What are the most reliable cheap inks for an extra fine twsbi eco?

[hahahahaha00000]

I will be using this a lot for practicing cursive, so I want to make sure it is cheap and reliable. From searching the web, I think the basic pilot inks and pelikan 4001 inks are pretty reliable and cheap, but I dont know whhich to choose. Have you had experiences with them? What do you think? Or, do you have other recommendations?

 

Thanksss!

[hahahahaha00000]

Also, it would be nice if you would recommend which color as long as it is dark enough and readable.

[A Smug Dill]

Just get a one-litre bottle of Pelikan 4001 Brillant-Schwarz. Perfectly good (and reasonably water-resistant) black ink, and very cheap on a per-unit-volume basis if you acquire it that way.

 

Hero 232 and 234 are also good, dark, permanent inks that are priced incredibly cheaply on a per-unit-volume basis in spite of the much smaller bottles in which they're sold. However, you might not like the fact that they are iron-gall blue-black and carbon/pigment black inks, respectively, out of concern for a supposed requirement for more diligent cleaning and pen hygiene.

[hahahahaha00000]

Do those hero inks have quality control issues? Their pens have quality control issues. Also, how would that compare with Pilot's inks that come in 350ml bottles. I live in asia so both of these would be cheaper. I couldnt really find a good place to buy the 1 liter pelikan though. Also, from the reviews I have seen in Chinese, the hero ink is known to stuck your pens. I dont know how frequent it is though.

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by hahahahaha00000
Just adding info

[sciumbasci]

I like Dollar ink black: very black, water resistant, smells nice. If you can source it from Pakistan, it's going to be very cheap.

 

Not how safe are Hero inks: I only used their carbon black, and found it underwhelming.

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, hahahahaha00000 said:

Also, how would that compare with Pilot's inks that come in 350ml bottles.

 

I don't have any Pilot inks in 350ml bottles, and even if they are the same inks as those being sold in smaller bottles, I have no interest in comparing them against my other suggestion. It's not a matter of my trying to push the Pelikan or Hero inks; but this, as far as I'm concerned, is not about advising what is the ‘best’ buy — in terms of quality, reliability, price, etc. — from your perspective out of what is readily available to you, but give you suggestions of what is ‘good enough’ to fit the criteria of both cheap (doesn't have to be cheapest) and reliable (being invariably dark enough, readable, water-resistant and permanent). If you get a dozen candidates out of what others in the community suggests, then in theory any one of those would do; and if you want to assure yourself you're getting the ‘best’ out of them, you're welcome to acquire and test them all to your own satisfaction and then decide.

 

1 hour ago, hahahahaha00000 said:

Also, from the reviews I have seen in Chinese, the hero ink is known to stuck your pens.

 

If you allow ink to dry inside your pen, then a lot of inks will do that. I've had to remove remnants of Diamine Registrar's Ink (not known for being a staining or clog-prone ink) with a brush from the insides of a converter just now. I got lots of solid specks of crud from Diamine Graphite that refused to be dissolved after an hour of soaking, multiple cleaning cycles in an ultrasonic cleaner, and repeated flushes with pressurised jets of water. Some Sailor Shikiori inks took me half an hour to completely remove from pens in which they dried.

[Licue]

 

10 hours ago, hahahahaha00000 said:

I will be using this a lot for practicing cursive, so I want to make sure it is cheap and reliable. From searching the web, I think the basic pilot inks and pelikan 4001 inks are pretty reliable and cheap, but I dont know whhich to choose. Have you had experiences with them? What do you think? Or, do you have other recommendations?

 

Thanksss!

What do you mean by "reliable"?

 

Do you really need waterproofness when the main purpose is practicing?

 

Concerning Pelikan inks: Some people dislike them for being a bit on the drier side. 

I don't have any experience with TWSBI, but if their EF nib is also kinda dry combining it with Pelikan ink might not be ideal.?

[hahahahaha00000]

Ohh thanks smug dill

 

[lionelc]

thing is with an ef twsbi eco, you would be hard pressed to use up a standard 50ml bottle of ink very quickly - get something widely available like waterman serenity blue or parker quink and get to practising.

[Ethelios]

Isn't an ink bottle too much? You know, people have a problem with buying too many things, so jumping into a huge bottle before sampling it could be a bad idea. If it works and you want a lifetime supply, that's the final bottle you'll ever need.

For Pelikan 4001, blue feels meh, Brilliant red stains pens (one month with a barrel in water, still counting here). The price's good for what you get, but shouldn't China have better access to Pilot inks?

 

Some companies sell ink samples, which are a bit more expensive than a full bottle, but it helps to check them without the commitment.

[Adeline V]

I have a TWSBI VAC 700R /Extra Fine and I use De'Atramentis archival black in that and several EX-F nibs.  it's a nice crisp waterproof black ink that flows very nicely.  it cleans well with Koh-I-Noor pen cleaner if water isn't enough. it is a pigmented ink, so some would advise against using it in expensive pens prone to clogging.  a lot depends on the pen and the paper, or course as well.  the 700R nib is bigger and stiffer than a TWSBY ECO nib but both write extraordinarily well with the archive ink on anything from Mead comp books(although it does go thru that cheap paper) to smooth Rhodia paper to cold pressed watercolor paper.  it does well and doesn't skip lines or feather on any of them.

 

but i guess if you're just practicing with the ink in question, what does it matter?  get whatever you can as long as its safe for your pen, and just use it up!  you'd be hard pressed to use up 350ML of any ink very quickly in a fountain pen-  that's a LOT of writing.  Maybe with a brush pen or like a broad pilot parallel...  that's a LOT of writing.  and if it's practice and not for any sort of longevity, then it seems like that would be a good way to use up inks that you DON'T like a whole lot.