What ink(s) are you waiting for in the mail?

[PithyProlix]

Two 18ml bottles of PenBBS ink:

• #156 Stars - Has silver shimmer, which I'm not crazy about, but the base color looks nice enough to give it a try.
• #269 - 45th POTUS - [Ahem: no politics on FPN!] The very few online pics of it range from a slightly green-leaning khaki to a burnt orange-brown to a sort of laid-back chocolate brown to whatever the swatch to the left is. I'd be happy with any of those, but I'm hoping for the khaki or the color to the left, mostly.

 

Swatch pics from penbandit.com

[Detman101]

On 9/8/2021 at 6:09 AM, PithyProlix said:

Two 18ml bottles of PenBBS ink:

• #269 - 45th POTUS - [Ahem: no politics on FPN!] The very few online pics of it range from a slightly green-leaning khaki to a burnt orange-brown to a sort of laid-back chocolate brown to whatever the swatch to the left is. I'd be happy with any of those, but I'm hoping for the khaki or the color to the left, mostly.

 

Swatch pics from penbandit.com

Please oh PLEASE post a review of 45th POTUS!!!!
That one has been on my list since it came out...

[AlexItto]

Iroshizuku Ina-ho. Got a sample and loved it. Not clearly yellow or brown. Could be even green, with some of the pens I used.

Also J Herbin Olive. I found it a match made in heaven for my Traveler's Company brass pen, which brings out all the gold-ish sheen. Looks like urine with Lamys and Faber-Castell Ambition, though.

And TWSBI pink. Looking for a real bubble-gum pink, not coral or light orange. Hated my only other TWSBI ink, Prairie Green. Hopefully this one will be better and won't put me off TWSBI inks for good!

[Stompie]

Just had a pen pal letter come in written with Diamine Moon Dust - Stunning so I have ordered a bottle!

[PithyProlix]

Twelve (!) 50ml pouches of L'Artisan Pastellier Callifolio. I'm guessing that a few of you have previously inferred that I am a big fan of the soft, muted, and, well, 'French' aesthetic of many of their colors. And, all in all, their performance has been solid.

 

And, perhaps more interesting, a bottle of Callifolio Diluant/thinner. From their webpage:

 

"Le diluant Callifolio est un diluant qui permet d’éclaircir les encres Callifolio ou les encres classiques de l’Artisan Pastellier. Il est prêt à l’emploi et s’ajoute et se mélange directement aux encres Callifolio.

Le diluant Callifolio est formulé pour que le temps ouvert d’auto-amorçage soit optimum (tête en bas et même en haut possible). La tenue du débit et la reprise directe de l’écriture après un longtemps. Il évite l’encrassement du stylo-plume et favorise le décrassage et sa remise en route."

 

[The Callifolio thinner is a thinner which makes it possible to lighten Callifolio inks or classic Artisan Pastellier inks. It is ready to use and can be added and mixed directly with Callifolio inks.

Callifolio diluent is formulated so that the self-priming open time is optimum (head down and even up possible). Maintaining the flow and resuming writing directly after a long time. It prevents clogging of the fountain pen and promotes scrubbing and its restart.]

 

Since I most often use Japanese fine or equivalent width nibs, with many inks the line is often too dark to show the color well. I have sometimes been diluting with distilled water. But diluting this way generally makes ink flow more dry, sometimes necessitating addition of a surfactant - balance between color and flow can be tricky - so I am looking forward to giving this a try. Has anyone else tried the Callifolio Diluant/thinner? I won't pretend to understand ink chemistry (or chemistry, much at all, period, for that matter ...) but I wonder if this is something like ink without dye? 

Since I don't understand French I'm wondering if "... le temps ouvert d’auto-amorçage soit optimum ..." ('self-priming open time' is a translation miss, perhaps?) means something like it helps keeps ink from drying out when the pen cap is off. (?) Other than the 'lightening' effect, I am not sure why the other properties listed would not already be features of all their inks, but perhaps it is mostly marketing speak here - just a guess, of course.

 

I'm already way past the point where I can remember what ink I have without consulting an inventory list (I can thank an aging brain for some portion of that, however). So, assuming adequate self-control, I'm off buying ink indefinitely, going cold turkey ... Unless I find a great price on something I really want ... or, likely, whatever other (probably lame) excuse I will come up with to tell myself that I just *need* to buy some more ink. 🙃 (The reality is that I am actually pretty darn happy with what I have now and plan to sell off a bit of it, even.)

[Bikerchick]

6 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

Since I don't understand French I'm wondering if "... le temps ouvert d’auto-amorçage soit optimum ..." ('self-priming open time' is a translation miss, perhaps?) means something like it helps keeps ink from drying out when the pen cap is off. (?) Other than the 'lightening' effect, I am not sure why the other properties listed would not already be features of all their inks, but perhaps it is mostly marketing speak here - just a guess, of course.

Permettez-moi
The language used here is a bit archaic, but then again, that's how the French love to speak. 
I think what L'AP means here is that the thinner, for one, allows for a really fast priming of the feed, even when the nib is pointed upwards. 

 

6 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

I'm off buying ink indefinitely, going cold turkey ... Unless I find a great price on something I really want ... or, likely, whatever other (probably lame) excuse I will come up with to tell myself that I just *need* to buy some more ink.

Hahaha. I love how you're basically giving yourself an out to break your self-imposed moratorium, even before it has started. Are we related in any way?  

[mizgeorge]

The Callifolio dilutant is excellent - and I've used it very successfully with other straightforward dye-based inks as well as those from L'AP. I have a fair number of the Callifolios, as well as some of their Classiques and Perfumees and love pretty much all of them (apart from Teodora!). 

 

The important bit is that whilst it definitely includes some sort of surfectant (it certainly doesn't 'dry' ink in the way that water does) it doesn't really alter the colour properties other than to lighten, and I've used it quite happily on very heavy shading inks without any loss of character.  It doesn't contain as much surfectant as something like flow-aid, so I wouldn't say it wettens significantly, but it certainly doesn't dry.

 

I do always use it in small amounts in a vial - I'd like to say I keep a note of these experiments, but that would be very untruthful - however, I can be pretty sure that I rarely go beyond about a 33% dilution - which in itself is pretty dramatic, but have had no loss of performance at even that high an amount. 

 

Just as a PS, @Bikerchick I am in awe of your language skills

[PithyProlix]

7 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

So, assuming adequate self-control, I'm off buying ink indefinitely, going cold turkey ... Unless I find a great price on something I really want ... or, likely, whatever other (probably lame) excuse I will come up with to tell myself that I just *need* to buy some more ink. 🙃 

 

43 minutes ago, Bikerchick said:

Hahaha. I love how you're basically giving yourself an out to break your self-imposed moratorium, even before it has started. Are we related in any way?  

 

 

You cut the most important part: "... assuming adequate self-control ..." . 😁  But, if more of those 60ml PenBBS inks with colors I really want come up at $6/pop or a good price on the TAG Stationery inks that I don't have or a great price on Diamine 150th Anniversary ink or ... or ... or ... What was it that Oscar Wilde said about temptation?

 

I'm saturated.

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, Bikerchick said:

Hahaha. I love how you're basically giving yourself an out to break your self-imposed moratorium, even before it has started. Are we related in any way?

 

I'm giving myself a ‘break’ by sending a most unsatisfactory pen back to the retailer, for exchange for a ‘cheaper’ pen (as in I'm not ‘upgrading’, but will be getting some money back as the difference). My wife says it's OK and doesn't count as breaking my self-imposed moratorium, as long as I'm not topping up with additional spend, and am only getting one pen back and not more. The temptation now is to take the price difference in ink products instead of a partial refund to my credit card! Can't have that now, can we?

 

p.s. Another ten new pens just arrived by post today.

 

p.p.s. Some Graf von Faber-Castell inks (in two bottles and some packs of cartridges) that are really for me has just been shipped by the retailer to a friend who lives on the other side of Australia, but not by mistake on anyone's part.

[PithyProlix]

35 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

The Callifolio dilutant is excellent - and I've used it very successfully with other straightforward dye-based inks as well as those from L'AP. I have a fair number of the Callifolios, as well as some of their Classiques and Perfumees and love pretty much all of them (apart from Teodora!). 

 

The important bit is that whilst it definitely includes some sort of surfectant (it certainly doesn't 'dry' ink in the way that water does) it doesn't really alter the colour properties other than to lighten, and I've used it quite happily on very heavy shading inks without any loss of character.  It doesn't contain as much surfectant as something like flow-aid, so I wouldn't say it wettens significantly, but it certainly doesn't dry.

 

I do always use it in small amounts in a vial - I'd like to say I keep a note of these experiments, but that would be very untruthful - however, I can be pretty sure that I rarely go beyond about a 33% dilution - which in itself is pretty dramatic, but have had no loss of performance at even that high an amount. 

 

Thanks very much for the info on the dilutant - sounds like it is exactly what I am looking for. I was a little disappointed that it comes in a 30ml bottle - that doesn't seem like it will last too long - but, given what you've told me, assuming a max 33% dilution for a 1ml fill, 30ml of it should get at least 90 fills. I think my first experiment with it will be Callifolio Cassis.

 

I currently have six Callifolios and ten Classiques and, after the current order arrives, I will be up to eighteen Callifolios. (I'd probably have more but I try to make sure my orders are under the equivalent of about $50 USD to avoid the customs fees here.) For my regular, cursive writing in Japanese fines and similar, of what I have so far, Baikal, Bourgogne, Classiques Gris de Payne, Brun Ours, and Olive are among my most favorite inks from anyone and all are wonderful for calligraphy. The one exception may be Classique Vert: I got it recently and I'm trying hard to like it - I don't have Teodora but I suspect it might be similar. (?)

Edited September 16, 2021 by PithyProlix
I just fired my editor.

[PithyProlix]

1 hour ago, Bikerchick said:

Permettez-moi
The language used here is a bit archaic, but then again, that's how the French love to speak. 
I think what L'AP means here is that the thinner, for one, allows for a really fast priming of the feed, even when the nib is pointed upwards. 

 

Thank you very much for the explanation. What caught me was the use of the word 'ouvert' ['open'] - still puzzled.

 

(BTW, I'm a biker too. The part of Thailand I live in is a biker's paradise - mountains with plenty of twisties, wonderful countryside, and always an interesting surprise. I prefer smaller bikes - I have a Honda CBR250R which I will likely upgrade to a KTM 390 Duke. Just started looking for a dirt bike.)

 

[Just J]

58 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

I just fired my editor.

He/she needed firing!  He/she was in here earlier talkin'some kinda junk about you not buying any more ink! *shudder* 

[I kinda suspect it was some dastardly plot from the distaff side, happa fumi-fumi?] 

 

~_/_/

[Bikerchick]

2 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

You cut the most important part: "... assuming adequate self-control ..." . 😁  But, if more of those 60ml PenBBS inks with colors I really want come up at $6/pop or a good price on the TAG Stationery inks that I don't have or a great price on Diamine 150th Anniversary ink or ... or ... or ... What was it that Oscar Wilde said about temptation?

Trust me, I totally get it. I can't even stop myself from going a week without buying a new ink. I bought myself a pen for my upcoming birthday just last night and found myself looking at other pens today. Before the new one has even arrived.  I'm terrible. 

 

1 hour ago, PithyProlix said:

(BTW, I'm a biker too. The part of Thailand I live in is a biker's paradise - mountains with plenty of twisties, wonderful countryside, and always an interesting surprise. I prefer smaller bikes - I have a Honda CBR250R which I will likely upgrade to a KTM 390 Duke. Just started looking for a dirt bike.)

Thailand must be absolutely brilliant for bike riding. Much better than my own flatlands. And that Duke will be loads of fun, although personally I'm not a huge fan of mono-cylinders. I did borrow a 990 Duke from a friend once, and I've never been one to wheelie much, but on that bike, I wanted to pull one at every traffic light. It certainly brought out the hooligan in me. 

This is the type of biker I used to be:

 

 

 

But this is the type of biker I am now: 

 

 

I'm sure that Thailand would still be fun though,, albeit a little more challenging.

 

[Bikerchick]

2 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

that are really for me has just been shipped by the retailer to a friend who lives on the other side of Australia, but not by mistake on anyone's part.

My my, Dill. Are you saying what I'm thinking you're saying? And I'm assuming your wife is not a member of this forum, is she? 😄

Edited September 16, 2021 by Bikerchick
typo

[Bikerchick]

2 hours ago, mizgeorge said:

I am in awe of your language skills

Why thank you, dear. I'm merely a product of my multi-cultural, multi-lingual upbringing, but I appreciate the compliment.  

[A Smug Dill]

5 minutes ago, Bikerchick said:

And I'm assuming your wife is not a member of this forum, is she? 😄

 

No, she isn't.

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

1 hour ago, Just J said:

happa fumi-fumi

*Chuckles*

Not exactly an ink I was waiting for, or even an ink that I bought recently, but I just received an old bottle of Camlin Blue I'd left sitting somewhere.  Still seems to work fine, even though it's been sitting for atleast 7 years.

[NumberSix]

Just placed a new Vanness order. I have never tried any of these inks, so I know I am taking a chance on the Iron Gall #10. But I decided it was worth the risk. Some of these popular Akkermann colors go out of stock regularly.

 

 Van Dieman's Hollywood Series- My Fair Audrey4ml Sample

Van Dieman's Harvest Series- Rhubarb Crumble4ml Sample

Papier Plume New Orleans Collection Iron Lace4ml Sample

     Akkerman 07 Konninginne Nach-Blauw4ml Sample

    Akkerman 10 Akkerman Ijzer-galnoten Blauw-Zwart60ml Bottle

[inkstainedruth]

I keep looking at the Van Dieman inks but it's hard to judge the actual colors from a printed color card, not an actual writing sample (or even a swab).  So I'm looking forward to see what you think of them.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[PithyProlix]

10 hours ago, Bikerchick said:

Trust me, I totally get it. I can't even stop myself from going a week without buying a new ink. I bought myself a pen for my upcoming birthday just last night and found myself looking at other pens today. Before the new one has even arrived.  I'm terrible. 

 

Thailand must be absolutely brilliant for bike riding. Much better than my own flatlands. And that Duke will be loads of fun, although personally I'm not a huge fan of mono-cylinders. I did borrow a 990 Duke from a friend once, and I've never been one to wheelie much, but on that bike, I wanted to pull one at every traffic light. It certainly brought out the hooligan in me. 

This is the type of biker I used to be:

 

 

 

But this is the type of biker I am now: 

 

 

I'm sure that Thailand would still be fun though,, albeit a little more challenging.

 

 

I'm both. That said, you are way, way, way beyond me on motorbikes. We are still in the middle of a very wet rainy season this year and I have gotten lazy with cycling - but that's more time to play with inks and pens.