I Buy Ink By The Gallon

[wallylynn]

The description suggests that this ink is an iron gall ink with blue dye. The oxygen should have done it's work already, transforming all the Iron(II)sulfate to Iron(III), that's why the color changed and the residue has been build up. I'd try to filter it before adding some vinegar, but I wouldn't endanger my FPs though. The colorchange of an iron gall ink with dye is usually a quite good sign that ink isn't really usable anymore. There is no need to try if it isn't going to black after a couple of minutes to a few hours (depending on the paper, try uncoated paper), because it's not doing what it's supposed to be anymore.

 

There's a pdf with some instructions on how to refresh iron-gall ink on IAMPETH. I haven't needed to try, nor would I pour the ink back in the jug.

http://www.iampeth.com/lessons/about_ink/VitoloFresheningUpIronGallInks.pdf

 

My time at FPN taught me that the color blue-black, originally meant blue->black, blue then black. Iron gall ink alone is basically colorless, so dye (blue) was added to make writing easier. Pharmacist explains a lot of the chemistry here:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/124467-ink-recipes-mixed-inks-homemade-inks/page__view__findpost__p__1619706

 

If you have a gold or stainless steel nib (I saw the pic of the Lamy), the nib shouldn't get eaten. Lamy Blue-black bottled is iron-gall too as are some others.

 

If it were me, i'd play with the ink a few ml at a time since there's lots. See if refreshing it turns it colorless->black? I already add Noodler's manhattan blue to my Lamy BB with no ill effects yet. Waterman Florida Blue is acidic. I wonder how that would affect the ink, maybe better than vinegar.

[Chevalier]

I haven't seen the company manufactured blue-black inks for quite some time, but I think I remember they stayed a somewhat blueish-black, at least noticeable different from plain black iron gall inks. I am pretty sure about Pelikan's 4001 at least, we just had this in another thread.

 

 

What Dr. Vitolo wrote makes sense if you have the ink already in your ink well, but not stirring up is a little bit difficult, because it's still in the bottle. I'd try a fine metal filter, or better a coarse filter sheet (lab supplies), even a tea egg should work pretty well. Anything that gets out as much oxidated iron as possible is fine. The vinegar raises the acid levels up again, the acid used in those inks is usually Gallic acid (I know, I am captain obvious today). The acid is needed during the reaction, that transforms the Iron. You might need to add some additional binding agent too, most traditional recipes contain(ed) gum arabic, cherry gum or plum gum (should be replaceable with each other).

 

The problem is ... I wouldn't use any fixed iron gall ink in an FP anymore. It's not that easy to keep it FP "friendly" and many modern pens don't like it at all.

 

Too bad that it seems that your ink got too much oxygen over the years.

Edited October 12, 2010 by Chevalier