Most Disappointing Ink Buy

[wrath186]

My biggest disappointment would be Mont Blanc Mahatma Gandhi Ink. I loved the color in the store, but hated it on the page. I still have a full bottle sitting on my desk collecting dust.

[304]

Noodler's Polar Blue has been the worst performer for me lately, but I hesitate to call it disappointing because I live in Northeast Texas and the average temperature has been 95-100F lately. Not at all what it was designed for. Nathan's inks have always been great for me.

[BiggieD]

Montblanc Gandhi -- purchased sight unseen as part of a limited edition buying binge. It's a nice very light orange ink that I have absolutely no use for... At least I bought two bottles so I'll have it for a very long time (it reminds me of that line from Billy Bud when the kid eats the ship gruel for the first time, they ask him if he like it and he says "It's hot and there's a lot of it. I like everything about it except the flavor.")

 

Private Reserve Buttercup -- purchased at the request of my 12 year old daughter because she wanted a yellow ink. It is in fact yellow, but neither of us stopped to think that a yellow ink is only slightly more readable than a clear ink (water).

 

J. Herbin Blue Myosotis - I don't know what it is, but I have a reflexive repulsion to this color. The only ink that I've disliked so much I gave away my last bottle.

 

P.R. Daphne Blue - a nice very light turquoise that I bought because I wanted Waterman South Seas Blue but the local store didn't have it. Six months later I bought SSB at a pen show and haven't used Daphne since.

[Mafia Geek]

This might be blasphemy, but Noodler's Black was my worst (with Borealis Black and Polar Blue shortly behind it). Regardless of the paper it NEVER seems to dry. I can swipe a finger across it a week later and smudge it significantly, on Rhodia, copy paper, and 25% cotton 32lbs Southworth. Don't know if I have a bad batch, but it just will not dry for me, which sucks because I work in Engineering where my notes need to be permanent, thus my getting bulletproof inks.

 

I've tried it in all my pens (Lamy Safari, Vista, Studio (gold and steel nib), 2000, Pilot VP, and Prera) with no luck, still will not dry.

 

In lieu of that I've been using Pilot bottled inks and they are quite will behaved, just smell bad (like chemicals).

 

Also my bottle of Private Reserve Dakota Red has a huge amount of sedimentation in it to the point where I'm afraid to ink a pen because it might clog it, nice red colour though.

[ken belanus]

Well, I am a relatively new member and my experiences are limited. I have made a short study of the color blue and can rate my experiences with the following inks:

 

Monteverde blue is my worst so far. It seems dry and has that annoying fading tendency during the first 24 hours it degrades from almost what I wanted to the weakest of my collection. It claims to be High-Tech and treated and lubricated, but only slightly exhibits these qualities when I compare it to Noodler's Eel lubricated ink. The 3 oz bottle is very stylish and may be the best part of the deal for me. I expect lubricated ink to write smooth as silk, not just take care of my plungers, seals and elastomers. Please instruct me if I am incorrect.

 

Pelikan Royal blue just isn't dark enough for my taste. I want strong blue with sharp lines and this ink is in second to last place due to the color and slight fading after 24 hours on my target group of papers. Nobody knows what "royal" blue is, but now I know to avoid this color name.

 

Waterman (changing color name) Florida Blue is a keeper in all of my pens. It performs well and meets my expectations. It does not fade over time. I like the color and it looks great to my eye on green, cream, white, and Rhodia grid papers and engineering computations pads. I just wish they could quit the name game. My pens all like the way this one behaves even without the lubrication of half of my blue collection. Now I have to hope they will not change the ink, because I really like it.

 

The winner in my collection/opinion is Noodler's Eel Blue. It has the strongest color, sharpest edges and most noticeable effect of its being a lubricated ink. I want smooth and effortless writing and this ink comes the closest in my opinion and testing so far. I have seen NO fading over time. Eventually, I plan to fill my cool Pelikan Bottle with the pen rest and the spiffy Monteverde bottle with this ink. The lubrication in this ink is such that you can not get it to adhere to a dip pen...try it!

 

Yes, they all run to the point of disappearing except to make a mess at the sight of water. I really wish this was not so, but it is. I even had Higgins India Waterproof Drawing ink run under water base acrylic finish the other day. Go Figure! I suspect India ink is no more and we have pigmented acrylic soup of some kind.

 

Thanks for reading my attempt at participating. Keep in mind that some of us want sharp crisp lines and no shading from nibs of steel (Sheaffer Triumph mostly) while others want shading and character from flex nibs. Another point I might add it that it is possible that we might be getting "the bottom of the barrel" or the top of a bad or weak batch. Like the pharmaceutical generics that are out of tolerance on the low side whereas the name brand product had way over the minimum concentration of the active ingredient. I suggest the quality control on fountain pen inks is such that huge variations are possible.

[Mafia Geek]

Well, I am a relatively new member and my experiences are limited. I have made a short study of the color blue and can rate my experiences with the following inks...

 

 

 

I'd suggest giving Pilot Blue a try. I have the same requirements of my blue inks and Pilot fits the bill perfectly (it's waterproof to boot). It's fairly easy to find and has a good filling dip in it as well. Has a smell to it though, not bad, but you can identify it in a pen by smelling the nib.

[ken belanus]

Well, I am a relatively new member and my experiences are limited. I have made a short study of the color blue and can rate my experiences with the following inks...

 

 

 

I'd suggest giving Pilot Blue a try. I have the same requirements of my blue inks and Pilot fits the bill perfectly (it's waterproof to boot). It's fairly easy to find and has a good filling dip in it as well. Has a smell to it though, not bad, but you can identify it in a pen by smelling the nib.

 

Thanks for giving me a new direction for throwing some hobby money. You're right, it is time for something permanent!

[Colors]

J. Herbin Cafe des Iles - skips and clogs horribly. I had loved the color, so tried 2 different samples in 2 different pens and they both performed poorly.

 

Monteverde blue-black - not at all blue-black, more like a light gray.

 

De Atramentis South Seas Blue (L. E.) - boring blue, tried it once and gave the bottle to my nephew.

[BillZ]

Texas Live Oak. Beautiful shade of green BUT it bleeds and spiderwebs terribly! I've tried it in several pens and on several papers with no sucess. Every so often i try it again. Einsien was right

 

I am insane.

[Messmer]

In the late 90's or so I bought several different colors of J. Herbin fountain pen inks after a glowing review of them in a calligraphy mail order catalog. The review mentioned the inks were "lightfast and permanent." The ink colors were beautiful and jewel-like, but they were in nowise "lightfast and permanent," which is what I needed most in an ink. Indeed, J. Herbin was the first brand out of many I tested to fade away in sunshine tests (Violette Pensee in particular faded dramatically within a week, but all of them eventually disappeared completely). So that was a bitter disappointment. I gave the inks to a friend who doesn't mind non-permanent inks. And now I know to always test an ink to see if it really is permanent enough for my needs or not (I do genealogy, so that's why I need permanence).

As an archivist student I confirm. It is really important that all information with a good historical value be permanent and lightfast. Water damage is the number one cause of archive destruction.

[Korybas]

I do not have so many inks (I tend to be picky about my inks) but without any intention of ink bashing I would say:

 

--- R&K Scabiosa : I was expecting it to darken to a dark purple after oxidizing (its an IG ink) but nothing of the sort happened and the final color is, simply put, inadequate for my taste. However, I use it with a brush when drawing, and its a wonderful color, just not in my fountain pens!

 

--- Iroshizuku Yama Budo : I was expecting a deeper color, a dark red-purple that is suitable not only for correcting school papers... I still am mad with myself, paying such an elevated price for this ink, and it sits in my cupboard for so long now, undisturbed... :bonk:

[lovemy51]

diamine poppy red. i thought it would be more pure red, but it's orangy.

 

no, i decided i like all my inks

[Scrawler]

diamine poppy red. i thought it would be more pure red, but it's orangy.

 

no, i decided i like all my inks

No No. Diamine poppy is exactly what it should be. It is poppy coloured. It is a lovely ink, an a nice change from the stark redness of things like Nikita.

[mm1624124]

Sailor Jentle Peche: An impulse buy based on total infatuation with all of the Sailor inks I've tried. Bought a bottle but haven't opened it yet and then got a sample through Goulet's Ink Drop. Currently struggling through my paper/pen/ink combos (high quality papers) with the sample... Most of the time before I'm half way through I adore the Sailor qualities and almost cry when I change colors for the next ink sample. BOY NOT THIS ONE! Can't even love the color. I *could* if there was just more of it! Nothing substantial about this anemic pink ink. I'm ready to burp my pens before I finish with my writing sample.

 

Pure Yuck! It has one last chance in a very wet flexy nib.

[Uncle Red]

I do not have so many inks (I tend to be picky about my inks) but without any intention of ink bashing I would say:--- R&K Scabiosa : I was expecting it to darken to a dark purple after oxidizing (its an IG ink) but nothing of the sort happened and the final color is, simply put, inadequate for my taste. However, I use it with a brush when drawing, and its a wonderful color, just not in my fountain pens!--- Iroshizuku Yama Budo : I was expecting a deeper color, a dark red-purple that is suitable not only for correcting school papers... I still am mad with myself, paying such an elevated price for this ink, and it sits in my cupboard for so long now, undisturbed... :bonk:

You're using fine nibbed pens aren't you? I had Scabiosa do that from a Hero 616 but it works beautifully with wider nibs and flexes.

[Korybas]

I do not have so many inks (I tend to be picky about my inks) but without any intention of ink bashing I would say:--- R&K Scabiosa : I was expecting it to darken to a dark purple after oxidizing (its an IG ink) but nothing of the sort happened and the final color is, simply put, inadequate for my taste. However, I use it with a brush when drawing, and its a wonderful color, just not in my fountain pens!--- Iroshizuku Yama Budo : I was expecting a deeper color, a dark red-purple that is suitable not only for correcting school papers... I still am mad with myself, paying such an elevated price for this ink, and it sits in my cupboard for so long now, undisturbed... :bonk:

You're using fine nibbed pens aren't you? I had Scabiosa do that from a Hero 616 but it works beautifully with wider nibs and flexes.

 

Hi Uncle Red,

 

Actually no, I do not like F nibs so much and, as a result, I do not own any pen with a F nib...

I tried R&K Scabiosa with my HS 1.3 Stub and in Stipula Model T with a T-flex nib... With the Stipula I liked the result more than with the HS, even if the shading in the HS was very pleasant. To tell you the truth, I would love to try that ink in my P51 1949 Aero 1mm Stub, but I am very hesitant to put IG ink in a vintage pen...

Maybe I should re-examine the whole subject, re-ink a few pens with Scabiosa and see if a second try will soften me towards this ink...

 

Aris

[Holdav]

Noodlers Blue.

Diamine WES Imperial Blue

 

Two blues that should have been a nice but were just very boring.

[Uncle Red]

I do not have so many inks (I tend to be picky about my inks) but without any intention of ink bashing I would say:--- R&K Scabiosa : I was expecting it to darken to a dark purple after oxidizing (its an IG ink) but nothing of the sort happened and the final color is, simply put, inadequate for my taste. However, I use it with a brush when drawing, and its a wonderful color, just not in my fountain pens!--- Iroshizuku Yama Budo : I was expecting a deeper color, a dark red-purple that is suitable not only for correcting school papers... I still am mad with myself, paying such an elevated price for this ink, and it sits in my cupboard for so long now, undisturbed... :bonk:

You're using fine nibbed pens aren't you? I had Scabiosa do that from a Hero 616 but it works beautifully with wider nibs and flexes.

Hi Uncle Red,Actually no, I do not like F nibs so much and, as a result, I do not own any pen with a F nib...I tried R&K Scabiosa with my HS 1.3 Stub and in Stipula Model T with a T-flex nib... With the Stipula I liked the result more than with the HS, even if the shading in the HS was very pleasant. To tell you the truth, I would love to try that ink in my P51 1949 Aero 1mm Stub, but I am very hesitant to put IG ink in a vintage pen...Maybe I should re-examine the whole subject, re-ink a few pens with Scabiosa and see if a second try will soften me towards this ink...Aris

There are some vintage pens I've used with Scabiosa but a Parker 51 is not one of them, it's too hard to flush.

[terminal]

--- Iroshizuku Yama Budo : I was expecting a deeper color, a dark red-purple that is suitable not only for correcting school papers... I still am mad with myself, paying such an elevated price for this ink, and it sits in my cupboard for so long now, undisturbed... :bonk:

 

Interesting I had the same reaction to this ink. Again, I don't think I would say it's the worst ink ever but it certainly didn't meet my expectations.

[terminal]

Texas Live Oak. Beautiful shade of green BUT it bleeds and spiderwebs terribly! I've tried it in several pens and on several papers with no sucess. Every so often i try it again. Einsien was right

 

I am insane.

 

 

Lol no, there are just too many variables here. Now, if you kept trying it in the same pen with the same paper...

 

Actually though, since you are a member of FPN perhaps the latter part of your statement goes w/o saying