How Often Do You Change Your Ink Colours In Your Pen.

[MilanKov]

Hi guys and gals,

 

so I have been wondering how often do you guys change colours of ink in your pens. I for example tend to change the colour on a nearly weekly basis in one of my main pens. (Lately I tend go back and forth with Diamine oxblood and Diamine classic green in my Kaweco Al Sport.) I.mean I usually carry three pens to work and only one has the same colour loaded for more than three weeks and that is my back up pen for cases if I had to fill something more official where using blood red ink would be inappropriate.

 

So how often do you change your ink colour?

 

bi weekly?

 

once a month?

 

several times a day?

 

Cheers Milan

 

P.S. is there a way off adding a poll to this topic?

Edited February 23, 2018 by MilanKov

[Uncial]

Every time a pen runs out, if it's being kept in the rotation, a new and different coloured ink goes in it.

[Tas]

Depends.

Some pens stay married to an ink for a rather long time here - months and months

Others are more happy go lucky and may not even last a whole fill (mainly my Noodler's pens)

I refilled my newly purchased Moonman M2 three times this week in as many days before settling on Barrister Blue.

[Almu]

I used to change inks more often, 1-2 times a week, but nowadays I rarely do that.

 

In the past 3-4 months I haven't really changed inks at all, I'm too happy with the pen/ink combos I have right now

Edited February 23, 2018 by Almu

[ENewton]

I don't tend to change the inks I use in my vintage pens, but I do rotate pens every couple of months, so I'd say I change inks in that set of pens about once every two months.

 

In most of my cartridge converters, I switch inks from fill to fill--every week or two depending on the pen.

[KaB]

The two 'home pens' that are always inked, change colour every time they run dry.

All other pens (the ones that are in rotation for work) are more or less limited to just a few colours each. Just linked to the colour of the pen itself. My Visconti HS, MB 149 or Lamy Studio in platinum grey can have a lot of variation. But an Estie (Dubonnet red) currently is limited to MB winter glow and Diamine oxblood. A green 1936 vacumatic is limited to GvFC moss green, R&K alt goldgrün and Sailor Rikyu-cha. Etc., you get the point.

Edited February 23, 2018 by KaB

[CraigR]

At one time, I had a lot of different inks and really enjoyed using different inks each time I refilled a pen or put one into rotation. I guess that I have become boring because now I just like to have three or four pens inked at a time - one with black ink, one with blue/black, one with blue, and the last one with a burgundy or brown. When I fill or refill, I like to change the brands and specific colors. My Parker 45 stub has been inked with Noodler's Burgundy for three re-fills in a row - I like it a lot.

[senzen]

Once I find the right pen for each ink, I won't change.

[inkstainedruth]

Some pens get the same ink every time: for instance, my red Shadow Wave Vac gets Waterman Mysterious Blue. Period. That was the ink available to test the pen with when I was having it checked out. And it performs well. Whereas Noodler's BSB goes in a Charlie eyedropper, so I can control the dilution rate a bit (that ink feathers badly and stains everything and its cousin besides -- and doesn't play well with other inks.

Some pens get different inks but in the same family. I *mostly* don't match ink to pen color, but in the case of the M400 Brown Tortoise -- it gets browns. I keep swearing I'll go all wild and crazy and fill it one of these times with Noodler's Navajo Turquoise... but it doesn't happen.

Some inks get limited to pens which are easier to clean out -- the Shimmer inks mostly get reserved for a 1980s Pelikan M100 with a 1 mm nib (which besides having a removable nib unit also has a nib that I think show off inks like that to good advantage.

And some pens? Eh, it's what I think will look good together.... Or what I think might/will behave well in combination. Or just whatever sample I haven't tried yet....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: As to how often I change colors? It depends. No hard and fast rule beyond at least the first fill; and a lot of time I'm lazy about flushing, so I'll refill with distilled water (partly to get the flushing process started) and write with that. If it's a more problematic ink (like an iron gall ink) I'm more likely to flush after a fill or two. If it's a good combination of pen and ink, I'm more likely to refill until I get bored with the color or want to put different pens into rotation.

Edited February 23, 2018 by inkstainedruth

[Maccabeus]

Never. Once I discovered that ESSRI would work for everything I needed to do, I stuck with it.

 

 

 

The problem is that I still have a few other bottles (including an unopened 100ml Chesterfield Siam) of colors that I like, but am unlikely to ever use. We ISTJ people don't tend towards change for the sake of change.

[wallylynn]

Every fill or two. That said, i don't write much, so it can be over a month or two.

[Olya]

At the beginning, when I came back to fpens and discovered inks, I'd change extremely often, sometimes every few days and not even use a whole fill up and basically also never fill a cart or conv fully - but even the partial fill wouldn't be used up before I'd have a change of heart or a new fancy struck me. Since then I've settled on favourites and don't change ink all that often, and once I do change, I quickly go back to my good ole favourites..

[praxim]

No pen gets refilled immediately so it is quite by chance whether it gets the same ink next time, out of 30-odd inks. Similarly, inks get rotated in a weighted randomisation just like the pens, so re-using the same ink immediately is quite unlikely, even in a different pen.

 

Some pens have restrictions on which inks are allowed in them, even though I have no shimmers or non-dye inks. This makes a repetition more likely to happen at some point, but not by design. There are usually 3-7 pens inked with different colours.

[Torrilin]

I’ve got 2 pens that need to be full. Both TWSBI, and one is basically married to my favorite black ink. The other is my sample eating pen.

 

Absolutely all other pens get fed variety. Even as a kid, I’d prefer to buy variety packs of cartridges, both because I really like colors and because at the time you could get a lot better deal on a variety pack than a single color one.

[Runnin_Ute]

Depends. Some, like my P51 Demi vac, have had a single ink in them since I first inked it. (Diamine Blue Black), my Platinum 3776 Century Bourgogne mostly gets Diamine Merlot. Although I have used others in it as well, I seem to go back to that combination regularly.

 

Others get just about anything. I might change every fill, every other fill, or some other combination. Most of the time since I got it in August, my Pelikan 140 has gotten Pelikan 4001 Blue Black, although it has Blackstone Barrier Reef Blue right now. Occasionally I won't finish a fill, before I change.

 

My Noodler's Konrad is a good pen for testing inks. Especially say a Diamine Shimmertastic ink. It is really wet and had a Goulet branded B nib on it. Another that works for some things is one of my Parker 45's. It has a pretty wide nib, and for a 45 quite the fire hose. I use KWZI Iron Gall Turquoise in it regularly. (but have used the ink in other pens as well)

 

How frequent and what ink in what pen is just a hey I haven't used ink X in a while. Then I choose a pen. The most recent example of this is Diamine Classic Red in a 45 Flighter with an M nib. Why that pen? Just Because. It is only been in it for a few days, and I am already thinking about changing it.....

[Octo]

Some pen and ink combinations don't change. Others change when seasons change.

[eharriett]

I have a BSB-only pen, a Kung Te Cheng Pen (both are older Sheaffer School pens). And a Waterman Kultur (their version of the school pen) which holds Diamine Imperial Purple (my company's color). Everything else I use get a new color or a new ink/pen combo. Life's too short not to use everything.

[ca49reber]

I use 1 pen at a time & when it runs dry I clean the pen & choose a new pen & a new ink. I still have pens that I haven't used yet.

[Noihvo]

 

 

[TSherbs]

I have no pattern. I go through periods of every kind of approach. Just cuz.