Flex-Nib Ink Review: "Ferris Wheel Press - Wayfinders Slate"

[Detman101]

First review in a looooong time, but this ink just blew me away.
Out of all the grey inks I've been sampling...only this one garnered a full-bottle purchase.
Amazing stuff! 
(300DPI and 600DPI scans for clarity)

 

[LizEF]

Great review, @Detman101!  This is actually the first glowing review I've read of a FWP ink! Glad they've got at least one that's great.

[Detman101]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Great review, @Detman101!  This is actually the first glowing review I've read of a FWP ink! Glad they've got at least one that's great.

Thank you! I will have to look up some of the other "Ferris Wheel Press" ink reviews here. There weren't a lot of reviews of this ink online anywhere, but I ordered a sample and was COMPLETELY blown away. Ordered a full bottle the same day the sample arrived!
"Kaweco - Smoky Grey" is my follow-up choice, but this one just blew me away...in every way.
I've bought 3-4 other "Grey" inks over the past 4 years and they're all either a pale shade of blue, green or brown...never truly Grey.
Out of all the "Grey" inks that I've bought full bottles of, sampled, and tried...this one had absolutely awesome flow, shading, surface tension and just does EVERYTHING right with my pen setup. I can go from hair-thin writing to fat 1.5mm flexed writing and back with no blobs or soaking of the page at any stage. I really have to linger when flexing to force the ink to bleed through to the other side of the page. With regular flex-writing it just never happens. And the Shimmer in this ink is sooooo magical! 😊
I thought for sure the shimmer particles would clog the pen, but no...their shimmer particles are so very fine that they stay suspended in the ink AND don't settle on the feed!
I only see the silver shimmer particles on regular paper with regular writing though.
For some odd reason I hardly ever see it on my "CVS Caliber" notepads unless I'm flexing like crazy...THEN I see the shimmer particles. 
Either way...this ink is beautiful to me and everything I sought in a "Grey" ink.

-DM-

[LizEF]

47 minutes ago, Detman101 said:

this one had absolutely awesome flow, shading, surface tension and just does EVERYTHING right with my pen setup

[InesF]

Thank you, @Detman101, for this flex-nib ink review!

It's good to know that even a grey ink can look so good and line variation magnifies this impression.

As @LizEF already told, me too was not convinced about writing quality of FWP inks. So far, I liked only Bluegrass Velvet - but have at least four other excellent petrol inks, each half the price. 🙄

You wrote the shimmer didn't disturb flow or line quality. Does it influence the grey appearance of the ink lines?

[yazeh]

And Ze @Detman101 is back  Good to see you back, with another review  

Glad you enjoyed the ink. Like @LizEF & @InesF I have not been convinced with the FWP inks either. Glad to see there's one that fits the bill  

[SashK]

Wow, color me intrigued! Very nice color, I cannot see the pink but that might just be my eyes or the screen I'm using. Love me some gray ink. 

 

Shimmer is a deal-breaker for me, but that's very much a me problem XD. Many inks I like have shimmer. 

[Detman101]

6 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you, @Detman101, for this flex-nib ink review!

It's good to know that even a grey ink can look so good and line variation magnifies this impression.

As @LizEF already told, me too was not convinced about writing quality of FWP inks. So far, I liked only Bluegrass Velvet - but have at least four other excellent petrol inks, each half the price. 🙄

You wrote the shimmer didn't disturb flow or line quality. Does it influence the grey appearance of the ink lines?

I have only tried one other FWP ink, and that is "April Showers"....which reminded me of "Sailor Ink Studio 123". 
It is "Psychedelic-Grey"...if anything, lol.

 

Yes, the Shimmer particles did not mess with the ink flow or line quality AT ALL! I can write in my usual hair-thin writing when using a light touch and also produce fat flexed lines when needed. I do get the shimmer throughout all writing but only on more absorbative paper like copy paper. On more resistant papers like Rhodia and Tomoe River, hardly any shimmer comes through without heavy flexing.
I am wholly impressed in how finely they grind their shimmer particles for this ink, they are so much smaller than any other shimmer ink that I've experienced. They don't wipe off when the ink dries also!!

 

-DM-

[Detman101]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

And Ze @Detman101 is back  Good to see you back, with another review  

Glad you enjoyed the ink. Like @LizEF & @InesF I have not been convinced with the FWP inks either. Glad to see there's one that fits the bill  

Thank you, it feels good to contribute again. I've been busy with other things and trying to spread the gospel, haven't really been trying any new inks until lately. Still have to post a review of "Golden Lapis" sometime as well....

I am wholly satisfied with this "FWP" ink, I know they don't have the most stellar reputation here...but I REALLY lucked out with this one.
Its odd...all of their inks that are widely known are so badly received.
Yet this one...that has hardly any reviews or videos...performs like a dream.

Ironic...but I'm smiling and skipping down the street.  

 

-DM-

[Detman101]

22 minutes ago, SashK said:

Wow, color me intrigued! Very nice color, I cannot see the pink but that might just be my eyes or the screen I'm using. Love me some gray ink. 

 

Shimmer is a deal-breaker for me, but that's very much a me problem XD. Many inks I like have shimmer. 

 

This ink has a nice mid-tone grey that shades quite well. There is not much pink to it that I can pick up...more of a light-brown on my "CVS - Caliber" paper and the piece of Tomoe River paper that I have. I will post a scan of the ink color on the "CVS - Caliber" notepad tonight. So far, that is the only paper that reveals the brown-tone of this ink. On every other type of paper, it has been a mid-tone grey.

I also bristled at the thought of the Shimmer particles in this ink, but I can tell you from my experience with it so far that "FWP" grinds their shimmer particles so finely that they do not cause clogs in my pen! This is a first! 
Their shimmer particles are also so fine that they suspend in the ink and do not settle down for a LONG time! I don't have to agitate my pen with this ink in it to get the particles to move about, Just holding the pen does it! Keeping the pen in my pocket is enough movement to keep the particles floating around and ready to do their job. I'm thoroughly impressed at the level of quality that FWP put into this ink.
While their other offerings appear to be badly received internet-wide, this one seems to be the unicorn of their flock.

 

-DM-

[SashK]

ohhh that's great thank you for clearing that up. How cool that the shimmer doesn't settle.

 

Gosh I must be out of the loop I had the impression that FWP was very popular. Shows you how much I know. 

[yazeh]

18 hours ago, Detman101 said:

Thank you, it feels good to contribute again. I've been busy with other things and trying to spread the gospel, haven't really been trying any new inks until lately. Still have to post a review of "Golden Lapis" sometime as well....

[Detman101]

Here is "Wayfinders Slate" on "CVS - Caliber" paper.

 

 

[LizEF]

The "some reason" is chemistry, though I can't begin to explain further.   Looks gorgeous, DM!

[yazeh]

Neat. Thanks for sharing

[Detman101]

I am loving this ink the more that I use it.
The full bottle has arrived and I am excitedly wearing through the sample ink currently in my Opus-88 Demo!
I am noticing that when I go full-flex...the silver shimmer particles REALLY show themselves in the writing! 
It is inspiring me to write MORE and practice more exotic and sexy calligraphy methods of writing more frequently.
I will grab this dragon by the tail and latch onto this.....use it to inspire my improvement in writing and make my normal writing...sexy writing (again)!!!


-DM-
 

[LizEF]

[yazeh]

 

[SashK]

One of the best things about FP is that we are lucky enough to be part of a community that is sincerely falling in love with new stuff all the time, and we get to see the evidence of it in posts like these. There's nothing like it out there today. It's refreshingly infectious, too. 

 

Rock on, and ink on, friends! 

[Detman101]

Took a flash-photo to attempt to capture the magnificence of the shimmer particles in this amazing ink.
I have never had such a smooth and even application of "Shimmer" in any shimmer-ink that I've owned prior to this "Wayfinders Slate" ink.
I hope that the attempt succeeded. Please let me know if you can see the shimmer...

Thanks all!
-DM-