Which are the best shading inks... Noodler's aren't, it appears.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Which are the best shading inks............Noodlers don't qualify, it appears. a few days ago, I started a thread on which Noodler inks shaded well and only two were mentioned.

 

Hopefully shading inks, have not become passe`.

 

I do have some of the older makes, but was looking for something new that is major.

 

With in the last month, I did a test of some gray inks.

I bought MB oyster Gray/ new name Cool gray, very good shading.

Pelikan ES Moonstone shades well.

Lamy Crystal Agate another gray ink shades, but is the dryest ink I've ever used....needs one drop only of glycerine. ...and will still be dry, but two drops caused all sorts of problems.

DA Zementgrau, is a dark gray with some shading.

 

[TSherbs]

If you mean from any maker, then look at Robert Oster. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

22 hours ago, TSherbs said:

Robert Oster.

Thank you.

Again, a world of inks.

[arcfide]

The inks from Platinum, unlike some inks from Pilot and/or Sailor, almost all seem to lean towards shading, and they specifically mention shading in their literature. In particular, their Classic Ink series of light iron gall inks are designed explicitly for shading, and they do so *very* well. The combination of dry inks with the iron gall makes them apt to show nice shading in ways that you don't get from other inks. 

 

Their other line of inks such as their Mix-Free line and their standard line of inks all shade quite well, too. Only their Carbon Ink and Chou Kuro are not really heavy shaders. Their Pigmented Blue is a nice, bright shading ink, for instance. 

 

Basically, Platinum is one of the brands that I just assume will shade out of the gate, whereas, Sailor inks, for example, I usually assume will be wet, but I assume they won't shade heavily unless it's a specific ink, and the same goes for Pilot. Noodler's I assume will not shade, since they tend to be excessively wet. 

 

All the Herbin inks I've tried demonstrate some level of shading. 

[Mercian]

As any fule kno, the inks that give the prettiest shading are the various iron-gall inks.

 

This property is of course not any kind of ‘free lunch’ - it comes at the price of increased attention to the flushing/cleaning of one’s pens, and to the proper storage of one’s iron-gall ink.

[Bo Bo Olson]

23 minutes ago, arcfide said:

Platinum

Thank you for the information on that ink brand.

At one time, much of a decade ago, Japanese ink, perhaps not that brand, in Germany was €78 a bottle, before Amazon started flying it in.**

So at that price i didn't even think about Japanese inks

 

** I noticed on Goulet's site Salior ink was @ $14 or so. I'll have to look up German Ink Dealers...to see what the price of Platinum is.

Can't do English is I'd have to pay import fees..and mailing has become expensive there..., might have to pay import fees from the States....but overseas US mail is so, very, very expensive. I can send from Germany at 1/3 the price of US mail to here.

 

Now the price of Noodler's is lower than the €25-then-19 and now @ €15....the price of mailing would have brought the stateside price to too expensive.

My two Noodler inks I ordered from Goulet..was delivered to my motel in the States, and was packed bomber proof.

I got a delivery of $35 worth of basic fountain pen goods from Ricard Binder also to that same motel. To mail that order to Germany would have cost $35.

[Chimera01]

Here's the [exceptionally comprehensive] Mountain of Ink's Top Ten shading inks:

https://mountainofink.com/blog/top-ten-shading-inks

[Mercian]

I would also include these two inks:

 

 

And, to a lesser extent, Sailor’s pigment blue-black Sou Boku:

 

 

 

I have got Edelstein ‘Olivine’ to shade, and also Edelstein ‘Topaz’, ‘Sapphire’, ‘Mandarin’, and ‘Aquamarine’ (all with Pelikan pens). That said, of course none of these inks are ‘inexpensive’ (or at least, they aren’t ‘inexpensive’ inks here in the UK).

 

For a less-expensive ink that shades quite nicely, Diamine’s ‘Amazing Amethyst’ has a nice range of hues in it. Their delicious ‘Chocolate Brown’ shades too.
Rohrer & Klingner ‘Sepia’ also shades, if grey-brown antique-looking inks appeal to you.

Pure Pens’ ‘Celtic Sea’ is an aqua-blue/turquoise that shades.

 

I’ll add more as I think of them.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Thanks everyone, I'll be making lists when the thread peters out.

[TSherbs]

Have you looked at KWZ? I assume that they sell from Europe, also (since it is a Polish company)

 

Actually, here is their list of everywhere they sell. Lots of vendors in Europe: KWZ distributors

[Penguincollector]

  Regarding Platinum products, I have bought some from Penworld.eu in Belgium. Their customer service is outstanding, so it might be worthwhile to ask if they special order, as I only see red and blue-black from their regular line plus some pigment inks. I see Platinum IG inks on Amazon DE, starting at around 26€ (or is it €26?).

[Bo Bo Olson]

4 hours ago, TSherbs said:

 KWZ

I've heard of it, and that it was Polish...but hate buying on line...but will have to it looks like.

Which KWZ are shading inks or should I look in Ink Reviews.

[Bo Bo Olson]

On 4/11/2024 at 7:04 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

KWZ  I looked in Ink Reviews.

Very many had pictures that no longer showed up in the 10-15 inks I looked at in Ink Reviews.

How many of the IG inks retain a color and shading, after the normal 1 or more days until the ink has completed it's transformation..

 

Richard Binder ages ago, when the selection was more limited, said it too 24 hours for a full change of a good IG ink.

 

I noticed with ESSR, which depending on the paper,** it changed before one's eyes from light blue to dark, near black, and or between thatand in that day, and at one day, two and finally on some papers three days to stop changing.

 

** on common copy paper often.

[Chimera01]

Also check out the Sailor Manyo Dual Shading Inks 

[ https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2022/07/ink-review-newest-sailor-manyo/ ]

[Bo Bo Olson]

Thank you for the Sailor Manyo ink info.

As my wallet goes down for the third time.

 

The world has been flooded with so many new inks......as I've often said, we are living in The Golden Age of Inks.

[lapis]

I liked the iron age.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Flint was such a wonderful work tool, until it came down to beating on armor...which got light enough in the age you like, that athletic men could play soccer in it (or American football)..

[arcfide]

23 hours ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

How many of the IG inks retain a color and shading, after the normal 1 or more days until the ink has completed it's transformation..

 

Almost all fountain pen iron gall inks these days are "light" iron gall inks, meaning that they will not transform to the pure black tone that traditional iron gall inks will do. However, even the old school iron gall heavy inks such as ESSRI and Diamine Registrar's will not go completely black in normal pens. You would need to have a very wet pen laying down a very heavy line of ink for that to happen. This is more akin to what you would get traditionally with an ink that had some gum arabic in it and was written with a dip pen instead of a fountain pen. 

 

I get consistent, heavy shading in pretty much every iron gall ink that I've tested, and none of them transition totally to black. Even in the "black" form (such as if you wash off the dyes with water), you get plenty of shading. My impression is that some of KWZ's traditional colors are closer to getting to a pure black, but most others will give you plenty of shading and range, and I know for a fact that all of Platinum's iron gall inks will give tremendous shading. Their Citrus Black is probably the one that people gravitate to the most for this effect, but even their traditional blue black will do it quite readily from any broad nib. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

4 hours ago, arcfide said:

some of KWZ's

Which some?

I've taken a 20 ink review gander at KWZ...and when it's not old hunt and search of pictures, it's hard to say That One I'll buy.

[DrPlush]

My favourite is Troublemaker Foxglove, which often shades with a blue halo around the purple on good paper. 

 

A bunch of the other Troublemaker inks shade beautifully too. Many are similar to colours found in the Sailor Ink Studio lineup, but in my experience Ink Studio inks can be unbearably dry and I’ve bought several bottles where I’ve loved the look and hated the writing experience so I now won’t buy one without trying a sample first (whereas the Troublemaker seem better-behaved).

 

Kobe Nagasawa #57 Hime-Ajisai (made by Sailor) is another well-behaved shading ink that I love a lot. (And at this point you can probably tell what my favourite colour is.)

 

And, for some variety, Iroshizuku Ina-ho is another beautiful (discontinued) shading ink, if you can find somewhere to get it.