Low Quality Paper- Good Inks (And Nibs) For "gubermint Werk"

[adamselene]

Any ideas?

 

I like stubs, but a VP stub with pilot carts didnt work out.

 

cheers,

[LizEF]

Get a fine or medium nib for your VP? If you want to stick with a stub, you could try a Nemosine 0.6mm stub and see if it works.

 

But it's a simple fact that if you have lousy paper, a nib that puts down a lot of ink is going to be a problem.

 

You could try Noodler's Heart of Darkness or X-Feather. Both are pretty good on poor quality paper. (I'm kind of assuming the government requires black - is that the case for you?)

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi Adamsalene,

 

You probably want to look into a Fine nib and a dry ink such as Pelikan 4001 or most J. Herbin inks.

 

Be well and enjoy life. I hope you find a winning combination.

 

 

- Anthony

[AndyYNWA]

Sailor Sei-boku and Kiwa-guro works well on poor paper. Could be worth a try.

[Chrissy]

Hi Adamsalene,

 

You probably want to look into a Fine nib and a dry ink such as Pelikan 4001 or most J. Herbin inks.

 

Be well and enjoy life. I hope you find a winning combination.

 

 

- Anthony

 

+1 for this. A finer nib and a dryer ink will work better on poor paper.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

In addition, a light hand is needed - no carving in stone mate.

 

I use a rather dark Blue-Black ink, so I can put down a small amount of ink and still have good legibility, without bleed- show-through.

 

One of the inks that continues to impress is plain Pilot Blue-Black. Fairly wow-less, but good for grinding grist for the mill. Pelikan 4001 BlBk is always on the top shelf: When you're out of P4BlBk, you're out of ink.

 

Pen? Well I like a Western M, plus when used inverted (feed side up) my nib gives a line narrow enough for poorly designed forms.

 

Depending on your budget/preferences, an Esterbrook J with a Medium 9314 might tickle your fancy; and if tasked with a pile of forms to fill (including idiotic multi-part carbonless), the Estie can be fitted with the 9450 'Steel Driver' nib. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/282704-esterbrook-9450-extra-fine-nib-tines/

 

But if I had to pick another daily writer (and I write a lot) I'd switch to my Sterling Silver Imperial Touchdown. http://www.penhero.com/PenInHand/2010/PenInHandJan2010.htm( ((Don't tell my Sonnet!)

 

Bye,

S1

Edited July 24, 2017 by Sandy1

[KellyMcJ]

I use a Pilot F nib with Skrip Blue Black at the moment. It works pretty well. Nemosine Pleiades Blue Black is dry and very well behaved on bad paper. Neither of these inks are waterproof however.

 

Pilot BB is also great and has much better water resistance than the other two. I chose the other two due to their alcohol resistance, which you may not care about.

[ac12]

Cheap absorbent paper needs

• A dry nib that puts down a stingy amount of ink so the ink won't feather/blot/bleed thought.
  • Forget your stub. A F or EF nib is advised here, to limit the amount of ink put down.
    But note that CHEAP paper tends to have less than smooth surface, so a F or EF nib will feel scratchy on it.
    Can you get the stub to work, maybe, IF you can slow down the ink flow enough.
  • As Sandy said, a light hand, so you don't force the pen to flow more ink.
• A dry ink, that won't get sucked into the paper to feather/blot.
  Some of the IG inks are a good choice here.

But, at a certain point, you have to give up and switch to a gel pen.

To me, it really is not worth fighting JUNK paper.

Edited July 24, 2017 by ac12

[Sandy1]

+1 to Member ac12 (as ever)

 

I was seconded for an assignment at a Co. that used naughty_word paper. I went out and bought a few reams of FP friendly paper during my lunch break. (And they encashed my petty cash chit.)

 

No need to work in a bilge full of water and rats...

 

Bye,

S1

Edited July 24, 2017 by Sandy1

[ralfstc]

I find a Sheaffer snorkel fine is always really useful in this situation. They are on the dry side, often, but the shape of the tip (that Waverley-esque thing they do) makes them smooth writers. Almost like they were designed for it. Oh, wait . . .

 

R.

[Ghost Plane]

Waterman and MB ink worked for me on DoD dreck, but I couldn't go larger than a B (I have a light hand) and used to have a Waterman Carene M nib I kept specifically for forms.

[Ada]

+1 for this. A finer nib and a dryer ink will work better on poor paper.

+2. I'll also second ac12's suggestion that you consider an iron gall ink; I've had very good luck with them on low-quality paper. (I also use EF nibs, so YMMV)

[truthpil]

+1 for an IG ink

 

Get some ESSRI, Platinum Blue-Black (my all-time favorite workhorse), Hero 232 Blue-Black, or one of KWZ's more conservatively colored offerings.

ESSRI can be so dry that you might be able to keep your stub after all. You'll actually need something a little wet so the ink oxidizes to black rather than gray.