Which ink for lab notebooks?

[inkyfingr]

Surveying all scientists, engineers, or anyone who uses a fountain pen to make records in a lab notebook...

 

What ink/inks do you like for making records in lab notebooks? Is a bulletproof or similar property important for you?

 

 

 

[Angeldust]

Not for me.

 

I work in a Chemical-Intensive environment- keeping all my records in fountain pen- I just use Diamine Turquoise.

 

 

[mathmarc]

I like to use Noodler's OMB from FPH. I dont care about bulletproof as

much as some basic water-proofness. (then again I only have to worry about

rain not chemicals)

 

 

 

 

[Philip1209]

I use Noodler's bulletproof Black. It behaves well on all kinds of paper, and it is permanent. I highly suggest it.

[superbleu]

I use old manhattan black, and bay state blue(Not BP but close enough).

 

The paper in the lab books we use is not FP friendly at all, and almost every other bulletproof ink I have tried feathers like mad. It ends up looking like it was written with a sharpie. Glacier blue doesn't work, Hunter green doesn't work, legal lapis, legal blue, and tahitian pearl are tolerable.

 

Probably not that big of an issue, since I usually keep my lab book at my desk and away from my lab space.

 

Last time I lost any info in a lab book was more than a few years ago when I had inadvertently spilled a bottle of chloroform on it. Luckily it was a small bottle. I was wondering why I started seeing stars and feeling light headed.

[Zoe]

I personally used (past tense) a simple Parker with blue ink, but I did find in the bowels of an old monastery (in Italy) a late 19th century journal written with a fountain pen by the resident nuns, and every single word was legible after years of exposure. I do wonder what they used.

[BillTheEditor]

I personally used (past tense) a simple Parker with blue ink, but I did find in the bowels of an old monastery (in Italy) a late 19th century journal written with a fountain pen by the resident nuns, and every single word was legible after years of exposure. I do wonder what they used.

Late 19th century nuns in an Italian monastery would almost certainly have used dip pens, and probably an iron-gall ink.

Edited August 16, 2008 by BillTheEditor

[Zoe]

Sounds likely, BillTheEditor. I may pull the journal out and scan a page or two for review. It was a very accidental find in the ruins of the monastery. Dirty, messy but a wonderful treasure trove of antiquity.

 

Zoe

 

I personally used (past tense) a simple Parker with blue ink, but I did find in the bowels of an old monastery (in Italy) a late 19th century journal written with a fountain pen by the resident nuns, and every single word was legible after years of exposure. I do wonder what they used.

Late 19th century nuns in an Italian monastery would almost certainly have used dip pens, and probably an iron-gall ink.

 

[polverone]

I use Noodler's Polar Blue cut with about 50% distilled water. I find it flows and starts well and does not smudge from a sweaty hand. Noodler's black is permanent of course, but it smudges if rubbed with a sweaty finger.

 

The paper of the lab book is also important for fountain pen use. I've found Eureka Lab Book, Inc. to be the best I've used and now use nothing but - fast drying yet no feather or bleed thru. Most lab books I've seen are not fountain pen friendly and have behaved like superbleu mentions above.

 

I've also found that Baystate Blue works well. I also cut it with distilled water and have not experienced any problems with it in a Safari when cut. It is very fast drying and does not smudge a bit - granted it can be bleached.

[AtomicLeo]

Noodler's Polar Blue or BP black with a M-F or F nib

[HerosNSuch]

I personally used (past tense) a simple Parker with blue ink, but I did find in the bowels of an old monastery (in Italy) a late 19th century journal written with a fountain pen by the resident nuns, and every single word was legible after years of exposure. I do wonder what they used.

I must concur with the dip pen theory. However, I must say that iron gall is questionable. It tends to degrade paper over time, especially when no attempts have been made to preserve the manuscript. If it lasted for that long exposed to the elements, I would guess Indian Ink. The shellac formula is less prone to oxidizing and doesn't damage the paper over time. Either are possible, however, as I haven't seen the condition of the manuscript.

[psfred]

Noodler's BB and Polar Blue, plus some Baystate as the mood strikes me. Black is required at one job, blue the other (to distinguish original entries).

 

I get some bleed-through in the supplied lab notebook at one job, but not enough to bother, and I've accidentally dropped a record book into a bucket of water once or twice (a lab book must, by definition, be used in a laboratory, eh? -- scraps of paper and transcription of data is expressly forbidden!), but since I was using bulletproofs from Noodler's it's almost impossible to tell from the ink. Pages are all wrinkled now, but the ink is fine.

 

I have had no trouble at all with noodler's black smearing after it dries.

 

Peter

[inkyfingr]

I use Noodler's Polar Blue cut with about 50% distilled water. I find it flows and starts well and does not smudge from a sweaty hand. Noodler's black is permanent of course, but it smudges if rubbed with a sweaty finger.

 

The paper of the lab book is also important for fountain pen use. I've found Eureka Lab Book, Inc. to be the best I've used and now use nothing but - fast drying yet no feather or bleed thru. Most lab books I've seen are not fountain pen friendly and have behaved like superbleu mentions above.

 

I've also found that Baystate Blue works well. I also cut it with distilled water and have not experienced any problems with it in a Safari when cut. It is very fast drying and does not smudge a bit - granted it can be bleached.

 

I also use the Eureka Lab Notebook and find the same results as you regarding feathering and bleed through. I found these notebooks online one day when I got tired of paying through the nose for the notebooks stocked at the college bookstore. The great thing about these Eureka notebooks is that for a dollar more, you can get them sequentially numbered. It looks much better than the old fashioned sharpie on peeling lab tape on the spine...

 

My experience is that Noodler's black is excellent as a permanent and visible ink in the notebook. Takes a while to dry though and bores the hell out of me. I've been using mostly near-bulletproof inks (such as Noodler's Golden Brown) because of the better color selection. If I drip something in the notebook, it will bleed but still be legible.

[dcwaites]

I used to take notes and make records for a Natural History Museum that I was working for.

 

We used special museum notebooks along with Rotring Isographs with Rotring India ink. Those notes are supposed to last for at least a couple of hundred years and, once dried, were absolutely water-, alcohol- and formaldehyde-proof.

 

If I was going into a lab now, that is what I would still use.

 

 

 

[kirianth]

I use Noodler's Bulletproof Black. I don't find that it smears at all, and it writes on all kinds of paper (but I use XF nibs). Bulletproof so it stands a chance against random floods of water (safety shower malfunctions, fire alarms). As some one pointed out before, even inks that disappear at the mention of water are unaffected by organic solvents.

[Tangelfoot]

Surveying all scientists, engineers, or anyone who uses a fountain pen to make records in a lab notebook...

 

What ink/inks do you like for making records in lab notebooks? Is a bulletproof or similar property important for you?

 

Ballpoint pen or permanently gel. Nothing that can possibly be removed by what it is I am working with. And some lab notebeooks do not take FP ink well.

 

[Tangelfoot]

I personally used (past tense) a simple Parker with blue ink, but I did find in the bowels of an old monastery (in Italy) a late 19th century journal written with a fountain pen by the resident nuns, and every single word was legible after years of exposure. I do wonder what they used.

 

I have found department of mining lab notebooks from the 1940 that looked a perfect match for Skript blue. But I thinking that the paper quality was better so FPs were using

[RevAaron]

For lab or field notebooks, I generally stick to bulletproof inks, and only those with only cellulosic dyes in them. I won't use Zhivago, for example, because when you add water the green runs. You get non-cellulosic inks running from a lot of the waterproof and bulletproof Noodlers inks, so I'll stick to Black, HoD, Legal Lapis, or Polar Blue. Not the jazziest of colors, but I don't want jazz in my lab notebook. Which may all be eternal inks? Not sure.

 

Aaron

[Zoe]

It may be that the papers are made differently. I am going to pull out those old journal pages one day soon and refresh my memory about the condition of the journal and the writing sample(s). I may also write a wee bit with a modern ink on one of the pages for a comparison.

 

I personally used (past tense) a simple Parker with blue ink, but I did find in the bowels of an old monastery (in Italy) a late 19th century journal written with a fountain pen by the resident nuns, and every single word was legible after years of exposure. I do wonder what they used.

 

I have found department of mining lab notebooks from the 1940 that looked a perfect match for Skript blue. But I thinking that the paper quality was better so FPs were using

 

[Iridium]

For lab or field notebooks, I generally stick to bulletproof inks, and only those with only cellulosic dyes in them. I won't use Zhivago, for example, because when you add water the green runs. You get non-cellulosic inks running from a lot of the waterproof and bulletproof Noodlers inks, so I'll stick to Black, HoD, Legal Lapis, or Polar Blue.

 

Inks similar to Zhivago are known as "near-bulletproof" but I think this is a misnomer, and that they should be called "partially bulletproof" instead. The bulletproof--as opposed to near-bulletproof--inks in Noodler's line use only cellulose-reactive dyes, as far as I'm aware. Some inks described as "waterproof," such as SwishMix at Swisher Pens, are really just partially bulletproof, while others, such as the non-SwishMix "waterproof" inks from Noodler's at Swisher Pens, are indeed waterproof and bulletproof for that matter.

 

Not the jazziest of colors, but I don't want jazz in my lab notebook. Which may all be eternal inks? Not sure.

 

The inks you mentioned by name are among the strongest of the cellulose-reactive inks from Noodler's. Yes, their strength varies against different chemicals, but all of them resist water and fading. Here are the results of a torture test involving several Noodler's inks as well as many others:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=29483

 

As you can see, some of the "eternal" inks can be damaged by bleach, but there's always a remnant left over, and they're stronger than partially-bulletproof inks with regard to maintaining their colors.