Chart recorder ink options?

[lamellipodium]

Hello,

it's so great to see so much passion for language and beautiful writing instruments here. I'm new and came looking for some help to a specific problem, but have been lost reading posts and impressed with this community.

 

I am a Science teacher in a Children's Museum looking for an ink that would work with a mechanical chart recorder. The pens are nibs like fountain pens, and the company that makes this instrument, Belfort Instruments, makes a special ink for them, but charges $10 per ounce and has a $100 minimum order- beyond my budget.

 

Specifically, the instrument is this: http://www.belfortinstrument.com/content/hygrotherm.cfm

 

Does anyone know of an ink that would be thicker, resist bleeding, and not dry out quickly?

I'm not sure of the magic properties of the special ink Belfort uses. I'm just guessing about the qualities necessary when a nib is in contact with paper for long periods of time in moving very slowly (about 1 foot per week)

 

Any ideas for a suitable ink to try?

 

Thanks!

[dcwaites]

looking for an ink that would work with a mechanical chart recorder. The pens are nibs like fountain pens, and the company that makes this instrument, Belfort Instruments, makes a special ink for them, but charges $10 per ounce and has a $100 minimum order- beyond my budget.

 

Any ideas for a suitable ink to try?

 

Thanks!

A lot of museums use hygrothermographs to monitor storage conditions. I would ring some of those to see what they use.

Could you post some pictures of the nibs?

I used to use recorders (a long time ago) where the pen was a tiny pointed spoon, with a slit in the end. You droppered ink into the spoon and it wrote. I don't remember what ink it was, but a design like that would be easy to experiment with -- if it didn't work, clean it out and try something else.

A suggestion on the internet (here) was to try something like Rotring Drawing pen ink.

David

[psfred]

Fountain pen ink will not work. You need a very slow drying ink that will stay liquid in the pen indefinitely, and not wick into the paper. I suspect the above suggestion it on target.

 

There are also disposable pens for instruments that use a nasty felt tip, but work the same way if you can rig up a holder rather than the nib -- this is actually more likely to net out a solution. Check with Fisher Scientific or VWR for the disposable pens.

 

Peter

[wdyasq]

Fountain pen ink will not work. You need a very slow drying ink that will stay liquid in the pen indefinitely, and not wick into the paper. I suspect the above suggestion it on target.

 

There are also disposable pens for instruments that use a nasty felt tip, but work the same way if you can rig up a holder rather than the nib -- this is actually more likely to net out a solution. Check with Fisher Scientific or VWR for the disposable pens.

 

Peter

 

 

When the post first appeared I looked for recorder ink. The search was fruitless.

 

I do have an interest as I have a charting barograph. It uses a disposable pen that lasts over a year. I bought it new in 1980 and was a companion for thousands of nautical miles of travel by small sailboat.

 

What I did find was this: http://www.graficord.com/technicalsp.html

and - http://polygraphsales.com/polygraph_ink_kit.html

and - http://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref=180A&Nav=tems04

 

HTH,

Ron

Edited December 23, 2007 by wdyasq

[Oracle1729]

I have a few bottles of a chart recorder ink that are at least 50 years old. The bottles simply say "Kent Recorder V". I assume V is for violet which is the color.

 

I use it fairly regularly in my fountain pens and it behaves just like any other ink, including getting soaked into the paper when I hold it in once spot.

 

I would have thought you could use fountain pen ink interchangably in your recorder.

Edited December 24, 2007 by Oracle1729