Best Nib/ink For A Moleskine Diary?

[epo]

I tried out my new Moleskine diary and was a bit surprised by initial tests.

 

Using a Parker 51 with a medium nib loaded with Diamine Orange bottle ink there was some feathering of the ink and a lot of show through.

 

Using a Mont Blanc 144 also with a medium nib and with MB royal Blue cartridges there was less feathering (maybe none) and less show through, maybe the same as ballpoint so essentially down to paper thinness

 

A review on amazon.co.uk says the diaries are as good as blotting paper, which seems harsh, certainly the paper is thin. Based on my experience how would I find the ideal nib/ink for these diaries, would a finer nib help? A quicker drying ink?

[The Royal Pen]

Pilot 78g with a Fine nib. That should do wonders! Also, or, you could get some Noodlers X-Feather ink with ANY pen! That should work too!

 

Edit: because there is no such thing as a Pilot 79g

Edited September 8, 2010 by The Royal Pen

[cubic archon]

Fine nib, quick-drying ink, as a general rule. The best ink I've ever used in Moleskines is Lamy B/B, which never feathers or bleeds. Others that have worked quite well in various nibs are Pelikan BB and Waterman Blue/BB/Black. Noodler's Bproof Black and Sailor Kiwa-Guro don't feather but they do smear easily for me.

Edited September 8, 2010 by cubic archon

[twdpens]

Lamy blue is reasonably OK on Moleskine paper. I fine nib (if you have one) will help to avoid too much ink flow.

 

HTH,

 

Martin

[Dr Lopez]

Fine nib and dry inks (some of the Pelikan, Lamy and Montblanc) is a must. Avoid Waterman or J. Herbin for those notebooks. Quality of Moleskine paper varies from sample to sample in my experience, some of their notebooks might tolerate wider nibs but this is admittedly rare. Move to Havana for higher quality or fountain pen friendly notebooks-- these ones would shine with B, BB or even flexy nibs.

[farseer911]

med or fine Japanese nib with noodlers X-feather. Or switch to a WebNotebook by Rhodia.

[nigelg]

I found that Diamine Registrars ink didn't feather at all in my Moleskine irrespective of the pen/nib used but, as usual, YMMV.

[schadowrider]

I have a number of Moleskines going at any one time, and only use FP's with EF nibs with them (mostly Sailor & Pelikan); I've had no problems with my favorite inks like Aurora Black and PR American or Naples Blue (often blended), but maybe it's because the nibs are so fine...

[HBlaine]

I've had generally good luck with a 149 with a fine nib and Aurora Blue. In truth, I've had decent luck with my late 80s/early 90s Pel M400 with its very wet fine and Noodler's Dark Matter. I've had a bit of show through, but that doesn't bother me that much. It's when I get the heavy feathering that it really bothers me.

[Truppi327]

I have had great results using Noodler's Kung Te-cheng on Moleskine in a fine Platinum Preppy Eyedropper (the 03 variety that is included with the ink). Also Noodler's Black works well in my Estie with a 1555 (firm fine) nib. I had minimal show through and no bleeding/ feathering with these combos. I've also heard great stuff about Noodler's X-feather.

 

I've since switched from Moleskines to notebooks with Clairefontaine paper so that I can use wider nibs and other inks that don't do so hot on Mole paper.

 

Good luck!

[ailleurs]

Best combo I found (before ditching Moleskines in favor of more FP-friendly journals) was Herbin Poussière de lune in a M-nibbed Vanishing Point that wrote like a F. Anything else was more trouble than it was worth. It's too bad. I like the form factor and the price of Moleskines. The quality is just too inconsistent.

[limesally]

if you have some time on your hands, you may wish to search for and peruse the many, many threads discussing the inconsistent quality of moleskine paper and how unpredictable it is with fountain pen (and sometimes even gel/roller/pigment) inks. There'll be a lot more suggestions for inks in there as well. I've had moleskines that can take just about any ink and nib size you can throw at them. However, when it's one of the crappy ones, the only combinations I can really rely on are:

 

Pelikan blue-black

Noodler's black

Lamy Blue-black (the bottled, iron gall kind)

 

in a Namiki Falcon F or Pelikan Steno.

 

Right now my pocket moleskine is possibly the worst I've ever had, and the only thing I can really use is in it is Pelikan BB in a Skriss (Turkish pen). Mostly because I'm using up my remaining moleskines, after which I'm ditching them entirely for Webbies or Habanas.

[epo]

Thanks for all the help and advice, unfortunately all my FP nibs are medium and I can't justify the cost of re-nibbing the Mont Blanc or the (new to me) Parker 51. I was going to get a Lamy to play with their nib range, looks like I now have a semi-reasonable excuse for doing so.

Edited September 8, 2010 by epo

[Geoff V]

There is one cheap option. Pop the end off a Pilot V-Pen (or Varsity, if you're in North America) and replace the ink with Noodlers Permanent Black. There are instructions on how to do this buried on the site which can be found after a simple search. This is one example:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7263&view=&hl=varsity&fromsearch=1

 

If you use this approach:

 

1. remove the nib before working on the feed assembly.

 

2. use a folded paper towel to cushion the feed assembly from the bare metal of the pliers.

 

As you will find in a multitude of columns all over this site, the V-pen/Varsity is a well-respected pen which delivers excellent results in Moleskines.

[limesally]

Thanks for all the help and advice, unfortunately all my FP nibs are medium and I can't justify the cost of re-nibbing the Mont Blanc or the (new to me) Parker 51. I was going to get a Lamy to play with their nib range, looks like I now have a semi-reasonable excuse for doing so.

 

oh yes! I forgot! I have had success with the Lamy Safari EF nibs - they tend to be on the dry side, at least mine have. I seem to remember a Lamy EF/MB Violet combo working well for a while there - but I'm sure the aforementioned inks would work well there too.

[joeahearn]

The best combination I found for Moleskines was Noodler's Black or Heart of Darkness with a Pilot Vanishing Point that has a fine nib.

 

Like many others, I ditched the Moleskines for Habanas.

 

 

 

I tried out my new Moleskine diary and was a bit surprised by initial tests.

 

Using a Parker 51 with a medium nib loaded with Diamine Orange bottle ink there was some feathering of the ink and a lot of show through.

 

Using a Mont Blanc 144 also with a medium nib and with MB royal Blue cartridges there was less feathering (maybe none) and less show through, maybe the same as ballpoint so essentially down to paper thinness

 

A review on amazon.co.uk says the diaries are as good as blotting paper, which seems harsh, certainly the paper is thin. Based on my experience how would I find the ideal nib/ink for these diaries, would a finer nib help? A quicker drying ink?

[dsatco]

Would you believe, I use a Pilot 78G cursive italic with Noodler's Aircorp and I've had NO feathering problems? NI Aircorp actually complements the paper color.

[Ada]

I use Moleskines, and have found that with Western XF and Japanese F nibs I have no feathering or noticeable bleedthrough, so when your budget allows I would suggest getting an XF (or Japanese F) nib. In the interim, you might want to consider iron gall inks for your Moleskines -- I've found that Diamine Registrar's Ink, Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa and Salix (all iron gall inks) work very well on less than ideal paper.

[mori45]

The best combination I found for Moleskines was Noodler's Black or Heart of Darkness with a Pilot Vanishing Point that has a fine nib.

 

Like many others, I ditched the Moleskines for Habanas.

 

 

 

I'd suggest a paper switch as well. Even tried with a Sailor fine, but I wasn't too pleased with the results, not to mention being severely limited in ink choice by paper which, all in all, is not that much cheaper than Clairefontaine or Rhodia.

[mori45]

The best combination I found for Moleskines was Noodler's Black or Heart of Darkness with a Pilot Vanishing Point that has a fine nib.

 

Like many others, I ditched the Moleskines for Habanas.

 

I'd suggest a paper switch as well. Even tried with a Sailor fine, but I wasn't too pleased with the results, not to mention being severely limited in ink choice by paper which, all in all, is not that much cheaper than Clairefontaine or Rhodia.