Search the Community

I recently ordered a bottle of Platinum Classic Lavender black IG ink, and I am worried about it corroding my nibs. All of my pens are steel nibbed, even my monteverde Regatta Sport limited edition(my most expensive pen). Is this something I need to worry about if I regularly clean out my pens?

Rohrer & Klingner is an old German company, established in Leipzig in 1907, reputed to be one of the best ink manufacturers in the world(yet at the same time keeping a low profile....or at least seems so IMO). Most of their inks are well-behaved, relatively cheap, and with steady quality. Among their 18 regular colors, two are iron-gall inks, and Scabiosa is one of them. The word "Scabiosa" refers to a genus in the honeysuckle family of flowering plants. FIY, here are some beautiful Scabiosa flowers( picture credits: google search) http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_02_zpsvpuxdlmx.jpg http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_01_zpssjt0kwrh.jpg http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_03_zpspniucpuj.jpg Botanically/Academically, "Scabiosa" in Chinese should be translated as 山蘿蔔, literally meaning "Mountain Radish." However, because "Mountain Radish" sounds so NOT commercially appealing, when R&K's Taiwanese agent first introduced this ink, they renamed it 埃及玫瑰---"Egyptian Rose." Many FP users(yes, including me) fell for this exotic name, and purchased a bottle before learning more about the ink itself. Well, salute this ingenious marketing strategy! lol Now back to the theme.... First, let's take a look at the bottle (Scabiosa on the right): http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_00_zpspgsmbuca.jpg R&K's trademark is their uniform bottle design: dark brown glass bottle (in order to protect the ink from light exposure) and metal cap. We often joke about it resembling cough syrup, or any other thing that you'd more likely find in a pharmacy instead of a FP shop. Here are some writing samples: http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_04_zps8q1p4sdi.jpg It's dark purple with tints of gray and blue. Close-up 1 (sorry for fuzzy picture) http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_05_zps7rfwp8bn.jpg The purple color is lighter and more visible in a finer nib (in this example: LAMY Safari EF). You can see that even in a rather dry pen, on some random cheap paper, this ink still shows a rich shading. Close-up 2 http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_07_zpsh1gk062y.jpg If you use a broader/wetter pen(in this example: Brause no.361 dip pen), it gets darker and can almost pass for black. Close-up 3 http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_06_zpsoxg21um6.jpg If you apply water to the writing while the ink is still wet, the purple/pink dye would be washed away, leaving a light gray trace. And since iron-gall inks feature being permanent/waterproof/light fast, here is a water-resistance test done after the ink is fully dry: http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_08_zpshqfgs90x.jpg I dripped some water on the paper and left it for hours. Outcome: http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_09_zpseaj0fub3.jpg Pink dye dissolved after a few minutes, but the lines remain as clear and dark as before. Thus, if you quickly dab away the water while it's still wet, there will hardly leave any trace(shown below ). Here are some other writing sample I did with other pen/paper combination: 1. LAMY Safari EF on yellow ROSSI paper (English subtitle edited on Photoshop) http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_10_zpsesiucz0s.jpg 2. Dip pen on yellow ROSSI paper http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_11_zpsnqs3nvug.jpg When I did the smearing(bottom right), the ink wasn't fully dry yet, and some black particle dissolved... This doesn't happen all the time, though. 3. LAMY Safari EF on MUJI white grid paper http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_12_zpsauwa479x.jpg Usually the color of iron-gall inks fades and becomes darker and darker over time, but sometimes there will be exceptions, due to the paper and humidity( I guess....) This is a doodle I did with Scabiosa, dip pen, on some cheap scratch paper, in June 2013: (wet) http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_13_zpscsimvun9.jpg (dry) http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_14_zpsoe9yozdt.jpg And then I re-discovered it lately when tidying up my room: http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/Scabiosa_15_zpsvwfwc7up.jpg It's not purple anymore! More like a lighter wine-color, or rusty red(because of the iron in it?). .......I kind of like this surprise : ) Conclusion Saturation: high, but low chroma( they don't contradict, right?) Shading: rich Sheen: not observed so far. It's a rather "matte" ink. Flow: relatively dry, but still writes smoothly even in extra fine nib. Feathering: none (performs nicely even on cheap paper) Bleed-through: none (performs nicely even on cheap paper) Show-through: very little (performs nicely even on cheap paper) Cleaning: if you always clean the pen right after using, some soaking and flushing with water will easily do the job. None of my pens has been stained or damaged after two years of constant usage. Waterproof: yes Other features: light fast; pH neutral. Other notes: the pink that shows after water application is lovely. Overall, I not only like this ink/color, I feel like I can TRUST it like an old loyal friend. This is my all-time favorite for secret diary, especially when I'm writing something really personal/emotional/confessional. I am ambitious to try as many different inks as possible in my limited life, but R&K Scabiosa is, so far, the only one I would empty a whole bottle and get a second one.

Hello, I recently got a Parker 45 Flighter with a 14K gold nib. I really love it, it has been a great writer so far. I'm really interested in trying some iron gall inks, because I like the permanence aspect to them, as well as the fact that they darken the longer they are on the page. I just really like the idea of them and would like to try some out. I was thinking of trying KWZ Turquoise and Mandarin in particular, because I love the colours and they're supposedly really wet inks, which I think would go well with the pretty dry, fine nib I have on the 45. I want to use them in the 45 because it doesn't seem to have any metal parts that could corrode, has a gold nib and is easy to take apart and clean. Anyway, are there any parts that could corrode that I might be missing? Or are there any other reasons why you'd advice against using iron gall in this particular pen? I know the risks of iron gall inks. I clean my pens very often and use them daily, so I think I'd be fine. I just don't want to ruin my pen because I missed something. Thanks.

I recently learned that, for this year’s birthday, I get to import some fountain pen inks! It's still a couple of months away but I just couldn't wait. The problem being that I can’t try out any samples beforehand. The price of importing them wouldn't be worth it, for me. Which means I usually read a lot of reviews before buying any inks, and that has worked for me so far! This time, however, I’m having a hard time finding enough reviews. So I’m asking for help in figuring out which ink colors I want. I’m already fairly sure of the brand I want: I’ve always liked the idea of very resistant and colorful inks, so I’d like to try and get my hands on some KWZ Iron Gall inks. But I’ve read tales of IG inks losing color after being opened. Is that a worry for KWZ? SPECIFIC COLOR QUESTIONS: All colors - I’m very fond of shading, and I’d like for the inks not to be too dark… by which I mean I’m okay with dark colors, I just don’t want anything too greyish or black-looking. BLUES - I also already have an IG blue so I won’t be looking at those. GREENS - I’m very interested, but I’m finding it hard to pinpoint all the shades. How similar are IG Green #1 and #2? What about #3 and #4, and what about IG Green Gold? I’ve also heard that #3 borders on black. BROWNS - the contenders being IG Gold and IG Mandarin. How similar is Gold to Green Gold? Is Mandarin a pure brown or does it have warmer orange undertones, and how much do they show? VIOLETS - what are the differences between the Violets and Gummiberry? It is my understanding that Violet #2 is duskier, Violet #3 is more vibrant, and Gummiberry leans more towards blue. Is that correct? Do any of the above tend to shade, and how much? Paper - I use white paper most of the time, but I also have a couple of nice ivory/cream paper notebooks (specifically pollen paper) I'd like to write on, so does anybody know if any of these looks particularly good on ivory paper? Thank you very much for all your help!

by Tony Thomas I was going through some of my infrequently used pens and found a Wality eyedropper with a Knox nib that I had filled with Rohrer and Kligner Scabiosa ink quite a while ago. Some of the ink had evaporated so I decided to clean out the pen. As it should be expected, it took a quite a bit of effort to clean out a pen containing iron gall ink. When I attempted to remove the nib and feed from the section, I noticed that it was stuck. After applying a bit of elbow-grease, I was able to dislodge them. I was not surprised to see that the steel nib was pitted and corroded due to prolonged contact with the ink. What did surprise me is that, upon closer examination with a loupe, the ink had actually eaten a hole in the nib! As a result, I would advise everyone to use any iron gall ink with extreme caution in any pen with steel nib. In my case, I only use iron gall inks in inexpensive pens with easily replaceable nibs. In the future, I will not leave iron gall inks in any of my pens for more than a few days. You have been warned! Full article with pics: http://thefrugalfountainpen.blogspot.com/2015/12/attack-of-nib-eater.html

Hi, I have Lamy 2000 EF filled with noodler's #41 brown at the moment, and I mostly write on HP Laserjet 24lb paper with this pen. Before I used noodler's #41 brown, I had tried noodler's 54th Massachusetts and it wrote really thick on the paper which I dislike. With noodler's #41 brown, it writes little bit thinner but still thick for my taste. I have read things about iron gall inks behaving well on cheaper papers. Thus, I was searching for some iron gall inks (no black color) for my lamy 2000. However, I am worried that it may corrode/damage the pen. I wonder if there is anyone using iron gall inks in lamy 2000 and how you maintain it! Also, if you know other thin inks on HP Laserjet 24lb paper, please recommend me them as well!! (I have ordered HP Premium Choice Laserjet Paper 32lb and will try if the pen writes thinner on this paper when I get them) Thanks,

U. S. Government Standard Ink Recipe in Popular Science (January 1935, p. 54) 11.7 g tannic acid 3.8 g gallic acid 15 g iron sulfate 3 cc hydrochloric acid (aka muriatic acid; or 2 cc sulphuric acid) – used to prevent sediment forming 1 g carbolic acid-- a preservative to prevent mold* 3.5 g china-blue aniline dye (water-soluble) 1000 cc distilled water *Have corner drug store make up a solution containing 5 or 10 cc of water, the entire amount being substituted for the 1 gram called for in the formula 1. First dissolve the tannic and gallic acid crystals in about 400 cc water. 2. In another beaker, containing 200 cc water, place the ferrous sulphate and the hydrochloric or sulphuric acid. 3. The dye then should be dissolved in 200 cc of water placed in a third container. 4. When all three solutions are ready, mix them together and add the carbolic acid solution and enough additional water to bring the total solution up to about 1000 cc in volume. A part of this water can be used to rinse out the containers. 5. Pour the resulting ink into a bottle, leaving practically no air space at the top, and stopper it tightly. The ink is then ready for aging, a process that may vary from 12 hours to several weeks. The longer the ink ages, the freer it will be of suspended particles. A good ink will show no sediment after standing for 24 hours. Skin-tight cappings may be placed on bottles by dipping the corked necks into a hot mixture of cooking gelatin, glycerin, and water. Note: the article also mentions using methyl violet dye for a violet ink (quantity not given) or nigrosine dye for a blacker ink. However, Pharmacist mentioned trying methyl violet dye and he had disastrous results with it. As per Pharmacist, I halved the water to make it fountain pen-friendly. I also substituted an equal amount of salicylic acid for the carbolic acid (it's less hazardous and less expensive that way). I also added 25 ml glycerol as a flow-moderator for fountain pens (it works equally well with dip pens, though, even with the changes). The ink is very waterproof. It goes down blue and oxidizes to black (on cotton papers this process is a little slower). Here is how it looks in different fountain pens (only the Hero 5028 felt dry to write with): And here's how it compares with other iron gall inks:

YouTube has several videos on using, making, and conserving documents written with iron gall ink. Worth a look if you are a IG fan: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=iron+gall+ink Enjoy! edited to add another link: Use Chemistry to Make Inks [iG] of Many Colors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aojni947rNY

I found this 2 1/2 hour video on YouTube. It's by the Library of Congress. It gets into the chemistry behind iron gall ink. It also discusses conservation. New Research on Iron Gall Ink

I will show you how to clean a fountain pen with iron gall ink stains. http://iron-gallink.blogspot.jp/2013/11/cleaning-method-for-iron-gall-ink-using.html I already wrote this method in the Japanese fountain pen magazine (Shumi no Bungu-bako vol.16 and vol.23). It is very easy, inexpensive and effective method. Please try it . Thank you for your attention.