It's My Party And I'll Buy Ink If I Want To... Buy Ink If I Want To...

[dcwaites]

 

Can you tell me more about any powdered inks that you know about? I only know about the

Thistle Blue/Black that was offered years ago and is now gone, and about someone who was going to sell powdered inks some years ago, but I think the project got derailed.

 

Powdered inks really save on shipping. I can buy distilled water nearby for a lot less than it costs to ship some with dyes in it .

 

Pretty well all the vintage powdered inks (Webster Diamine Blue-Black (iron-gall), Simpson's Powdered Inks, Thistle Blue-Black, Angus Blue-Black) have all disappeared from eBay. Very occasionally a set of pen holders, nibs and a packet of Thistle Blue-Black appears on ebay vendor Vanviking's page.

 

A manufacturer has been trying to do something with new powdered inks. It appears that the problem is complexity. The vintage inks were very simple in formulation as they were designed for dip pens. The modern inks are designed for fountain pens and need extra components like flowing agent and biocide which did not mix evenly in the batch of powder. More work is still ongoing.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

 

Pretty well all the vintage powdered inks (Webster Diamine Blue-Black (iron-gall), Simpson's Powdered Inks, Thistle Blue-Black, Angus Blue-Black) have all disappeared from eBay. Very occasionally a set of pen holders, nibs and a packet of Thistle Blue-Black appears on ebay vendor Vanviking's page.

 

A manufacturer has been trying to do something with new powdered inks. It appears that the problem is complexity. The vintage inks were very simple in formulation as they were designed for dip pens. The modern inks are designed for fountain pens and need extra components like flowing agent and biocide which did not mix evenly in the batch of powder. More work is still ongoing.

 

Okay, thanks for that. I probably have more than enough ink for now anyway. But it would be nice to get some powdered ink to go along with the Thistle Blue/Black that I have.

 

I've wondered how Thistle Blue/Black kept things from growing in it. I guess the answer is that it doesn't. So far I have been lucky in this regard. I'm still working my way through my first packet of the ink. It's my testing ink for new fountain pens, since I can flush it out pretty easily.

[amberleadavis]

None of the Thistle ever seems to have gone bad. I added a lot of phenol to mine, but I don' think it was necessary.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

None of the Thistle ever seems to have gone bad. I added a lot of phenol to mine, but I don' think it was necessary.

 

I haven't added anything to my Thistle Blue/Black ink, and I've been lucky so far.

 

Since I mix inks a lot I have an isolation protocol in effect here. I never dip a pen in a primary ink bottle. I decant some ink into smaller bottles and dip the pen into that. Once ink gets decanted it never goes back into the primary ink bottle. And for refilling cartridges I use individual blunt needles for most of the inks. For the more watery inks I do have a single blunt needle, but I clean and dry that thoroughly before I use it again.

 

I got SITB in one ink bottle and it was like that when I bought it, unfortunately. Since they're out of business now I feel all right saying that it was a bottle of Legal Blue from Art Brown. I'm glad that I didn't make some big mix with that ink.

[dcwaites]

My original batch of Thistle was made according to the instructions, one sachet to 1 quart of hot water. Since then, the lid is only rarely off, so the chance of nasties getting in has been small.

 

However, when you consider the original intention of the ink, to supply a whole roomful of clerks with ink for their dippin' ink wells, I would be surprised if it would ever have had the chance to go off before the next batch was made. And this would have been a job for the "Junior Boy".

[Ink Stained Wretch]

My original batch of Thistle was made according to the instructions, one sachet to 1 quart of hot water. Since then, the lid is only rarely off, so the chance of nasties getting in has been small.

 

However, when you consider the original intention of the ink, to supply a whole roomful of clerks with ink for their dippin' ink wells, I would be surprised if it would ever have had the chance to go off before the next batch was made. And this would have been a job for the "Junior Boy".

 

Back when I was getting started with the Thistle ink I had read here on FPN that someone had found that the prescribed formula of one quart of hot water to one packet of ink was good for dip pens, but produced a quite weak looking ink for fountain pens. So from talking to others up here I went for making a lot less than a quart. I made about 315 mL of Thistle Blue/Black ink when I did it. That's about 10.7 fluid ounces.

 

It looks like the blue/black ink of my youth at that concentration.

 

I decant all of my inks into smaller bottles, so the inks are pretty much sequestered. No problems with the apparently biocide-free Thistle Blue/Black so far .

[Kiaxa]

Some great birthday ink for me to get would be Pelikan Edelstein Amethyst and J. Herbin 1670 Emerald of Chivor or Stormy Grey. Getting a Diamine box set would be awesome too.

[dcwaites]

 

Back when I was getting started with the Thistle ink I had read here on FPN that someone had found that the prescribed formula of one quart of hot water to one packet of ink was good for dip pens, but produced a quite weak looking ink for fountain pens. So from talking to others up here I went for making a lot less than a quart. I made about 315 mL of Thistle Blue/Black ink when I did it. That's about 10.7 fluid ounces.

 

It looks like the blue/black ink of my youth at that concentration.

 

I decant all of my inks into smaller bottles, so the inks are pretty much sequestered. No problems with the apparently biocide-free Thistle Blue/Black so far .

 

That would have been me. What you did is now what I suggest, as you can always dilute it down 2:1 and 3:1 to make a nice blue/black/green ink and a good dip pen ink.

[chewytulip]

As a happy-birthday-to-me, I'd time travel back to that moment in time when Sailor Jentle Apricot was sitting in my digital cart, and I'd hit "buy" this time, and I'd never look back.

[jmccarty3]

As a happy-birthday-to-me, I'd time travel back to that moment in time when Sailor Jentle Apricot was sitting in my digital cart, and I'd hit "buy" this time, and I'd never look back.

 

+1, along with MB JFK, Sailor Cigar, and a host of others. As part of my time travel, I'd go back to a time when the government allowed me to take proper care of my patients and to keep my medical records with my fountain pens.

[kmeredith923]

Hmmm. Certainly Herbin Emerald de Chivor, a few of the Diamine shimmer inks like Magical Forest, Blue Pearl, Shimmering Seas, Blue Lightning, Night Sky, Purple Pizzazz... really anything shimmery (silver shimmer is preferred over gold) Noodler's Blue Ghost (it's so cool, but it's not very practical, so only here in dream land) any Pelikan Edelstein except Mandarin and Onyx, R&K Smaragdgrun, Noodler's Squetegue and Black Swan in Australian Roses.

Wow. I have an addiction. Maybe I need to learn to make my own shimmery inks like some of you do so I can save money?

I'd also really like a Monteverde Invincia in blue with a 1.1mm italic stub.. and the Noodler's artist pack of nibs.

[Runnin_Ute]

For my birthday this year (March), I actually did buy some inks. Four of the five Blackstone Colours of Australia inks. Barrier Reef Blue, Sydney Harbour Blue, Uluru Red, and Daintree Green in 30 ml bottles.

 

But since we are in fantasy land here...... Parker Penman Mocha. Have had a chance to try it and understand why it is so coveted.

 

Maybe it was the pen I had it in but PP Sapphire was a bit of a disappointment for me. (I like BRB better) I had a cartridge of it that came with a P45 I bought. It was a pretty narrow nib in the pen I had it in so may not have had the full experience. (F or EF)

 

That being said I wouldn't pay $100 for even a full unopened bottle of Sapphire or Mocha. I got a bottle of Diamine Saddle Brown as a "close enough" replacement for it.

[chromantic]

Hmm, Levenger Pinkly?