EFNIR: Tintenlabor New Iron Gall Gold / Black

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Tintenlabor New Iron Gall Gold / Black

This is review #345 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: This is the new formula, with a flow aid added. Please see my spreadsheet to find the old review. This version oxidizes significantly faster, but still takes quite a bit of time on some paper (so far, Tomoe River 52gsm and Clairefontaine 90gsm Ivory are both showing a lovely tan color).

German name: Eisengallus Goldtinte, gold / schwarz

NOTE: I added a new "Flow" rating ("extremely dry") and re-rated three of the old-formula Tintelabor to that.

Even though the sheen was everywhere on papers that showed it (Iroful, Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Tomoe River 52gsm), you had to look for it to see it, so I rated it "low".

Cleaning was surprisingly quick and easy.  If you want an iron gall ink without the difficult cleaning, this is your best bet! (I only had the ink in my pen for ~1 week. More time might show some oxidation, I don't know.)

Zoomed in photo (Pretty close.)

Screenshot (A bit under-saturated.)

Scan of Completed Review (This is almost perfect - go by this image for color and how light the ink is.)

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (Color is off a bit on both. The eye cannot see the texture in the image. The absorbent paper did already go grey, though.)

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 274µm. With 345 inks measured, the average line width is 298µm.) (Don't ask me how a wetter ink gives a finer line, but I'll take it! :))

Microscope image (100x. The cover slip was very "mobile" when I first put it on. I suspect its movement created these shapes.)

Microscope image (100x. The gold color is the ink outside the coverslip. The green-blue color is under the cover slip. Not sure how to explain that.)

Water Test Results

Aging/Oxidation (All marks made within 10 minutes of each other, in the order shown.)

Sheen (Sheen on Iroful paper)

Scan after 1 month (Scan after 1 month of oxidation. Reality is a little warmer in color.)

Previous Review: Stipula Calamo Musk Green (Verde Muschiato).

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!

[Sailor Kenshin]

A spike-gated castle under threat of storms!  Taps and skritches and groans in the background!  An excellent framework for your story, @LizEF.  Can't wait for your next installment.

 

The second micro is just eerie. 🙀

 

I can see the sheen just about everywhere, but could not read the text until you showed the oxidized version.  Seems like an interesting ink, but I'm not sure it's for me.  Love reading about it nevertheless.

 

(I've been trying to conquer myself since birth.  So far it hasn't succeeded.)

 

You make Tuesdays magically fun... I always look forward to what you've got up your sleeve.  Thanks!  👏🏻

[LizEF]

1 minute ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

A spike-gated castle under threat of storms!  Taps and skritches and groans in the background!  An excellent framework for your story, @LizEF.  Can't wait for your next installment.

Thanks!

 

1 minute ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

The second micro is just eerie. 🙀

It's interesting to me that it changed color under the cover slip, but not outside the cover slip...  :shrug:

 

2 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I can see the sheen just about everywhere, but could not read the text until you showed the oxidized version.

Hmm.  There's no sheen in any image except the sheen and line width.  The rest is just the ink.  It seemed dark enough (except on Tomoe River, in my ink log) that I didn't even do captions in the video - sorry.  Glad the month-old version rescued me.

 

4 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Seems like an interesting ink, but I'm not sure it's for me.  Love reading about it nevertheless.

  Inks that go down so pale you can't read it in real time are surely not for everyone, but I love the effect!

 

5 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

(I've been trying to conquer myself since birth.  So far it hasn't succeeded.)

Right?  Life's greatest challenge.

 

5 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

You make Tuesdays magically fun... I always look forward to what you've got up your sleeve.  Thanks!  👏🏻

Thanks!   And you're most welcome!

[yazeh]

Thank you for another excellent review of the new version of this ink @LizEF.  Your persistence is laudable. This is the penultimate Tintenlabor, I need to check. I had a lot of fun applying the old version with a brush to mixed-media paper and seeing it oxidize from tan to dark brown in a matter of minutes. 

 

Amazing microscopic photo images; the first one resembles a three-masted boat aground somewhere in Antarctica. Amazing.  

 

I hope you find a way to rapidly conclude or create an unexpected twist to bring our heroes out of their slug in grey doom.  

This seems to be one of the finest lines, quite amazing. I filled one of my cheap Indian eyedropper pens with version 2, and it didn't work with the pen, unlike the first one. 

 

Thanks for all the extra hard work. Only anyone who has used or reviewed IG inks knows how much work goes into these reviews. Thanks for persisting. Now it's time for some great Snow Crab. 🦀

 

Thanks for bringing gold and silver to this lovely, fresh summer day. 🙏🙏🙏

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Thank you for another excellent review of the new version of this ink @LizEF.

You're most welcome!

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Your persistence is laudable.

...

Thanks for all the extra hard work. Only anyone who has used or reviewed IG inks knows how much work goes into these reviews. Thanks for persisting.

I confess that I'm glad to be back to less-demanding reviews.  I did a query: only 17 of the remaining inks are permanent.  Another 111 are the easy kind - dye-based.

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

This is the penultimate Tintenlabor, I need to check. I had a lot of fun applying the old version with a brush to mixed-media paper and seeing it oxidize from tan to dark brown in a matter of minutes. 

  This ink is tons of fun to me.  And I love its tan color - while it lasts.  The gold is easily my favorite of the Tintenlabor inks, followed by the two purples (IG 1 & 2; not sure which of those I like better), and then IG3 Dark Blue/Black.

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Amazing microscopic photo images; the first one resembles a three-masted boat aground somewhere in Antarctica. Amazing.  

  You and @Sailor Kenshin are very good at making stories out of those images!

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

I hope you find a way to rapidly conclude or create an unexpected twist to bring our heroes out of their slug in grey doom.  

Thanks!

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

This seems to be one of the finest lines, quite amazing.

Yeah, can't explain that.  The ink definitely flowed better, yet it also wrote a finer line.  Perhaps when @InesF is back she can theorize (or hypothesize).

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

I filled one of my cheap Indian eyedropper pens with version 2, and it didn't work with the pen, unlike the first one. 

Maybe it's experiencing IG fatigue...

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Now it's time for some great Snow Crab. 🦀

I think I'll reward myself with microchip-reading cat feeders instead - I can't keep Smoke from eating Klaw's share, making Smoke chub-chubs, and Klaw hungry all the time...

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Thanks for bringing gold and silver to this lovely, fresh summer day. 🙏🙏🙏

Gladly!

[yazeh]

30 minutes ago, LizEF said:

I confess that I'm glad to be back to less-demanding reviews.  I did a query: only 17 of the remaining inks are permanent.  Another 111 are the easy kind - dye-based.

Same here. I never thought I'd be glad to have a water loving ink. 🚿

30 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

  This ink is tons of fun to me.  And I love its tan color - while it lasts.  The gold is easily my favorite of the Tintenlabor inks, followed by the two purples (IG 1 & 2; not sure which of those I like better), and then IG3 Dark Blue/Black.

If you ever want them, let me know, I have an infinity drawer.

30 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

  You and @Sailor Kenshin are very good at making stories out of those images!

@Sailor Kenshinis the Queen of seeing beauty in unusual places. One cannot conquer oneself.  One, becomes enlightened , when one can accept and cherish one's imperfections. 🙏🙏🙏

30 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Yeah, can't explain that.  The ink definitely flowed better, yet it also wrote a finer line.  Perhaps when @InesF is back she can theorize (or hypothesize).

I asked ChatGPT to formulate a hypothesis. I then asked it how secure it is in the veracity of it's response, 85/ 90 percent. I'm curious to see what our resident chemists think of it:

This is a great question, and it comes down to iron gall chemistry and pen/nib synergy.

Tintenlabor’s Gold Black has a high iron content (6 g/L) and very low dye load. Unlike typical dye inks, iron gall inks contract slightly on the page as they oxidize — a process that chemically binds the ink to the paper. So even though the ink feels wet, it dries tighter and sharper, producing finer lines than you’d expect.

Pair that with a Japanese EF nib (like the Pilot Kakuno or Prera/Préfounte family), which already lays down a hairline, and you get a perfect storm:
🧪 Oxidation shrinkage
🖋️ Low-flow, ultra-fine nib
📄 Tight paper (Rhodia, Tomoe River, etc.)
= Consistently razor-thin lines with minimal feathering.

It also guesses at 70% that Diamine Registrar's and Essria's iron content.

 

 

30 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Maybe it's experiencing IG fatigue...

It is.

30 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

I think I'll reward myself with microchip-reading cat feeders instead - I can't keep Smoke from eating Klaw's share, making Smoke chub-chubs, and Klaw hungry all the time... 

Or maybe you take them to the restaurant with you. 

 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

@LizEF Interesting color.  I thought it was too light to really be legible, but the oxidation helps a lot.  This one is a maybe for me (my wallet is objecting strenuously, of course -- especially since we have one of the cars in the shop and the other one has to get inspected next week, and then the school taxes have to be paid by the end of the month in order to get the "discount"... ).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

4 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Same here. I never thought I'd be glad to have a water loving ink. 🚿

Wow, that's saying something, coming from Mr. Permanent!

 

4 minutes ago, yazeh said:

If you ever want them, let me know, I have an infinity drawer.

Ha!  I have plenty, thank you!

 

5 minutes ago, yazeh said:

One cannot conquer oneself.  One, becomes enlightened , when one can accept and cherish one's imperfections. 🙏🙏🙏

 

6 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I asked ChatGPT to formulate a hypothesis.

Cool!  Yes, am curious what the scientists think of the LLM's science.

 

7 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Or maybe you take them to the restaurant with you. 

Yeah, no - that would be a nightmare!  Though I suppose steamed crab would be fine for kitties - not that I'm gonna pay $33/pound for cat food!

[LizEF]

3 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

@LizEF Interesting color.  I thought it was too light to really be legible, but the oxidation helps a lot.

It's very cool.  The in-person viewing of the change in color is really cool!

 

4 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

This one is a maybe for me (my wallet is objecting strenuously, of course -- especially since we have one of the cars in the shop and the other one has to get inspected next week, and then the school taxes have to be paid by the end of the month in order to get the "discount"... 

I hear you!  The world just doesn't seem to understand that we need our money for ink!!   Best wishes to you and your car!  (All the wishes in the world won't help with school taxes. All I can do is mourn with you...  )

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks!  

Fortunately we were able to get the one car back late this afternoon (we thought it would be ready this morning, but the mechanic was sent a wrong part for something).  But at least we now have it back, and the wiring for adjusting the side mirrors with the switches on the dashboard, and the AC, are both now back up and running again.... 

As for the school taxes?  A year after we bought our current house, the county brought in some third party company from out of state, to reassess every property in the county.  And all the agencies that were affected by by the assessment changes were NOT supposed to get a "windfall" from this (by law, apparently).  But the school board just went ahead and raised the millage ANYWAY.  My husband was threatening to run for the school board -- and his platform was "I don't have kids -- I don't care!"  But I talked him out of it, pointing out that he'd have to actually ATTEND school board meetings if he got elected -- and those meetings would probably be worse than town council meetings (which we used to go to, just to find out what was going on), and I knew what he thought of THOSE.  And that our school district was probably still better than the neighboring one; *they* used to have *fistfights* break out at some of Their meetings -- where the police had to be called.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

Glad you got your car back, @inkstainedruth. And glad you saved your husband from fist fights.

[inkstainedruth]

Oh, I think he saved HIMSELF from the fistfights....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[InesF]

Thank you, @LizEF, for reviewing this Tintenlabor ink! 

I considered a buy, was hesitant and feel confirmed about not buying it immediately. My decision went in another direction and turned out to be a good one.

 

... and now up to the next episode ...  

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you, @LizEF, for reviewing this Tintenlabor ink! 

I considered a buy, was hesitant and feel confirmed about not buying it immediately. My decision went in another direction and turned out to be a good one.

I would say, if one wants to buy only one IG ink, this is the one. So you never know.  

[Karmachanic]

9 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I would say, if one wants to buy only one IG ink, this is the one.

 

After the KWZ Green Gold IG runs out. 

[LizEF]

5 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you, @LizEF, for reviewing this Tintenlabor ink! 

I considered a buy, was hesitant and feel confirmed about not buying it immediately. My decision went in another direction and turned out to be a good one.

You're very welcome!  Glad you're enjoying the ones you got!

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

... and now up to the next episode ...  

 

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

I would say, if one wants to buy only one IG ink, this is the one. So you never know.  

Yeah, that's how I feel, but I suppose the uniqueness won't appeal to everyone...

[yazeh]

19 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Yeah, that's how I feel, but I suppose the uniqueness won't appeal to everyone...

True.

 

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

 

After the KWZ Green Gold IG runs out.