Ink Drying On Tomoe River -- Post Your Experience

[DaveBj]

There has been a discussion on the Facebook side about how certain inks are slow to try on Tomoe River paper, even to the point of being smearable days after having been written. Let's start posting our experiences. Give us the ink brand and color name, the pen and nib size, and any other information you think might be useful.

 

I'll go first:

 

J. Herbin Lie de The from a Sailor 21 Pocket Pen (F), very slow. There are shiny bits still after 4-5 minutes.

 

 

[DaveBj]

Noodler's Blue Eel from a Kaweco Sport M -- quick-drying, the entire line is dry by the time I'm half-way through the next line.

[DaveBj]

Diamine Graphite from a Pilot Prera F, dries almost instantly.

[J85909266]

I have seen this issue with certain Diamine inks like Majestic Blue and Oxblood will just never dry on Tomoe. Others handle it just fine.

[DaveBj]

The generic ink that comes in the Pilot Varsity Pink dries almost instantly.

 

(Caveat -- This is not the pure pink ink; it has been darkened with a half mil of Quink Black.)

[mmg122]

Actually, I quit using Tomoe River paper due to this issue. I can't relate any specific inks but it seemed that most of the ones I used took forever to dry. Diamine and Sailor inks are the ones I most commonly use.

[MKB]

Noodlers Habanero written with a Lamy Al-Star medium didn't completely dry over the length of a full movie. I still use it and blot with a paper towel before putting it in the envelope.

 

I had more problems when I initially used this paper. Maybe I was using more wet pens, like an Ahab, or maybe the top few sheets were more ink resistant. In any case it seems like much less of a problem now. I rarely have the shiny spots all over my sheets that I used to unless I'm using Habanero.

[migo984]

Only experience slow drying with inks that dry equally slowly on other surface-sized papers, such as CF Triomphe. In fact, some inks, such as Diamine Sargasso Sea and Midnight, are slow to dry on nearly all sized papers suitable for fountain pens. . TR is no worse, or better.

[FOUR X FOUR]

DaveBj, don't get rid of your Tomoe River paper. Get a blotter. Problem solved

[Legal Eagle]

I've experienced this where it would smear days after being written. I personally don't think that the isn't dry, I figure it's the non absorbent nature of the ink. Some of the ink is just sitting on top rather than being absorbed, so it's still smear-able.

[DaveBj]

DaveBj, don't get rid of your Tomoe River paper. Get a blotter. Problem solved

 

Get rid of my TR? Not gonna happen! In fact, I'm about to order another couple pads. As for blotting, if I need to, I carefully lay a sheet of paper towel over the written page and press down. I've been thinking about getting a rocker blotter.

 

 

I've experienced this where it would smear days after being written. I personally don't think that the isn't dry, I figure it's the non absorbent nature of the ink. Some of the ink is just sitting on top rather than being absorbed, so it's still smear-able.

 

An interesting take on the situation. It is a little hard to accept that ink on paper could still be "wet" (i.e., liquid water still remaining) some hours after the writing process. That's sort of why I started this thread, to identify those inks that do dry well on TR and those that do not, and maybe along the way we can figure what it is about those that do not dry well that causes it.

[inkstainedruth]

The two I remember having the most problems with were PR DC Supershow Blue and DC Electric Blue. Both were still smudgy after a MONTH on Tomoe River paper. I think both of those may be slow drying inks to begin with; and with the slick surface of TR paper, there was nowhere for the top layers of ink to go -- they just sat.

I love the color of DCSSB, but I won't buy a bottle of it just for that reason.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[DaveBj]

Baystate Blue from a 0.3-mm Preppy -- quick-drying, no problems.

[DaveBj]

Several more inks:

 

Parker Quink Black (from a Varsity and a Jinhao X450 M), Noodler's Brilliant Brown (from a Preppy 0.3), and Diamine Poppy Red (from a Guider Ebonite F) all very fast drying

[yogalarva]

A few that I know dry quickly are Pilot Blue-black and Sailor Sei Boku. Also, pencil is like instantly dry, it's crazy...

 

What I really have trouble with is the Pilot Juice. It's my favorite gel pen and it will dry eventually, but a bit too slowly for my use.

[Legal Eagle]

An interesting take on the situation. It is a little hard to accept that ink on paper could still be "wet" (i.e., liquid water still remaining) some hours after the writing process. That's sort of why I started this thread, to identify those inks that do dry well on TR and those that do not, and maybe along the way we can figure what it is about those that do not dry well that causes it.

 

I'm not sure if I explained that well. What I meant to say is that the ink is no longer "Wet" or in liquid form, but some didn't absorb and is waiting to be smudged easily. I think we're on the same page.

[edebill]

Noodlers Habanero written with a Lamy Al-Star medium didn't completely dry over the length of a full movie. I still use it and blot with a paper towel before putting it in the envelope.

 

I had more problems when I initially used this paper. Maybe I was using more wet pens, like an Ahab, or maybe the top few sheets were more ink resistant. In any case it seems like much less of a problem now. I rarely have the shiny spots all over my sheets that I used to unless I'm using Habanero.

 

Weird. I've been using habanero on some Tomoe River loose leaf with a FPR Indus Flex (super incredibly wet) for flex practice lately and it dries just fine.

 

My problem was Noodler's Nightshade, which would still smudge hours later when written with a very fine nib.

[MKB]

Oh yeah, Nightshade was the other one that was really unbelievably smeary the next day. I remember leaving the sheets of a letter lying all around over night to dry. I started out with a few inks that didn't do well with Tomoe and thought, "what's all the excitement about?" Fortunately, I tried other inks and realized I had some unlucky first choices.

[inkstainedruth]

Tried some inks last night at my pen club meeting. One relatively new ink out there was a standout (but weirdly, both pro and con...). Anderson Pens Green Bay (made by Scribal Work Shops) is very slow drying (it was slow drying on even the poorer quality Piccadilly sketchbook paper!) -- but has this amazing silvery sheen on Tomoe River paper. And this with being in a pen with a fine nib....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[DaveBj]

 

I'm not sure if I explained that well. What I meant to say is that the ink is no longer "Wet" or in liquid form, but some didn't absorb and is waiting to be smudged easily. I think we're on the same page.

 

We are on the same page; your explanation was just fine