Mixing Iroshizuku & Mb Inks

[ThePrecursor]

I recently bought a bottle of MB Royal Blue and while the color is brilliant on good paper (rhodia) on a variety of cheap paper and notebooks that I use the color is a bit light. So I thought about mixing in a darker blue ink to add some contrast. I have Iroshizuku shin-kai and was thinking about mixing 2 parts MBRB: 1 part Iro S-K. Is this safe to do? And has anyone done anything similar to good results?

[Chrissy]

I have mixed several inks of different manufacture, with no problems. I suggest you start with a sample tube and go from there

[ThePrecursor]

I have mixed several inks of different manufacture, with no problems. I suggest you start with a sample tube and go from there

I've got some airtight vials big enough to fit in a nib/feed+section; how do you generally transfer the ink? Using funnels or syringes?

[dynCysgodol]

I personally use a ink syringe when mixing. You can find some good ones at GouletPens.com, if you dont have any http://www.gouletpens.com/gpc-inksyringe/p/GPC-InkSyringe

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Hmmm...

 

While I have blonde optimism that it should be OK, I am concerned that the Pilot inks are quite alkaline, so might not play nice with the MB ink, whose pH is unknown to me.

 

As ever, its your ink, so have at it, then let us know. If I see a glow on the horizon that's neither sunset nor sunrise, I'll take it that things went pear shaped.

 

Bye,

S1

[Chrissy]

I believe that Mb ink is known to be PH neutral.

 

I transfer ink to sample tubes from bottles using syringes. They can be purchased from Goulet's among others

[inkstainedruth]

General consensus, from what I've read in other threads, is to let the ink sit in the vial for a few days (up to a week, I think), to see if there is any sort of bad interaction, before trying the mix in a pen (and then possibly starting out with a pen that is easy to clean). That being said, I'd very interested in your results: the only MB ink I have is Lavender Purple, which is fairly dry in the one pen I've tried it in so far; the Iroshihzuku inks I've sampled have been relatively wet and free flowing (although I haven't tried Shin-kai yet). Mixing a dry ink and a very wet one could make for a nice "middle of the road" ink as far as flow.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Venemo]

Just make sure to try your mix in a pen that you can take apart and clean - just in case there is some trouble.

[ThePrecursor]

Ah, thanks for the advice guys! I was looking around my house for some leftover lab pipettes but couldn't find any, so I'm getting the syringe from the Goulet's. Also, is it just my bottle of MBRB, because the writing I did with it yesterday looks quite a bit darker now, when it was a purplish-blue before now it is a true royal blue.

[I like mango cheesecake]

My favourite base MB ink to mix is oyster grey. Too bland on its own but when mixed with other colours it gives a very nice muted colour. I made a shade very close to salamander.

[fountainpenlady]

I recently bought a bottle of MB Royal Blue and while the color is brilliant on good paper (rhodia) on a variety of cheap paper and notebooks that I use the color is a bit light. So I thought about mixing in a darker blue ink to add some contrast. I have Iroshizuku shin-kai and was thinking about mixing 2 parts MBRB: 1 part Iro S-K. Is this safe to do? And has anyone done anything similar to good results?

Now, I have not mixed the makers/colors yet, but I mix inks routinely, particularly I mix reds. I mixed most recently a Diamine red with a Montblanc corn poppy. The mixture I rather like. The Diamine selection was a bit too bright, the Montblanc corn poppy was kind of dark and together they make a nice color red that will probably be my first signature color after the Iroshizuku Tsutsuji. Do you have any of the 2ml little vials? You can probably use a syringe and mix in this way, instead of doing something bigger in case you don't like the mixture.

[fountainpenlady]

I've got some airtight vials big enough to fit in a nib/feed+section; how do you generally transfer the ink? Using funnels or syringes?

 

I've got some airtight vials big enough to fit in a nib/feed+section; how do you generally transfer the ink? Using funnels or syringes?

I have used a syringe and I have also used one of those squeeze droppers used to give either a child medicine or small animal. They can be purchased in any drug store. Be careful, the syringe method can be messy. You also don't need to fill the syringe up. You just need a little bit, also, you are using two different inks, so try to gauge much less than half of both inks or you will end up wasting your inks.

[fountainpenlady]

I have mixed several inks of different manufacture, with no problems. I suggest you start with a sample tube and go from there

However, do not mix Noodler's inks with other brands and be careful mixing them with each other.

[carlos.q]

However, do not mix Noodler's inks with other brands and be careful mixing them with each other.

This is a rather broad statement. The Noodler's Baystate inks are no good for mixing (except with each other). Noodler's bulletproof black, however, is a very safe ink which I believe is PH neutral.

 

This thread has got me wondering: would a Iroshizuku-Noodler's mix be safe? I have a bottle of Kon-Peki sitting around unused that I think could benefit with a bit of Noodler's black: not only color-wise but also adding a bit of water resistance...

[Charles Rice]

Why mix all that high priced stuff. Seems like a waste of money.

[carlos.q]

Why mix all that high priced stuff. Seems like a waste of money.

 

Because if I have a bottle of premium ink that doesn't work for me and it only gathers dust on a shelf then the money has truly been wasted!

I bought this ink after reading all the rave reviews but really don't like it. I prefer Asa-Gao. If I can mix Kon-Peki with Noodler's black (or maybe Montblanc Permanent Black) and get a water resistant color that I really like and use... then there won't be any money wasted.

[fountainpenlady]

Why mix all that high priced stuff. Seems like a waste of money.

For me, I have two bottles of Montblanc blue. I have had them for quite a while. I don't use blue at all, so they are just taking up space. I also purchased a small bottle of the Iroshizuku Chiku-rin, which turns out to be a color which is a strange faded green and not impressive. So, might as well mix a little of each together and see what develops. If nothing else, the Chiku-rin will become an entirely new ink newly discovered and unable to be duplicated, for those seconds when red just won't do.

[fountainpenlady]

This is a rather broad statement. The Noodler's Baystate inks are no good for mixing (except with each other). Noodler's bulletproof black, however, is a very safe ink which I believe is PH neutral.

 

This thread has got me wondering: would a Iroshizuku-Noodler's mix be safe? I have a bottle of Kon-Peki sitting around unused that I think could benefit with a bit of Noodler's black: not only color-wise but also adding a bit of water resistance...

I mixed Noodler's Cape Cod Cranberry with J. Herbin Rouge Opera. According to others, Noodler's does not mix well with others and may not mix well with others in the Baystate line itself. But, we are all free and adults. My disaster turned the concoction a muddy, foamy, unrecognizable, describable, unusable mess. Not to mention it also stained my bathroom bowl when I decided to wash it down the sink.

For me, I don't mind messing with Montblanc, or Organics or even Iroshizuku in any combination. Since it seems as if Noodler's may not play nice because of it PH, acidic, (others have given this information, not one I am sharing from knowledge) I not only am not going to mix it with anything ever again, I am not going to use many of Noodler's inks themselves. Yet, to each his/her own. Let us know how that turns out for you, if you decide to mix on the wild side!

[Lou Erickson]

It is reputedly just the Baystate colors that play so badly with others. Other Nooder's mix perfectly usefully. I've mixed Noodler's (Blue Ghost) with Asa-Gao with no ill effects whatsoever.

[mhosea]

It is reputedly just the Baystate colors that play so badly with others. Other Nooder's mix perfectly usefully. I've mixed Noodler's (Blue Ghost) with Asa-Gao with no ill effects whatsoever.

Well, I'll add North African Violets to the list to be cautious with. I'm not a big ink mixer, but I tried a few with NAV. It bubbled and dropped a precipitate. I think it even happened with Midway Blue, so if I remember that right, it is NOT true that you can safely mix WITHIN the V-mail series. Conversely, I've mixed Midway Blue with other inks and had no problems.