EFNIR: Büroservice Bergmann Blaufliessende Eisengallustinte

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Büroservice Bergmann Blaufliessende Eisengallustinte

This is review #227 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Cleaning was mostly quick and easy, but where the ink dried, it needs pen flush or rubbing. Pen flush seemed to work better. It stained my cartridge, and may stain plastic that's soft or has a textured surface. It easily came off parts that were smooth / polished (with water for wet ink or pen flush for dried ink).

Errata: Neglected to mark the dry time: 3 seconds. First instance of "copy paper" should read "absorbent paper"! I should have said that I recommend it for *wet* nibs. It's a bit frustrating to have to get it flowing again after brief pauses.

Find it here: https://www.kalligraphie-shop.com/epages/Shop45619.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Shop45619/Categories

Zoomed in photo (A little too saturated and not quite dark enough.)

Screenshot (Text is a little too dark and de-saturated.)

Scan of Completed Review (Color is fairly close.)

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (Colors are close.)

Line width (One of the lines used for dry time. Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. The line width for this ink is roughly 223µm. With 227 inks measured, the average line width is 295µm.) (Holy fine line, Batman! Scale is positioned too far left, but I accounted for that when calculating line width.)

Microscope image (100x. Interesting pattern. Taken after only one day. Actual color is similar to the left, but a little greener.)

Microscope image (100x. Looks like an aerial photo of tracks in the desert. :))

Microscope image (100x. Just liked the pattern.)

Microscope image (100x. Liked the pattern.)

Water Test Results

Chromatogram (There's a yellowish color above the blues (you can just see it in the photo), and the pink edging is more obvious to my eyes.)

Previous Review: Diamine Meadow.

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

Want to influence the inky sequence? Take the "next ink" poll.

View a list of my inks, complete with review results in a google sheet.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh? Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[yazeh]

Great review @LizEF 

It's a pity you had flow issues with this one. When I used it in a very wet vintage pen, it worked fine when I wrote continuously. But sometimes had hard starts. Though any the inks defence, the pen was forgotten for a week or so. And you know how it is with vintage pens, then pout when you don't use them regularly

So Essri has the power of the staff, 

Quin has the healing magic and Makhabesh he power of friendship?

 

Thank you for bring us some much joy every Tuesday 🙏

[Sailor Kenshin]

What @yazeh said!

 

Nice color, right up my alley, but I'm not sure about iron galls.

 

And I dunno WHAT to make of the micro, but I love the reviews and continuing story.  Thanks as always, @LizEF, for bringing these to life.

[LizEF]

36 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Great review @LizEF 

Thanks!

 

38 minutes ago, yazeh said:

It's a pity you had flow issues with this one. When I used it in a very wet vintage pen, it worked fine when I wrote continuously. But sometimes had hard starts. Though any the inks defence, the pen was forgotten for a week or so. And you know how it is with vintage pens, then pout when you don't use them regularly

Well, I forgave it because I liked it so well.  I think part of it is my environment - around here, we think 10% humidity is muggy - and part the pen.  I think a wet pen, that seals well, and with a hooded nib would be perfect for this ink!

 

39 minutes ago, yazeh said:

So Essri has the power of the staff, 

Quin has the healing magic and Makhabesh he power of friendship?

 

Thank you for bring us some much joy every Tuesday 🙏

Well, Essri just gets to talk to her easily (by wrapping around her orb).  But, yeah.   You're very welcome!

[LizEF]

15 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

What @yazeh said!

 

15 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Nice color, right up my alley, but I'm not sure about iron galls.

Well, just stick it in a gold nib pen and enjoy - no worries!

 

16 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

And I dunno WHAT to make of the micro

  The paths drug-runners take through the desert?  Lots o' strange shapes and patterns, anyway...

 

17 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

but I love the reviews and continuing story.  Thanks as always, @LizEF, for bringing these to life.

  Thank you!  And you're most welcome!

[Mercian]

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

Well, Essri just gets to talk to her easily (by wrapping around her orb).

Here in England, if I were to try to wrap my hands around a lady’s orbs without prior invitation, I would count myself lucky if I were only to end-up having to pick my teeth up off the ground with my newly-broken fingers 😉

 

Should anyone find the text above to be too off-colour/risqué, I will happily delete it.

[Mercian]

5 hours ago, LizEF said:

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Büroservice Bergmann Blaufliessende Eisengallustinte

I am curious to know how much this ink darkens on the page.

In your experience, does it darken as much as ESSRI?
(I mean the English ink of that name - not your magical snek).

[LizEF]

25 minutes ago, Mercian said:

Here in England, if I were to try to wrap my hands around a lady’s orbs without prior invitation, I would count myself lucky if I were only to end-up having to pick my teeth up off the ground with my newly-broken fingers 😉

 

Should anyone find the text above to be too off-colour/risqué, I will happily delete it.

:SMH:

 

21 minutes ago, Mercian said:

I am curious to know how much this ink darkens on the page.

In your experience, does it darken as much as ESSRI?
(I mean the English ink of that name - not your magical snek).

On the swatch cards this is darker and bluer than ESSRI.  ESSRI is now mostly grey on the swatch card.  Similar things are true on the Rhodia sheet used in the reviews - this is still a perfect blue-black with a little sheen (reviewed ~08 Feb 2023) and ESSRI is a dark grey with barely a hint of blue - could be my imagination (reviewed ~30 Aug 2021).  While ESSRI has been on the page much longer, it's also been in the middle of a stack of paper where it doesn't get much, if any, light...  FWIW.

[Mercian]

2 minutes ago, LizEF said:

On the swatch cards this is darker and bluer than ESSRI.  ESSRI is now mostly grey on the swatch card.  Similar things are true on the Rhodia sheet used in the reviews - this is still a perfect blue-black with a little sheen (reviewed ~08 Feb 2023) and ESSRI is a dark grey with barely a hint of blue - could be my imagination (reviewed ~30 Aug 2021).  While ESSRI has been on the page much longer, it's also been in the middle of a stack of paper where it doesn't get much, if any, light...  FWIW.

👍

Vielen Dank.

[LizEF]

6 minutes ago, Mercian said:

👍

Vielen Dank.

You're welcome!

[InesF]

Thank you @LizEF for this review, for fighting through German spelling (!  ), for the story part and for the microscope image! 4x interesting details!

 

The blue is much to my liking. The dry flow is almost to expect from "true" iron gal inks. Having become fastidious from using so many well behaving inks, coming back to those "pure" and "rock-solid" basic inks is not so much pleasure. This iron gal ink should not be called "blaufließend" as it seems to be more like "blau nicht fließend".  

 

Oh! All of a sudden the origin of ESSRI is revealed. Will you, once, write a prequel to the magical adventures of Quinn and the sorcerers?  

 

The lines in the microscope image are from micro-scratches in the glass surface; such an almost homogenous pattern of droplets requires carefully cleaned surfaces! 

[LizEF]

5 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you @LizEF for this review, for fighting through German spelling (!  ), for the story part and for the microscope image! 4x interesting details!

You're very welcome!

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

The blue is much to my liking. The dry flow is almost to expect from "true" iron gal inks. Having become fastidious from using so many well behaving inks, coming back to those "pure" and "rock-solid" basic inks is not so much pleasure.

I really like it too.  It's been my favorite of the iron galls I've tried.

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

This iron gal ink should not be called "blaufließend" as it seems to be more like "blau nicht fließend".  

  I actually get that - without a translator.  Perhaps you can explain to us why most speakers of German replace the ß with "ss" when dealing with people who don't speak German - is it just because they know we don't have that character on our keyboards?  Or do too many mistake it for the letter B?   I suppose I should ask my German pen-pal - he has that character in his home address and last name, but always uses "ss" on his envelopes...  I should look up how to properly write that character by hand and surprise him.

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

Oh! All of a sudden the origin of ESSRI is revealed. Will you, once, write a prequel to the magical adventures of Quinn and the sorcerers?  

Let's just hope they didn't sacrifice any sneks in making their magical ink...

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

The lines in the microscope image are from micro-scratches in the glass surface; such an almost homogenous pattern of droplets requires carefully cleaned surfaces! 

I wondered if that was the case, but wasn't sure since not all inks seem to "respect" the presence of such lines - I reuse the same slide and slip cover (though I've broken a couple of covers, and one slide).  It's been a pain trying to find something that can dry the slide without leaving lint behind.  Do you have suggestions?  (I've been pondering trying Kimwipes.)

[Mercian]

6 hours ago, InesF said:

This iron gal ink should not be called "blaufließend" as it seems to be more like "blau nicht fließend".

😁

How about naming it Unbefließendlich Blau (-Schwarz)? 😉

[InesF]

17 hours ago, LizEF said:

  I actually get that - without a translator.  Perhaps you can explain to us why most speakers of German replace the ß with "ss" when dealing with people who don't speak German - is it just because they know we don't have that character on our keyboards?  Or do too many mistake it for the letter B?   I suppose I should ask my German pen-pal - he has that character in his home address and last name, but always uses "ss" on his envelopes...  I should look up how to properly write that character by hand and surprise him.

@LizEF, welcome to the German Grammar Lesson Part 1 of 128,347  

(remark: in all honesty, German could be so simple ... but, no, that's not what people like!)

 

There are three pronunciations of the character "s":

1) a soft s, the same as you speak it in the English words "as", "house", etc. In German always written as single "s" - no matter what.

2) the most fierce/harsh spoken "s" in words where it follows a short vocal, such as "dass", "Fass", "Boss", etc. - (make sure, your teeth are fastened!). I do not know any English parallels.

3) a second variant of a slightly less fierce/harsh spoken "s" in words where it follows a long or double vocal, such as "gießen", "außergewöhnlich", "groß", etc. (at least similar to how I speak the "s" in "inks"  , not quite as soft as in example 1, not quite as harsh as in example 2)

 

If you handwrite, use the ß. Always. If you write in all-captial letters there is no character ß, use the "SS" instead. If you type on your computer, use the Greek "beta" ß. If you are not sure if your recipient can correctly interpret the ß, type "ss" instead, even if grammatically not correct.

And, @LizEF, if you manage to always use the correct version when writing in German, you may belong to the top 5% of German native speakers! 

[InesF]

16 hours ago, Mercian said:

How about naming it Unbefließendlich Blau (-Schwarz)? 😉

Tinten werden beflissen und geflissentlich nach ihren Fließeigenschaften benannt, nachdem fleißige Fließtechniker:innen (eventuell Fliesentechniker:innen) mit dem Umfließen und Messen des Tintenflusses beauftragt wurden.

 

Have fun with the "s", "ss" and "ß"! 

 

(English translation: Inks will be assiduously and deliberately ... oh, no! Impossible  )

[Misfit]

I love your ink reviews and the story. Ok, I love the story just a bit more. 

[JulieParadise]

Just claim to be speaking and writing German as they do in Switzerland. The Helvetians have abolished the ß = sharp s in their writing. Problem solved. 

[LizEF]

8 hours ago, InesF said:

@LizEF, welcome to the German Grammar Lesson Part 1 of 128,347  

German does seem complicated to me, but then, I hear English seems really complicated to everyone not a native speaker.  Russian is pretty complicated (took 4 years in college and lived in Moscow 3 years), but one of my fellow students went to Finland and informed me that Finnish is even more complicated than Russian.  Which is the long way of saying, to a non-native speaker, almost every language is probably difficult.

 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

1) a soft s, the same as you speak it in the English words "as", "house", etc. In German always written as single "s" - no matter what.

Hmm.  In English, the word "as" is pronounced "az" (voiced S sound); but "house" is an "s" sound, so we'll go with that.  (Now I'm wondering if British English pronounces "as" as "as"...  I can't remember, but I doubt it...  Back to German - got it.

 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

2) the most fierce/harsh spoken "s" in words where it follows a short vocal, such as "dass", "Fass", "Boss", etc. - (make sure, your teeth are fastened!). I do not know any English parallels.

OK.  (There are at least two Russian sounds - vowel and unvoiced consonant - that have no English equivalent, so at least I can imagine.)  I'll see how google translate pronounces these...

 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

3) a second variant of a slightly less fierce/harsh spoken "s" in words where it follows a long or double vocal, such as "gießen", "außergewöhnlich", "groß", etc. (at least similar to how I speak the "s" in "inks"  , not quite as soft as in example 1, not quite as harsh as in example 2)

Wow.  This (three "s" sounds) must really tune one's ear.  Meanwhile, in English, we go the other direction - one letter, any number of sounds depending on the other letters around it...  

 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

If you handwrite, use the ß. Always. If you write in all-captial letters there is no character ß, use the "SS" instead. If you type on your computer, use the Greek "beta" ß. If you are not sure if your recipient can correctly interpret the ß, type "ss" instead, even if grammatically not correct.

 

Got it!  We have no English letters with no capital - it's a strange concept.  Of course, if a letter can't start a word, that would make sense.  Russian also has such letters.

 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

And, @LizEF, if you manage to always use the correct version when writing in German, you may belong to the top 5% of German native speakers! 

Thank you for the lesson in German grammar and pronunciation!

[LizEF]

7 hours ago, InesF said:

(English translation: Inks will be assiduously and deliberately ... oh, no! Impossible  )

  Google translate had a go:

 

Quote

Inks are diligently and studiously named for their flow properties after diligent flow technicians (possibly tile technicians) have been tasked with reflowing and measuring the ink flow.

[LizEF]

7 hours ago, Misfit said:

I love your ink reviews and the story. Ok, I love the story just a bit more. 

Thank you, @Misfit!  So happy you enjoy the story.