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Ink Fading After A Few Lines Of Text


Lon_dubh

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I'd like to share my experience with Graf von Faber-Castell Violet Blue (see the attached image).

 

The pen is freshly inked. The first few lines appear with a good saturated colour. Then the colour gradually bleaks, and remains bleak until the pen is empty. Next time the pen is inked the whole story repeats itself. Still the same with different pens on different paper types.

 

The attached image is a collage: the upper part of the image shows what comes out immediately after inking, the lower part is the same text, written a again after a few pages.

 

Needless to say, I am less than happy with such color inconsistency. I get the impression that when the pen is filled, the coloured particles dissolved in water somehow settle down to the nib/filler, so that most of the colour goes out with the first lines of text, the rest that comes out is just dirty water...

 

Has anyone had this experience? With this or any other ink?

post-138386-0-15759100-1506854351.jpg

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The pen used for my examples is TWSBI 580, 1.1mm stub. I had similar results with Pelikan M200 F.

 

As I said, I observed this only immediately after filling it. After that, I get the bleak colour, even after the pen has stayed unused overnight.

 

Maybe when the pen was dipped in the bottle, the feed kind of attracted more dye, so when the first lines were written, somehow that dye was also deposed on the paper, in addition to what comes from the feed channels? I don't know.

 

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From Noihvo's post, it seems like that is the regular color of the ink. If you dipped the nib to fill it, then yes, the feed may have been extra-saturated and put down a much darker line at first. I had RO Fire & Ice in a TWSBI 1.1mm and experienced the same "fading" appearance as I wrote; I later read that RO inks are often drier than some brands.

 

The paper sometimes affects ink appearance too. Going back to my TWSBI/Fire & Ice issue, I found that Tomoe River paper worked much better (consistent shading and fire halo), while my Clairfontaine journal made the ink look "faded" more often.

 

And while I suppose most inks can be considered dirty water, I don't think that's an accurate description of the way they're created, especially not from a respected brand as GvFC...

I'll come up with something eventually.

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Lon - I agree with Noihvo, what you see in his post is a true Violet blue colour.

...and the shading of this ink, especially on TR paper, is fantastic!

I can't say I had any awkward experience you describe, and I used cartridges. The colour is subtle and consistent all way through - but you may run a small experiment -

Instead of filling through nib, remove the nib unit, syringe fill the pen, screw back the nib and cap. Store cap down 5 min and than start writing.

 

Which colour you prefer? The super saturated or the "true" Violet blue?

If you don't like the true colour - don't bother... you can PIF it.

LETTER EXCHANGE PARTICIPANT

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It's not that I don't like the colour... BTW what does "PIF" mean?

yes, I might try to inject ink in a pen to see if I get this colour variation.

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MsRedPen give good advice. The remedy to try costs nothing. Another cost-free act to consider, is shaking the bottle to mix the ink, before filling. Don't forget to wipe the cap and bottle rim immediately upon opening.

 

"PIF" means "Pay It Forward". I infer that this cliché denotes indebtedness for having been "blessed". One contributes an item of value to others, in payment of the incurred debt. Personally, I give of what I have because it makes people happy. When people around me are happy, I am happy. It is not my intent to disparage the generosity of others. I just avoid using clichés.

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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I have also had the experience of having a pen write a more saturated line immediately after a fill, then quickly subside to the normal color and behavior of the ink.

 

And I agree with everyone else who says that the pale color is how Graf von Faber-Castell Violet Blue actually looks. It is quite a pretty color, with nice shading on some papers, but needs quite a wet pen to be comfortable to read.

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Indeed. It does not look bad with the 1.1 stub. But I wouldn't use it with a thinner nib.

I'm curious about how it would behave with a dip pen though. I will certainly try if I assemble one from the pieces I have lying around...

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