Can Dip Pens Use Fountain Pen Ink?

[SujiCorp12345]

Hi everyone; I was thinking of purchasing some dip pen nibs and a nib holder just to practice some calligraphy. (If it matters, the nibs are made by Brause) I was just wondering if normal fountain pen ink works with those, or would I be better off buying some calligraphy ink? (like http://www.wonderpens.ca/Rohrer_Klingner_Deep_Blue_Calligraphy_Ink_p/28730100.htm for example?) Thanks.

[FountainPages]

Short answer...yes. Though, years ago (50 plus) my Da used India ink for his calligraphy.

Edited January 14, 2015 by FountainPages

[Randal6393]

Well, that all depends. Usually, yes. But it may be more trouble.

 

First, what type of calligraphy? Are you doing broad-edged pens? For italic, fraktur, round-hand, etc? Since the pen does not flex to give you thicks and thins, well, any good ink should work out well. After a few trials, you will develop your likes and dislikes.

 

If you are learning Spencerian or Copperplate or another script that depends on flex, you might have trouble getting the flex thick and thins right. May have to add water, gum arabic, change inks, etc. There are many good inks specifically designed for flex work, not too expensive and eliminate a lot of problems.

 

Enjoy,

[KBeezie]

Edit: Yes, but they may be too thin for dip nibs (nothing 'bad' about using them, just won't perform well)

Edited January 14, 2015 by KBeezie

[Maurizio]

Yes.

 

Take a look at Noodler's Borealis Black or Private Reserve Velvet Black if you want to use black. I've used both with Brause nibs; they work fine. Very nice, viscous blacks.

 

I've also used Noodler's Ottoman Rose, Noodler's Blue, and Baystate Blue with dip pens.

[dcwaites]

Some inks - Yes,

Most inks - No.

 

The problem is that many inks, including all the more saturated ones, include a relatively large amount of wetting agent. This causes the ink to flow too quickly off a dip nib, causing blobs.

 

Inks that I have found work well are - Parker Quink Permanent Black, Sheaffer Skrip Blue, Sailor Jentle Blue and Noodler's (bulletproof) Black.

 

Other inks, including the rest of the Noodler's inks, all the Private Reserve and Diamine inks flow too much to be useful in most dip pens.

You might be able to dilute some of the Diamine inks to get them to behave, but I haven't tried it.

[Fountainer]

I have two italic dip pens. They don't work nearly well enough with fountain pen inks: Parker, Pelikan, Montblanc. So i went to bookstore to see if there is dip pen ink but all i found was an ink ment for both fountain pens and dip pens! I can't see how would it be any better than my own inks so i didn't buy it. So my dip pens are still useless.

[Maurizio]

I have used the above listed Noodler's and Private Reserve Ink with Brause italic dip nips with no problems of blotting. If you use the Brause nibs with their reservoir, and let the excess ink off before you start writing, you should have no problems. I've never had those inks blot when I've used them with my Brause dip nibs.

 

Of course you have to "prep" any dip nips before writing wth them for the first time to get manufacturing oils off the nibs. If any of this oil remains, the nibs will blot, but this is caused by oil on the nibs, not the fountain pen ink. There are various methods for getting the oil off: 1: quick pass over a lighter or match flame; 2 - sucking on them for a couple of minutes; 3 - rinsing with diluted dish soap and ammonia solution.

I have used methods 2 & 3 and have been nervous about method one only because I'm afraid I'll damage the nibs.

[Algester]

depends on the nib too if your using just a standard spoon nib yes even FP inks will work but if your going for copperplate/spencerian type calligraphy not all inks will work where flow has to be in the zone where there's no too much flow or too less flow

[Maurizio]

I stand corrected Algester. I can't speak about the efficacy of fountain pen ink with dip nibs for any form of calligraphy except italic. That's the only form I practice.

 

I should have made that clear in my posts.

I have had no issues using fountain pen ink with Brause dip nibs in practicing italic calligraphy. I hope to learn Spencerian someday, but want to master italic first.

[ac12]

In my pointed nibs (like Nikko G and Esterbrook 556), I can use all of my FP inks. I use several for my pen pal letters on a regular basis.

I do use my dip pen inks also; Higgins Eternal and Daniel Smith Walnut inks.

[Paddler]

Yes, with reservations. Which ink you can use depends entirely on the design of the nib. Some nibs can only use thin fountain pen inks; they won't write at all with India ink or "calligraphy" inks. The opposite can also be true. You can change a nib from one type to the other by altering the slit width.

[inkstainedruth]

This is an interesting topic, because when I was in Boston over Christmas I happened onto an old Esterbrook dip pen set (2 holders, 5 or 6 different nibs, and what -- IIRC -- is a sort of knife/scraper to scratch mistakes off paper (it's got a diamond shaped head). I was walking back to the T after going shopping at the Bromfield Pen Shop, and walked past a shop that mostly sold coins and sports memorabilia -- but the Esterbrook set was in the window and caught my eye. And for ten bucks I couldn't resist. The nibs and holders are attached to the original card stock and I suspect they may never have been used, or used only slightly. The paint is coming off one of the holders, but that's mostly cosmetic.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[dcwaites]

Generally those nibs with reservoirs can use a wider range of inks than plain ones like Post Office / School nibs.

Just as with FP nibs, some like a wetter nib, others a drier. My M. Myers Post Office nibs like a very unsaturated, very dry ink, while my Brandauer Scribbler nibs prefer a more 'normal' FP ink.

 

Don't forget that there are generally three types of nibs, those for general writing, which have some flex but not a lot, those for calligraphy which have a lot of flex and those for manga and other drawing, which can be very stiff. These will all need different types of ink, and as I said above, within each type, different brands/models will prefer different inks.

 

Go to this link on the D Leonardt website and click on Dip Pen Nibs or just click on this link to see just the D Leonardt's range of nibs.