks, inky friends, in advance.

Ink Review: Birmingham Pen Company Twilight Background: Birmingham Pen Company (BPC) started as the brainchild of two brothers – Nick and Josh. Initially, Nick and Josh worked with third party ink producers in England and Germany to produce their inks. BPC started making their own inks over a year ago. While some changes have been made, their new formulations include “Crisp” inks designed for everyday use on all papers, “Swift” inks that are a bit wetter, starts up quickly and works well on premium papers, “Rich” inks which have high sheen and saturation, “Everlasting” inks that have high water resistance, “Twinkle” inks with shimmer and “Wishy-Washy” inks that are designed for performance but a washable from fabrics and surfaces. The glass bottles with tight-fitting plastic lids bottles are very nice and functional. My largest pen fits nicely into the bottle for a full fill. BPC offers three sizes: 30ml, 60ml and 120ml for all inks except the Twinkle inks which are only available in 60ml. The 120ml bottles have an eye-dropper lid instead of the regular lid. Review in Brief: Saturation: moderate saturation Sheen: some nice green sheen Shading: medium shading from fine to wider nibs Haloing: low Lubrication: medium lubrication Wetness: moderately wet Water Resistance: Moderately water resistant Feathering: minimal feathering on lower quality papers Bleedthrough: minimal only on lower quality papers and with high ink application Showthrough: medium showthrough on 52gsm TR paper, minimal on Rhodia and Apica Price: reasonable for 30mls, very good for 60ml and exceptional for 120ml which is the best value. While some inks retained the same name (or an abbreviated version), they may be slightly different. Ana at the Well Appointed Desk discussed this very well in her January 2021 blog (https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2021/01/ink-brand-overview-the-new-birmingham-pen-company-inks/) The older version of this ink, known as Allegheny River Twilight, was review by craptacular in 2018. You will note that there is a difference between the older version and the new “Swift” formula. Pens: a Pilot Vanishing Point with a fine nib, and a Conklin Duragraph with a 1.1 stub nib. Papers shown: Rhodia, Tomoe River, Cosmo Air Light; Not shown: Apica CD Premium, Advantage 24 lb copy paper; Cambridge Premium Notebook paper. Rhodia Dot Grid Paper The ink is nicely saturated with some green sheen when pooled. The ink flows wonderfully in both pens. The Pilot VP has a very dry nib and is very particular about the ink it uses. This pen glides effortlessly with this ink. The Conklin Duragraph, on the other hand, is a very wet pen. The Twilight ink is almost too wet to use in this pen. The ink does dry fairly quickly on all papers tested but is slower on Tomoe River and Cosmo Air Light (20-25 seconds). he ink is surprisingly quite water resistant although it is not known as an “Everlasting” formulation. Feathering and bleeding are not seen on Rhodia, Tomoe River, Cosmo Air Light. There is some feathering on the 24 lb. copy paper, and minimal feathering on the Apica CD and premium notebook paper, and the three papers showed small amounts bleedthrough in heavy applications of the ink. Because this is a fairly saturated ink, there is showthrough on Tomoe River, Rhodia and Apica as well as the copy and notebook papers, especially with the 1.1 stub nib. Tomoe River Ivory Paper Tomoe River Ivory Paper Cosmo Air LIght Paper Apica CD Premium Notebook Paper The chromatography was simply done with a coffee filter. It shows how the ink color breaks down in to a complex variety of yellow, blue and red. Here are some color comparisons. Overall this is a very nice ink that behaves very well. I highly recommend giving this ink a try. Disclaimer: I purchased this ink directly from Birmingham Pen Company. Any photos, opinions and thoughts regarding the ink are my own and are not sponsored by Birmingham Pen Company and do not necessarily reflect their opinions.

Recently got by post Indian "Camlin" Royal Blue ink 60ml. It came in a box, carefully packed. I liked the cap on a bottle - it opens easily and at the same time not a drop spilled during the transportation. The quality of ink is also nice. It's a bit more liquid than "Parker", but writes great on average quality paper (not too porous). This ink doesn't colorise the pen's grip section too fast (like for ex. USSR "Raduga") and doesn't dry if left for more than a couple of days inside the pen without writing, which are additional pluses. The smell of this ink is very light and quite pleasant. Would I buy it again? Yes, and I'd like to try other colors. Here are the pictures of the bottle and writing. At the moment this ink is one of my favourites.

Hello everybody Today I would like to start a conversation about EDC systems and which pens you carry everyday. I'll start: I have two pen pouches, one with 3 slots and one with 4 slots. Both of them are in brown leather. In the pouch with 3 slots (which has my last name engraved in the leather) I have the pens which have the 3 'basic colours'/most frequent used colours of ink: - Red: For the red ink I use Pelikan Edelstein Ruby, in my Parker Sonnet in red lacquer. Fine nib. Lovely pen but rigid nib, in the future I'd like to upgrade this pen to a burgundy sailor pro gear. - Green: The Diamine Sherwood Green is my favourite green ink. I use it in my Pelikan m400. Great pen but sometime I would upgrade it to an m600. - Blue: for the blue ink, I prefer dark blue. Montblancs blueblack or Pelikans 4001 blueblack is my ink to go. I use the Montblanc 146 with it. Great pen and great size! In the pouch with 4 slots I am planning to go with this pens: (note: some of the pens mentioned are yet to buy, but these are the pens I consider getting) - Brown ink: for this ink (which is the Pelikan 4001 brown, but I am planning to buy any of the other brown/sepia inks) I use my Visconti Opera Elements with a 23k pd dreamtouch nib. Awesome pen with buttery smooth nib. - Black ink: I'm not sure which pen I am getting for the black ink. Any suggestions? - A mechanical pencil. I am buying a Pelikan pencil in the lovely brown/green tortoiseshell colours. It should arrive next week, can't wait! - A demonstrator (not yet which one yet) with a highlighter ink. Not yet which ink I'll choose. As you can see, I still have to search for some pens/inks, but this (often endless) search for a pen that suits me perfectly is one of the great things in the hobby! Which pens / pouches do you have? Ruben PS: sorry for the bad English, I'm not a native English speaker

I haven’t heard many people talk about this, so I just wanted to make those who are unaware now aware. Here is just a quick thing on some price comparisons. “Retail” price was taken from online fountain pen and ink retailers: DIAMINE 30ml Cult Pens- $2.47 Retail- $7.50 PELIKAN 4001 30ml Cult Pens- $4.82 Retail- $11.75 ROHRER & KLINGNER 50ml Cult Pens- $5 Retail- $11.95 PARKER QUINK 57ml Cult Pens- $5.21 Retail- $11.02 DIAMINE 80ml Cult Pens- $6.21 Retail- $14.95 WATERMAN 50ml Cult Pens- $6.51 Retail- $12 PELIKAN 4001 62.5ml Cult Pens- $7.52 Retail- $16.50 DIAMINE 150th ANNIVERSARY 40ml Cult Pens- $8.15 Retail- $15.50 HERBIN 30ml Cult Pens- $8.40 Retail- $12.95 KAWECO 50ml Cult Pens- $8.41 Retail- $12 CROSS 62.5ml Cult Pens- $9.47 Retail- $16 LAMY CRYSTAL 30ml Cult Pens- $9.99 Retail- $16 JACQUES HERBIN 1670 50ml Cult Pens- $18.39 Retail- $29.50 JACQUES HERBIN 1798 50ml Cult Pens- $21.02 Retail- $29.50 MONTBLANC AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS BLUE 50ml Cult Pens- $33.66 Retail- $40 I just wanted to tell all of you who weren’t aware. Have a nice day, W. Major

At a local vintage store, I have found some vintage ink. Some of it was GTG right out of the bottle, most even almost full, and then there was the one which was just powder at the bottom of the bottle. I bargained with the owner and got for about 1 $, basically thinking, "well, if nothing else, it's a nice bottle". This is, BTW, a real aged bottle & box where the founder of Pelikan, Günther Wagner, is prominently displayed. At that time, perhaps the Pelikan brand was not so widely recognized? The type of ink is Königsblau, or Royal Blue, which is fine for comparison, since I already have a new Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue. Or so I thought... 💙 I add 10 ml of water to try and reconstitute the powder into ink, splosh it around a little and let it sit. No hurry, if it takes a bit, I have other inks to play with. I re-visit this bottle now & then the next week, and it seems that this is going nicely forward, except the color is not looking exactly Royal Blue, quite dark, perhaps grey? 🧐 Then disaster strikes: Our 1 YO puppy gets a hold of the bottle from my desk and uses it as a chew toy, with almost all ink ending up on the floor (or in her stomach), box is ruined, lid to bottle is simply gone - (eaten?) only survivor is the glass bottle itself, with perhaps ½ a ml lying in a corner of it. 😮 No time to waste, must make proper ink swab immediately! Luckily, I have recently gotten, also vintage, a handmade book with 300 gsm paper which I am using as my "Book of Ink" - so I at least have the proper medium for this. When applied, using a dip pen first, then a syringe to get up ink and put it to paper, I see an enormous amount of surface tension in the ink, see pic 1, and it has the color of medium to charcoal grey, depending on saturation. I see a hint of brown also, almost like coke (the fuel). Not at all what you'd expect! To honor this survivor of things life has thrown against it but the puppy with powers of Galactus, almost I rescue one side of the cardboard box and attach to the page of the ink swab, so I can remember the story of the Königsblau (King's Blue) which became Dark Grey in its old age. Pic 2. This has all been quite the learning experience with ups & downs & new things - I can't say that I'm sad with the end result, even if I didn't get to write much more than 10 words with this ink. Stay safe, Daneaxe

Hello Everybody, Just wanted to make a quick announcement for a show coming up. The official Dallas Pen Show 2020 was cancelled, but we have decided the show must go on! The show will not be quite like the normal show due to Covid. We are taking many precautions in relation to this. The show will be in the same location as normal at the Doubletree by Hilton near the galleria in Dallas. It is in the same two ballrooms. Due to Covid the number of tables are greatly reduced, and meet all CDC guidelines and social distancing procedures. Hand sanitizer will be placed all around the show in addition to face coverings being required. We will have face shields available at no charge at the door. There will also be restrictions in place as far as number of people allowed in the show, so a line could form. We want to make this show as fun as possible, but we are doing everything we can to make it a safe show for all vendors and attendees. I hope everybody is as excited for the show as we are, and we hope to see you there! The event is Friday September 25th from 12pm-7pm, and Saturday September 26th from 10am-5pm! Flyer attached with all of our exciting vendors that will be in attendance! Hotel Address 4099 Valley View Ln, Dallas, TX 75244

Accidentally found this nice store in Estes Park, CO. Coffee, Stationary, Ink and Pens. https://inkwellbrew.com/ The coffee was excellent, staff very friendly. They carried a nice selection of notebooks, journals, and assorted things, in FP friendly paper. They also had a selection of J Herbin inks and Retro pens. Have a room upstairs to sit and play board games, drink coffee, and I suppose write. I wanted to sit and write my journal there, but didn't have time. Nice, different shop.

Watched a wonderful story tonight on NHK World News about a Japanese gentleman who blends custom colored inks for his customer's fountain pens. Story starts at 08:31: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/programs/#1005

I already had some staining on one from Noodler's black, and had some shimmer left over in another one from Colorverse's Gluon, both inside the barrel where the small grooves are. What are the inks I should definitely stay away from if I don't want to permanently stain the barrel? Are there specific colors that stain more than others? What are the easy to wash out inks?

Hello! Unfortunately I can’t seem to find an ink that makes me completely happy. I would like a warm medium-dark brown ink, but that doesn’t have an olive-y look and has good shading. Noodler’s Walnut has a purplish undertone, Jacques Herbin Terre D’Ombre is too olive-y and on Apica paper it is so dark. Herbin Lie de Thé is a little too light, and Diamine Chocolate Brown is just a little bit too dark. I know this is very specific, but do any of you have recommendations? I am not sure if this is the place to put this post, if not please say so. Thank you so much for your help! W. H. Major

I realized this morning that i've never done a PIF on this forum. Well, it's time to fix that and start sharing the love over here also. Up for grabs is one full bottle of Penbbs#502 (The Rains). First post claiming it will receive it. I tried to like this ink, but it's just too dark for my use, I only use flex pens and the color doesn't show for me. Perhaps, it will work better for you.

Hey y’all wondering what are some great pen holders straight and oblique. Also wondering about good dip pen ink. thanks in advance!

Title sums it up, but for more info I'm looking to start collecting these after having completed Kingdom Note, Pen-and-Message, SanKoDo, lines and most of Bung-Box's lines (still waiting on a couple seasonal inks to show up... looking at you Ebisgold)

Thought of creating a thread for Bril ink from India. Perhaps the cheapest ink in the world at $0.3 for 60ml bottle; $3.2 for 1L. Yes. Official Website: http://www.brilindia.com/search/ink I would rate 7/10 in almost all categories and a 10/10 in value, if I were to give 8/10 to Pelikan Edelstein series. Dye-based. Free flow. Just a little feathering on cheap paper. Detailed review soon. A few pics of my beloved bottle below. One writing sample using Montblanc 144 Jungle Eyes, M. Canon 5D Mark-II. Canon 28-135mm.

Does anyone know what happened to the Montblanc Calligraphy ink - red version? I've seen a few photos. I've seen listings at stores that were then taken down. I've seen no writing samples, no one saying they have purchased it. Was this ink ever actually released? Does it exist?

Hello everyone! I wanted to share with you my little project. I decided to make for every ink bottle I have an ink reservoir. To make it happen I made 3d model and printed reservoir for Diamine 80ml, Pilot 30 ml, and Pelikan 4001 70ml bottles. Examples you can see in the photo. I'll leave here the models for mentioned bottles, but it is possible to sail the size of the model for the exact ink bottle. Also, I can scale it for exact height and diameter. It is my firs topic, so I am intersted in your opinion diamine_70ml.stl pilot_30ml.stl pelian_4001_70ml.stl

SAILOR MANYO NEKOYANAGI Sailor created another line of inks, the Manyo line. The inspiration for this line of inks are flowers found in the Manyoshu, an ancient collection of Japanese poems. The inks are presented in lovely square glass bottles and contain 50ml of inks. While the caps appear to be plastic, they are faceted for ease of opening. The opening of the bottle is 25mm in diameter and should fit most fountain pens. Now to the fun stuff! I first saw a review of this ink at mountainofinks.com (https://www.mountainofink.com/blog/sailor-nekoyanagi), and fell in love with the color and ordered a bottle from Pen Chalet. Nekoyanagi is a lovely soft purple color. It is a soft, almost periwinkle shade. But what is truly wonderful about this ink is the way it shades into pinks, blues and turquoise. This effect is seen on more non-absorbant papers such as Tomoe River, with a lesser effect on Rhodia and HP copy paper. Scan of HP Copy Paper Nekoyanagi is similar, but more purple and lighter in color than Pilot Iroshizuku Ajisai and also lighter but more blue than Graf von Faber Castel Violet Blue. Photo Tomoe River 68gsm Cream paper Photo Tomoe River 68gsm cream paper Photo Rhodia paper The ink is very well behaved. It dries quickly but has minimal water resistance. While it is a wet ink, it is not excessively wet, and has a nice lubricated feel. It has little to no sheen, does not bleed on any paper I have used to date, and minimal showthrough even on lighter weight Tomoe River 52gsm. I have used this ink in a variety of pens and have found it best suited to wider nibs. The lovely, multi-colored shading is enhanced in a wider nib. It is very nice in fine and extra fine nibs, but appropriately paler in color with less shading. While it is a pale color, I found it perfectly suited for journal writing and note taking. It is also very pleasant to sketch and doodle with. To highlight the beauty of this ink, I did a very simple abstract with water and Nekoyanagi on Arches watercolor paper. (In case you didn't guess, I am no artist). Abstract on Arches 160lb watercolor paper Finally, it is very easy to clean from your pen and does not stain the pen or converter. I really enjoy everything about this ink. If you like the color, I highly recommend.

Hey everyone! I was looking for a bottle of 15ml iroshizuku ink(not the 3 ink gift set but a single color) & it seems that the usual stores(Goulet, Vanness & Jetpens) don't seem to have them anymore. Does anyone know if this is a supply chain issue or a discontinuation? Thanks!

Sailor Manyo Inks are a line of inks inspired by flowers written about in the ancient Manyoshu poetic compilations. I recently obtained 5 of the 8 inks. I am hoping to obtain the last three in the near future. Shown below is a quick writing sample illustrating the colors. Excerpt written from "The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis Paper: Seven Seas Crossfield Notebook with Tomoe River 52gsm paper Pens (in order as written above): Haha: Italix Captain's Commission with stub nib Nekoyanagi: Pilot Metropolitan with 1.0 stub nib Sumire: Lamy Studio with medium nib Yonagi: Conklin Duragraph with 1.1 stub nib Akebi: Lamy Aion with medium nib Sailor Manyo Haha ^ Sailor Manyo Nekoyanagi ^ Sailor Manyo Sumire ^ Sailor Manyo Yonagi ^ Sailor Manyo Akebi ^ While Haha and Nekoyanagi have the wonderful multi-color shading, Sumire, Yonagi and Akebi have strong sheening abilities. Sumire has a lovely red sheen with some nice shading. Yonagi has a strong pinkish burgundy sheen and also shades nicely. Akebi has a strong yellowish-green sheen that is clearly evident on every paper I have used the ink on. Akebi also shades somewhat. Each of the inks behave very well in all the pens that I have tried them in. Overall, I am enjoying these inks and look forward to getting the others.

Family member just moved to Scotland - are there any Scottish pens or inks that are hard to find outside the U.K.? Not yard-o-led expensive, either. Thanks for any suggestions!

Good day, fellow FPN ink connoisseurs! Today I'd like to discuss the Krishna "Vaikhari" ink - a complicated orangey-reddish-brown with heaps of olive green metallic sheen. Krishna is an Indian ink brand, which is a relative newcomer--especially to the European and American markets. If I want to fault this ink in one way that irks me, it would be the pricing of the tiny 20ml ink bottles outside of India. Apparently you can buy these in India for $3 or less a piece (doing a currency conversion), but in the USA these cost $8-9 per bottle for the RC and Super Rich lines. Considering we only get 20ml of ink, it's not a particularly budget-friendly option if one wishes to use a lot of a particular color. Using this ink almost begs for a juicy writing pen with a wide nib or flexible nib, so going through 20ml may not take very long. I hope Krishna's distributors reconsider the pricing of these inks. With that said, "Vaikhari" is a very exciting ink! Everything about it is bold and complex. Firstly, the hue. My scanner just flat out refused to get it right (as well as Waterman's Absolute Brown), but I'll present scans anyway, for completeness. The photographs do a much better job representing the colors accurately. There is a further complication to the hue--it's actually quite variable in itself. I would compare this ink to something like Diamine Ancient Copper: it can look different based on lighting conditions, and how much ink you put down in a line also matters. And finally there's the sheen--lots and lots of sheen! This ink sheens at least as easily as something like Sailor Tokiwa Matsu, and perhaps even more so. Likewise with Colorverse Dark Energy. Thus the areas with more ink start shifting toward olive green, further complicating the overall appearance. Indoors with natural light, the red-brown component of the hue will be more prominent. With artificial lighting, the red takes a step back and orange-brown are much more prominent. Sheen: lots of sheen! Sheen lovers should be happy. Even on crappy paper and even without particularly juicy writers, you can see at least some sheen peeking through. The appearance of this sheen is almost identical to that of Colorverse Dark Energy in hue and to sheening Sailor inks (like Tokiwa Matsu) otherwise. It does not look like smooth metallic sheen of Organics Studio Walden Pond Blue--has more texture and almost matte appearance in transition areas. Water resistance: poor! This ink is very concentrated, and water droplets turn writing into a smeary mess. Carefully dabbing away the liquefied bits, there is reddish-pink line remaining. If one is able to carefully wash off all of the smeared portion, the writing left behind will be legible. Otherwise, the concentrated smeared portion will obscure the paler pink-red water-resistant lines. Drying times: are actually quite good, considering the high saturation and amount of sheen with this ink. Unless you are using a very wet writing pen, where you might need to wait for up to a minute for puddles of ink to dry, the writing should be fairly dry within 15-25 sec. Smearing: There is no smearing once the writing is dry, even on the highly sheening spots. I suspect there is some thickener added to the formula, because while moving a fingertip over the writing, one can feel the roughness of the surface where the ink concentrated. Not everywhere, just where a lot of ink pooled up--the texture can be almost gritty. Feathering: none on good paper! Even on crappy paper it's somewhat usable with a low amount of feathering. Scent: none while writing with my bottle. Sniffing the ink in the bottle, there's something that smells like phenol to my nose. I like it! Bleed-through: none on good paper, only where a lot of ink pools up. Phototraphs - both with natural indoor daylight and with a good quality indoor LED artificial desk light. (Natural light) (Artificial + natural light) (Natural light) (Artificial + natural light) (Artificial light) (Artificial light the night before, still drying) SCANS - SOMEWHAT INNACURATE COLOR WARNING (Waterman Absolute Brown is too magenta here and Vaikhari should be a bit less maroon. The rest look fairly close to me.)