Platinum Pigmented Ink

[Ed333]

I have a box of Platinum pigmented ink cartridges, I may have ordered pigmented by accident, or maybe a substitution on the vendors end, do not remember. In any event, having had some recent concerns with inks, and having gone back and re-read "Inks- the Good, the Bad and the Ugly", I am worried about using these cartridges in any of my 3776 pens. Worried about clogging, difficulty cleaning, possible damage to pens, etc...am I worrying too much? Are pigmented inks better avoided? Except maybe in. dip pens?

[gerigo]

Usually pen companies that make inks also recommend their inks be used in their pens. I have never seen a company say their inks cannot be used in their pens. If nothing else, these inks are designed specifically for Platinum pens. Also I wouldn't worry too much with Platinum pens especially the current generation as their nibs pull out easily if you ever need to do thorough cleaning. With their slipseal cap as well, these inks would probably do find in the pens.

 

BTW your questions is not a review. You should try and see whether the moderators can move it to other sections of the forum. Otherwise you COULD also edit your initial question and add a review of said cartridges? That be nice.

Edited June 9, 2020 by gerigo

[Tas]

I wouldn't worry, especially in something as "airtight" as a capped 3776.

 

Use away. Enjoy them. Perhaps thoroughly wash out the pen after the cartridge has run out and before inserting a new one.

I've fallen for the Platinum Carbon Black and am not having any issues in my 3776 F nib.

[Uncial]

Shouldn't be a problem

[AmandaW]

I have two Platinum pigmented inks (black and sepia, and mixed together to create shades) and have used them in all my 3776's - UEF, SF and B - and a set of Preppy pens in all nib sizes. I also have an EF Platinum Carbon Desk Pen which is always inked with the black - from a cartridge the day I got it in 2017 and that same cart regularly refilled from a bottle ever since. Love that pen! Haven't had a problem with any of them. The ink is well behaved, but so are the pens. I can think of no other brand that resists drying out so well and so consistently. My climate is mega dry, which is tough on pens and I have no patience with hard starters or wasted ink from pens that dry out.

[A Smug Dill]

I am worried about using these cartridges in any of my 3776 pens. Worried about clogging, difficulty cleaning, possible damage to pens, etc...am I worrying too much? Are pigmented inks better avoided?

My answer would depend on which specific models in the Platinum #3776 product family you have. If you're talking about Platinum #3776 Century pens, with threaded caps (or "screw caps") that have the Slip & Seal mechanism, then the likelihood of ailments (such as clogging) resulting from ink drying out in the feed or gripping section is practically nil, even if you have pigment ink in the pen and then leave it unused for months, unless you somehow fail to cap the pen properly after use. On the other hand, if you have a Platinum #3776 briarwood pen with a "snap cap", I'd strongly suggest avoid using either particle inks (including pigment inks) or highly saturated dye-based inks in it.

 

As far as worrying goes, I happily used Platinum Carbon Black ink in my most prized ¥100,000 (so nominally $1000) Pilot 'Hannya Shingyo' pen for months on end without any problems, and would be happy to do so again. Putting that ink in my well liked Pilot Capless matte black Vanishing Point, which is about one-fifth the price, is a different proposition; I used to use Sailor kiwaguro pigment ink in it when I was working in an office and that was my "everyday carry" pen, and that was OK, but given the pen is not particular effective at preventing ink evaporation when it is unused (with its nib retracted), I'd avoid using pigment inks in that pen these days.

[Venemo]

The Platinum pigmented inks should be OK to use in the Platinum 3776. The 3776's "slip and seal" mechanism should especially help with this. If anything bad were to happen, the 3776 can be very easily disassembled for cleaning.

 

I have the Carbon Black and the Sepia myself. The Carbon Black is good but beware not to spill it or stain anything with it, because it is extremely hard to clean from any surface, and impossible to clean from clothes. I didn't like the Sepia, the color is too pale for my taste.

[AmandaW]

 

I have the Carbon Black and the Sepia myself. The Carbon Black is good but beware not to spill it or stain anything with it, because it is extremely hard to clean from any surface, and impossible to clean from clothes. I didn't like the Sepia, the color is too pale for my taste.

I mix it with Carbon Black to make the shade/s I want. It doesn't take much, I start with a drop of black in a sample vial of sepia and add more until it's perfect.

 

The permanence has a good side too. It's the only fountain pen ink I use for drawing if I want to frame and hang on a wall. Everything else in my ink cabinet stays in sketchbooks.

[Tasmith]

I've only been using Platinum Pigmented Blue for a week now. Works perfectly in my Wing Sung 618 with a fine nib and Wing Sung 698 with a Pilot Plumix stub. Can start a little dry in my Montblanc 146 with a .56mm CI, but after I prime the feed just a bit writes fine for the rest of the session.

 

Did a quick permanence test with water and acetone on Rhodia paper. After five minutes, just a little less dark with water and unchanged with acetone.

[Margana]

Platinum fan here. I have several #3776 Century pens that are slip and seal plus a #3776 music nib that is not. Nary a problem with any of the pigmented inks. Once pens are empty, they do get rinsed until the water runs clear but that is my routine with all fountain pens.

[Venemo]

I mix it with Carbon Black to make the shade/s I want. It doesn't take much, I start with a drop of black in a sample vial of sepia and add more until it's perfect.

Interesting idea, it has never occoured to me to mix that thing with the Carbon Black. Maybe worth a try.

[Mongoosey]

A nice test was done using Platinum Carbon Black in a Preppy, which has the same slip and seal mechanism as the Century 3776:

 

https://fountainpenfollies.com/2018/10/11/five-months-an-extended-test-of-platinum-carbon-black-pigment-ink/

 

I'll admit, the reputation of the Platinum Pigmented inks requiring more pen maintenance prevented me from giving Carbon Black a try for too long. And now, Platinum Carbon Black is one of my favorite inks.

[A Smug Dill]

I'll admit, the reputation of the Platinum Pigmented inks requiring more pen maintenance prevented me from giving Carbon Black a try for too long.

 

 

That's the bit that I don't get (and, just to be clear, by no means am I blaming or criticising you). How did Platinum Carbon Black, or more generally Platinum pigment inks — without extending the scope to all pigment inks including other brands — come to have a reputation for being hazardous, troublesome and/or requiring more maintenance? How many users actually attested to having used Platinum Carbon Black only to have it clog up or stain their fountain pens that are otherwise properly capped, as opposed to just expressing reservations about putting it in their $200 (or $2,000, or rare, or vintage, or family heirloom) pen out of "fear" and being risk-averse, without ever having tried the ink and got "hurt"?

 

I just received a (surprise) shipment of Hero 234 carbon ink on Monday, and in preparing some sample vials to giveaway (before I even tested/used the ink myself), I quickly discovered it had more of a propensity to "stain" than Platinum Carbon Black and Pelikan Fount India. Hero 234 left a dark "film" on the inner walls of my glass eyedropper (as in the apparatus, and not a fountain pen), that even a test-tube brush of a suitable diameter could not easily remove, even though I flushed the pipette within minutes of using it. I did end up removing all traces of the ink from the inside of the eyedropper by "scrubbing" repeated with a Q-tip; but that may not be an option with, say, the inner walls of the barrel on a piston-filler.

 

Platinum Carbon Black did not give me that kind of trouble at all with the very same eyedropper.

[Mongoosey]

 

 

That's the bit that I don't get (and, just to be clear, by no means am I blaming or criticising you). How did Platinum Carbon Black, or more generally Platinum pigment inks — without extending the scope to all pigment inks including other brands — come to have a reputation for being hazardous, troublesome and/or requiring more maintenance? How many users actually attested to having used Platinum Carbon Black only to have it clog up or stain their fountain pens that are otherwise properly capped, as opposed to just expressing reservations about putting it in their $200 (or $2,000, or rare, or vintage, or family heirloom) pen out of "fear" and being risk-averse, without ever having tried the ink and got "hurt"?

 

I just received a (surprise) shipment of Hero 234 carbon ink on Monday, and in preparing some sample vials to giveaway (before I even tested/used the ink myself), I quickly discovered it had more of a propensity to "stain" than Platinum Carbon Black and Pelikan Fount India. Hero 234 left a dark "film" on the inner walls of my glass eyedropper (as in the apparatus, and not a fountain pen), that even a test-tube brush of a suitable diameter could not easily remove, even though I flushed the pipette within minutes of using it. I did end up removing all traces of the ink from the inside of the eyedropper by "scrubbing" repeated with a Q-tip; but that may not be an option with, say, the inner walls of the barrel on a piston-filler.

 

Platinum Carbon Black did not give me that kind of trouble at all with the very same eyedropper.

 

It's a good point. Before I actually gave the ink a fair shot, the prevalent reservations made about the ink in seemingly every review and in depth mention did honestly deter me.

 

But in my experience as well with Platinum Carbon Black, which I'm happily using in my Lamy Vista-EF, it does clean out of the pen rather easily and completely, and in fact better than Noodler's HOD, which left residue of sediment in the crevices I still can't get out.

 

I especially love how Platinum Carbon Black feels on smooth nibs, like a Pilot or a Lamy. Where Kiwa-Guro can be too lubricating sometimes, or HOD can be too wet, Platinum Carbon Black, while having a nice wetness, also has a subtle feedback that lets me know I'm writing but doesn't drag the nib.

 

That consistency/feel of the ink helps me control the pen better, preventing hand fatigue, improving my penmanship, and making the writing experience quite pleasurable.

Edited June 18, 2020 by Mongoosey

[RJS]

Any advice for cleaning it off the section of a blue aluminium Kaweco Sport? I just filled that pen with it, and it isn't budging. IPA? Vinegar? What do we think? Thanks.