Rohrer & Klingner Sketchink Frieda: Avoid.

[TassoBarbasso]

This will be a very fast review of the Rohrer & Klingner sketchINK "Frida".

• Flow: doesn't matter
• Saturation: doesn't matter
• Shading, bleedthrough, feathering, anything else: doesn't matter either.
• Clogging: horrendous. The stuff of nightmares! I used this ink for a few days in an Aurora Optima (a very airtight pen) that had previous been inked with all sorts of nasty, high-maintenance stuff (Noodler's, De Atramentis Document inks, iron gall inks, Japanese pigment inks, ...). The pen handled all other inks with no problem whatsoever: it even managed to restart right away with a rich, wet flow after sitting idle for a whole month filled with De Atramentis Document Dark Blue - a really tough one. So imagine my shock when I filled it with this R&K sketchINK "Frida" stuff, and after two days it already showed hard starts. Three days later, you could already see ink sediments in the ink window. Four days later, the pen was clogged. I had to disassemble it, and the feed is now bathing in distilled water. Flakes of dried ink keep coming off. I fear for the survival of the pen

• Final rate: 0/10. This stuff is toxic. Avoid it unless you hate your pens.

P.S.: this comment only applies to the Frida ink. I'm using R&K sketchINK "Marlene" in other pens and so far, so - relatively - good, although it's clear that the ink is super-high-maintenance. All other pigment inks are like distilled water in comparison.

 

P.P.S.: yes, I had thoroughly flushed the pen before inking it with this stuff. There is no way the ink coalesced with ink residues from previous fills.

 

[Eclipse157]

I'm sorry to hear you had such a terrible experience. I have nothing to complain about my Frieda, on the other hand.

[Uncial]

I haven't had a good experience with some of the Sketch inks and have since avoided them. I found their behaviour a bit peculiar and a bit 'cloggy'.

[lapis]

I have and use Marlene without any such problems. Frieda (not Frida) may be different but then don't write that flow and saturation don't matter. Of course they matter and may contribute to your clogging. Try it out in a different pen and/or contact your supplier.

[Tas]

[RJS]

Aren't those sketch inks not recommended for leaving in fountain pens? Unless you intend to wash out the pen the same day you use it...

Edited October 14, 2020 by RJS

[lapis]

No, SketchInks are made for use in fountain pens as well. Not only for dip pens and brushes. You might want to read this. Of course, since these inks contain nano-particles, the pens should be cleaned out regularly.

[aurore]

I believe the R&K cleaning fluid is quite essential if one wants to use any pigment ink. This stuff cleans any (nano)pigment ink by any brand (even completely dried/clogged)

https://www.rohrer-klingner.de/?page_id=1076&lang=en

 

Edited October 14, 2020 by aurore

[yazeh]

I understand the frustration you're going through.

I have Marlene in an Ahab (for 6 months) without cleaning and Klara in a Pilot Varsity as an experiment since 4 months.

 

Klara is for making shopping notes, once a week. Once in a while it needs some H2O.But other than that it's really a fun to write with.

 

Ahab is not the best, as evaporation is quite high. But I have no problem, a lit of water and off to go....

[Intensity]

Frieda is the one I'm most interested in from that line. I did gather from LizEF's review that it takes extra effort to flush out, and indeed there's the dedicated pen flush made by R&K for those inks. I would use these inks in something with more simple feeds or something that's easy to disassemble and clean thoroughly.

[RJS]

No, SketchInks are made for use in fountain pens as well. Not only for dip pens and brushes. You might want to read this. Of course, since these inks contain nano-particles, the pens should be cleaned out regularly.

I read somewhere someone was warning people not to leave them in their pens... I suppose whoever that was had an issue too. I've seen similar recommendations on certain permanent inks- eg wash your pen after use.

[sansenri]

I don't trust any sketching ink in my fountain pens.

If you really want to use them you probably need to dedicate a pen to them, that you don't mind staining and having to clean with rough procedures.

People who draw do use fountain pens, but I would probably not dedicate an Optima to this...

[Brandywine]

These sketch inks were designed for dip pens for cartoonists / painters who draw with dip pens.

They are pigmented and are likely to clog.

Even R+K ist not overly confident in advertising them for fountain pens.

 

I got one of their sketch inks (the blue-black one, I don't remember the name) and tried it in a Jinhao 911.

It clogged almost instantly and it almost ruined the pen.

I had to flush it repeatedly and then washed out the remaining residues by using it with Pelikan Königsblau.

Up to then this pen had delighted me with never clogging and not drying out even after long periods of rest.

(My only reason against it is its ultra thin nib - I prefer broad nibs).

 

I cannot recommend these sketch inks for use in fountain pens at all. They were made for dip pens.

[Intensity]

Good point, I’ve finally checked what R&K say about their SketchInks themselves:

https://www.rohrer-klingner.de/?page_id=1063&lang=en

 

They do actually say “for fountain pens”, but with caveats.

“sketchINK® is a range of 10 inks for fountain pens. The broad range of colours offers outstanding versatility to its users. Not only can it be used on stylographs: sketchINK® can be used with quills or brushes as well.”

”Note that waterproof inks can cause clotting in fountain pens. To address this and for the daily care of your drawing equipment, we recommend our fountain pen cleaner “reiniger”.”

 

So indeed R&K state the inks can clog, which is indicative that there’s a higher likelihood of it happening.

Edited October 14, 2020 by Intensity

[yazeh]

Good point, I’ve finally checked what R&K say about their SketchInks themselves:

https://www.rohrer-klingner.de/?page_id=1063&lang=en

 

They do actually say “for fountain pens”, but with caveats.

 

“sketchINK® is a range of 10 inks for fountain pens. The broad range of colours offers outstanding versatility to its users. Not only can it be used on stylographs: sketchINK® can be used with quills or brushes as well.”

 

”Note that waterproof inks can cause clotting in fountain pens. To address this and for the daily care of your drawing equipment, we recommend our fountain pen cleaner “reiniger”.”

 

So indeed R&K state the inks can clog, which is indicative that there’s a higher likelihood of it happening.

You beat me to it......

 

I only use waterproof inks.

I feel condemning a line of inks because they clog a fountain pen a bit dramatic...that was said about Noodler's inks too.

 

They have their quirks and I often test them in a cheap pen to see how they behave before and if they are upgraded.

I haven't used Frieda yet but am looking forward to using the sample I have....

 

.

[Tasmith]

 

I had to flush it repeatedly and then washed out the remaining residues by using it with Pelikan Königsblau.

 

I used Pelikan Konigsblau to finally wash out dried Mountblanc Permanent Blue from my 146 after repeated flushings.

[Flaxmoore]

I used Pelikan Konigsblau to finally wash out dried Mountblanc Permanent Blue from my 146 after repeated flushings.

Parker Quink washable blue also works very well. It's one of my cleaner inks after using tougher inks for a while (heavy iron-galls, Noodler's bulletproofs, things like that).

[yazeh]

Parker Quink washable blue also works very well. It's one of my cleaner inks after using tougher inks for a while (heavy iron-galls, Noodler's bulletproofs, things like that).

Is Parker Quink blue is the same as washable blue?

[Mercian]

Is Parker Quink blue is the same as washable blue?

I have both of the blue Quinks.

In answer to your question, no, it isn’t the same ink.

 

The ‘Washable Blue’ is a very pale colour. Some people find it to be a very relaxing, restful colour.

It can be erased by e.g. Pelikan ‘Super Pirat’ pens, and it fades rapidly on some (but not all) papers. I presume that those papers contain one of the same chemicals as the ‘eraser pens’.

 

Quink ‘Blue’ is a much darker, more-vibrant colour.

It still doesn’t have much water resistance, but I think that its colour is ‘better’ than that of QWB.

 

The recent reviews of both inks by akszugor give a good idea of the difference in their colours.

His review of Quink ‘Blue’.

His review of Quink ‘Washable Blue’.

It is also worth saying that, despite rumours to the contrary, neither Quink is the same ink as Waterman ‘Serenity Blue’ (which I also have).

 

Cheers,

M.

 

[Edited for FFEs.]

Edited October 16, 2020 by Mercian

[AmandaW]

I foolishly allowed a Jinhao 992 inked with SketchInk Lilly to dry out (not deliberately! I liked the pen very much. It was grey and wrote well. No more to say.).

 

After stripping it down and putting it through an ultrasonic cleaner a couple of times, it was still skipping, Irritated, I fixed it by swapping in a feed from another 992 (it had a cracked barrel, kept for parts). In hindsight, newbie error, I should have tried scrubbing the clogged feed with a toothbrush or something as well.

 

As far as I know the R&K cleaning fluid isn't available in Australia, I haven't seen it listed anywhere I regularly order from.

Edited October 17, 2020 by AmandaW