Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars Ink

[Chiro75]

First impressions:

 

Ordered/paid two bottles, received one, hoping to rectify the problem. Beyond that, my everyday work pen is an Esterbrook LJ with a 9968 nid that puts down a relatively broad and decently wet line.

 

I have just flushed the pen, so it may have a little water lightening the ink, but I'm shocked at how light and blue this is and not terribly blue-black at all! I'm afraid I won't be able to use this at work, which requires black or at least a dark blue-black like Noodler's.

 

I wrote a page in a small Moleskine notebook and it looks like Waterman's South Seas Blue or whatever that very light blue is. No blue-black at all or any color shift whatsoever. I wrote on a cheap envelope and it does color-shift quickly, but still is quite blue and not so black. Nice shading and flow and all that, but not even remotely as dark as the scans I saw. I've give it a whirl at work today, make sure the water is out of the collector and feed, etc, but I'm a little worried I just spent $35 on two big bottles of ink I don't have much use for. We'll see...

[Chris]

I think I've mentioned this before but I have had an example of ESS not going black but staying pale blue. This unusual behaviour was when I wrote on some very old paper I found. It must be at least half a century old and was slightly browned. Clearly the ink did not 'take' to the paper fibres and something prevented the oxidation reaction. On every other paper the ink, though pale at first, goes blue-black with time but at different rates on diffeent papers.

 

I had rather given up on this ink as it can be a bit 'dry', but I will try it again as my interest has been re-awakened.

 

Chris

Edited December 5, 2011 by Chris

[Chiro75]

To me, writes as wet as Noodler's Blue Black from the same pen, but it's much, MUCH more blue than blue-black, even after the shift. I think it's a pretty ink and I like it a lot, but based on the original review I thought it would be a good substitute for my Noodler's Blue Black and it's not even in the same ballpark.

[JimB]

I wrote a page in a small Moleskine notebook and it looks like Waterman's South Seas Blue or whatever that very light blue is. No blue-black at all or any color shift whatsoever.

 

Time will change that light blue to darker, I'm almost sure. The very light blue lines I saw at first darkened within minutes, now, a week or more later, the ink is nearly black, with just a hint of blue, but still retains some shading.

 

That said, I made sure the pen was dry and had no water/moisture before inking up. So there may be a correlation between the diluted ink and end results, but I can't comment on that. If you want to sell your ink, I'm sure you'll find willing buyers very easily.

[Chiro75]

No need to sell it, it's great ink, just nowhere even remotely close to being as dark as I thought based on Sandy's review. I can get away with Noodler's Blue Black at work, but this is probably too much of a stretch, even if it does get darker over a week or so of time. They're really particular about black ink, even though our records scanner picks up blue just fine, LOL

[SamCapote]

Sandy, I am not going to read all the pages on this ink. I read the most important first post, and saw ESS joining as a member and making it easy to place an order. What a great price.

 

SamCapote1

[Chiro75]

ESS sent me an email one day after I alerted them to the missing bottle of ink and I have a replacement on the way. Easy to deal with! I think the 110mL I have now will last for a week until my resupply comes in! LOL

 

So, I've only spent one day with this ink, but what a day! LOL I checked on the Moleskine I wrote in yesterday morning, and 24 hours later the "South Seas Blue" character has darkened a bit into a grayish blue with a hint of turquoise, NOTHING like any scans I have seen of this ink. Very interesting. The cheap envelope I wrote on, which the ink was quite dark on right off the bat, has darkened even more into a slightly washed-out blue black (as opposed to the very saturated Noodler's Blue Black I use a lot of).

 

At work, every sheet of paper I put the ink to reacted differently. Hopefully I'll get to see some of my samples again later in the week, but I'm signing patient files and some may not cross my desk again for some time. The ink acted a little differently on almost every piece of paper it went on, even if it was probably from the same company we get our copy paper from.

 

It's wild stuff, for sure. The inconsistency is probably enough to drive some folks completely bonkers, but I kind of like it. It goes on shockingly bright, light sky blue on the paper in our patient files, and within 10 seconds is more of a "steel blue." Hopefully it gets blacker with a few days. Weird, wonderful stuff!

 

Oh, and today I'm going to clean out my Noodler's flex pen and try it out (hopefully the fact that it is a clear demonstrator won't be an issue) and also try a 9556 nib on my LJ at work. The 9668 nib I use is a "medium general writing" nib and the 9556 is "fine" so we'll see what difference that makes. Hopefully I won't make a mess of things switching nibs out, etc.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Chiro75

[JimB]

That inconsistency is what I love about this ink. It's like having a different bottle with each paper you use, and even each pen! I know I do NOT like using it in my TWSBI F, that my Pilot 78G B loves it, and my Lamy Safari 1.1 loves it just as much. Next try, my Pelikan 140 M with CI grind (a wet writer that has some dry-out issues, too).

 

Uses: Checkbook? Yes, very good. Envelopes, yes, excellent, NO FEATHERING that I get when using the Super Lux Blue recipe ink that I've been using for a permanent blue ink, but will now be abandoning. ESSRI is made for thicker paper, broader nibs and even likes the cheap copier paper my office stocks. I think that ESSRI and Visconti are my new favorite but very different blues.

 

Speaking of paper-- I'm thinking it's time to buy real stationery just to see what it's like. The Goulets have laid paper that sounds interesting. Or maybe the cotton. Both are from Original Crown Mill, and I hope they will be a good match.

Edited December 6, 2011 by januaryman

[Chiro75]

Quick test of my Noodler's Flex Pen with cheap envelope and Moleskine. Writes incredibly, obnoxiously wet, with and without flex. Puts down a darker line with lots of shading right off the bat. When flexed, the ink actually beads up on the letters, esp. on the Moleskine. NO FEATHERING. I couldn't believe it! You could see the big, fat, bead of ink just sitting on the paper and it soaked/dried without any feathering. Still a steely blue on the Moleskine, but almost instantly black (or very, very dark blue) on the cheap envelope.

 

With the fine nib in the Estie, still a washed out color on the Moleskine. That paper just reacts so differetly. On the envelope, it has a more consistent line than with the medium nib, but it has a lot less character because of less shading, which is one of the things I love about this ink. I'll mess with the fine nib a little at work today, but I'm taking the medium with me and I foresee changing it out over lunch.

[JimB]

Thanks for the news on Moleskines. I have two in the bottom of my drawer, unused since I switched from gel pens to fountain pens. I now can get them out, blow the dust off, and slip one in my pocket.

[Chiro75]

Moleskine notebooks are inconsistent (like this ink, but in a very different and not-so-fun way!), but I'm guessing this ink would do well in most of them. It doesn't feather much, it tends to be dry (er) and etc. All the things that people complain about in a Moleskine seems to be taken care of with this ink...

[Bo Bo Olson]

Hurray....maybe my second bottle of ESSR will do the stay in the blue range...of Blue black...and not turn from blue to blue black with in minutes and do the final color in the next day.

 

What paper did you use Chris?

 

Most of the 40 papers I've tried it on, it was black-blue. Only a few was it blue-black.

 

I used 17 nibs from BB, OBB, KOB, M, OM, F's, EF's and a XXF; from nails to easy full flex.

 

I'm testing papers with the ink, and some very good nibs on some Zombie pens...re-hydrated corks.

 

If the paper that's in the mail don't come in tomorrow, I'll finish off the test and just do a 6-8 nib test of that paper when it comes.

It's time to clean the pens. The ink has been in them for a week, and it is my first Ing ink.

Seeing how I'm noobie with Ing inks...better safe than sorry...especially with that large bottle.

 

To the papers that gave me a Blue-black or the impression of that.

 

On my 35 year old Easton Corrasable 16 pound it stayed BLUE black. This was best for blue black...and was a great paper for other shading inks too....of course being a skinny typing paper it does show through or bleed with heavy wet flex nibs.

 

Some of the nibs on my MK Papier 95 g, stayed bluish...almost; on closer second look more black than blue.

My Zander 110 matt Gohhrsmuehle still has a tinge of blue in the black.

 

My 80 g 1970's Zander with the French Lilly and XXX watermark has an impression of blue Black.

Some other 35 year old heavy 160-200 g unknown paper and some 35 year old paper from a pad, both have that impression of blue-Black, with certain nibs.

Oh, that unknown pad of paper writes so good...and I must have wasted most of it writing with a ball point...back in the day. :gaah: 8 sheets old American 'nothing' special' wonderful paper from back when fountain pens were 'still' in use.

It's something to remember how good normal pre copier paper on a pad once was.

Paper were 'better' back in the when. Inks in the 'now'.

 

 

Astounding what one gets and don't want 'black-blue', another wants.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Bo Bo Olson

[Ipno Tizer]

I think I've mentioned this before but I have had an example of ESS not going black but staying pale blue. This unusual behaviour was when I wrote on some very old paper I found. It must be at least half a century old and was slightly browned. Clearly the ink did not 'take' to the paper fibres and something prevented the oxidation reaction. On every other paper the ink, though pale at first, goes blue-black with time but at different rates on diffeent papers.

 

I had rather given up on this ink as it can be a bit 'dry', but I will try it again as my interest has been re-awakened.

 

Chris

I wonder if ESSR relies on a calcium carbonate filler in the paper to neutralize the acid preservative. If an older paper had kaolin as the filler, it might prevent the iron galitannate from oxidising and turning blue black.

 

Oddly though, I've noticed ESSR taking over a day to turn blue black on Staples Bagasse.

 

Chris B.

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

I think I've mentioned this before but I have had an example of ESS not going black but staying pale blue. This unusual behaviour was when I wrote on some very old paper I found. It must be at least half a century old and was slightly browned. Clearly the ink did not 'take' to the paper fibres and something prevented the oxidation reaction. On every other paper the ink, though pale at first, goes blue-black with time but at different rates on diffeent papers.

 

I had rather given up on this ink as it can be a bit 'dry', but I will try it again as my interest has been re-awakened.

 

Chris

I wonder if ESSR relies on a calcium carbonate filler in the paper to neutralize the acid preservative. If an older paper had kaolin as the filler, it might prevent the iron galitannate from oxidising and turning blue black.

 

Oddly though, I've noticed ESSR taking over a day to turn blue black on Staples Bagasse.

Chris B.

 

That might explain why I had more blue with Blue Black with many of the older papers, than with the new.

It was still a blue black...but there was more blue black, than black-blue.

 

So which companies still use kaolin??????????

 

 

Richard said a good blue black needed a full day to finish changing color. I gave it a full 24 hours before going looking.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Bo Bo Olson

[Chris]

Further to the above, on different papers I have noticed the change happening in anything from hours to days. There must be some interesting chemistry going on.

 

Chris

[Chiro75]

Bo Bo, every paper I have used so far, the ink stays quite a bit on the blue side of the blue-black spectrum. Even the very dark lines of the flexed pen are clearly blue and not black. So far none of my writing is older than 3 days old, but even those darkened lines are BLUE and not black.

[Messmer]

It work great on most paper. The only bad experience I saw was with a university notepad. All my ink does not work well with it. Even noodler's black does not like it.

[adamselene]

I use Tops yellow legal pads at work, the narrow ruled, which is NOT their best paper, (16 lbs, not 20). I have flow problems with most inks and nibs, especially italics, with this paper, although Noodlers Black, or Aurora, works ok in most pens.

My bottle of ESSR came very promptly. Of course, it is not an impressive bottle, but I wanted to try it right away. The only unlinked "converter" (wanted something that will flush easily) I had with me was a Cisele 75 with a MI nib. This pen has been very frustrating on these legal pads, but I gave it a try. Incredibly, it wrote as smoothly as if I were writing on Rhodia!

I am not enamored of the color on these yellow legal pads. It starts out a pale blue, but in seconds it becomes a blue-black reminiscent of PR midnight-blue, but drab looking (which PR MB is not, IMHO). I will have to go back and look at my notes the next day to see what happens wit h time.

But amazingly, it got rid of the frustration I had with the feel of that sharp Italic nib on this paper! I love the pen, and would try to convince myself that it performed adequately on those damn pads, but i couldn't tolerate writing with it very long.

I wish I could express myself better, but it with this ink, both the poor flow, and the feeling that i was shaving cardboard with a chisel, were things of the past. It was delightful. I stayed with this pen and ink half of yesterday, and all of today.

It's so much fun, that the color is growing on me too.

Edited December 9, 2011 by adamselene

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Thanks to all for sharing even more of your experiences with this ink, and describing the paper and pens being used!

 

I am a bit concerned that the range of results may reduce the desirability of this ink when one does not have control over the paper being used and/or needs to wait for the 'curing' process to run its course. That behaviour may be a limiting factor, especially in a business environment where the appearance of the ink is mandated (Dark Blue - Black) and/or needs to support document processing when finalised.

 

Chiro75 :

It seems that your experience is the most variable. I have no idea what to suggest, other than the usual: to thoroughly cleanse, dry and re-ink the pen/s. (With its removable nib+feed, the Estie itself should not present a maintenance challenge.) Was the ink decanted, and any sediment allowed to settle out? If a paper towel or similar was used to wipe the pen after inking, did it show a Blue+Black ink blot such as that depicted in the Review? :hmm1:

 

Bye,

S1

 

 

EDIT- to add:

• IIRC it seems that old typewriter paper I salvaged had a different feel than old writing paper. Perhaps the typewriter paper had kaolin (clay) as a coating to make the paper tolerant to physical erasures, and give the paper a brighter-whiter appearance. Longer smear/dry times might be encountered.
  
• The optical brightening agents (OBA) in the paper may also contribute to the variable appearance / behaviour of ESSRI.

Edited December 9, 2011 by Sandy1

[Messmer]

I tested this ink on:

«Cahier Canada» used when I was in primary school.

Rulled paper

Christmas card

Envelope

Folder

Notecard

Notebook

NCR

Thermal paper use for receipt

 

It all worked. Even glossy paper on file folder label but count 24h for being fully fixed. I only got one paper it was not working but it does not work well with all the ink I have. It act too much like a sponge.