Pen And Ink Filling Rules - How Do You Choose Ink / Pen Combinations?

[Alexandra]

My only rule is, "Go with the whim of the moment." With a clean pen of course. In practice though I am having fewer and fewer whims. My everyday writers are settling into long term relationships with their respective inks which are subdued in color, flawless in behavior and permanent.

[amberleadavis]

I think a lot of us are color coordinated. Thank you all for sharing. This has been fun.

[Cyber6]

I think a lot of us are color coordinated. Thank you all for sharing. This has been fun.

 

The only rule I have.. is to match ink color with barrel color... At least, that is my excuse to have as many inks as pens...

 

White pens get anything on the bright side (bright greens/blues/pinks etc...)... Black pens get anything on the dark side (dark reds/blues/greens etc...).. I don't do black ink.

 

Oh oh.. one more thing..... a black pen with gold furnishing will most times get "gold/amber" color inks

 

 

 

C.

Edited August 26, 2013 by Cyber6

[smiorgan]

I used to only put Pelikan Edelstein Onyx in my M200 and it skipped. When I broke that rule and put a Diamine ink in, the skipping stopped.

 

I now have a rule of only using half my pens and only having the inks I like and use on hand in the bureau. The others are in a plastic box somewhere.

 

I didn't have a rule about matching colours but they should at least complement the pen. Diamine Grey looks great coming from my white Safari.

 

Most of my inks in use are British, and all but one pen is German. When I write with Diamine I imagine my words being narrated with Liverpudlean accent.

[amberleadavis]

So, I was gearing up for the 2013 Fade Olympics, which means pulling out my own inks and writing some samples. So, I decided I'd do a bunch of blue inks and a bunch of red inks. I dutifully filled out an ink notebooks so I would know which inks were in which pens. Since most of my pens are TWSBIs - I don't have the WWII Allied/Axis rules of ink filling - I instead try and keep using the same colors in the same pens. (Usually, blue ink in blue pens, and reds in the Ruby Lamy, and amber TWSBIs get oranges, smoke TWSBIs get Red inks). Imagine what happened next, I couldn't tell the difference between the different reds in the same color pens.

 

I think I need some rhinestones to identify my different TWSBIs.

 

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/2013-FADE/slides/2013-FADE_106.jpg

[Runnin_Ute]

 

 

Whoops, I had to slow down to read....I thought you were saying only one ink. I started to panic on your behalf. I'm relieved to know that you have more than one ink.

I can see how you would have read it that way.......

 

Right now, they are loaded up like this:

Platinum Preppy F - 54th Massachusetts

True Writer Silver Anniversary F - Diamine Sherwood Green

Esterbrook J 9550 EF- Bad Green Gator - matches the barrel

Waterman Phileas F - Diamine Blue Black

Waterman Phileas M - Akkerman Voorhout Violet

Lamy Al Star 1.1 - Akkerman Shocking Blue

Konrad - Pelikan 4001 Blue Black

[lalindsay225]

When possible, I use a maker's ink in a maker's pen - Duke ink in my Duke pens, etc. But I really pay more attention to color. I like black ink in my colored pens, and put whatever color I feel like that day in my black pens. It's kind of neat to pull out a stately-looking black pen and sign your name in, say, Noodler's Rachmaninoff. Or an equally unexpected color.

 

Once in a while, a pen just demands a certain ink. With my Jinhao Dragon Pearl, I often use Diamine Red Dragon (to match the eyes). I also love the way burgundy and dark blue go together.

[Centopar]

If I'm in the mood for a particular ink, then the next pen that comes empty will get filled with it. One exception: if it's a very fine nib I won't choose a very dark shade of anything, because it'll look black.

[papen]

Interesting and amusing thought processes going on here. Seems a bit like of a road trip where you learn a lot about someone just by spending time in close proximity. Really wanted to say I didn't have many rules, but there they were...

 

No geo-political boundaries at my desk, but the ink color to the pen thing is a theme.

Use the Al-Stars as test rides and for challenging inks.

When I'm looking for a particular result from an ink, I'll find the pen that suits. Having said that, I feel like I'm living on the edge when I put ink in a pen that's not a complimentary color.

 

Can we stop at the next exit? ...I have to get some ink.

 

Les

[mbrandt]

For me it is more of a "what kind of mood am I in as far as pen or color/brand goes. There really is no rhyme or reason to it. I usually only have two or three pens inked up at a time as right now I'm not working so therefore don't write much/take many notes. If I feel like practice writing I usually grab a bottle of Private Reserve as I have four different colors and the bottles are large. I bought them for at the office when I would need a quick fill up and would keep my "work pens" filled with these. (red, black, blue and yellow(?), I used the yellow more for highlighting and underlining so i used a nice fat-nibbed pen for that) Otherwise pen/ink choice is up to a whim.

[Runnin_Ute]

 

 

Whoops, I had to slow down to read....I thought you were saying only one ink. I started to panic on your behalf. I'm relieved to know that you have more than one ink.

Need more ink - have acquired more pens, duplication is getting harder to avoid.....

 

Right now, on December 1, 2013:

Pelikan 120 type II Merz & Krell (EF) - Pelikan 4001 Blue Black

Pelikan M205 red (M) - Akkerman Shocking Blue

True Writer Silver Anniversary (F) - Diamine Sherwood Green

Jinhao 159 stub - Diamine Blue Black

Lamy Al Star 1.1 mm - Diamine Classic Red

Noodler's Konrad - Akkerman Voorhout Violet

Waterman Phileas (M) - Noodler's 54th Massachusetts

Waterman Phileas (F) - Monteverde Blue Black

Esterbrook J (F) - out of rotation - for now. The Peilikan's and True Writer are getting most used right now.

 

One of the Phileas' may get a cartridge of Waterman Black next fill.

Edited December 2, 2013 by Runnin_Ute

[amberleadavis]

Need more ink - have acquired more pens, duplication is getting harder to avoid.....

 

Right now, on December 1, 2013:

Pelikan 120 type II Merz & Krell (EF) - Pelikan 4001 Blue Black

Pelikan M205 red (M) - Akkerman Shocking Blue

True Writer Silver Anniversary (F) - Diamine Sherwood Green

Jinhao 159 stub - Diamine Blue Black

Lamy Al Star 1.1 mm - Diamine Classic Red

Noodler's Konrad - Diamine Blue Black - about due for a refill though - may put Akkerman Voorhout Violet in it.

Waterman Phileas (M) - Noodler's 54th Massachusetts

Waterman Phileas (F) - Monteverde Blue Black

 

One of the Phileas' may get a cartridge of Waterman Black next fill.

 

 

I think you need an orange ink. I don't see any "lipstick" colors.

[Runnin_Ute]

 

 

I think you need an orange ink. I don't see any "lipstick" colors.

Been considering something like Apache Sunset. Not sure if I am bottle ready having not tried a sample. (the classic red is currently only a sample and is almost gone)

[amberleadavis]

Definitely try a sample of Apache Sunset to look at the glorious shading.

[Blue_Moon]

I never thought about actual Pen and Ink rules either, but I would say:

 

1. No staining ink in demonstrators.

 

2. When in doubt, go with Waterman.

 

3. Never let teenagers fill my pens.

[amberleadavis]

I never thought about actual Pen and Ink rules either, but I would say:

 

1. No staining ink in demonstrators.

 

2. When in doubt, go with Waterman.

 

3. Never let teenagers fill my pens.

 

 

#3

[ethernautrix]

I don't make rules so much as the rules make themselves after much de facto experimentation (that is, I don't set out to experiment, but I suppose that is what I'm doing when I say to myself, "Let's try this ink in this pen.").

 

I filled a Nakaya Negoro, standard F nib, with Faber Castell Stone Grey recently, for instance, and I already know that this is a wonderful combination. Feels like I'm writing with a magic pencil. (People who don't care for writing with pencils, magic or otherwise, will probably not appreciate this sensation.)

 

I usually keep the unpolished shu N. Piccolo filled with Noodler's Black. The ink is utilitarian, and I love the shape of the line with this ruthenium-plated F nib.

 

Inked up a Sheaffer Flat Top (from ca. 1924, with an incredible stiff and extra fine nib) with Montblanc Violet, and that was nice; it worked. But I changed it today, flushed out the MbV and filled it with Pelikan Brown - BAM! the YES! moment.

[bassmannate]

The only rules I have are match color family with each other. Red inks go in red pens, blue ink in blue pens. Not even trying to get the colors close. However, if I don't have an available pen for a given color (i.e. I don't own a brown pen but do have some brown ink samples) then the ink goes in whatever I feel like putting it in.

[Runnin_Ute]

 

 

Whoops, I had to slow down to read....I thought you were saying only one ink. I started to panic on your behalf. I'm relieved to know that you have more than one ink.

And it has expanded............

 

Today it looks like this:

 

Noodler's Konrad Red Mesa Tortoise ( B ) Noodler's 54th Massachusetts

Pelikan M205 Toledo Red (M) Diamine Sherwood Green

Pelikan 120 M & K green & black (EF) Diamine Classic Red

Lamy Al Star (aluminum color) (1.1) Noodler's Apache Sunset

Waterman Phileas black (M) Diamine Blue Black

Esterbrook J green (F) Pelikan 4001 Blue Black

True Writer Silver Anniversary "gunmetal" - silvery (F) Diamine Steel Blue (sample)

Jinhao 159 (black) - stub - Waterman Intense Black (cartridge)

Edited January 14, 2014 by Runnin_Ute

[WilsonCQB1911]

I guess I have some "rules", but it's mainly about performance. Some pens just work better with certain inks.

 

My Visconti HS writes amazingly with MB Mystery Black, and although it has written well with other inks I've tried too, it writes so well with the black that I tend to leave it exclusively in that pen.

 

My Pilot Custom 823 has proven somewhat finicky, and so I have to take care with what ink goes in it. It's a drier nib, so Pelikan inks are no go. It's also proven inconsistent in flow with Noodlers Polar Blue, so I avoid that as well. With Iroshizuku inks it writes like a dream though, so that's what it gets. I guess I have some rules about color matching as well, because I tend to give it only brownish iroshizuku inks.

 

My Edison Menlo is a wet writer, and with heavy flow inks it can bleed and feather all over cheaper paper. Not the pen's fault, but I can't always guarantee good paper. So it get drier inks like Pelikan. And since it's a tortoise lucite barrel, I give it suitably colored inks like Pelikan Amber.

 

My Vanishing Points don't have any such restrictions. The bodies are all opaque, and the converters are cheap to replace, so any inks I might worry about staining go in the VPs. They have also proven themselves tolerant of a wide range of inks, so I give them whatever. With the fine nib, I do prefer a more saturated ink just because the line is so fine that the water colory inks just don't come out as well. The medium and broad nibs get whatever.

 

And lastly, my beloved MB149 has no real restrictions. I have avoided Noodlers in it just to be safe, but it has written like a dream with everything I've put in it so far. I do like to keep Iroshizuku fuyu-syogun in it just because that's my favorite in my favorite pen.