Inkjet Printer Ink

[caslon]

I have a bunch of inkjet printers, they use 11 colors of ink in 700ml cartridges. When the printer says empty(they are chipped to die) there is still 3 to 4 ounces of ink in the 'empty' cart. Put some of this ink in my pen and it flows nicely, very strongly pigmented, but it feathers a lot.

Any ideas on what I can do to make the ink usable for fountain pens?

 

Thanks

 

Gary

[Connly33]

I really don't suggest using inkjet printer ink in a fountain pen, at least if your using a pen that wasn't super inexpensive. There are a few issues, the inks can be either unsafely acidic, or unsafely basic for certain parts of the pen, causing corrosion or etching.

 

There isn't really a way to keep it from feathering either, the inks are usually not water/dye based, they use pigments (that can clog your pen) and some printer inks are solvent based. changing the way they adsorb into the paper.

[Chrissy]

Printer ink isn't safe to use in fountain pens. Only use fountain pen ink.

[dompred]

I had tried it once, black HP ink. It feathered a lot, there was some bleedthrough and eventually it clogged my pen. Luckily it was a very cheap pen so I didn't mind losing it.

[pjo]

I think this topic is interesting. There are obviously those out there who would never dream of using anything but "fountain pen ink" in their pens , and then there are others who (being more adventurous) like to explore the possibilities.

 

Printer ink can be made with either pigment, or dye. Also it can be solvent based, or water based. So you need to find out what it is made of.

There should be no problems in fountain pens if the ink is both dye and water based. ( I would stay away from solvent based printer inks, or those coloured with pigment).

 

However ink-jet printer ink almost always have surfactants in them that make them very "wet", and they bleed badly. I'm not sure there is a good answer to this problem. Adding water to the dye can help but often not enough. Using a fine to very fine nib in a "dry" pen feed seems to also help a bit. Obviously the less ink a pen lays down on the paper the less the feathering and bleeding problem.

 

Personally I haven't found a satisfactory solution to the problem, so I would be interested in knowing if anyone has succeeded in successfully increasing the surface tension of these inks so they no longer feather or bleed.

 

(If you just want to use the inks up, then you could add Gum Arabic to thicken the ink and use them only for dip nibs).

[Chrissy]

If I had a fountain pen that I really didn't like or value, I would rather give it away than try out printer ink in it. It's not like there aren't any reasonably priced fountain pen inks out there to try out, that are at least safe to use in fountain pens.

[pjo]

If I had a fountain pen that I really didn't like or value, I would rather give it away than try out printer ink in it. It's not like there aren't any reasonably priced fountain pen inks out there to try out, that are at least safe to use in fountain pens.

 

That's fine Chrissy! No one is forced to do what they are not happy doing, and I would never advocate otherwise.

 

I personally enjoy experimenting with inks and, by being careful, have had no problems what-so-ever with water based /dye based printer ink, except for the feathering problem (which I have also experienced to a lesser extent with some well known fountain pen ink brands). It's simply a matter of only using inks compatible with fountain pens. I personally would never use India ink (or other dip pen inks), drawing inks, and such like in my fountain pens. but some ink-jet inks are safe, and some not. If in doubt, I just don't use it.

 

As to the price of inks, I think the original question related to using up inks that might otherwise be thrown away (ie free), which is a perfectly reasonable question to ask. Also, unfortunately, not all countries enjoy the low prices and choice of inks you are lucky to have in the UK. Here in New Zealand the only ink I can buy in a shop is Parker Quink and even then I have a 220 Km trip to buy it. So I tend to buy online, (but postage pushes the price up enormously, and technically sending liquids by NZ Post is generally prohibited, although some Courier companies will do it).

[FrMark]

I'd tend to think inkjet ink would be great for dip pens where clogging isn't as much of an issue.

[Corona688]

Try some gum arabic or methylcellulose to thicken it up.

[Beechwood]

Printer ink contains stuff that is not good for pens, use it with dip pens with alacrity but not for regular pens.

 

In addition the ink as you have found will feather quite badly, even under strong dilution there is nothing that can be done, the feathering will remain.

[John Saul]

I recommend you not to use Inkjet printer ink on your fountain pen. I also used to do the same until I found out that the writing quality is affected by the ink. I recommend you buy fountain pen's ink and you will see the difference.