Dip Pen Inks And Diamine Registrars.

[perrins57]

I've just got my first dip pen and bought some Diamine India ink at the same time. Whilst I know I've got plenty to learn about writing with a dip pen I did find the India ink very hard to use. It's so thick that the flow sometimes slows and then if I dip again to ease this I can easily get a blob.

At the same time I bought some Diamine Registrars ink to try in my fountain pens. I tried this with the dip pen and it worked great! Nice even flow, and the colour is a nice deep even black because the dip pen writes so wet. Also before the nib runs out of ink the colour of the line goes more blue, to warn you you need to dip again soon. Yet once dry it's the same black tone as the rest. Also I was able to write more letters with the Registrars ink between dips, than with the India ink.

What do other people use with dip pens, any others prefer iron gall to India or drawing inks?

[cybaea]

Iron gall formulae was the ink for centuries when a pen was a quill or later the steel nib. Some newcomers, among them one called Monsieur Herbin whose name is still associated with inks, seem to have made India inks popular in the seventeenth century or thereabouts. But most probably still used the traditional iron gall inks.

 

So it should work well, and it is also among my favourites. Glad you like it For the India ink you may want to try a different brand some time to see if it flows better for you. Practice a light hand. But there is nothing wrong in writing with Registrar's ink.

[Paddler]

I use any of my inks from fountain pen inks to bottled India ink to sumi stick ink. Different nib types demand different ink thicknesses. It is much easier to select a nib type for the ink you want to use than to tweak a given nib to make it work with an ink it was not designed to write with.

[perrins57]

Thanks guys, it hadn't dawned on me that Registrars ink was similar to ink used pre fountain pen. Thinking about it, the first two nibs i bought were fairly fine copperplate nibs that are most likely to struggle with thicker inks. I will experiment with my other inks.

[Bo Bo Olson]

ESSR is a blue black IG ink, everyone says it's better than Diamine Register. It's a sneaky ink, paper influenced. There is a huge thread on it.

110 ml bottle economical priced...don't remember what it cost, but I could afford it.

.

Was once Steven's blue black. When the company closed down one of the managers got that ink in his separation settlement; a long time ago, so saved that ink for the world.

A very good ink only got 1 1/3 bottles left.

 

I've not tried it in dip pens yet, but would expect it to work well there too. It goes on blue and you can watch it turn black...some papers will take a day with it...some longer.

 

I posted a 47 paper test with 17 nibs of this and that width and flex, with this ink.

Sandy1 calls it mischievous, I call it sneaky.

[cybaea]

ESSR is a blue black IG ink, everyone says it's better than Diamine Register. [...]

110 ml bottle economical priced...don't remember what it cost, but I could afford it.

 

Uhm, could I be the one dissenting voice, then? I prefer Diamine: it gives me a noticeably crispier line in fountain pens. But try for yourself; a 110 ml bottle of ESSRI is only £9.20; the link is here: http://www.registrarsink.co.uk/registrars_ink.html

 

We live at a great time for fountain (and dip!) pen inks with so many choices

[perrins57]

Yes I'm really please with the Diamine Registrars, I've tried regular Diamine, India ink and artists ink and the Registrars gives a crisper line and more even flow through a Mitchell Copperplate elbow nib than the others. It's easy to clean off the nib as well. I will try the Essr as it is such good value, but it will have to be good to beat the Diamine as a dip pen ink. Must get round to putting the Registrars in a fountain pen.

[W Mitchell]

I write fairly regulary with a dip pen and many many years ago bought a quart bottle of Joplins Blue Black ink.

 

Joplin was an old Australian chemical company long gone.

 

This ink must be an iron gall as it darkens after an hour or so and flows well on the steel nib.

 

Can write about a line or so between dips.

 

One observation, find it better to give the inkwell a shake before writing or else the ink is a bit faint.

 

Generally find this old ink writes better on a wider range of different papers than some other inks I have experimented with.

Edited January 29, 2014 by W Mitchell

[perrins57]

I guess the modern option to iron gall would Platinum's carbon black or coloured pigment inks. They carry similar care/maintenance warnings to iron gall inks. Anybody tried those with a dip pen?

[perrins57]

I write fairly regulary with a dip pen.

The nibs I'm using are W Mitchell, you have the right name for a dip pen regular.

[W Mitchell]

Aha ! I've been sprung, yes the nibs I write with are either W Mitchells or M. Myer and Sons Ltd. Both are plain old fashioned Post Office nibs and only wish my writing skills were a bit better.

 

As for other inks Windsor and Newton Black India Ink may be worth a try if a very black India ink with a dip pen is desired.

 

Writes well with a dip calligraphy nib at least and should be a good long lasting document type ink.

[Randal6393]

I write fairly regulary with a dip pen and many many years ago bought a quart bottle of Joplins Blue Black ink.

 

Joplin was an old Australian chemical company long gone.

 

This ink must be an iron gall as it darkens after an hour or so and flows well on the steel nib.

 

Can write about a line or so between dips.

 

One observation, find it better to give the inkwell a shake before writing or else the ink is a bit faint.

 

Generally find this old ink writes better on a wider range of different papers than some other inks I have experimented with.

Instead of shaking, try stirring the iron-gall inks. Some IG inks settle slightly and shaking puts particules into suspension that are not good for a fountain pen. Stirring mixes the ink in a gentler fashion. Don't know if modern fountain pen inks settle out quite the way the older, dip pen inks do but ...

 

Enjoy,

[peecee57]

I use Jacksons india ink for my dip pens and find it writes nicely and was inexpensive from the bay just before xmas, I'm also having a go at making my own IG ink and have a small batch "brewing" at the moment. I also kept our walnut shells from xmas and will try making some ink from those as well

[lapis]

I don't like the Diamine Registrars because I find it too dry. One more reason to use it (if at all) with a dip pen but never in a FP.