New Australian Made Fountain Pen Ink At Justwrite

[thesunshine]

Just ordered all 14 colours in the 30ml variant, can't wait to try the ink out!

 

Now just to find some small empty glass bottles to store them in!

Please do put up some ink reviews when you receive them! I'm looking forward to seeing some writing samples, particularly of the blues.

[c4bb0ose]

Any plans to start offering shipping to New Zealand?

[Sham69]

australian ink buisness? shut up and take my money!

how do i pay you

[Jamerelbe]

I received a free sample set of Toucan inks from Kevin (JustWrite.com.au) earlier this week, and offered to upload scans of writing samples - a kind of mini-review. I have no site to upload them to, so I've asked Kevin (and he's kindly agreed) to host them - but I thought I'd give a verbal report for now, in case anyone is interested. I am not an employee either of JustWrite or of the ink manufacturer, and have not received any inducements to provide favourable comment - as I trust the following (and the scans, when Kevin finds tim to upload them) will demonstrate!

 

I wasn't sure whether I'd like these inks - Kevin has mentioned (on this thread) that they're not highly saturated, and the swatches on his website bear that out - whereas I'm an avowed fan of highly-saturated inks (think Noodler's and Diamine). And to be truthful, the blue inks especially were not dark enough for my taste. They're well and truly legible, but if you're looking for a 'professional' 'business'-style blue ink... you'll have to look elsewhere. But the black, especially once it's try on the paper, is pretty nearly black ( a very very dark grey, no green or brown tinge) - and some of the other colours lay down an attractive line of colour too.

 

I especially liked some of the darker, more saturated colours in the range - Umber (a not-quite-chocolatey brown), Sienna (a vibrant 'burnt' orange) and crimson (a strong, 'true' red). These three would probably be my favourites - though the orange and bright green I also found very appealing. The turquoise was a true turquoise, light blue tending toward green (shame the other two blues weren't dark enough to provide a real contrast), while the aqua is definitely more of a green-tending-toward-blue.

 

Honestly, I didn't hate any of these inks - they all wrote nicely without feathering or bleeding through (on Rhodia paper OR on Reflex copier paper); they were all prone to 'shading', which I can live without but it's always a nice bonus; and all but two of them (Gold and Primrose) were readily legible.

 

Hope that gives you a 'taste' - and hopefully the scans will be up soon. I haven't tested water-fastness (I'd expect it to be minimal) or UV resistance (how badly does it fade in sunlight?), I haven't measured drying times or tried mixing samples - so I can't tell you how it compares to other inks on the market. But if you live in Australia and, like me, find the price of imported inks to be pretty steep... here's a home-grown product that (IMHO) deserves a trial run. Once again, thanks to Kevin and the JustWrite Pen Co for providing me with free samples.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Jamerelbe

[Cyber6]

Well Kevin.... I am SOOOOOOOOO ready to try your ink. I might be the ONLY Canadian with TOUCAN INK!!! :D :D

 

My Canadian friend is getting married in India this December.. her sister (in Adelaide) is coming to the wedding... she is already bringing me a bottle of Noodler's Coral Sea.. (OH YEAH!!! ) ... I think I will add your 14 packs (60ml)... I am a lover of highly saturated... and bright (not highly saturated) inks.. I have a 14 years old artist that goes through ink like there is no tomorrow... ... So I can assure you that good quality ink at affordable prices are always welcome.

 

If you are interested in getting our awesome Saskia (FPN Mod and inkaholic) to review your inks, I'll pm you my friend's shipping address.. for you to add some samples for her.

 

Soooo excited... real Australian Ink!!!!

 

 

C.

[Seele]

My preliminary results tally quite well with Jamerelbe's observations, since I have a stack of Fuji-Xerox paper for laser printer I use that for testing: Reflex paper seems to be better in this respect as the FX paper shows some bleed-through for most inks, and the lower saturation is also observable.

 

Certainly, the bright yellow Primrose is not suitable as a writing ink, and the writing practically disappears under electric light - with Gold in second place - the majority of the Toucan collection are eminently usable and likable. The warm side of the palette really shines, especially the darker tones such as Umber and Sienna; I can use both as "default" inks. I am not too knowledgeable regarding green and violets, but Toucan's offerings in both areas are also appealing.

 

Realistically, they are almost half the price of Quink in Australia on a 60ml basis, even if we disregard the cost factor, these inks offer different characteristics from most of what we can get here. If I am not mistaken, these inks were created not only for fountain pen use, but also for ink and wash using pens and brushes too, so they might appeal to the artist as well.

[JustWrite Pen Company]

Any plans to start offering shipping to New Zealand?

 

We still ship to New Zealand. We used to ship worldwide but postage costs were a killer and it makes no sense trying to compete with US/Asian websites.

When we changed the shipping info, we made that terrible mistake we often do in Australia - either forget about New Zealand or think it's part of Australia.

I'll change the site to include NZ. And I'll be happy to send you some ink samples.

 

Kind Regards ...Kevin

[mossyk9]

can someone please hurry up and put up a scan? I'm trying to decide between buying 30/60 or possibly the 400ml bags!!!

 

Kevin if you want to send me a sample of the black, turqouise and navy blue I would happily review them for you so we can get some samples up!

 

I'm really excited about the possibility of an aussie ink being in my rotation!

 

Also any plans to try and generate a "bulletproof" or slightly more permanent ink for work purposes in the medical field?

 

And as a side note why are your Pelikan inks also in the bags?

 

Cheers

Mostafa

 

Edited to add the last question

Edited November 14, 2013 by mossyk9

[Jamerelbe]

Hi again, scans of my sample writing are now up on the JustWrite website (http://justwrite.com.au/justwrite8/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=173_182), but if I can get them to link, I'll put them up here. Please excuse the handwriting - I made no real effort to 'pretty it up' for public consumption, and it shows.... To my eye, the scans probably look a little 'washed out' compared to the original (sorry, I've not tried this before!) - the black is a little darker, the Umber a little more brown and the orange DEFINITELY somewhat brighter - so please take that into account.

 

First set of inks, on Rhodia paper:

http://justwrite.com.au/justwrite8/images/products/toucan-fountain-pen-ink-writing-sample-gc01.jpg

[Jamerelbe]

Second scan = same colours, but on Reflex copier paper:

 

http://justwrite.com.au/justwrite8/images/products/toucan-fountain-pen-ink-writing-sample-gc02.jpg

[Jamerelbe]

Second set of colours, again on Rhodia Dotpad paper:

http://justwrite.com.au/justwrite8/images/products/toucan-fountain-pen-ink-writing-sample-gc03.jpg

[Jamerelbe]

Second set of colours, Reflex Copier Paper:

 

http://justwrite.com.au/justwrite8/images/products/toucan-fountain-pen-ink-writing-sample-gc04.jpg

Edited November 14, 2013 by Jamerelbe

[Jamerelbe]

Third and final set of colours - Rhodia paper:

 

http://justwrite.com.au/justwrite8/images/products/toucan-fountain-pen-ink-writing-sample-gc05.jpg

Edited November 14, 2013 by Jamerelbe

[JustWrite Pen Company]

can someone please hurry up and put up a scan? I'm trying to decide between buying 30/60 or possibly the 400ml bags!!!

 

Kevin if you want to send me a sample of the black, turqouise and navy blue I would happily review them for you so we can get some samples up!

 

I'm really excited about the possibility of an aussie ink being in my rotation!

 

Also any plans to try and generate a "bulletproof" or slightly more permanent ink for work purposes in the medical field?

 

And as a side note why are your Pelikan inks also in the bags?

 

Cheers

Mostafa

 

Edited to add the last question

 

Hi Mostafa

 

I've got some customers scans on the website now:

 

http://justwrite.com.au/justwrite8/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=173_182

 

Gordon, who did the scans intends to post them on FPN.

 

PM me your address and I'll send you some samples.

 

We buy the Pelikan ink in bulk from Europe and repackage it ourselves to save shipping and 'other' costs. If you check the prices for bottled ink on Australian websites you'll find they are about twice the price of overseas websites. We'll never be able to compete with overseas websites on price but I'm trying to bring our prices to within at least a bull's roar of them. This is the only way we can do it at the moment.

 

Sorry, but there are no immediate plans for a permanent ink. If the Toucan takes off maybe...?

 

Kevin

[Jamerelbe]

Third and final set of colours, on Reflex:

 

http://justwrite.com.au/justwrite8/images/products/toucan-fountain-pen-ink-writing-sample-gc06.jpg

[Cyber6]

I am soo excited.. the writing samples are wonderful. I am actually looking forward to Gold and Primrose..

 

Add a couple of drops of Umber to Primrose.. and you will get an amazing old gold look. Another tiny drop of blue... and you'll get a green gold look. You can tell I play with ink on a regular basis...

 

I placed my order for the 12 X 60ml ... so now.. I just need to wait. My friend is coming back in January. I know time will fly by...

 

 

C.

[dcwaites]

I have done my first sample (it was with the Bright Blue). I only had a few minutes, and will try to put the scan up later today if I can.

 

It is a light, bright blue, behaves well as far as feathering, but does tend to bleed a little on poorer papers.

I want to do a full set on some good paper, and then a few sample comparisons with other inks on poorer papers to demonstrate feathering, bleeding, etc.

 

Sorry for the delay, the inks didn't get to me until a couple of days ago, and I haven't had much spare time since.

 

Anyway, the weekend is coming.

 

PS, here is my first scan of Toucan Bright Blue, written on Clairefontaine Notebook, with Leonardo FP nib as a dip pen.

 

Edited November 15, 2013 by dcwaites

[mossyk9]

 

Hi Mostafa

 

I've got some customers scans on the website now:

 

http://justwrite.com.au/justwrite8/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=173_182

 

Gordon, who did the scans intends to post them on FPN.

 

PM me your address and I'll send you some samples.

 

We buy the Pelikan ink in bulk from Europe and repackage it ourselves to save shipping and 'other' costs. If you check the prices for bottled ink on Australian websites you'll find they are about twice the price of overseas websites. We'll never be able to compete with overseas websites on price but I'm trying to bring our prices to within at least a bull's roar of them. This is the only way we can do it at the moment.

 

Sorry, but there are no immediate plans for a permanent ink. If the Toucan takes off maybe...?

 

Kevin

 

 

That's fantastic stuff Kevin,

 

Don't need a sample anymore i'll just go ahead and order some in the next few days after seeing those scans. May add soem Pelikan to my order as well.

 

 

Once again well done for this initiative!

[Awordworth]

How wonderful to know that we have a local manufacturer!!!

Great big barrels full of luck to you and your endeavour.

 

[msolok]

Hey guys. I have noticed you are going to be at the Melbourne Pen Show. And chance you will be bringing the Toucan inks with you to sell? If so definitely count me in for all colours in 60ml!