Shimmer Inks, Are They Safe For Good Pens?

[pajaro]

Are shimmer inks safe for use in good pens, like a Parker 51, a Montblanc 144, etc., or are they better used in pens you don't care about?

[inkstainedruth]

Well, I don't know about for the pens you mentioned, but I have put shimmer inks in an older Pelican M100 with a 1 mm nib and not thought twice about it. Admittedly, that's a pen where I can remove the nib unit to soak if necessary.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pajaro]

Well, I don't know about for the pens you mentioned, but I have put shimmer inks in an older Pelican M100 with a 1 mm nib and not thought twice about it. Admittedly, that's a pen where I can remove the nib unit to soak if necessary.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

1 mm is pretty broad. The nibs I actually use are fine or extra fine. I don't know if nib width would matter. I just don't want to clog nibs. I think I will use those inks in the pens I don't care about, meaning anything other than 51s or 144s.

[Cyber6]

1 mm is pretty broad. The nibs I actually use are fine or extra fine. I don't know if nib width would matter. I just don't want to clog nibs. I think I will use those inks in the pens I don't care about, meaning anything other than 51s or 144s.

 

Nib width does matter and ink flow is very important (wetter is better). BUT.. the most important feature for a pen you are thinking in putting glittery ink... is how easy is to take apart (nib, feed.. etc)..

 

Doesn't matter how amazingly well the ink flows.. at one point, you will have to clean it and those gold/silver dust particles need to be scrubbed from feeds.

 

To summarize, it doesn't matter if you care about the pen or not, if expensive or not.. the only things that matters is, if you can take the pen apart for proper and thorough cleaning.

 

 

C.

[pajaro]

 

Nib width does matter and ink flow is very important (wetter is better). BUT.. the most important feature for a pen you are thinking in putting glittery ink... is how easy is to take apart (nib, feed.. etc)..

 

Doesn't matter how amazingly well the ink flows.. at one point, you will have to clean it and those gold/silver dust particles need to be scrubbed from feeds.

 

To summarize, it doesn't matter if you care about the pen or not, if expensive or not.. the only things that matters is, if you can take the pen apart for proper and thorough cleaning.

 

 

C.

 

That means that a pen with friction fit nib and feed would be best. Pens like Chinese Jinhao x450, Reform, Montblanc 144, Waterman Phileas, Parker Sonnet, would satisfy the need to pull nib and feed for cleaning. Probably nib flossing would be a good idea. I probably willl avoid shimmer inks, sticking with ordinary Sheaffer and Montblanc.

[estie1948]

I was advised by a young man (in his mid to late fifties) who has a pen shop in Dallas, TX, to keep any of these shimmer inks out of any fountain pens I wanted to use on more than one occasion. He suggested the purchase of glass nib pens or cheap dip pen nibs if I just had to use such inks. He also wondered out loud what an old fart like me wanted with inks that were obviously invented for teenage girls.

 

Not being judgmental, just passing along his advice.

 

-David (Estie).

[migo984]

He also wondered out loud what an old fart like me wanted with inks that were obviously invented for teenage girls.

 

Not being judgmental, just passing along his advice.

 

-David (Estie).

na

 

HeHe! I'm an old fart too. I call them My Little Pony inks :-)

[estie1948]

na

 

HeHe! I'm an old fart too. I call them My Little Pony inks :-)

My Little Pony inks! I like that. I have got to remember that. Got me giggling like a teenage girl.

 

-David (Estie).

[Ghost Plane]

Oh good gawd! Now that mental image is burned into my mind!

[pajaro]

I was advised by a young man (in his mid to late fifties) who has a pen shop in Dallas, TX, to keep any of these shimmer inks out of any fountain pens I wanted to use on more than one occasion. He suggested the purchase of glass nib pens or cheap dip pen nibs if I just had to use such inks. He also wondered out loud what an old fart like me wanted with inks that were obviously invented for teenage girls.

 

Not being judgmental, just passing along his advice.

 

-David (Estie).

 

I drew similar conclusions from the information that there is some particulate matter in the shimmer inks. It would clog something somewhere in the feed and reduce the efficiency of ink flow to some extent. With most of the pens I have bought in the last several years, some of them expensive, I am not sure I could tell the difference, because they don't measure up anyway. There are inks other than shimmer that probably have similar effects.

 

I suppose that, since we all get into this to have fun, others might as well go ahead and use shimmer inks, but in very inexpensive pens. Jinhaos and Kaigelus are often very low priced, and the nib and feed can usually be pulled for cleaning.

[Chrissy]

I tend to use them in C/C fillers rather than piston fillers. Although I have tried them out in a couple of piston fillers where I can easily remove the nib and feed to clean them. Reform 1745 for example.

 

It all depends on the feed and the flow of the pen. I've cleaned out some of my pens after using shimmer inks, then taken the nib and feed out to look at it under a loupe, and I've not found any particles left blocking the feed. So they were clean enough with my ear bulb and water clean.

 

On the other hand, I admit I've never used any of them in a Montblanc 146 or 149, because I can't get the nibs/feeds out of those.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I was advised by a young man (in his mid to late fifties) who has a pen shop in Dallas, TX, to keep any of these shimmer inks out of any fountain pens I wanted to use on more than one occasion. He suggested the purchase of glass nib pens or cheap dip pen nibs if I just had to use such inks. He also wondered out loud what an old fart like me wanted with inks that were obviously invented for teenage girls.

 

Not being judgmental, just passing along his advice.

 

-David (Estie).

Whether such inks are 'safe' or not, I like to use them now 'n' then. For this, I keep a small supply of wet, under-$5 cc pens on hand. And I use the same carts over and over.

 

I also make small batches of my own glitterfied ink. It's fun.

[pajaro]

I have many pens mentioned as safe, because the nib and feed can be removed for cleaning. I don't think this is a beginner's task, though, but beginners would certainly learn by doing. Considering what's involved, I don't think I am up for this shimmer ink thing. I am trying to limit pen activities to filling with ink and writing. Thanks for all the input. If there's more info I am interested.

[estie1948]

Whether such inks are 'safe' or not, I like to use them now 'n' then. For this, I keep a small supply of wet, under-$5 cc pens on hand. And I use the same carts over and over.

 

I also make small batches of my own glitterfied ink. It's fun.

Let me temper the advice given me by the pen shop fellow of Dallas,TX with the fact that I stopped in there last spring when passing through and hoped to pick up a bottle of ink he didn't happen to carry and some ink sacs that he was too proud of to part with at a reasonable price. He had a few vintage pens he had "fully restored" without bothering to remove dried ink from the nibs and feeds. He didn't care for my pointing out this oversight. I asked my question about these "new" to me shimmer inks when he had already decided he wasn't going to make a sale to me. Perhaps that had some effect on his attitude and answer.

 

I hope everyone who uses these inks enjoys them and has no ill effects on their pens.

 

Oh good gawd! Now that mental image is burned into my mind!

Oh, Ghost Plane, please know that no one of my years can really giggle like a teenage girl or boy or anything. I do hope that mental image is one you can erase or cover over so that it does not cause you distress. Mingo984's "My Little Pony Inks" comment did tickle me, is all.