Tintenlabor – Blausee

[yazeh]

 

Tintenlabor – Blausee

 

Ink Review # 211

 

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🧾 Description

 

Tintenlabor is a Swiss ink company specializing in iron gall inks. What differentiates this brand is that it discloses the iron content.

The samples were sent to me by the ink-Meister, David. 

 

The inks have been streamlined, with the current lineup reflecting a more focused selection of colours and iron contents. Blausee has a 4 g/L iron content. The highest iron content is 6 g/L (Goldrausch) and lowest is 1 g/L (Alpstein). 

 

It is named after the lake Blausee (Blue Lake) in Switzerland with turquoise water. 

 

Blausee writes turquoise and oxidizes to a blue-black or black (Noodler’s Ahab with an ebonite feed, fitted with a FPR Ultra-flex nib) depending on the wetness of pen. 

The latter combo can bleed through copy paper and even other decent papers. However, for those of us who doodle, the same combo is fantastic for creating black lines.

 

Ink is wet but has slightly-to-below-average lubrication, depending on the pen/ nib combo. 

 

You can see the oxidation process in the video below. Note, as the ink has been more than 2 weeks in the pen barrel, it has oxidized slightly compared to the photos below.  

 

 

 

 

 

Cleaning: For my peace of mind, I went with a pinch of pure ascorbic acid in the pen jacuzzi. The pens and their parts were happy. 

 

Never use ammonia-based cleaning solutions to clean iron gall inks. 

 

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 🧪 Chroma

 

 

 

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 ✍️ Writing Samples (scan)

Rhodia / Iroful

 

 

 

Midori /Tomoe River 68gsm

 

 

 

Hammermill 20lb  

 

 

 

 

 📸 Photo

Photos were taken under artificial (LED) lights. 

Rhodia/ Iroful

 

 

 

Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm

 

 

 

Hammermill 20lb

 

 

 

Oxidation and closeup: 

Note the wetness of ink with the flex nib on the bottom right image.  

 

 

 

 

 🔍 Comparison

 It's difficult to capture the depth of the ink. I took photos and scan this time. Ink is almost identical to Noodler's Pasternak. You can see how the scan is misleading.  

 

 

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 💧 Water Test

 

 

 

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 🎨 Artwork

Inktober - Day 22 - Button

When told that his whiskers were crooked, Captain Chatssard buttoned up his jacket, grabbed his pistol, and ignoring Princess Myshchovaka’s dramatic fainting , defended the honour of his whiskers.

Costume: Tintenlabor Blausee (Blue), Basalt) dark grey) iron gall ink, J Herbin Corail des Tropique, Pebeo Gold marker

Background: Diamine Grey, Uniball Signo white gell pen, Staedtler Green pen

Talens Mixed Media Notebook

 

 

 

Inktober - Day 28 – Skeletal

Inspired by The Dead Lovers by an anonymous German painter, 1470, mixed with members of the carrion fraternity  who while despised by many, clean and purify nature.

Uniball Signo white gel pen.

I took photos to show off the oxidation and creative process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inktober - Day 27 - Onion (Twist)

A square took a free spirit to a diner, not knowing that she would launch the hula-hoop craze in the 50s and change his life forever.

 

Diamine Grey, Tintenlabor Echinacea, Blausee (iron gall inks), Uniball Signo White Gel pen. Pebeo metalliic marker Red, Talens Mixed Media.

 Blausee is the little diamond patterns.  

 

 

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- Pens Used: Pilot Kakuno EF, Kaweco Sport (EF/F/B/Stub 1.9), Lamy Safari M, Noodler’s Ahab, FPR Super-flex.

- What I Liked:  Colour, writing, drawing, ink washes, water resistance. Drawing with a flex nib. 

- What I Did Not Like: Writing with a very wet pen can be both a joy and pain.  Choose your paper wisely. 

- Writing Experience: Lovely with most nibs, even flex, though dry times were long. (too much ink) which oxidizes to black. 

- Pros: Lovely colour when wet, works well with most paper pen combos. Water resistant. 

- Cons: Not suited for vegetal resin Ahab barrels. If you eyedrop a pen, ink can oxidize in the barrel. Ink becomes blue-black or blue. Needs strict cleaning regiment for peace of mind. 

There might be tariffs for some. 

 

 🧷 Ink Characteristics

 

- Shading: Lovely.

- Ghosting: Yes, with very wet pens.

- Bleed Through: Same as above. 

- Flow Rate: Wet.

- Lubrication: below average to good, depending on nib size and pen, 

- Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. 

- Start-up: Very Good.

- Saturation: Gorgeous. 

- Sheen: No. 

- Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Yes, with a flex nib on copy paper. 

- Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice. 

- Staining (Pen): Yes, on Ahab’s barrel, none on Kaweco’s. 

- Clogging: No.

- Cleaning: It’s an iron gall ink.   

- Water Resistance: Very good. 

 

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 🛒 Availability

 

- Available in 30/50 ml bottles, directly from Tintenlabor. 

https://tintenlabor.mycommerce.shop/products/blausee

 

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 💬 Closing

 

I have been wowed by the evolution of Tintenlabor inks. This new series have surprised me by their quality and performance. After using this ink for a month, I have enjoyed using it. However, my favorites remain Schokolade & Echinacea. 

 

No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review.   

 

Please don’t hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments — the more the merrier.  

 

 

 

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

1. The chroma has a face!

2. I really need new eyeglasses. Tough for me to read.

3. IG inks are definitely not for me.

4. But I love reading your reviews. Thanks, @yazeh!  It must be fun testing each batch.

 

 

 

[yazeh]

9 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

1. The chroma has a face!

2. I really need new eyeglasses. Tough for me to read.

3. IG inks are definitely not for me.

4. But I love reading your reviews. Thanks, @yazeh!  It must be fun testing each batch.

 

 

 

1) 😸

2) can't you zoom in? That's what I do.

3)

4) Thanks. It's fun. But unlike other inks, IG inks are labor intensive. I'll be doing some pigment inks soon and some shimmer inks

My pens are shuddering.

 

[LizEF]

The blue-green in the chroma goes well with the grey.  They would make a good color combo for a rain jacket or something.  

 

Interesting quotes!   Seems like this ink oxidizes fairly quickly, though the color is quite nice when it starts - I like the color in the flex nib "beads" in the last close-up.

 

That Violetblau swatch card is one of my favorites!  

 

Great drawings!  Button is my favorite.  

 

Thanks for another IG review, @yazeh!

[yazeh]

4 minutes ago, LizEF said:

The blue-green in the chroma goes well with the grey.  They would make a good color combo for a rain jacket or something.  

 

4 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Interesting quotes!   Seems like this ink oxidizes fairly quickly, though the color is quite nice when it starts - I like the color in the flex nib "beads" in the last close-up.

 

I thought you would. How can one resist pooling ink on paper.

 

4 minutes ago, LizEF said:

That Violetblau swatch card is one of my favorites!  

 

It has changed names. I believe it's now Encre Royal. 👑

4 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Great drawings!  Button is my favorite.  

 

Thanks. It took quite a bit of time from concept to drawing. 

4 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Thanks for another IG review, @yazeh!

The pleasure is all mine. 🙏🙏🙏