Creating A Weighted Scale For How Much I Like An Ink.

[amberleadavis]

This post is a letter to a fellow FPNer. I have been thinking that I should rate my inks. How else will I find that perfect ink? Here's my rough draft.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/2014-Inklings/slides/2014-Ink_026.jpg

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/2014-Inklings/slides/2014-Ink_026b.jpg

[brunico]

Ooh, too much effort, and some people round here are going to give you a right earful for giving sheen a meagre ten points! To me, there are inks I really get pleasure out of using, inks I'm happy to use, and inks I don't care for, and points would conflict with that.

 

R&K Alt-Goldgrün and Diamine Graphite, for instance, would both score low in a few areas (in particular, they have a tendency to spread out on some cheaper papers, so that hairlines are no longer hairlines), but I, erm, couldn't imagine life without them. They wouldn't be my first choice for a journal colour, but for some uses they make me as happy as a sandboy. In other news, I have quite a few similar greens. Some of them are as technically impeccable as the others, but they just don't wow me as much as a slightly different shade, so they don't get used.

 

I think this would make a nice little project for you, to rank your top ten daily writing blues or browns - - but for the best pink for doodling, I'd go with what makes you smile. As someone once wrote,

 

Tell me where is fancy bred,

Or in the heart or in the head?

[amberleadavis]

I agree this scale would be for me (as it is written), but I think it could be tailored to others. You are right, for many, sheen is the thing. For me, it's all about the flow. Partially, I"m looking for a way to distinguish what inks I personally liked and why.

[Tonkus]

I think I would need some kind of weighted mask for the pen. Each ink will behave different due to the nib size and feed etc. So if I use an EF nib fast dry would not be a 10 maybe just a 5.

[Inkling13]

This is too subjective honestly. I gather more information with the performance scans than from someones description of the ink. But that's just me.

[amberleadavis]

I like the idea of putting the score next to the pen because I agree, inks are very different with the pen. I suppose I'd have to note the paper as well.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

To the dismay of some readers of my wee Ink Reviews, I refrain from using numeric metrics.

 

It seems that I 'rate' an ink by how often (if ever) it is replaced, or if it is gifted (not as a leftover), or if it is sent into Mixing Corral limbo.

 

Bye,

S1

[Blue_Moon]

I agree this scale would be for me (as it is written), but I think it could be tailored to others. You are right, for many, sheen is the thing. For me, it's all about the flow. Partially, I"m looking for a way to distinguish what inks I personally liked and why.

 

I agree with your chart. With me, start-up, flow, and color are my top priorities! Also, I like the idea of a scale. However, I would have one pen (same nib) - my favorite writer - as my tester and run all inks through it. Same kind of paper also. Mixing and matching pens, inks, and papers would be a black hole in the time it would consume. Also, having the same pen and paper would provide an even standard that would treat all inks the same and give the fairest tests.

[Oranges and Apples]

That is a very nice scale but it would be good for each individual to create one for their own taste. Characteristics such as sheen and not chalky I couldn't really care if they were or not but this is a good starting point or a template for others to change into their own.

[Bo Bo Olson]

got to up shades to 30...ok I can live with 20.

 

I'm not into sheen yet, that got to be added in the bottom as an extra credit block.

[amberleadavis]

Thanks for the feedback.

Sandy that's a good point about what inks you repurchase.

 

I was thinking of making it a template where anyone could change the values of what is important to them (like you said O&A), and my scale would not match others scales.

 

What other properties should I include?

[Inkling13]

Thanks for the feedback.

Sandy that's a good point about what inks you repurchase.

 

I was thinking of making it a template where anyone could change the values of what is important to them (like you said O&A), and my scale would not match others scales.

 

What other properties should I include?

The thing is that the more often that you change scales, the more "useless" a standardized score system becomes. What does a 10 really mean? what does a 10 on one scale mean compared to say a 20 on another scale? That is the trouble of what you propose, in that making it more customized, it becomes more useless because we have nothing to measure it with. Even subjectively, it's more useful with a standard scale, say 1-10. The finer you cut it, the less people will be able to discern what the difference is a 10 vs an 11 in terms of wetness, but it makes a bit user friendly with a smaller scale, say 1-5. It's like the pain scale used in the medical community, standard is 1-10 with 10 being the worst ever. Sure, how it measures something that is purely subjective, but the most important thing is that it's able to measure the change in pain. This is why I caution you on using a numerical scale, rather than a set standard of papers scanned for drying time, smudgablilty, bleedthrough, feathering, etc

[dcwaites]

I need to think about this before replying in full.

I like the idea. It's the execution that will take some thought.

Things like sheen vary from paper to paper. I have noticed that I don't get any sheen at all with Parker Penman Sapphire on Reflex Ultra paper, but it jumps out and hits me over the head on Fuji Xerox Sustainable Environment 85gsm.

Similar with shading.

This means that you will need to standardize on pen and paper to make those evaluations.

Also, different pens have different start up properties, so that seems to be a property of the pen, rather than the ink.

 

I need to think some more...

[amberleadavis]

Now, in fairness, I always do the reviews on the same four papers. I also only use TWSBIs and lately only those with a 580 nib.

[amberleadavis]

Also, part of what I'm trying to do is not really look at the ink in parts -- ie does it feather -- but more as -- should I recommend it, do I love it and do I use it.

 

If it has flow troubles, I won't use it. I don't care how much I like it otherwise. When I go to pick up my pen, I get frustrated that it won't start. Even worse, because I haven't used all the ink, it takes even longer to finish out the fill and the pen gets more dry. I would be better off choosing a different ink. Hence, the different aspects of flow have a lot of points allocated to them.

 

Other things like Sheen and Shading - those for me are perks - or as Bobo described, "bonus" points.

 

I can put up with creepy and chalky, but I will like them better if they are neither.

 

Does that make sense?

[amberleadavis]

 

I agree with your chart. With me, start-up, flow, and color are my top priorities! Also, I like the idea of a scale. However, I would have one pen (same nib) - my favorite writer - as my tester and run all inks through it. Same kind of paper also. Mixing and matching pens, inks, and papers would be a black hole in the time it would consume. Also, having the same pen and paper would provide an even standard that would treat all inks the same and give the fairest tests.

 

 

Okay, makes sense. Every ink will get through the same pen. Interesting.

[Sandy1]

Hmmm Hmmmm

 

I think some of the items/properties are so dependent on the pen+paper combo, (such as shading), I'd find it hard to rate. And even though I'm on the look-out for inks with strong shading potential, I'm more than satisfied with many inks that are shy to shade.

 

Some things such as Chalky appearance or Water Resistance or Nib Creep might be pass-fail, so no weighting is possible. Yet even though I abhor nib creep, I tolerate it in inks that have other redeeming properties.

 

Do we need an entry for Charisma? (That would have major weighting if I were to have such a scale.)

 

 

Bye,

S1

[JonSzanto]

It's worthless without a category and score for billet-doux. I know for a fact that every time Sandy rates an ink highly in this area, I want to go out and buy it.

[amberleadavis]

Thanks guys, this is helpful.