Inks That Flow Well In Pilot Pens

[Kuhataparunks]

Iroshizuku Asa gao is a really nice performing ink with a nice solid blue color. I will have to try pilot blue and see how it compares. But Asa gao, it's such a bright yet rich blue, extremely similar to the standard blue ink in a G2(my favorite pen of all time in .38mm)

[Buzz_130]

My Pilot pens have pretty tolerance for a wide range of inks. If you can get Iroshizuku for a reasonable price, you will be very pleased. Waterman is also a go-to ink for many nibmeisters. I use Pelkian 4001 as well, but I find it to be a drier ink.

 

Buzz

[arcadeflow]

Pilot Blue is currently my favorite blue. The color is rich and it behaves wonderfully.

 

Following the numerous recommendations, I went to a small local stationery store and I got a small 30cc (ml) bottle of "Made in Japan" Pilot Blue. I couldn't wait for the cartridges with the same ink that I am going to receive with a new black 78G. So, I used that to try one of my new CON-50 converter in a red medium nib 78G, after flushing the converter and pen. This pen was running Sheaffer Skrip Brown, which on good paper is a quite nice light brown that shades a bit, but it was running a bit dry. Pilot Blue really made it smoother and wetter. I liked the colour, but to me it is really a bit light as a lot of people complain, a little bit washed out. But it is nice. It has a strange smell (black color also has strange smell...). I believe I will keep using Pilot Blue for my serious writings, along with the last Pilot Black cartridge that I have on my Prera, until I can try some Iroshizuku and Waterman, the two inks that are being recommended that I'm interested in. I find Noodler's ink to be interesting, but it is hard to buy large bottles overseas. I am afraid of trying Diamine again because the colours I tried dried out on the Prera and the Metropolitan I used to own. Too bad, because I like their small bottles and price, very friendly to international shipping.

 

Now I have to find some use to my Sheaffer Skrip bottles. I am converting my Petit1's to eyedroppers, so Skrip Turquoise is running wet and ok, Skrip Brown is a little dry sometimes (might be the nib of that particular Petit1), and Skrip Black is almost as wet as Skrip Turquoise. It is strange, because Turquoise and Brown did not flow well in both my fine Prera and my medium 78G. My new Petit1 were horrible with the included cartridges, I had to empty them and flush them a lot. I don't recommend this pen anymore, because it is very hard to flush and dry, and the 3 new ones I got had problems that my first one (blue black color) did not. But now after some hard flushing and "nib grinding" on rough kraft paper they seem to write ok. I liked them because their nib never dries and they are very pocketable, and nib was smoother than some other pens I had. So I guess those will remain the reasons I may ever need them, I'd rather have more Prera's because they are also good at not drying up (at least with Pilot ink) and won't give me trouble to flush, are small enough and will last a lot longer. Petit1 is cheap but now I feel that they really won't last long.

 

Now I am sad that I can't use Skrip ink in my nicer Pilot pens, but I will be receiving an Indian Gama Airborne any day and probably that is what I am gonna use to ink it up. Being faithful to a brand has its issues. But I like how I can replace nibs and converters more easily. I also understood why a lot of people widen their 78G's feeds with razorblades, it is probably the ink they like that doesn't work too well. While I prefer ink to dry fast, I'd rather have a smoother writing instrument, that is why I am seeking the perfect inks for these pens, flow-wise.

[Newjelan]

Every ink is wonderful in my Pilot Pens.

[arcadeflow]

Every ink is wonderful in my Pilot Pens.

 

Would you please list your most used Pilot Pens and which inks you usually prefer in each?

[Newjelan]

Would you please list your most used Pilot Pens and which inks you usually prefer in each?

I have no brand preference for each as I find these pens so reliable I choose inks solely on colour/preference. Having said that, in my Amber Pilot Custom 823 I usually use Diamine Chocolate Brown.

 

I have all 4 colours of the CH92 and the smoke is filled with Iroshizuku Shin-Kai, while for the others it varies: Visconti Blue, Diamine Majestic Blue, Cult Pens Deep Dark colours, Pelikan Edelstein Topaz, numerous Iroshizuku colours and MB Einstein and Carlo Collodi.

 

My Vanishing Point always has a Pilot Blue-Black cartridge in it.

 

My Falcons have Iroshizuku Yama Budo or MB Irish Green in them at the moment.

 

My 2 Pilot Peras have Blue-Black and Pelikan Edelstein Amber respectively.

 

The 78G is filled with Diamine Beethoven (Music Set).

 

These are just examples.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Newjelan

[arcadeflow]

I have no brand preference for each as I find these pens so reliable I choose inks solely on colour/preference. Having said that, in my Amber Pilot Custom 823 I usually use Diamine Chocolate Brown.

 

I have all 4 colours of the CH92 and the smoke is filled with Iroshizuku Shin-Kai, while for the others it varies: Visconti Blue, Diamine Majestic Blue, Cult Pens Deep Dark colours, Pelikan Edelstein Topaz, numerous Iroshizuku colours and MB Einstein and Carlo Collodi.

 

My Vanishing Point always has a Pilot Blue-Black cartridge in it.

 

My Falcons have Iroshizuku Yama Budo or MB Irish Green in them at the moment.

 

My 2 Pilot Peras have Blue-Black and Pelikan Edelstein Amber respectively.

 

The 78G is filled with Diamine Beethoven (Music Set).

 

These are just examples.

 

What nib sizes do you have in those Prera's and 78G? I believe the other Pilots work better with "any ink", but that particular feed used in those two models (and the Metropolitan/Knight/Plumix/Penmanship) might have bad flow with some inks. But it probably gets worse if you don't use your pens very often, so that is why a lot of people don't notice. The Vanishing Point might have problems sometimes, I've seen people complaining (and you mentioned you only use Pilot ink with it, so that should not show a problem to you). I am probably being too picky, I want my pens to "never" dry and have great flow, because I don't really use them every day but I love it when I do.

[KBeezie]

 

What nib sizes do you have in those Prera's and 78G? I believe the other Pilots work better with "any ink", but that particular feed used in those two models (and the Metropolitan/Knight/Plumix/Penmanship) might have bad flow with some inks. But it probably gets worse if you don't use your pens very often, so that is why a lot of people don't notice. The Vanishing Point might have problems sometimes, I've seen people complaining (and you mentioned you only use Pilot ink with it, so that should not show a problem to you). I am probably being too picky, I want my pens to "never" dry and have great flow, because I don't really use them every day but I love it when I do.

 

Plus I'd like to see that VP work with "any ink", which is an even smaller feed than the metro/etc. Will it take most of Noodler's Bulletproof inks or Diamine's Registrar ink?

Edited August 28, 2014 by KBeezie

[Kuhataparunks]

It may sound like a broken record, but I really like Iroshizuku Asa-Gao. It is so well behaved, always writes on the first stroke, and is a long shot better than Aurora Black, what I originally had.

Even the cartridge inks are nothing compared to the Iro ink I have.

[Lordarka]

In my Falcons, I have used -

- Iroshizuku Take Sumi, Kiri Same, Momiji

- Pilot black ink

- Diamine Red Dragon

- Aurora Black

 

In my Sterling, I have tried -

- Pilot Black

- Parker Quink (Black)

- Mont Blanc Toffee Brown, Black

 

In my 88th Anniversary Maki-e, I've only used Iroshizuku Take Sumi.

 

Pilots and Namikis aren't picky, and all of the inks described above generate wet, flowy, yet controlled lines from all of my Pilot pens.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Lordarka

[Lordarka]

It may sound like a broken record, but I really like Iroshizuku Asa-Gao. It is so well behaved, always writes on the first stroke, and is a long shot better than Aurora Black, what I originally had.

Even the cartridge inks are nothing compared to the Iro ink I have.

 

Iroshizukus are sublime, and Asa Gao is out control beautiful. I use that in my Mont Blanc, Lamy, and Porsche-Design/FaberCastell pens. Best blue I have ever used, though the Mont Blanc Blue-Black is a little more violet in character.

[KBeezie]

Just thought I'd add this here. Trying to find something that'd flows well in my dry VP 14K Fine nib (nib unit's fault more likely as I'm not sure they're all that dry out of the box), I figured why not fill it with some Black Eel since I have a full bottle of it (and I only have it in one other pen).

 

Actually flowing quite decently and can squiggle a block, and feels a bit smoother than with the Tsuki-yo (due to the lubrication I'm sure).

 

[Newjelan]

What nib sizes do you have in those Prera's and 78G? I believe the other Pilots work better with "any ink", but that particular feed used in those two models (and the Metropolitan/Knight/Plumix/Penmanship) might have bad flow with some inks. But it probably gets worse if you don't use your pens very often, so that is why a lot of people don't notice. The Vanishing Point might have problems sometimes, I've seen people complaining (and you mentioned you only use Pilot ink with it, so that should not show a problem to you). I am probably being too picky, I want my pens to "never" dry and have great flow, because I don't really use them every day but I love it when I do.

My Peras both have CM nibs. I prefer wet pens and the Peras are drier than my higher end Pilots but still ok. I'm more likely to use Iroshizuku or Diamine inks in these, mainly because of the shading with the Nib.

 

The 78G has a B (stub) nib. I'm not really a fan of this pen as I hate the squeeze converter which see,s to be beyond me to fill, but it currently has Diamine Beethoven (Music Set) in it and it's fine.

 

As for the VP, mine is blue and has a medium, gold nib. This is a seriously wet pen and the nib is a wide medium. If I'm not using a Pilot Blue-Black cartridge in it, I tend to fill it with Diamine Majestic Blue. I use a cartridge because it's my "on the road" meeting pen and the cartridge is easy and I love the colour when used in this wet pen.

 

My 823 is a little too wet for my liking and I've found Noodlers Walnut seems to work ok. Pilot (Namiki) Blue (which came with the pen) gushed out of this pen and it bled and feathered badly on Rhodia paper.

 

OTOH, my Custom Heritage 92s are perfect in every way.

[Tas]

No issues using any ink in any of my Pilot fountain pens . . . except my Vanishing Point.

 

All kinds of nonsense with that pen until I used Pilot Black ink. Yum. Now it's problem free.

[KBeezie]

No issues using any ink in any of my Pilot fountain pens . . . except my Vanishing Point.

 

All kinds of nonsense with that pen until I used Pilot Black ink. Yum. Now it's problem free.

Pilot black was too dry and skipping in my VP which was confusing the heck out of me leading to several flush attempts and what not, simply put Pilot black didn't want to flow in Mt VP fine nib, yet iroshizuku tsuki-yo and noodler's black eel seem to be doing fine. But in a metropolitan fine or pilot elite EF, no problem with Pilot black. I think the VP feeds from one to the other can be wonky without someone adjusting beforehand.

[Tas]

Just out of interest. Are you cartridge or converter?
I couldn't get anything to work with a converter in my VP. I refill cartridges now.

[Newjelan]

Just out of interest. Are you cartridge or converter?

I couldn't get anything to work with a converter in my VP. I refill cartridges now.

I never refill cartridges as I find cleaning them such a pain. I've had no problems with either the cartridges or the converter with my VP, sounds like I must have been lucky.

[pbhat]

My Pilot VP with bold nib is giving its best performance with a Pilot ink.

Pbhat

[KBeezie]

Just out of interest. Are you cartridge or converter?

I couldn't get anything to work with a converter in my VP. I refill cartridges now.

 

I do a bit of both. The converters need to go in very firmly for it to work best, which helps to twist it in clockwise (not counterclockwise or you might unscrew the back of the converter), so that it goes in as far as it can. Otherwise it has issues.

 

I never refill cartridges as I find cleaning them such a pain. I've had no problems with either the cartridges or the converter with my VP, sounds like I must have been lucky.

 

Cartridges are actually easier to refill and clean than converters in my opinion, especially converters with a agitator in them. The trick is using a syringe to rinse the back of them (the same syringe you'd use to fill them, since you're going to have to flush both of them out eventually).

[ailevin]

I am new to Pilot pens, but in the past couple weeks I've acquired a sample of their pens in the low to medium-high price range ($4-$150) simply because I wanted to try them out.

• Petite 1 in F
• Mertopolitan in M
• Decimo in F (I gather this has same internals as Vanishing Point)
• Custom 74 in F

I generally prefer EF with fairly wet flow in a European or American pen, and Pilot F suits me well. The steel nib Petite 1 write noticeably broader than the gold nibbed Decimo or Custom 74.

 

My go to ink in both vintage and modern pens for years was Waterman Serenity Blue, (WSB, the ink formerly known as Florida Blue) and WSB writes nicely in Decimo and Custom 74. My only complaint about WSB is that is washes off paper easier than it washes off hands.

About six months ago I settled on Noodler's Black (it's their basic black sometimes called Bullet Proof Black) and Namiki Blue as my more permanent inks after sampling a number of blacks and blues. Both have the permanence I want, behave well in pens, clean up well in pens and especially on hands, and their hues are what I want in a black and a blue. The Namiki Blue flows a little wetter and tends to write a slightly broader line on paper with a given nib. Both work nicely in the Decimo and Custom 74. I haven't tried Namiki black (I have a couple cartridges that came with the pens), but the Namiki Blue-Black has very similar flow to Namiki Blue. Metropolitan has only had Namiki Blue in it, and Petite 1 has had Namiki Blue-Black and Namiki Blue in it. I've also mixed up my own Blue-Black made of 90% Namiki Blue and 10% Noodler's Black and it pretty much behaves like Namiki Blue.

 

The only ink that I use somewhat regularly that is a little finicky is Noodler's 54th Massachusetts. In some pens I have had to dilute it to get the flow right, and in many pens it shows a lot of nib creep. I recently loaded it into my Custom 74 and so far it is behaving very nicely. It shows a fair amount of shading since the Pilot gold nibs have a bit of flex and even some line variation with pressure.

 

My recommendation is WSB if you want something washable and Namiki Blue if you want something permanent. All my pens seem happy with both, and neither ink is pricey. I have also had good experience and zero problems with Noodler's Black in any of my pens vintage or modern. I actually use a fair amount of black ink. BTW, Noodler's Black and WSB are the best behaved on all grades of paper in terms of bleed and feathering, with Namiki Blue showing just a bit more feathering on cheap paper. WSB is the fastest drying followed closely by Namiki Blue and the Noodler's Black does take longer to dry, but nothing outrageous. There are lots of reviews of these inks around for more details.