About My Reviews

[saskia_madding]

First off, I want to acknowledge that this feels like an incredibly self indulgent post to write. I would never have considered doing this, except so many people have asked me for the same information over and over again, and many have requested the information in threads of my reviews. Instead of answering each person separately, it makes more sense to just put up a post and then link to it in my signature.

 

So, first off - the journal I use.

I am pretty sure this is the journal I have used for my recent reviews. I got it at Laywine's, and it was a special order item. I liked it because it has lines, numbered pages, white(ish) paper that wasn't too bright, and a hard cover. However, it was also outrageously priced, over $60 CAD I believe PLUS tax. Frankly, the paper wasn't good enough to be worth that kind of money. Now that I've finished it, I've moved on to ones of these, although mine wasn't sold with an elastic (I bought it at Laywine's).

 

Next - the paper I use for the small, glued in samples

This is standard across all my reviews for the last year. I use paper samples to see what the ink looks like on the various papers I choose to write on. I make sure i use a sample of absorbent and non-absorbent papers, so I can see how the colour and ink properties change on each. I start out by writing the review in a Clairefontaine notebook. Then:

a) first sample - Rhodia dotPad paper

b ) second sample - Rhodia spiral bound notebook paper

c) third sample - absorbent, art/sketch paper from this book

d) fourth sample - Tomoe River white paper

 

Finally - the pens

In the future i will try to add what pens I use, but the standard is a wet medium nib, at least. I prefer to use wet M nibs so you can get a good look at the colour, and also so we can see how lots of ink on the page behaves. If you see an ink in a dry F nib, you won't know what happens at its worst - lots of wet ink on a page. Generally I try to stick to the middle of the road, not too wet, not too dry, and medium in width.

 

 

 

Ink ordering information:

 

Ishida Bungu inks

Bung Box inks

Callifolio inks

Kingdom Note bird inks

Kingdom Note insect inks

Kingdom Note fungi inks

Sailor Onago iro days

Pen & Message inks

SankoDo inks

Usagiya

no link for Maruzen inks, just ask cool-japan or WRE for them.

 

I got mine from cool-japan on ebay, whose real life name is Atsu. All you have to do is contact him through ebay.

 

The Bung Box, Ishida Bungu, Maruzen, and Kingdom Note inks are $40 USD each from him. I have also purchased some from White Rabbit Express, and yes they are cheaper, but only under certain conditions.

 

The way WRE works is that they charge you a fee for every location you purchase things from. This seems like a changing fee, but I'm not sure what changes it. The cheapest I have seen for the charge is $16 USD, but I just got a quote where this charge was $21. They also charge you shipping from the store to WRE, which can range from $5 to $15 (in my experience so far). Given all these variables, sometimes it isn't cheaper to use WRE.

 

Especially because WRE charges shipping on top of that, and although they are not SUPEr expensive, they aren't super cheap either. Usually Atsu's shipping is anywhere from $0 - $8 USD for up to 6 bottles.

 

Generally I've found that if you buy just one ink, then it is actually cheaper to buy from cool-japan. If you buy two inks, it is the same price. Three inks, and it is a few dollars cheaper, maybe $3 or $4. But if you buy four or more bottles *from the same store*, then it is cheaper to go with White Rabbit. However, this is not true if you are buying one bottle of Bung Box and one bottle of Ishida Bungu, because then WRE will charge you two service fees.

 

For any Maruzen/Athena inks, I am encouraging people to go with Atsu, because when all other vendors could not get information on what inks were available, Atsu went to the store in person and took pictures and then made me a pdf collage, so I could choose which colours I wanted. The only reason I knew what inks to choose was because of him, so I bought all my Athena ink from him.

 

Okay, that's it. I'm happy to let this post fade into obscurity and only be brought up when people want to know, and then i'll link them to here. But if anyone has any other questions, feel free to ask.

[lapis]

No questions. Just keep up the good work!

 

Mike

[DanF]

What kind of...oh never mind.

 

Dan

[saskia_madding]

Ha! It seems ridiculous that I posted this thread, but you'd be surprised how many times I get asked this question.

[lapis]

Okay, just make a list of 'em ..........

[saskia_madding]

A list of what?

[wlwilcox]

Glad we have it all cleared up.

Thanks, I need to remember "Medium nib or larger".

[bluejay]

It is nice to see the true colour of the ink. But for those who like dry fines or xf won't really know the colour of the ink. Would you ever consider adding an xf or f to your ink reviews?

 

Are you selling your ink review sheets?

[saskia_madding]

No, and no.

 

Sorry, but reviews are incredibly time consuming, and I rarely, if ever, use F or XF nibs. To ink a pen I wouldn't really use up for every review? I don't have time to do that. Sometimes, if someone specifically asks me, I'll try to accommodate that request, but I've probably only done it a few times.

 

And no, I wouldn't sell my review sheets. I want to keep them for my own reference. Who would want to buy them, anyway?

[tinta]

Would you consider using italic nibs in your reviews?

[Sinistral1]

Just an idea to everyone out there - it's not a big deal to do your own review, and I think the more reviews the better. The moderators seem very willing to include everyone's opinions, and since there are so many possible ink and pen and paper combinations, your review will probably help others make a decision about their next ink purchase. Give it a whirl, it's fun!

[Masque]

This is a great post, and very informative! ...but I have a few followup questions:

1. What ink did you use when typing this post?
2. What nib did you use to get that one-pixel line?! It's fantastic!
3. How often do you find that you replace the ink in your computer?
4. Have you tried Baystate Blue? Does it really damage screens like they say?

Thanks!

Edited February 22, 2014 by Masque

[bleair]

This is a great post, and very informative! ...but I have a few followup questions:

1. What ink did you use when typing this post?
2. What nib did you use to get that one-pixel line?! It's fantastic!
3. How often do you find that you replace the ink in your computer?
4. Have you tried Baystate Blue? Does it really damage screens like they say?

Thanks!

 

I totally totally get you're doing a tongue and cheek kind of review-response, but since I've spent the day where people where unwilling to acknowledge that sometimes being technical precise is important.

I want impress upon you that your notion that your text is being displayed with a "one-pixel line" is very very very unlikely (though if you are using a pixel mapped fixed-width font within lynx from a terminal window I will gladly buy you a beer or bottle of ink of your choosing!).

 

Today's phones, tablets and desktop systems all use proportional width anti aliased vector fonts. All curves in the glyphs of your font will be drawn on screen with multiple pixels being set, some black, and some gray (that is the antialiasing). This is a good thing, but the time of singular-pixel mapped fonts like on your Apple II or commodore 64 is long past. Vector fonts are great and along with the high dpi displays we'll get ever nicer and cleaner and easier to read text on our displays.

 

Or, said another way, if you think this ink review description looks nice now, just wait. This and all our online ink reviews will look even better as time passes and you upgrade your computer, phone, tablet, phatlet, or other electronic internet enabled communication device.

Edited February 22, 2014 by bleair

[The Good Captain]

No questions. Just keep up the good work!

 

Mike

Exactly - nicely put.

[mm1624124]

Ha! It seems ridiculous that I posted this thread, but you'd be surprised how many times I get asked this question.

No so much! You'd be surprised how many of us go nuts trying to find paper that work for certain inks!

 

Your reviews are the sirens of inks! I want it all! The paper that makes the ink look so great.

[amberleadavis]

We love your reviews! Though, I do think we should add this post to ink reviews.

[saskia_madding]

Moved, and updated with ink ordering information.

[PaperDarts]

As one of the lucky few FPN members who has seen your ink journal and actually held it in her hot little hands, thank you for this information!

[amberleadavis]

Just an idea to everyone out there - it's not a big deal to do your own review, and I think the more reviews the better. The moderators seem very willing to include everyone's opinions, and since there are so many possible ink and pen and paper combinations, your review will probably help others make a decision about their next ink purchase. Give it a whirl, it's fun!

 

As a reader of reviews - and an avid follower of both Saskia and Sandy1 - I agree. More reviews the better. Reviews can be just jotted notes, doodles, water tests, whatever you think of and whatever interests you.

[amberleadavis]

Moved, and updated with ink ordering information.

 

 

I have purchased inks based on your reviews. Thank you so much for your efforts.