An alternative look at ink wetness

January 13

I love this thread. I am a big advocate of the right ink for a particular pen I use it all the time to look for the inks i have to match to a dry/wet pen etc. Also to ensure I am using low PH inks in my rubber sac vintage pens. Good stuff! I cant thank you enough as to how much i appreciate your hard work and how it benefits me and i'm sure the wider pen community. Again my sincere thanks and i look forward to each and every update to see if another ink i have has been tested.

January 13

12 hours ago, thirstyfish said:

I love this thread. I am a big advocate of the right ink for a particular pen I use it all the time to look for the inks i have to match to a dry/wet pen etc. Also to ensure I am using low PH inks in my rubber sac vintage pens. Good stuff! I cant thank you enough as to how much i appreciate your hard work and how it benefits me and i'm sure the wider pen community. Again my sincere thanks and i look forward to each and every update to see if another ink i have has been tested.

Thank you so much! 🙏 You are highly welcome! I'm pleased with the table improving your navigation through the ink labyrinth.

If you have a special wish, let me know. If it is an ink I can get here in Europe, chances are that I will grab it sooner or (more probable) later.

January 16

On 1/13/2024 at 4:46 AM, InesF said:

There is an update of the ink properties table. Not much to tell, except the number of measured inks has grown to 121:

PS: 5 more inks arrived this week ....

I'm surprised to find that most Pelikan 4001 inks has very low pH value, which means they're very acidic, even the royal blue, especially the blue black.

Seeing this, makes me wonder, is long term uses with steel need going to be ok?

January 16

2 hours ago, AceNinja said:

I'm surprised to find that most Pelikan 4001 inks has very low pH value, which means they're very acidic, even the royal blue, especially the blue black.

Seeing this, makes me wonder, is long term uses with steel need going to be ok?

Thanks for the question.

Corrosion of non-precious metals can start already at neutral pH value, if water and oxygen is present! Think of rust on weather exposed iron.

Fountain pen nibs are, as far as my knowledge goes, not any longer made from pure iron. What is called steel in this context is usually a corrosion free alloy of iron with (whatever) something else that increases the red-ox-potential of the alloy above zero, maybe far above zero. That means, it will not corrode (oxidise) at ambient conditions, even if in presence of acids.

Any modern fountain pen nib is resistant against any modern fountain pen ink. To corrode such a nib you will need to add oxidisers to the ink, such as nitric acid or H₂O₂ or such.

Dip pen nibs are, in majority, still made of "normal" iron and can and will corrode over time.