Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars Ink

[Bo Bo Olson]

Thanks Sandy,

 

I needed to do a paper test, and learn about papers.

Being able to run 17 different nibs with an single ink, taught me much.

I have so much of that Ink, I have to designate a pen and nib to it.

 

I have 1 2/3s bottles of ESSR, most of the bottles of Pelikan and Waterman Blue Black, and need no others in this color. Having started late with fountain pens, it looks like I have a life time supply of blue black.

 

My plan of doing 15 nibs, 15 inks and 15 papers...has been canceled in it sounds much like work.

Having done the ERRS test, I know now that I'd need to do each of the inks individually with 15 nibs....not a scatter of nibs or one ink in a couple of pens across 15 papers.

 

 

 

I was lucky to have found some better nice writing papers and other papers that were good also.

I know there is some perfect paper. But a lot of good paper is not perfect, and some of it is very good, in spite of faults that are minor in them, that would be major in another paper.

Got to scribble on it with a couple of nibs, to say...Yep...that paper writes real good.

 

There are good papers to be had from 'affordable-cheap' to very expensive. There are also brand name papers that one perhaps needs the best or better of that brand, because the lower levels are not as good as expected.

 

I have just scratched the surface. I am so noobie.

 

I was real surprised at how many papers I'd gathered. 1/3 was with so much help from others. Surprise was also that many good to grand papers are not readily available.

 

Where and how do they sell them? They defiantly don't market them well.

 

There are at least 12 name brands that I didn't have from Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and France, I need to get at least 3-4 papers from each as samples. :hmm1:

 

I read a bit about the wonderful papers from America. I know England has some good ones, like Italy.

Then there is Japan.

 

I have to go to my B&M and see what papers they can order for me...that will really cut into my ink buying.

 

That is pure simple greed...buying all them grand papers. I have a lot of papers right now. When one has enough pens/nibs, one starts doing strange things...like chasing paper.

 

Greedy....yep....some of them grand papers may be as sensual as that Zerkall, or write as good as my "lost" cheap pad of paper.

Edited December 13, 2011 by Bo Bo Olson

[lapis]

All of that jazz I wrote above (with NN and Crest pens) has, within 2 days still withheld the same colour and darkness. I.e. Still no black. That would be a real gap in the market for somebody to fill! An iron-gall ink that immediately writes with a blackiest black black!!

 

Jack :bonk:

[lapis]

A word or two about my scan above.

 

A new scan was made today using that same sheet of paper with the same writing seen above (ESS Registrars Ink with a NN pen + M nib and Crest with a BB nib) all to the left, and to the right a different batch of that ink using the same NN pen + M nib, a NN pen with an italic nib, and the same Crest with a BB nib:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu264/peli46/ESSRegistrarsInk_2.jpg

I see it like this:

 

A. Same story: the nib width plays a very big role. E.g. here, BB > M and italic > M.

B. This ink can indeed turn blacker -- even if not subjectively completely black -- even if it takes up to 4 or more days to oxidize. In the scan made 4 days ago, the 2 pens' writings were about 30 min old. In the scan shown here on 15 Dez 2011, those lines to the left are now 4 days old. The 3 pen's writings of today, to the right, are also only about 30 min old.

C. All in all, I think that the ability of such an iron-gall blue-black ink to get even blacker depends more on the oxidation time than on the nib width.

D. Apparently, there's not all that much difference in batches of this ink issued within the last 2-3 months.

 

Whew!

[Bo Bo Olson]

I did not think the Blue-Black ink was to get completely black.

 

Depending on the nib and ink. a a dark blue black or very black blue.

ESSR was some times gray-black as an end color. So some times one sees a blued-black that tones more black the harder one looks at it looking for the Blue of the blue black.

 

The only blue blacks I've tried is Pelikan and Waterman and I don't think they are iron gall or minimum if.

 

Richard said a good blue black takes 24 hours to finish changing completely.

 

 

All I know was ESSR started much bluer and changed much faster than Pelikan or Waterman...both ending up depending on the nib dark blue to very dark almost black blue.

 

I of course didn't keep those first ink tests.

That was back in my 5 ink days...and two papers...the 35 year old papers were stilled saved of course.

 

 

Dam and I was waiting for a real Blue--blue-black. :blink:

[fuchsiaprincess]

All of that jazz I wrote above (with NN and Crest pens) has, within 2 days still withheld the same colour and darkness. I.e. Still no black. That would be a real gap in the market for somebody to fill! An iron-gall ink that immediately writes with a blackiest black black!!

 

Jack :bonk:

 

Haha! I would've recommended ESSRI, but it doesn't seem to behave that way for you.

 

On the other hand, I would prefer that my iron-gall inks remained the beautiful blue-black it initially writes.

[lapis]

Haha! I would've recommended ESSRI, but it doesn't seem to behave that way for you.

 

On the other hand, I would prefer that my iron-gall inks remained the beautiful blue-black it initially writes.

Neat! actually, I agree 150% with you.

 

A. I in fact don't like the colour black, for an ink or anything else (including clothes) but I do find it interesting to discuss the attempts to "see" black.

B. Blue-blacks are my favourite inks.

C. I'd say that this ink (due to its blue-blackness) is my very favourite of the 7 iron-galls I have. I guess I just wasn't ready to wait for 4-5 days until its final tinge showed up.

 

Mike

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Very interesting to read more about experiences with ESSRI.

 

it is very evident that the rate and extent of the oxidisation is quite variable, hence creating variation in the balance/ratio of Blue to Black after some 'X' amount of time. For personal correspondence, should one mark a 'best before date' on the pages, to indicate the ink may become too dark or shift towards Black after that date?

 

I ran a few samples from one pen on different writing papers, and found the ink remains quite Blue-Black - it has not Greyed-out or Blacked-out. Also, the Written Samples in the Review remain as depicted.

 

If one wants to get as close as possible to Black, then I suggest trying to completely oxidise the ink prior to writing. Use of a very wet pen and absorbent paper seem likely to promote that result. Also to write with a slow deliberate hand, to allow a high amount of ink to be absorbed by the paper.

 

Bye,

S1

[lapis]

.... should one mark a 'best before date' on the pages, to indicate the ink may become too dark or shift towards Black after that date?

Hi there! Well, I'm not trying to be a smart alec, but am I now going to have to mark a 'best after date' on the pages, to indicate when the ink becomes dark enough?

 

Alec :roflmho:

[Sandy1]

.... should one mark a 'best before date' on the pages, to indicate the ink may become too dark or shift towards Black after that date?

Hi there! Well, I'm not trying to be a smart alec, but am I now going to have to mark a 'best after date' on the pages, to indicate when the ink becomes dark enough?

 

Alec :roflmho:

. . . or a misting of a benign anti-oxidant, such as vitamin C, to prevent continued oxidation? Or maybe a bit of pounce is not such a bad idea. (?)

[Bo Bo Olson]

Lapis sent me his bottle of too blue ESSR. I sent him my bottle of wishing for Blue in blue black ESSR.

 

Turns out many of my pens were just dating ERRS and not going steady, so I had only F nibs free to test.

 

I had a Pelikan 400NN Maxi-semi-flex/'flexi' OF, a Tortoise Boehler late '30's with an semi-flex Italian nib that says M but is a F. The last was that Artus pen with the easy full flex Degussa F nib that I used in the rest of the testing.

 

I only used four papers. That Aldi store 'cheap' paper loss leader; Rex Office by Zebra, 90 gram Laid, Marbled, 120 gram Linen effect, and MK smooth with watermark 90 gram. All is good paper.

 

On the marbled paper I got after it dried for two days, dark gray and black. Everything else was black.

 

As I wrote this I looked at it from a slightly different angle...and if one was looking hard there was a slight tinge of blue.

 

So Henry Potter got a summer job in the German post office. The ink I found too black got turned blue and ink Lapis/Mike found too blue got turned black.

 

 

It's a very sneaky ink.....I have three pens inked with Lapis's ink, and three pens inked with my ink.....and there I was going to put new ink in some pens and they all have ESSR in them. :blink:

 

 

Blue depends on the paper, and some on the nib. I expect different ink tones from nibs with some flex compared to those with regular or little; different widths too.

Mostly it was more a black-blue ink for me, and I want some blue in my blue black inks.

 

Mike....what paper did you use???

I know you mentioned which pens you used but what nibs did they have? Flex,width and how wet do they write?

 

In that most of my nibs are semi-flex or maxi they should on the whole be wet writers. My Geha 790 KM is my wettest writer yet on my "Blue" paper the old Eaton typewriter paper, it is blue as all the others.

[Sandy1]

Lapis sent me his bottle of too blue ESSR. I sent him my bottle of wishing for Blue in blue black ESSR.

✁ snip ✃

It's a very sneaky ink.....

✁ snip ✃

Hi,

 

Hmmm :hmm1:

 

It seems I underestimated the capability of ESSRI when I wrote in the Review that it was capable of 'more than the usual routine marvels.'

 

Bye,

S1

[lapis]

Lapis sent me his bottle of too blue ESSR. I sent him my bottle of wishing for Blue in blue black ESSR.

 

Turns out many of my pens were just dating ERRS and not going steady, so I had only F nibs free to test.

ERRS ? You do mean ERRORS, no?

Har, har :ltcapd:

 

BS: The papers I used were HP's 80 g All In One printing, Avery's 100 g No. 2566, Deutsche Post 80 g Office Basic Multifunktionspapier and Herlitz' 80 g No. 294512; I still see no difference when comparing them all at once i.e. all within one minute, or a day later. Maybe in a year or two . Pens used were a Crest with a BB nib, an NN with an M nib and an NN with an italic F nib. All very wet writers; the Crest is the very very absolutely most wettest pen I have.

 

Yer friendly neigborhood chameleon

[JimB]

Hi,

 

Very interesting to read more about experiences with ESSRI.

 

If one wants to get as close as possible to Black, then I suggest trying to completely oxidise the ink prior to writing. Use of a very wet pen and absorbent paper seem likely to promote that result. Also to write with a slow deliberate hand, to allow a high amount of ink to be absorbed by the paper.

 

Bye,

S1

I think that's quite right. The longer I have ESSRI in a pen, the more likely the color will be darkened, sometimes to black. I used an entire filling of a Pelikan 140 (pretty huge ink volume) and, over the course of longer than a week, I found the initial group of pages to be dark blue, the dregs of the ink wound up just plain old black. At least I could see very little blue, if any. So perhaps oxidizing by leaving the bottle open for a day, might work... and on the fantastic side, maybe blowing air through the ink with a soda straw or such, might work to get the ink still darker? Personally, I like the bluer dimensions of this ink and have no wish to hasten its turn to the dark side. (heh-heh)

[Bo Bo Olson]

His Avery's 100 g No. 2566, vs my Avery's 100 g No. 2562

 

They got differences there?

Mine is Avery Zweckform Laser Paper 100g brilliant white...colour laser, ColorLok

 

My 100 gram Avery was not as good as I'd hoped.

 

 

Out side some 90 gram paper like Oxford Optic and Aldi's zebra made Marbled paper, I think I'll be going for the 110 gram paper....though the MK paper was good. I'm looking for a paper where there is at max Echo.

 

I'll be getting some better to best paper in as small as amount as possible.

That would be fiddling around paper. I have enough copy paper to last me quite a while. But the next copy paper I'll get will be 28/105g-29/110 HP paper. Perhaps even the 32/120...if I can find a small lot.

 

I went from being paper poor to being paper middle class over night.

[JonSzanto]

... and on the fantastic side, maybe blowing air through the ink with a soda straw or such, might work to get the ink still darker?

Heck, if we're going to go that far, one should go all the way and use a wine aerator...

 

http://cdn4.beveragefactory.com/tn2_fr-vinturi092908153628.jpg

[fuchsiaprincess]

... and on the fantastic side, maybe blowing air through the ink with a soda straw or such, might work to get the ink still darker?

Heck, if we're going to go that far, one should go all the way and use a wine aerator...

 

http://cdn4.beveragefactory.com/tn2_fr-vinturi092908153628.jpg

 

What a brilliant idea Now, I wonder if I can wash all traces of ESSRI so that Dave doesn't notice…… Heck, why don't I buy another aerator just for ink :roflmho:

[JimB]

... and on the fantastic side, maybe blowing air through the ink with a soda straw or such, might work to get the ink still darker?

Heck, if we're going to go that far, one should go all the way and use a wine aerator...

 

http://cdn4.beveragefactory.com/tn2_fr-vinturi092908153628.jpg

NOW you're talking!

[JimB]

UPDATE- First, I want to repeat that this is one of my new favorite inks. BUT. I inked up my TWSBI 540 F with ESSRI a week ago and put it aside. Yesterday I tried writing with it. VERY dry and very faint writing resulted. I tried using it more, circles, scratchings, loops, lines. Nothing made it flow. I tried getting more ink to the feed by turning the top of the pen. One big blob fell onto the paper (Staples Sustainable Earth). Still, it wrote way too dry. I dipped the nib in the blob and tried writing. No go.

 

Dejected, I emptied the pen in the sink. Then water rinsed. I then noticed the piston was very tight and emptying/refilling was a real task. The water kept coming out blue. I tried rinsing with a drop of dish soap and water, but after many many refillings the water never ran clear.

 

J.B. Pen Flush was next. The Flush liquid was lightly blue colored at start, but after flushing the TWSBI it turned nearly black. I rinsed in water, but again, blue discharge. I had to use JB's twice! Finally, I soaked just the pen's feed/nib in warmish soapy water. The feed had been completely saturated and clogged. Also, I have to note, that tiny black particles were in the rinses!

 

So I guess I warn you to be careful. What went wrong? Well, either I didn't use the pen enough, or the 1 week sit was bad for the ink. That, or a TWSBI Fine must be avoided at all costs. My TWSBI is now happy with that tonic ink, Waterman Florida Blue.

 

ESSRI is still being used in my Pelikan 140 Medium Nib with no problems at all. I use it nearly every day. That may be the solution.

[Chiro75]

My update:

 

Received my second bottle of ink that was missing from the original shipment with no problem. Not the greatest communication in the world from ESS (not big fans of returning email), but the bottom line is that they fixed the problem without any hassle and that's what counts.

 

As far as the ink itself, it's still all over the map for me. It's definitely darkening with time on the papers I write on, but to a dark blue, rather than blue-black, in my estimation. That being said, my only experience with blue-black is Noodler's, which is definitely blue, but very dark. On the blue-black spectrum, Noodler's, to me, sits favorably on the black side of things whereas the ESSRI is way over on the blue side of things.

 

I've had no flow issues. I have done very little writing int he past week and my medium nibbed Esterbrook LJ starts right up, no issues at all.

 

I have yet to see any feathering or bleeding issues on anything I've written on. This is probably the best-behaved ink I've ever used in that regard.

 

Because it goes down so light, there is a tendency to want to push harder on the pen. I don't think that means that it's "dry" per se.

 

Now that I haven't re-inked for about a week, the initial line is a little darker (if I leave ink in my Esties they ALL darken and concentrate), but the only main thing I noticed that is different is that the ink doesn't dry as fast in the darker shaded areas. This is typical of all my Esties and any ink I use.

 

I still LOVE the writing of a line and watching the ink change before my eyes. Very cool!

 

The initial test in a Moleskine notebook (probably 5-6 years old) showed no change to blue-black. It stayed light blue, and took on a grayish, cold overtone, but it's light, faded blue and subsequent writing in the same notebook showed the same behavior. For whatever reason, the ink won't color-shift in that particular notebook, but writing in other moleskines shows doesn't behave this way.

[Chiro75]

And, out of curiosity, has anyone mixed this ink with anything? I know it's acidic, so it wouldn't play well with basic inks (hello, precipitates!), but I wonder if it's possible to add a few drops of something like Noodler's Black to make it darker. I have ZERO experience with ink mixing, so I was hoping someone who does it regularly may've been experimenting with this ink and adding something to darken it, to see if it behaves the same way only dries darker...