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How To Replace Kung Te Cheng?


RCC

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What ink, if any, have you found to replace the no longer available Kung te Cheng?

 

Suggestions appreciated.

 

 

It seems to me, we need to create a greater demand for KtC. I know I am disappointed to have missed out on it and would LOVE to buy some.

 

I would gladly pay ahead if I knew some more would be produced. Do you want to start an open letter to Nathan filled with names of those who will guarantee purchase of a bottle when he makes another batch?

 

 

[color=#444444][size=2][left]In this age of text, twitter, skype and email, receiving a good old-fashioned hand-written letter feels just like a warm hug.[/left][/size][/color][img]http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/5642/postcardde9.png[/img]

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I missed out on it but thought from the reviews it looked like a great ink.

 

The warnings about it though made me think it might be better to find an ink that was close but did not have that same warning about drying out.

 

Some of the posts suggest the ingredients were no longer available. Don't know if that is myth or fact. Finding out if that is true might be a good place to start, and I would think the distributor could ask nathan. I will email Dick Egoff (spelling?) and ask him, as he is the distributor.

 

I wonder if there is a color that is close without the issues?

 

 

 

PS: If I am remembering correctly, soneone in an earlier post said equal parts of private reserve tanzanite, electric blue and american blue would make a close approximation to KTC?

Edited by RCC
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I agree about trying to drum up more interest. KTC is possibly my favorite ink, if forced to pick a desert island ink I think it would be KTC. I've been getting stingy-er with using it as my 4.5oz bottle is getting closer to the bottom. I've found this ink to be nothing but trouble free. It was also the very first bottle of ink I bought, so it is extra special.

 

Nathan brought back Waterase since people were showing interest. I for one have been voicing my love of the ink to folks like the Goulets in hopes that it will make it back to the distributer and in turn to Nathan. Don't give up hope!

Edited by Truppi327

Best,

Mike Truppi

 

<img src="http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/5673/inkdz2.png" border="0" class="linked-sig-image" height="60"/><img src="http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png" border="0" class="linked-sig-image" height="60"/><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qVJOiluU9_4/THoFdqPGYOI/AAAAAAAAA1w/gmV637q-HZA/s1600/InkDropLogoFPN.jpg" border="0" class="linked-sig-image" height="60" /> 8/24/10

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I'm beginning a 4.5 Oz. bottle, so hopefully I have a reserve until more is available. So far I've used it in Preppies and it is a pleasure to use. What is your collective experience with staining? Nathan gave such a strong warning about only using it with the included pen, I've been afraid to use it in my nicer pens. Would it stain/clog a Pelikan white tortoise 400, or was Nathan just covering his bases with the warning?

 

I use Violet Vote, Legal Lapis, BBK and other inks with no problems. Based on Nathan's warning, I assumed this was an ink of another nature...

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I agree about trying to drum up more interest. KTC is possibly my favorite ink, if forced to pick a desert island ink I think it would be KTC. I've been getting stingy-er with using it as my 4.5oz bottle is getting closer to the bottom. I've found this ink to be nothing but trouble free. It was also the very first bottle of ink I bought, so it is extra special.

 

Nathan brought back Waterase since people were showing interest. I for one have been voicing my love of the ink to folks like the Goulets in hopes that it will make it back to the distributer and in turn to Nathan. Don't give up hope!

 

Kung te Cheng and Manjirō Nakahama will be available shortly on an exclusive basis through one dealer, however, the quantities will be limited : :embarrassed_smile: . Link to video on Manjiro Nakahama: <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HZeB3G_4Fe8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Dick

Edited by Regolf
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I agree about trying to drum up more interest. KTC is possibly my favorite ink, if forced to pick a desert island ink I think it would be KTC. I've been getting stingy-er with using it as my 4.5oz bottle is getting closer to the bottom. I've found this ink to be nothing but trouble free. It was also the very first bottle of ink I bought, so it is extra special.

 

Nathan brought back Waterase since people were showing interest. I for one have been voicing my love of the ink to folks like the Goulets in hopes that it will make it back to the distributer and in turn to Nathan. Don't give up hope!

 

Kung te Cheng and Manjirō Nakahama will be available shortly on an exclusive basis through one dealer, however, the quantities will be limited : :embarrassed_smile: . Link to video on Manjiro Nakahama:

 

Dick

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Dick

 

Another sweet video!!! Very interesting, and especially the effect of bleach.

With the new FPN rules, now I REALLY don't know what to put in my signature.

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If you've not found a source for Kung Te Cheng, you might send an email to George at GreenMan508@hotmail.com. I purchased a bottle from him several months ago. He might still have some of it. Worth a try.

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I'm beginning a 4.5 Oz. bottle, so hopefully I have a reserve until more is available. So far I've used it in Preppies and it is a pleasure to use. What is your collective experience with staining? Nathan gave such a strong warning about only using it with the included pen, I've been afraid to use it in my nicer pens. Would it stain/clog a Pelikan white tortoise 400, or was Nathan just covering his bases with the warning?

 

I use Violet Vote, Legal Lapis, BBK and other inks with no problems. Based on Nathan's warning, I assumed this was an ink of another nature...

 

Why don't I remember that warning? I know about BSB.....Hmmmm.....well, I put it in a couple different pens. A Parker 45 and Sonnet. Works great, no problems whatsoever. *shrug*

 

-Bruce

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I may be confused, but I think I recall that Nathan said when Kung Te Cheng was released that it was a one-off offer since some of the ingredients might not be available to keep it in stock. He did recommend that it be used only with the Preppy ED that accompanied the 4.5oz bottle. I have used mine exclusively in that pen, with excellent results ever since, but I have no doubt that it would work very well in many other pens. I had the impression at the time that Tardif was reacting, in his usual dramatic fashion, to the criticism that Bay State Blue should have carried warnings about its staining capacity. So, with KTCh, he advises the exclusive use of the supplied Preppy--maybe with a hint of tongue-in-cheek.

 

In any event, I love the ink. For me, it behaves very much like Violet Vote, a Pendemonium Noodler exclusive, which I have in its original version, then called Iraqi Indigo. Its color is somewhat lighter. I have used it in Preppies and in several other pens with no problem. I have also found that Stockholm Indigo behaves much the same. It, however, is perceptibly lighter in color than Kung te Cheng. Pasternak in Noodler's Russian series is of a similar color (though not identical) and is permanent, but its behaviorial characteristics and particularly appearance under ultra-violet light are different.

 

Maybe the distributor can tell us whether there will be further editions of Kung te Cheng. If my memory is correct regarding the original announcement, that may not be possible.

 

If there is a lesson here, it is that if you hear about a new ink that sounds interesting, you might as well buy it. It probably won't break the bank. Small craft producers like Tardif sometimes take advantage of the availablity of a particular chemical component to do what amounts to a limited edition. When that happens, even if there is demand for a repeat, it may not be possible.

 

(Of course, bigger firms also discontinue popular inks, often without much advance notice. Witness Montblanc's Racing Car Green or the whole line of Parker Penman inks.)

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I have used Kung Te Cheng in a few pens and had no problems. Of course, the ink wasn't in there for an extended period of time.

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I used Kung Te-Cheng in a Cross pen with no issues for several months/fillings, until I dropped the pen, and bent the nib :doh:

 

It didn't write worth a darn with any ink after that!

Increase your IQ, use Linux AND a Fountain pen!!http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk11/79spitfire/Neko_animated.gif
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Cellulose reactive dyes come and go as demand for them changes. This is driven by the textiles industry, pollution regulation, and the cost of manufacturing, not ink use. It's quite possible one or more of the dyes was available for only a short period, was in very small quantities, or was in danger of being taken out of production for some reason unrelated to fountain pen inks.

 

I've been using it for a couple years in a Pelikan 12 with no problems other than getting gummy when not used for a long time, something too many of my pens suffer from (lack of use, that is). Otherwise, it's been great. More nib creep than some other inks, but nothing I can't live with! The cap on my Preppie wore out and refused to stay tight, so it dried out too badly for me to keep using it.

 

Peter

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...I have also found that Stockholm Indigo behaves much the same. It, however, is perceptibly lighter in color than Kung te Cheng...

 

That sounds interesting. Where can you get Stockholm Indigo and is it waterproof?

 

 

I've had no staining from KTC, I have seen pretty heavy nib creep, also some flow issues in some pens. After a couple of trials, I found pens it would work in (Sheafer No-nonsense for one.) I change ink frequently, so my usage doesn't qualify as a long term trial. I also like mixing a little KTC into lighter blues and purples, it adds a waterproof element and I get some interesting shades of blue that way. All in all, I like KTC much more than BSB.

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Kung te Cheng and Manjirō Nakahama will be available shortly on an exclusive basis through one dealer, however, the quantities will be limited : :embarrassed_smile: .

Dick

 

 

Any hints on who or when? I'd love to be on the lookout for these.

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What's funny is that I just received a KTC bottle in the mail from Greenman (excellent eBay vendor, BTW), and I'm getting a much deeper darker colour on this ink than I'd expected from the reviews and swatches. After all of the discussions of this as essentially a deep blue with some purple, I now have 4.5 liquid ounces of darkest purple-blue. I'm wondering if the formulation has changed recently.

 

Most strange.

 

OTOH, the ink lays down an extremely smooth line that's one of the fastest drying Noodler's inks that I've used, little to no feathering, and...

 

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! There's little of that notorious and pernicious nib-creep to be seen so far.

 

We'll see if this ink becomes a "keeper".

 

 

 

 

John P.

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