Ink Bleeding Through

[KCkc]

In terms of ink feathering or bleeding, I never had problems with my 20Lb Laser printer office paper.

 

But today....I tried my vintage Sheaffer Black ink on my Parker 51 Mark 1a.

 

Observations with regular 20LB laser printer office paper :

1. Sheaffer Black (bleeds through can clearly read from the other side)

-Parker 51 Mark 1a FINE

 

2. PR Lake Placid Blue (no bleeding, but can faintly see I wrote something from the other side)

-Parker 51 Demi Vac MED

-Pelikan M200 FINE

 

3. PR Black Magic Blue ((no bleeding, but can faintly see I wrote something from the other side)

-Parker 51 SE FINE

 

Question :

For a change, could it be the flow of the nib or the nature of the ink that causes bleeding ?

 

Any help is appreciated. But I really like the Sheaffer Black ink though.

Edited May 4, 2005 by KCkc

[wimg]

Hi KCkc,

Question :

For a change, could it be the flow of the nib or the nature of the ink that causes bleeding ?

The answer is both or either. If the nib lays down a very large amount of ink in a small place, the ink may seep through the paper. If it puts down enough, even thick paper may suffer from this. If a nib is scratchy, this may happen sooner or faster, because it may damage the upper layer of paper, and cut through the fibres, which may cause extra feathering.

The nature of the ink: some inks feather more than others, and feathering may be a cause of bleeding too.

 

Other than that: the darker an ink is, the more easily it can be seen from the other side of the paper.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[Keith with a capital K]

Sheaffer inks in general are less saturated and seem to feather and bleed through papers more than inks such as Waterman or Parker.

 

I have found that Sheaffer black does bleed more and because it is still fairly dark, will show through paper moreso than say Waterman black.

 

I like the way Sheaffer NOS black flows and how trouble free it is but you have to be more selective about the paper you use and the nib you are writing with as a wet writing pen will magnify the feathering issue. On the other hand, if you have a dry writing pen then Sheaffer black is good ink to try.

[KCkc]

Another observation :

The 20# laser paper absorbs the Sheaffer Black quicker that any of the PR which tend to sit on the paper for air-drying (5-10 seconds). But the PR ink did not feather as a result of sitting there.

 

I cleaned out the Sheaffer Black and filled it with my old trusty Florida blue to remedy the bleeding.

 

Happy to report that there is no more bleeding. =)

 

See what happens when I use ink other than blue color

 

Conclusion:

I can still find a slow writer and put the Sheaffer black in there.

But I guess, I need to abstain from filling it in fast flowing wet writers.

[Leslie J.]

Or you could try a different paper. I go for at least 24#, and would love to find some 28# around here. If I can see even a faint bit of ink through the paper, I tend to use only one side, which can be wasteful. Just an idea.