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Not unlike how things are in New Zealand, postage costs in Australia are almost prohibitive for exchanges and giveaways even when just sending stuff domestically, especially when they involve pens, which Australia Post has explicitly stated are not to be sent by letter post, which is far cheaper, but must be sent in parcels (Parcel Post minimum cost A$7.95) that are not subject to being stomped on by automated mail processing machinery. A better way may be to pass around a box of surplus and not-my-cup-of-tea-but-may-be-someone-else's items of up to 3kg, using a flat-rate prepaid mailing bag – costing A$13.80 to ship between any two points in Australia – and let participants take from it and add to it as they wish. I would like to gauge the level of interest in such an exercise. I'd be happy to put the following into a box, pay for the first leg of its journey and kickstart the process: 3 new Hero 395 pens fitted with converters; these pens supposedly have semi-flex steel nibs, which is a feature I personally don't care much about2 three-ounce bottles of Noodler's Baystate Concord Grape ink – one new, one mostly full1 three-ounce bottle of Noodler's Prime of the Commons blue-black contract ink – mostly full2 three-ounce bottles of Noodler's Polar Green ink – one new, one mostly full1 three-ounce bottle of Noodler's Polar Brown ink – mostly full1 three-ounce bottle of Noodler's Kiowa Pecan ink – newseveral 3ml samples (in plastic pipettes) of the new Sailor Nano souboku pigment ink; I just received my three bottles in the mail yesterdaya few 3ml samples of Sailor Nano kiwa-guro and seiboku pigment inksand possibly: one or two 3ml samples each of some De Atramentis scented, Diamine, and Pilot Iroshizuku inks I have.I'm still waiting on my eBay order of plastic pipettes to arrive from China, so it may take another three or so weeks before I'm ready to get the samples ready for shipping. I don't personally intend to track the box's travels, or who has taken or added what to it, but if participants could just post in this thread: that they want to be the box's next stopwhat is in the box, after they have received it, taken what they wanted and perhaps added to it themselves; andtheir commitment to sending it at their expense on to the next interested partyI think that ought to be sufficient to keep things moving. What do you think?

I'm curious to know what the process has been like for people to find their favorite inks. How long did it take? How many similar shades did you try before you found The One (i.e. your favorite blue or black or red, or whatever "shade" you were looking for)? Are there certain tests that you do with an ink to see if it will make it to your favorites? How many different inks do you have that you consider your favorites? Anything else you want to share about finding your favorite inks is welcome!

Hi, looking for some help! I've been using Online's kombi/combi cartridges in my Lamy Safari, and I really like their midnight blue (nachtblau), also called blue/black in some places. (Review of ink here https://www.penexchange.de/forum_neu/viewtopic.php?t=31184, thanks to @Mercian) It's a very grey blue-black. Looks a little more blue when it goes on the page but dries to something more grey, with a hint of blue. However, it looks like they've discontinued them. They are shown as unavailable on Combi Ink Cartridge | ONLINE Shop (online-pen.com) and supply is drying up everywhere. So I'm looking for an equivalent in a bottle, but I'm struggling. I've tried: - Lamy Blue/black: Too light and too blue - Diamine blue black: Too blue, not really much grey - Cult Pens (Diamine) Deep Dark Blue: Way too saturated and too blue. I'm considering trying Diamine Chopin. Looking at reviews, it seems like Mont Blanc Midnight Blue might be fairly close, but it's an expensive ink and I don't want to buy that just to try it out and find it also isn't right. So.. .HELP! Have any of you tried the Online Midnight Blue cartridges yourselves? If so, have you found anything in a bottle that's close? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I recently purchased my first Sailor pen from Bungubox and it came with a wonderful, pigmented black ink they make with Sailor called “Eternal Music”. I love the flow, water resistance and lack of feathering with this ink but I also like sketching with a brown or sepia ink. This raises two questions for me: 1) Does Sailor make a sepia or brown pigmented ink with some decent water resistance? 2) Will using my current DeAtramentis Document Sepia void the Sailor warranty? I’m less concerned about the second question since it is the Japanese warranty which might be challenging to deal with if there is a problem anyway. However, I am a little concerned because I have read reports of some inks damaging the black ion plating on pens like mine. Thanks for any insights you may have.

i am a traditional jewish kosher torah scribe, and this requires the use of IG inks on parchment, the IG is usually very thick and many scribes use dip pens for this reason. the ink (https://merkazhasofrim.com/sofrus/inks/hadar-ink.html) lays on top of the parchment and stays as a shiny layer. i myself use a architect nib on a twsby vac700r but i am thinking of getting an oblique and holding the flat part of the nib perpendicular to the top pf the paper to acheive this same angle and variation. the issue is that it will in all likelyhood dry on my pen and become unusable. does anyone know how the IG/thick dip inks write with the indigraph or have reccommendation for a pen for thick ink?

This is a review of “Kaco Master”. It’s the best Chinese Fountain pen I have come across till now.Kaco is a young company which makes some great products. Kaco since its inception in 2011 have launched many pens & accessories . This “Kaco Master” is among their most premium offerings .This has German Made Gold Nib , it doesn’t feel like it’s made by Jowo or Bock. It feels a bit different from those both. I think they are made by special order or made by some other company ! Pros- – Great 14k Gold Nib – Well Tuned Out Of The Box – Soft & Springy Nib – Minimalistic Design – Top Notch Construction – Great Price – Great Packing & Presentation – Hourglass Shaped Section – Have Premium Look – Suitable For Long Writing Sessions Cons- – Only comes in one colour i.e. Black for gold nib. Although the steel nib version comes in many colors. – Don’t post securely. – I can’t expect anything more at this price !!! Packing- Great, The pen comes with a great grey metallic case, which comes in a black box over which “Kaco” is engraved. The metallic oval case has a foam insert in it where the pen can rest. This foam ensures that the pen doesn’t get scratched with the sides of the metal case. Specifications- – Nib Size -Fine Nib 0.5mm – Filling Mechanism: standard cartridges and converter – Capped Pen length: 154mm – Section Length: 25mm – Section Diameter: 12.5 mm – Uncapped Pen Length : 133mm – Diameter: 16.5 mm – Pen weight: 27.5g Appearance & Design- Good, The pen has a classic design. It’s made of great quality black resin which has been highly polished. The clip is of gold color & fit into a clip-shaped recess in the cap & almost aligns with the cap of the pen .The clip is strong & is very functional. It is unique & looks good in my pocket. The clip has a small logo of “Kaco” over it .The pen size is around 133 mm uncapped & 154 mm capped. It doesn’t cap securely.This pen is made in very nice black resin, it is super shiny & feels premium in hand . I wish they had other colors too. It has an hourglass-shaped section & a number #6 14k nib in Fine with “Kaco” logo engraved over. It has a plastic feed. The section is long & threads of the cap are precise. This nib looks good & is similar to JOWO nib but it’s not JOWO. The nib suits the pen size & looks good. This pen is very comfortable for long writing sessions too. Construction- Very Well Made, The construction of this pen is top notch.The pen has been polished well & has been given a mirror like finish on both clip as well as body. It looks pleasing to the eyes , but as a result it attracts dust & micro scratches may be noticeable. The pen is elegant & is a perfect minimalistic office pen. Filling System- This is a simple C/C pen. The converter is interchangeable with a Schmidt K5 converter. It has metal reinforcements in the mouth & it is perfectly functional. You can use standard international cartridges too Nib Performance- Amazing , Kaco Master has #6 nib which is very springy and relatively soft.It is surely better than JOWO/BOCK nibs. This nib has a slight forward curve which makes a different writing angle which is different from others, I think it’s some unique Chinese grind. This is very smooth & gives a distinctive feel while writing. The nib is similar to European Fine Nibs.On the box, it’s written the nib is made in Germany but nib doesn’t look like common nibs i.e. JOWO or BOCK . Conclusion- True Master, This is the best Chinese pen I have ever used & one of the best pens available at this price. I bought it for around $120. The pen is very well made & has a great 14 k gold nib. It has a minimalistic look,which is amazing. The glossy black color looks good but I feel there should be more color options in this pen. I really can’t expect anything more at this price. It is true value for money given the quality, ergonomics and writing experience. It’s a masterpiece about which most people don’t know about !

I was wondering what fountain pen inks would be best for my fountain pen to draw on bristol paper, as an artist I would prefer clean lines without feathering and bleeding, and I would also want a smooth surface rather than a rough surface to avoid damaging my nibs and also for the inks to shine more. I currently use Noodler's black and Heart of Darkness which are more water-resistant than proof, and I also use platinum carbon black. I was wondering if I should use different paper for better results, like Clairfontane, or stick with bristol as the paper usually comes in various sizes.

This might be a stupid question, but... So basically I just found a paper towel COMPLETELY saturated with ink. I think I someday used it to clean an entire ink bottle spill. So, just curious, can I make some ink back again from that paper by 'extracting' the ink? I tried adding some water and hand-rub alcohol. But the ink is very light, and the tissue has still not even lost 1% of its saturatedness.

This is the first of a couple. Perfect for a beginner, a generous soul who would like to pass these around to friends, a teacher looking to reward students by introducing them to the joy of fountain pens. At least five, maybe more, pens, ink cartridges, samples, cards, pipettes. Here's the first, including a Wing Sung piston-filler, a heavy pen that takes standard internationals, and some Pilots, including Petits. I'll leave this up a while. CONUS only, and no one who's gotten a PIF from me before. Thanks, and have fun.

I was reading about drawing materials of old masters. Browsing through the contents of the Internet, I came across bistre ink. It was made by boiling soot (preferably, from beechwood) which was usually collected from chimneys. The resultant brown (shades may vary) concoction was then filtered to be used for drawings and monochrome wash paintings. Since the process of filtering out the soot particles was mentioned in multiple sources, it made me wonder whether bistre ink (with some modification if required) used with fountain pens? Anyone has any idea?

Has anyone tried CX Made ink, and if so what was your experience with it?

Happy 2023! To start the year right, here is a grab bag PIF: Several sample vials and cartridges of ink, including a Sailor and a Robert Oster. Notebooks. A surprise or two. A pen or three, one of which is a Pelikan Pelikano. And, at absolutely no extra cost to you, a Waterman Kultur! Amaze your friends, confound your enemies! Yes, you too can be the proud owner of the pen people love to hate, the pen that tried hard but failed to be a Phileas, and watch it spew its entire ink contents into the clear cap! Don't miss out on this one! CONUS only, no one who has won from me before, and please tell me a little about yourself and why you would like this PIF in your post. Winner selected by the highly scientific Eeny-Meeny Method. Thanks for looking!

The blue Sailor ink I see is pigmented and I don't want to mess up the pen, either, but the ion-plating needs non-acidic ink, as I understand it. I'm currently a Diamine fan, but I guess that changes now. I am eyeing Pilot asa-gao and J. Herbin's few non-shimmering blues. Am I being overcautious or too reckless by going off-brand? This pen was a big purchase for me on my income and I want to treat it right and make it last. Thanks! Scott

Since there's a "what pen(s) are you using today?" thread, I'm surprised there isn't a similar one (at least, my search didn't turn one up) for inks. Of course, in the pens one, people often say what ink they're using in the pens but I thought it might be nice to have one just for inks, though you're welcome to include the pen it's in if you like. So I'll start: last night I used KWZ Maroon and Diamine 1864.

Hello, I see a lot of inks and colors that I really think I would enjoy. However, 90% of what I use my FP for is journals that I want to have many years from. Hopefully until the day I die which I hope is years from now 🙏 😃 I only use eternal inks, noodlers, carbon platinum, a few others. All are waterproof and or archival. I guess I don't understand why I, anyone, would want to use inks that aren't going to last or wash away. That leads to my question.... how good are non "eternal" inks? When it says non-waterproof will it actually just wash away or become completely illegible? If I splash or dunk it in water will I lose the writing, or will it just become super light? Not worried to much about lighfastness because it enclosed in a journal. Wont see much light while storing. I guess I'm hoping for, and looking for, reasons that would make it ok to use fantastic colors in my journal. I guess my biggest fears would be if for some reason my journals were introduced to water or moisture. Or if the ink just fades away after time. Any thoughts or help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Hello everyone, I've been back on FPN for one or two weeks now, and am really loving the knowledge that's still being shared here. I'm currently learning more about urushi pens, and surprisingly, there is one topic I haven't seen explicitly discussed on this forum (or elsewhere). What inks are more "safe" for urushi on temporary contact? I understand that leaving ink (or any liquid) on urushi for a prolonged period of time will likely damage it, regardless of its composition. However, I suspect there certainly are inks that will create staining and other issues more quickly than others. I'm therefore trying to find out which inks are the least dangerous for urushi. My initial guesses on unsafe inks are pigment (as opposed to dye) based inks, Noodler's lubricated inks, and "permanent" inks of any kind. My initial guesses for safe inks are the standard fare: Pilot/Namiki, Waterman's, Pelikan, etc. (However, I have heard iroshizuku can cause problems -- is this true?) I'm looking forward to what people with experience in the matter have to say. Thanks in advance!

Help! I really love the Robert Oster inks. Where can I get them in India? Have you guys used Robert Oster?

I've been using fountain pens for many years, but I've never had a black ink! Blue-black (MB) and brown-black (Iroshizuku Yama-guri) are the closest I've gone. So, I'm thinking a black ink might be nice, and I've read good things about Aurora Black. Is Aurora still a recommended, go-to, black ink? I wouldn't mind something with different undertones/sheens, if there are other recommendations.

I was adding my list to the thread What inks are you using in 2022? and got the bottom thinking I'd add my short-list of inks to order this year. Then thought: maybe it's better as a new thread... here are mine, what are you contemplating? Diamine Ash Diamine Seize the Night Cult Pens/Diamine Grey Skies No More Robert Oster Bronze KWZ Grey Lux R&K Verdigris A blue-grey - still looking for one that's wet enough for dry pens

Hiya guys, I was wondering as summer rolls in what inks have you been using lately. I personally have been using the following: 1. Diamine Twilight 2. Pilot Yana Budo 3. Diamine Ancient copper 4. Diamine Earl Grey( happy they made this from our input) 5. Diamine Yellow Sunshine (very bright yellow, it just pops) 6. Pilot Shin-kai I'm curious to see what you guys have been using and if you would recommend one highly to try, be it in your list or not!

Pilot inks Regular Ink-30 Regular fountain pen inks Colours:- Black,Red,Blue,Blue-Black Approx:-₹290/- TSUWAIRO Ink-30 TW Pilot pigment inks Colours Black,Blue, Blue-Black Approx ₹710/- for 30Ml They are special inks with special instruction set as to which converter can be used with this. Iroshizuku Ink-50 Regular fountain pen inks claimed to be excellent colour true to their colour name Colours:- 24 varieties of colours Approx ₹1063/- for 50Ml Same mini 15Ml set of 3 colours to choose from ~ ₹1500/- ------------- Prices are as per pilot.co.jp Pilot seems to be based in europe as the eu site mentions locations across the world but they don't mention India under the locations and neither mention Luxor as their distributor on their website. Luxor neither responds to emails. Suprising is that Luxor is also official distributor for Parker Waterman confirmed by the company fine writing instrument's.

I haven’t heard many people talk about this, so I just wanted to make those who are unaware now aware. Here is just a quick thing on some price comparisons. “Retail” price was taken from online fountain pen and ink retailers: DIAMINE 30ml Cult Pens- $2.47 Retail- $7.50 PELIKAN 4001 30ml Cult Pens- $4.82 Retail- $11.75 ROHRER & KLINGNER 50ml Cult Pens- $5 Retail- $11.95 PARKER QUINK 57ml Cult Pens- $5.21 Retail- $11.02 DIAMINE 80ml Cult Pens- $6.21 Retail- $14.95 WATERMAN 50ml Cult Pens- $6.51 Retail- $12 PELIKAN 4001 62.5ml Cult Pens- $7.52 Retail- $16.50 DIAMINE 150th ANNIVERSARY 40ml Cult Pens- $8.15 Retail- $15.50 HERBIN 30ml Cult Pens- $8.40 Retail- $12.95 KAWECO 50ml Cult Pens- $8.41 Retail- $12 CROSS 62.5ml Cult Pens- $9.47 Retail- $16 LAMY CRYSTAL 30ml Cult Pens- $9.99 Retail- $16 JACQUES HERBIN 1670 50ml Cult Pens- $18.39 Retail- $29.50 JACQUES HERBIN 1798 50ml Cult Pens- $21.02 Retail- $29.50 MONTBLANC AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS BLUE 50ml Cult Pens- $33.66 Retail- $40 I just wanted to tell all of you who weren’t aware. Have a nice day, W. Major

Hurry! Offer ends soon! There's a packet of Monteverde Neon Orange ink carts with one missing. These fit Lamy Safari and Lamy Nexx. They really do glow under black light for all your psychedelic needs! Krishna ink bottles: Myrtle, a burgundy pink with shimmer on the bottom. Shake shake shake and get your shimmer and exercise routine all in one! Empty. Is it brown? Gray? Black? Your guess is as good as mine, but it is SATURATED, for all your really elusive deep dark color expressions. Shamrock, an intense saturated shamrocky green. Just in time for next year's St. Patrick's Day! Plus, if you act now, a special surprise will be included! . Reply here to be in the running. Shipping is free, but substantial restrictions apply....as in CONUS only. Good luck! Hey...there's a shamrock! 🍀

Hi, I am looking to buy a pilot custom 74 in a fine nib(soft is preferred). My only criteria is that it writes smooth and isn't too weared out. If you have a custom 74 you'd like to sell or trade, hit me up and we can talk about the pricing!