EFNIR: Tintenlabor Iron Gall Ink 3 Dark Blue / Black

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Tintenlabor Iron Gall Ink 3 Dark Blue / Black

This is review #340 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: SORRY! I forgot to refocus after the water test, so the last part of the review is out of focus - so sorry about that! This also means I don't have a "screenshot" image, so I used a photo instead.

German name: Eisengallustinte 3, dunkelblau / schwarz

This and five other iron gall inks were kindly sent to me all the way from Switzerland by Tintenlabor for review. You can learn more at the Tintenlabor website. (Please check out the site for lots of good details about this ink - it's really interesting!) Also, christof shows these inks off more beautifully than I could with my Japanese EF.  Check it out here.

This and the previous ink are both blue-black. This one has an iron content of 5 g/l, the previous one has less iron. I'm doing them back-to-back to see if I can tell the difference. They did seem to be slightly different colors.

The microscope slide was boring. Cleaning was a bear, just like last time. Expect to need to rub or brush the grey film left by oxidation off everything. Liquid dish soap actually helped more than vinegar. Dry time was faster in testing, but I'm guessing the feed wasn't as saturated.

Zoomed in photo (Color is quite close. The color at the start of the review is lighter and brighter, for some reason.)

Photo ((See notes, screenshot not possible.) Strangely over-saturated - perhaps it's darkened since the review was recorded...)

Scan of Completed Review (Best color reproduction - almost perfect. You can really see how the flow slows further down the page.)

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (AP: Color's fairly close. CP: The color is too grey in the image.)

Line width (The "I" in "Ink:". 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 316µm. With 340 inks measured, the average line width is 298µm.)

Water Test Results

Chromatogram (Inset is a scan, larger image is a photo with the mini microscope.)

Aging (All written within ~10 minutes. Sequence: Swatch swab, swatch text, watertest text, ink log. All started the same color as the slide, but almost instantly darkened.)

Sheen (Silver sheen on Iroful. There's much less of it on Tomoe River 52gsm.)

Scan of Completed Review (Scan of the review sheet after 1 month)

Previous Review: Tintenlabor Iron Gall Ink 2 Dark Blue / Black.

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

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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]

Wow, wow, wow, excellent review @LizEF  I've just inked the new formula of the same ink. I yet have to start the review

I have to say, the blue middle range inks are difficult to categorize  Blue 2, 3 and Azur Noir, are quite similar in oxidation behavior. I would've thought Azure with oxidize to black, but it doesn't, at least not on Mixed Media paper. My favorite for now has been Blue 2 NF. But that remains to be seen. 

I wonder if the silver sheen is specific to Iroful. Many of the the Octopus pigment  inks developed that too. 

The chroma is the most surprising and intriguing part of this ink. The dye without iron.

Thanks also for posting the before/after photos. Really nice. 

Looking forward to seeing when our heros will confront Nick.

Thanks for bringing magic and fun to this Tuesday morning. 🙏🙏🙏

[LizEF]

2 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Wow, wow, wow, excellent review @LizEF 

Thanks!

 

3 minutes ago, yazeh said:

 I've just inked the new formula of the same ink. I yet have to start the review

I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to use.  This was my favorite of the blues.

 

4 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I have to say, the blue middle range inks are difficult to categorize  Blue 2, 3 and Azur Noir, are quite similar in oxidation behavior. I would've thought Azure with oxidize to black, but it doesn't, at least not on Mixed Media paper. My favorite for now has been Blue 2 NF. But that remains to be seen. 

Yeah, this wasn't much different after a month.  You'll have to ask a chemist.

 

6 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I wonder if the silver sheen is specific to Iroful.

It seems to be.  I don't see it on any other paper - unique chemicals, perhaps?

 

8 minutes ago, yazeh said:

The chroma is the most surprising and intriguing part of this ink. The dye without iron.

Once again, no explanation. I probably did the chroma on day 1, so no time for oxidation, I guess...

 

9 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Thanks also for posting the before/after photos. Really nice.

You're most welcome!

 

9 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Looking forward to seeing when our heros will confront Nick.

 

9 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Thanks for bringing magic and fun to this Tuesday morning. 🙏🙏🙏

Gladly!

[Sailor Kenshin]

It's Tuesdays with Liz again, yay.

 

Holy tippity-tappity silver sheen!  The chroma this time looks like a gray shark, seen from above  (which is better than seeing it head-on).  🙀

 

I have Lamy BB but seldom use it.  This, too, is right up my colorway.  Thinking, thinking….

Love seeing these IG reviews.  Many thanks for the story, too.  I get those sudden recognition moments ALL the time!

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

It's Tuesdays with Liz again, yay.

 

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Holy tippity-tappity silver sheen!

Kinda cool, huh?

 

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

The chroma this time looks like a gray shark, seen from above  (which is better than seeing it head-on).  🙀

 

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I have Lamy BB but seldom use it.  This, too, is right up my colorway.  Thinking, thinking….

  Lamy BB really likes my Pelikan m405.  As for this one - wait for @yazeh to finish his review of the new formula - should clarify how hard you need to think.

 

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Love seeing these IG reviews.  Many thanks for the story, too.  I get those sudden recognition moments ALL the time!

Thanks!  You're most welcome!  Glad I'm not the only one!  (Well, I don't get them all the time, but often enough to know that it can't just be me...)

[Sailor Kenshin]

Sorta dates from way, way back.

[yazeh]

 @LizEF. I finished the writing samples of Dark Blue 3. The ink is well lubricated and wet. It has already oxidized like Blue 2 to a shade of charcoal. Depending on nib size, wetness, and paper, the wet ink is either petrol blue or sky blue and then oxidizes to Blue Black or Black. You can discover the rest sometime next week, when I take the final photos to show the oxidation process. There's also Azur Noir, which has 6 gr/l iron, perfect for @Sailor Kenshin who loves wild inks.   

[Sailor Kenshin]

43 minutes ago, yazeh said:

 @LizEF. I finished the writing samples of Dark Blue 3. The ink is well lubricated and wet. It has already oxidized like Blue 2 to a shade of charcoal. Depending on nib size, wetness, and paper, the wet ink is either petrol blue or sky blue and then oxidizes to Blue Black or Black. You can discover the rest sometime next week, when I take the final photos to show the oxidation process. There's also Azur Noir, which has 6 gr/l iron, perfect for @Sailor Kenshin who loves wild inks.   

And here I thought you meant Monteverde Azur Noir, which is quite tame.

[inkstainedruth]

I'll admit that I was NOT expecting sheen out of an IG ink....  I really don't need another IG blue/black, but this one is kinda tempting (oh my poor wallet!  Bad enough that I bought 4 pens at an estate sale last weekend, have another pen on order from an eBay vendor, and just mailed a check off to the person who checked out the pens that I accidentally left on his table at B/W for the repair on the one that needed it, and to get the pens -- and the case they were in -- back....  And of course have to do car registrations before the end of the month (complicated by the fact that PennDot sent us a NEW license plate for the minivan (after sending us a replacement plate a few years ago when they had a bunch of plates start peeling (don't ask -- I have no idea how).  The FIRST replacement plate was JUST FINE.  And of course the registration cards/inspections are due the end of the month but the "new" replacement plate has Yet Another™ number on it -- AND they only sent us ONE card -- not two(!) -- grrrrr.  We KNOW not to leave the registration cards in the cars (in case they ever get stolen...).

But still, but still -- I'm intrigued by this one.  Sigh....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

 @LizEF. I finished the writing samples of Dark Blue 3. The ink is well lubricated and wet. It has already oxidized like Blue 2 to a shade of charcoal. Depending on nib size, wetness, and paper, the wet ink is either petrol blue or sky blue and then oxidizes to Blue Black or Black. You can discover the rest sometime next week, when I take the final photos to show the oxidation process. There's also Azur Noir, which has 6 gr/l iron, perfect for @Sailor Kenshin who loves wild inks.   

  I've got the new version of Gold/Black in my review pen now - it also oxidizes much faster, but I wrote just over a full A5 page last night and it never ran dry, so there's that.

[LizEF]

Just now, inkstainedruth said:

I'll admit that I was NOT expecting sheen out of an IG ink....

Let alone silver sheen from a blue-black!

 

2 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

NEW license plate for the minivan

You can make yourself feel slightly better by naming you minivan Vinny-man (or Vinnie-man, or Viniman if you prefer).  Then you can say things like, "Honey, I'm taking Vinny-man to the store." (And you're husband will be, "Who the heck is that!?")

[Baggins]

Who put on the EFNIR on YT their cat meawing ? 😊🤣😻

[yazeh]

38 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

And here I thought you meant Monteverde Azur Noir, which is quite tame.

They both have the same name. 

This is like Gold Black and Aprilis Argente, the highest iron content. I still have to do the writing, then the waiting and see how dark it becomes and then the cleaning. After all that I can't post the full scans of all the blues and see how they look side by side. 

[yazeh]

20 minutes ago, LizEF said:

  I've got the new version of Gold/Black in my review pen now - it also oxidizes much faster, but I wrote just over a full A5 page last night and it never ran dry, so there's that.

So, it's an improvement?

[inkstainedruth]

19 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Let alone silver sheen from a blue-black!

 

You can make yourself feel slightly better by naming you minivan Vinny-man (or Vinnie-man, or Viniman if you prefer).  Then you can say things like, "Honey, I'm taking Vinny-man to the store." (And you're husband will be, "Who the heck is that!?")

Ha!  The minivan already HAD a name -- "Gloucester" -- because when we got it it was at the end of the season, buying it off the lot and it's this weird sort of grayish brown (I forget what the "official"color-name was) and I named it that because it was the most boring name I could think of.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Baggins said:

Who put on the EFNIR on YT their cat meawing ? 😊🤣😻

 

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

So, it's an improvement?

Yes!  The only downside is it doesn't stay tan-colored for as long.  Of course, I'm basically on day 1, so time will tell...

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

Ha!  The minivan already HAD a name -- "Gloucester" -- because when we got it it was at the end of the season, buying it off the lot and it's this weird sort of grayish brown (I forget what the "official"color-name was) and I named it that because it was the most boring name I could think of.... 

Give the poor thing an upgrade!  Vinny-man from Gloucester!

[inkstainedruth]

Naah.  The van is roughly 12 years old at this point.  Not going change the name of it at this point (mind you, the Prius is 2 years older and NEVER had a name...).   The only other car I ever owned that had a name was my first car (the 1984 Dodge Omni that got driven into the ground and then mostly didn't get used when we lived in Massachusetts and sat in the driveway till the bumper rusted off.  But at 11-12 year old and something like 132K plus miles on it, "Jenny" had a pretty good run.  I could say "Jenny take me home" [bonus points for anyone who catches the reference, BTW] and she invariably did -- except for the time I was driving home from work and some hubcap came flying over the center guide rail on the Sprain Brook Parkway one evening and slammed end on into the middle of the windshield....  I managed to get over to the right lane and then pull off (even with the rear view mirror on the floor ) and some couple pulled off to see if I was okay and were able to flag down a cop going the other way.  The cop drove me up to Mt. Kisco to a place where I could call my dad and have him come get me -- but I had shards of glass in my lap, inside my purse, and on the back window ledge....  Plus, it didn't REALLY help that the cop said, "Hey -- you did really well!  You didn't hit the center guide rail or another vehicle and you didn't roll the car...."  But he got super interested when I said I'd behind the school bus accident a week or two before on the top end of that parkway, just after getting off of the Taconic Parkway onto that road, driving TO work....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

27 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Naah.  The van is roughly 12 years old at this point.  Not going change the name of it at this point (mind you, the Prius is 2 years older and NEVER had a name...).   The only other car I ever owned that had a name was my first car (the 1984 Dodge Omni that got driven into the ground and then mostly didn't get used when we lived in Massachusetts and sat in the driveway till the bumper rusted off.  But at 11-12 year old and something like 132K plus miles on it, "Jenny" had a pretty good run.  I could say "Jenny take me home" [bonus points for anyone who catches the reference, BTW] and she invariably did -- except for the time I was driving home from work and some hubcap came flying over the center guide rail on the Sprain Brook Parkway one evening and slammed end on into the middle of the windshield....  I managed to get over to the right lane and then pull off (even with the rear view mirror on the floor ) and some couple pulled off to see if I was okay and were able to flag down a cop going the other way.  The cop drove me up to Mt. Kisco to a place where I could call my dad and have him come get me -- but I had shards of glass in my lap, inside my purse, and on the back window ledge....  Plus, it didn't REALLY help that the cop said, "Hey -- you did really well!  You didn't hit the center guide rail or another vehicle and you didn't roll the car...."  But he got super interested when I said I'd behind the school bus accident a week or two before on the top end of that parkway, just after getting off of the Taconic Parkway onto that road, driving TO work....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Sometimes, life's an adventure whether we like it or not.   Glad "you did really well!"