Mixing Inks - Sailor nano

[Sandy1]

Hello,

Has anyone encountered problems mixing Sailor nano inks (Bk or BlBk) together or with other inks?

1. Bullet / waterproof?
2. Iron-gall (ferro-gallic)?
3. Organics such as Herbin?
4. Regular water-based + dye inks?
5. India or other non-FP inks?

For most FP inks, I reckon that dyes is dyes, so should get along fine when mixed. But the Sailor nano inks seem to be a tad different, so I'm reaching out to tap the collective wisdom & experience of FPNers on this Topic.

 

Best Regards,

Sandy1

[RitaCarbon]

  On 12/14/2009 at 8:22 PM, Sandy1 said:

Has anyone encountered problems mixing Sailor nano inks (Bk or BlBk) together or with other inks?

 

I'd love to know how I can get Sailor Nanos for reasonable price. And once I manage to get them, I will never dare to mix them with anything. Maybe with each other, if I can afford more than one.

 

Different brands of inks are like different animal species: they don't really breed well with each other. To mix precious Japanese with other plebeians? I am not sure it's going to work. But who am I to judge?

 

Any interbreeders out there?

[Strang]

Sailor doesn't even recommend mixing their normal inks with other brands (it's a question of ph, I think) so there's no way I'd mix their nano ink under any circumstances. And I like to mix inks!

[bgray]

I've never been fascinated with mixing inks, like a lot of folks.

 

However, as Strang mentioned, standard Sailor inks have a higher pH level than most inks.

 

As a Sailor Ink distributor, I've been told to pass it along to my clients to never mix Sailor with any other brand of ink.

 

If you want to mix Sailor Blue with Blue/Black, no problem. I do that a lot when of bottle of one or the other gets low.

 

But if you want to mix Sailor Blue with Quink, PR, Noodlers, etc... they say not to.

 

I can't speak for the pH level of the Nano's, but I would also assume that you probably shouldn't mix them.

 

However, there's no harm in trying it in small quantities to see what happens. But I wouldn't put it in an expensive pen for the risk of harm. Maybe just mix it around in a small vial with a toothpick, and dip a junker pen in it to see what the outcome is.

 

Let us know.

[dcwaites]

I don't think you would get the results you want by mixing pigment (particulate-based) inks with dye-based inks. I would imaging there is some exotic chemistry happening to keep the nano-particles in suspension, in addition to brownian motion*. If you then mix some dye-based ink, with a completely different chemistry happening, the possible effects could range from nothing, through clumping and precipitation to small nuclear explosions and possibly even a mini-black hole.

 

Oh, and it might even be bad for your pen.

 

 

 

 

 

*Look it up, that's what wikipedia is for...

[kushbaby]

As others have indicated, badness can happen when mixing Sailor inks with others due to pH. Since I am an impatient person when it comes to pen flushing (I try to be thorough, but after day 4 of soaking, enough is enough), I have certain pens (mostly Sailors, a few Safaris) that are dedicated Sailor ink pens. No other brand of ink goes in the pen.

 

To quote another FPN member (I'm blanking on whom) who mixed these...

 

"Oh noes! I made toxic ink!"

 

[Sandy1]

  On 12/19/2009 at 6:59 AM, kushbaby said:

As others have indicated, badness can happen when mixing Sailor inks with others due to pH. Since I am an impatient person when it comes to pen flushing (I try to be thorough, but after day 4 of soaking, enough is enough), I have certain pens (mostly Sailors, a few Safaris) that are dedicated Sailor ink pens. No other brand of ink goes in the pen.

 

Ah kushbaby,

 

Thank-you for stopping by. :~)

 

I recall that you mentioned having Sailor nano Bk. As you know, I really hate dislike Bk ink so muck that I decline writing it out in full. So how about I nominate you to try mixing the 2 Sailor nano inks together? Not that I expect anything too wild from that mix, other than an ultra-dark BlBk. So, are you game? Up for it? Ready for zee wild side? (I'm not asking you to use your Pointsetta for this wee task.)

 

OBTW, I've a eye dropper pen which came with the Polar Blue. I plan to use that for sample mixes with the nano. Being transparent, if there's a problem it may be easier to detect & avoid. (??)

 

Bye

S1

[kushbaby]

  On 12/19/2009 at 6:51 PM, Sandy1 said:

  On 12/19/2009 at 6:59 AM, kushbaby said:

As others have indicated, badness can happen when mixing Sailor inks with others due to pH. Since I am an impatient person when it comes to pen flushing (I try to be thorough, but after day 4 of soaking, enough is enough), I have certain pens (mostly Sailors, a few Safaris) that are dedicated Sailor ink pens. No other brand of ink goes in the pen.

 

Ah kushbaby,

 

Thank-you for stopping by. :~)

 

I recall that you mentioned having Sailor nano Bk. As you know, I really hate dislike Bk ink so muck that I decline writing it out in full. So how about I nominate you to try mixing the 2 Sailor nano inks together? Not that I expect anything too wild from that mix, other than an ultra-dark BlBk. So, are you game? Up for it? Ready for zee wild side? (I'm not asking you to use your Pointsetta for this wee task.)

 

OBTW, I've a eye dropper pen which came with the Polar Blue. I plan to use that for sample mixes with the nano. Being transparent, if there's a problem it may be easier to detect & avoid. (??)

 

Bye

S1

 

I thought you weren't supposed to mix nano-black with anything else...

 

(And, alas, that is the only Sailor ink I have in bottles - I've got a few blue catridges I'm using... Wait, no, I have Sailor green in a bottle... I will try to mix blue and green and see what happens.)

Edited December 19, 2009 by kushbaby

[Highbinder]

I was a little curious to the mixing and I had a little left over ink samples. Mixed Sailor redbrown with some omas sepia and threw in some diamine grey for fun and.. nothing happened. Nice enough colour though

[holgalee]

I have zero knowledge of chemistry and had blissfully mixed the sailor nano black with Pelikan purple and brown inks before. What I got were darker purple and brown inks with some water resistance, no huge surprises whatsoever.

[Sandy1]

Hi all,

 

It seems that I've set my own task of looking into the mixing of the Sailor Nano Blue-Black, (SNBlBk).

 

Many thanks to 'dcwaits' for contributing means of describing results: nothing, clumping (not be be confused with 'clomping'), precipitation (not rain making), small nuke (oops), and mini Bk hole (Ah Pook); to which I will add my fave: cold fusion. But dcwaits, can we not have happy results too? I mean, Xmas Miracles, bare-naked dancy-bunnies & all that? Suggestions?

 

Oh, I didn't need to Wiki 'Brownian Motion'. Even I know that's a Scottish dance for 2 or more; popular during the Roaring '20s, but forced underground during the '30s only to resurface during the Big Band Era, but became extinct with the invention of the electric bass guitar.

 

And the kind words of cautious encouragement from 'bgray'. A stakeholder of sorts, with flags of the nicest yellow. Oh, I gave some thought to the pen, as one does. None I have are 'junkers', that would score a Phyrric victory as participant in this unnatural unsanctioned act. Also, I'd hate to saddle an old crippled pen with failure & blame. Nope, I had to find a new hero (no pun) for this task, and that no one could point to as part of a failure / unexpected results. [blame me not my tools.] ... An orange Preppy caught my eye in the card shop, and was soon snuggling in my inner jacket pocket. I promised it a great adventure or at least a weird trip; hopefully one with a happy ending. After a quick trip to the sudsy spa, I set it in the ink cupboard - not the pen R&R centre.

 

Oh, the Japanese FP inks prostrated themselves when I started mixing my sumi-e ink. (ink stick, ink stone & rain water) I heard a tumbling sound, and found all the Sailors & Pilot Iro-s face down. So absolutely NO disharmony in the ink cupboard. They establish their own 'pecking order' based it seems on use: 'Hey Look! I'm almost empty. Yippee!! I am the most beloved of the Duofolds.' ... I also need to be careful that any less-than-perfect results don't turn into a 'blame game', with the SNBlBk at the centre of the scrap. Don't want to have a morale issue on my hands.

 

I thought of the HazMat gear or my Scott AirPak, but think that eye & hand protection should suffice. Just tell the neighbours when I'm mixing, & have a phone in my rear pocket. (OBTW, don't buy your body armor on eB*y. Trust me on that one.)

 

Ah kushbaby, so sad about those 3 pens. I hope you are feeling better now. Its just not right when a pen goes over to the Dark Side - but 3? I can't imagine. ... Thanks for your encouragement & likely accomplice-ment. (Do you have a spare cyclotron I could borrow? Just for a few days. I'll pay the FedEx each way, OK?)

 

Updates as events unfold.

 

Best Regards,

Ahab-habibti

[Sandy1]

2 parts Sailor Nano BlBk + 12 parts Sailor Jentle 'Snow':

=> As expected, the SNBlBk just increases the density of the colour of SJS a bit. What I might call a 'firming' effect for such a subtle ink. A mild colour shift, but not as much as expected.

=> Useful? Yes.

=> Tuning? Nope. Leave as is.

[Sandy1]

2 parts Sailor Nano BlBk + 12 parts Herbin 'Bleu Azur':

=> As expected, the SNBlBk just increases the density of the colour of HBA a bit. What I might call a 'firming' effect for such a subtle ink. A mild colour shift, but not as much as expected. And not as strong a shift as with Jentle Snow.

=> Useful? Yes.

=> Tuning? Yup. Try something like 4 or 5 to 12.

[adam11]

I would never mix Sailor Nano with anything-it's completely different from any other ink I have. I must say, I never mix different kinds of inks (Noodler's and Waterman, for example) either.

[Sandy1]

  On 12/22/2009 at 8:43 PM, adam11 said:

I would never mix Sailor Nano with anything-it's completely different from any other ink I have. I must say, I never mix different kinds of inks (Noodler's and Waterman, for example) either.

Hello adam11,

 

I certainly understand and appreciate your point of view. Which is one of the reasons that there seemed to be no one mixing with the nanos (indicated by the lack of response to the original Topic.)

 

So I'm mixing with one nano in an effort to expand & document the FPN knowledge & experience. It may be quite useless, but we won't know until we find out; and 'No' is a valid answer. Yes?

 

Best Regards,

Sandy1

[Sandy1]

2 parts Sailor Nano BlBk + 12 parts R&K 'Salix' (ferro-gallic):

=> Precipitate evident - definitely a no-go for FPs.

=> Useful? Perhaps, but only in a fine nib dip pen, likely without reservoir 'clip'.

=> Tuning? Yup. Try something like 6 + 12.

 

A bit of a disappointment. P**P! No 'Sailix' for the cupboard. :-(

[Possum Hill]

[quote name='Sandy1' date='23 December 2009 - 12:47 AM' timestamp='1261550858' post='1352372'

 

So I'm mixing with one nano in an effort to expand & document the FPN knowledge & experience. It may be quite useless, but we won't know until we find out; and 'No' is a valid answer. Yes?

 

Best Regards,

Sandy1

If any of the "no" results are particularly spectacular, please post pics.

[Sandy1]

  On 12/23/2009 at 1:42 PM, Possum Hill said:

[quote name='Sandy1' date='23 December 2009 - 12:47 AM' timestamp='1261550858' post='1352372'

 

So I'm mixing with one nano in an effort to expand & document the FPN knowledge & experience. It may be quite useless, but we won't know until we find out; and 'No' is a valid answer. Yes?

 

Best Regards,

Sandy1

If any of the "no" results are particularly spectacular, please post pics.

If they are 'particularly spectacular', they'll be on CNN. :-)

But seriously, I don't have a digi-camera, and my film camera doesn't have close-up capability.

But Cathy-Next-Door said she'd lend a hand with some snaps, so we'll see. I can easily replicate failures; successes may be elusive.

BR

S1

[Sandy1]

4 parts Sailor Nano BlBk + 10 parts Noodler's 'Lexington Gray' :

=> Not all that interesting, but then BlBk + gray is unlikely to take your breath away.

=> Useful? Definitely. This should be a 'Beyond Bulletproof' (?)

=> Glad that nano + bulletproof is possible, especially after yesterday's fiasco with f-g ink.

=> Tuning? Yup, this mix is too much in the middle. Try something like 2 + 10 or 6 + 6.

[Sandy1]

4 parts Sailor Nano BlBk + 10 parts Noodler's 'Whiteness of the Whale' :

=> Well this confirms that this Sailor is really not a BlBk, rather a Dark Blue.

=> Useful? Definitely. Varying the mix ratio should be able to get to a very pale Blue - or not.

=> Tuning? Yup, apparently can be thinned-out and still hold together - line quality very OK; no feathering.

 

Prezzies all wrapped. Not a creature was stirring except a mad mixer. Merry Christmas!