Ink Is Pale Not Happy

[Albinoni]

I decided to change the ink in my 1927 Parker Duofold FP and flushed out the previous blue ink that was in there and decided to put in and try my new J. herbin Larmes De Cassis (Blackcurrant Colour).

 

Now my 1927 Duofold has a filler where it says "press rib 5 times to fill" which is like some rubber sack what ever, so when you press it it will suck up the ink etc.

 

Now when I cleaned it out beforehand I was sucking up cold water into it than squeeze to empty than re suck water back squeeze out again etc etc to completely flush out the previous blue ink.

 

Now after I filled it up with the new J herbin ink I was not impressed and I really hope its not the ink.

 

Problems I am facing:

 

1. Pale and I mean pale, awful

2. Watery

 

When I opened the lid to the ink bottle it was much darker even when I sampled it in the shop it was darker a real nice marron/magenta blackcurrant colour.

 

Some advice and help please.

[GabrielleDuVent]

Try flushing out the current ink fill and refilling. My guess is that there's still water left over in the reservoir.

 

J Herbin does tend to feel a little runny at times, but I've never had the saturation issue. If you have a pen not in rotation or a dip pen, try dipping and writing as well.

[Namru]

Different pens will change the shading of some inks. Put some Florida Blue in my fine Hero, comes out like a shadow. Same ink in a Pelikan with a double broad nib it comes out deep, dark and wet.

 

Also, in my experience, J. Herbin runs on the watery side in general.

[Albinoni]

Now I am just wondering if I should squeeze out the current J herbin ink I have in there and re fill it with the same ink again.

 

I cant actually flush it out as in leave the tap on and let it run through, I need to manually suck the water in than squeeze it out than re suck it in again and squeeze it out again.

[Albinoni]

Different pens will change the shading of some inks. Put some Florida Blue in my fine Hero, comes out like a shadow. Same ink in a Pelikan with a double broad nib it comes out deep, dark and wet.

 

Also, in my experience, J. Herbin runs on the watery side in general.

 

Ok wonder why, strange indeed. I thought that ink is ink no matter what pen you put it in/

[View from the Loft]

Every pen is unique - so the flow and nib width will make a difference, which is why an ink will be fabulous in one pens and awful in another.

 

Before trying anything drastic, flush your pen out as you did previously, and then leave it standing nib down in kitchen towel for 24 hours with the cap off. This will allow the water in the pen to wick out.

 

Once it's dry refill it again. Hopefully you will see the colour you wanted to try.

[lapis]

Squeeze all of the water out, dry off the nib and everything else which was wet with a piece of paper towel or Kleenex or you-know-what and let it all dry out (without a cap) for at least 2 days. Then fill the pen, empty it (and chuck ink) and refill.

[Namru]

Ok wonder why, strange indeed. I thought that ink is ink no matter what pen you put it in/

Nibs have varying wetness, usually defined by the broadness of the nib and the slit gap width/shape of the nib tines. It's one of the quirks of fountain pens.

 

For me, I will use high shading inks in wetter broader pens and more saturated inks in finer dryer pens.

[mhguda]

I'm generally not so patient. Wicking the ink out with a paper towel for a few minutes, while also pressing on the press bar, should get most of the residual water out. Then refill as per usual, and if the ink is still watery after writing a few words, hold the pen nib up and gently press the bar again to bring up a little ink into the feed. You just have a little excess water in the feed, I'm guessing.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I don't have that ink.

Herbin is on the whole a lighter ink that shades.

 

What other inks do you have?

 

What other inks do you have that shade?

 

What paper are you using?

Paper is major in how your ink displays it's self.

 

Many who have only experience with vivid supersaturated monotone inks are aghast at the 'light' wishy-wasy tone of some shading inks. That is the way they are supposed to be...light enough so you can see two tones on good to better paper.

You need a paper with at least 90g weight.

 

As 'noobie' I had some Lamy turquoise as my third ink...it is the basic shade of turquoise that all are compared too. It was ok, but sort of blaaa on normal 80 gram copy paper. I saw in the Ink Reviews it shaded. They were using 90 g paper.

I pulled out my then only 90 g paper, an Oxford Optic 90g pad, and Lamy Turquoise shaded for me too. Made a world of difference.

 

Shading inks is mostly what I chase.I'd say 40 of the 50 inks I have are shading inks. Shading inks are seldom supersaturated; otherwise you don't get two tones...on good to better paper.

 

I have Herbin Cafe des Iles and Lie d' The...both are good shading brown inks.

Vert Empire is a shading murky green ink one of the substitutes for the discontinued MB Racing Green. There is a great thread a fine poster did of 30 murky green inks.I was very surprised that murky green was In.

Four years ago the now fabled MB Racing Green was a very hated ink; the most hated ink on this com. IMO many who bought it had had little experience with shading inks. nor Murky.

 

Peu Pervenche is a blue-turquoise ink...it is a lighter ink that shades well.

 

Get some 90-100-120g paper...laser paper that allows the ink to sit on it to dry into two tones.

 

Do avoid Ink Jet paper which is designed to absorb ink as fast as possible, so kills shading. Might be good for left-handers who use a quick drying ink, but it murders shading.

 

It could well be that your paper is killing you ink.

 

Writing is 1/3 nib width and flex, 1/3 paper and 1/3 ink, in that order.

 

Do go to Ink Reviews and find tests by Sandy1, where she shows 4-5 different nib widths with 'normal' pens on 5-6 different normal to good to better papers. It is shocking what differences show up.

Her threads are so enlightening.

 

PS, I have regular copy paper for my copier and good to better paper for scribbling..I suggest buying some better paper every 2 or 3 bottles of ink...so the ink will dance at midnight. .

Edited July 1, 2013 by Bo Bo Olson

[Albinoni]

Hi Olson to answer your questions:

 

The inks I have are:

 

1. Lamy black

2. Lamy blue

3. Pelikan brilliant black

4. Pelikan royal blue

5. Noodlers polar black

6. Noodlers blue (a dark blue ink similar to the royal blue)

7. Iroshizuku Yama Budo

8. Iroshizuku Tsukushi

9. And off course the J. herbin one.

10. Montblanc mystery black.

 

No most of my other inks produce a rather nice dark shade and previosly I was using the Noodlers blue in this pen and it was good and dark.

 

Just using a normal writing pad, sorr dont know brand just a normal pad.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Nice shade and shading is two different things completely.

Shading has to do with two tones of ink in a single letter of a word.

A nice shade has more to do with a tone or a hue of an ink.

 

What paper are you using?.

 

I've scratched out the blacks, even if some are not as black as some Noodlers.

 

1. Lamy black

2. Lamy blue..would have to load some, but did not strike me as a good shading ink.Perhaps way back when when I tried it I'd not had better paper. Some what close to Pelikan...both are medium light blues as I see them.

3. Pelikan brilliant black The only black I have, some day I'll get Aurora black which is also not a shading ink.

4. Pelikan royal blue..will shade a small bit on good paper.

5. Noodlers polar black

6. Noodlers blue (a dark blue ink similar to the royal blue) Royal blue is not what I consider a dark blue. Pelikan and Lamy are a bit on the middle to a bit light side.

 

I don't know Japanese inks; I don't even know what color they are supposed to be and at €49 ($70 US dollars) a bottle .it's going to be a long time before I find out.

7. Iroshizuku Yama Budo

8. Iroshizuku Tsukushi

9. And off course the J. herbin one.

10. Montblanc mystery black.

 

 

As far as I can see you only have Pelikan 4001 as an ink that can shade on good paper.

Paper is the key to inks that are not supersaturated.

 

I do have ESSR an iron gall ink that shades some, it goes down blue, but drys from blue to black quickly on some paper in seconds, slower on others- taking a day, a week or a month. I did a 17 nib, 47 paper test on that ink.( I had a lot of help from folks sending me a couple sheets of this and that paper.)

 

Get a very nice basic shading ink like Waterman South Sea blue...got some new name now, that I've not bothered to learn....will learn it when I finally run out, and order again. Or read some ink reviews that show good shading inks, like MB Meisterstuck Diamond, or Herbin browns I mentioned.

 

I'll be back in a minute. I got to go to Ink Reviews and see what ink reviews say about that Herbin ink.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Bo Bo Olson

[Bo Bo Olson]

Sandy1 did an ink review of that ink...there is major tone differences between one nib and the other on the same paper...and she did 4-5 papers.

 

Do take a look at that.

 

It goes from very, very light--too light to read,- to a jam color easy enough to read to a nice darker and much easier color to read.. It depended on the nib.

All I did was take a quick one paper look, I did not look at the other 4-5 papers Sandy also uses when she does a ink review.

I just wanted to find out what 'shade' the ink was, and it showed three tones or hues in Sandy's review.

 

I didn't ask you what nib widths you tested the ink with either

or if you were only using a dry or medium nib, and not a wet nib.

 

 

Shading of this ink has to be encouraged so...I'd not gone looking for it...I look for a definite yes. Encouraging it means finding the proper nib and paper for it.

How ever it did look bold enough with the right nib. See if you can match a nib of yours to what Sandy used to get it bolder.

 

I do intend to buy more Herbin inks than the three I have, in some are renown shading inks. It did take me a couple of years to reach the point where I can look at a 'dusty' ink and finally find it good. 4 years ago, I couldn't see anything in a dusty, chalky purple. I can now.

 

The good news is Sandy has it in her personal stash and likes it.

 

You need to find a nib and a paper that lets the ink dance a bit.

 

In reference to your inks...they are good enough...no put down. I was lucky enough that my 4th ink was that Waterman South Sea blue...a delightful blue-turquoise shading ink, and I was bit by the shading ink bug.

 

Every thing has it's own jargon. Shade and Shading are not the same.

There are also various degrees of flex in nibs that requires a bit of learning jargon..

Edited July 1, 2013 by Bo Bo Olson