Ink Problems For Dip Pen

[sniper910]

hello all,

i've been using dr. phil martin's bombay ink and have alway needed to wipe away quite a bit of ink when writing with a broad edged nib(speedball c1-4). i've tried using gum arabic to thicken the ink so it's not so thin, but that hasn't worked well yet as i think i put in more than i should have. it's alright with copperplate writing, but still think it could be better. does anyone have any suggestions, or should i just try a different ink? the only ones i've been able to find here in hawai'i are the dr. phil martins and the fw brand.

 

thanks

[themundane]

i recommend higgins eternal ink for copperplate. it's very important to get an ink that can "stick" to the nib so to speak. too liquidy or runny, and it can be quite a frustrating experience! try this ink and see if i works better for u.

 

CC

[Mickey]

I generally use McCaffrey's Penman Black or Old World. Both are iron gall inks and both perform well for pointed pen work, right out of the bottle.

 

I also use Moon Palace sumi ink: wonderfully black, but yields slightly fatter hair lines.

 

I also use 'walnut ink' (it's actually made from peat), which works nearly as well as IG, but doesn't corrode nibs anywhere near as quick as either IG or sumi inks. http://www.paperinka...com/walnt2.html

[barleycorn]

It is normal to wipe off excess ink when dipping. Does the ink bleed on the paper? If it is flowing properly then it should not be necessary to thicken it. I find it useful to use a scrap piece of paper to start the nib so the flow is more consistent. A thicker paint type of ink will dry up on the nib reservoir and make it difficult to keep clean.

 

With flexible nibs a thinner ink will tend to dump a glob on the paper. This is why fountain pen ink does not usually work for this purpose. With practice you can be a little more subtle with varying the pressure and it will work well.

 

One of the good things about dip nibs is you can play with different inks and papers to see which combination works best. I hope this has been useful. Regular India ink from the arts supply store should work well with both italic and flex nibs. If you buy the large bottle, you can put a bit at a time in an old fountain pen ink jar so it does not dry up or thicken. The old Sheaffer Script jars with the dip reservoir work really well.

[Mickey]

I think it's a bit more complicated than simply the thickness of the ink. Things like surfacants and other flow related additives in FP inks, (especially the highly saturated inks) can make many of them unsuitable for dip pens. On the other hand, some FP inks, like many of the IG inks, which are fairly thin, (MB Midnight Blue) are perfectly usable with dip nibs. Even Noodler's Bulletproof Black, a highly saturated, dye-based ink works fairly well. It's more about absorption and adsorption (the ink's affinity for the nib surface versus the paper's surface and fibers), not viscosity (a product of ink's internal friction).

 

Paper, even which side of the paper can have an effect. I do my morning practice on very smooth marker bond, but one side is slightly smoother than the other. Guess what. One side is too smooth for my 'normal' IG, but is perfect for my walnut ink. I've also found that some nibs work better with slightly diluted inks and others with a bit of gum Arabic added. As I said, it's not simply thickness.

Edited October 8, 2012 by Mickey

[Randal6393]

Have you seen the video on Hermann Zapf's penmanship? Would advise taking a look at it. He talks about keeping a pen clean, using an artist's brush or an eyedropper to control the amount of ink put on the pen, and a variety of other subjects of interest to the dip pen user. Just google Hermann Zapf on this board. There is quite a variety of information and topics on using dip pens.

 

Best of luck to you,

Edited October 8, 2012 by Randal6393

[sniper910]

thank you everyone. i'm thinking of trying different inks, just that i tried the dr. phil martin's because it's available here and i don't have to order it online. i will definitely try some of your suggestions in hopes that it will help solve my problem. i'm also still trying to find a way to make finer hairlines for copperplate, and for my edged nibs also. seems like even when i use the corner of the edged nibs, they come out too thick for my liking.

 

mickey-how is the color on the walnut ink? also, i didn't know there were so many factors. i like the FP inks just for color variety, so i don't get in a slump because of everything always being the same color. just trying to keep it interesting.

 

barleycorn-i wipe off quite a bit of ink sometimes, and use an eye dropper like suggested by randal, but seem like there's too muc flow to the top of my edged nibs, so when it touches paper, it blobs a lot. so i end up constantly cleaning and wiping the nib in order to keep the upper side clear of any excess ink.

 

randal-thanks for the tip. i'll look him up with hopes that he can give me some help. i've been using the eye dropper, but althought it keeps the nib cleaner in general, i still have the same problem once the ink starts flowing