New Australian Made Fountain Pen Ink At Justwrite

[youstruckgold]

Just done my first review of the Toucan Bright Blue - fabulous!

http://ecclectitbits.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/ink-review-toucan-bright-blue-aussie-ink.html

Edited January 14, 2014 by youstruckgold

[Seele]

youstruckgold,

 

I also like the Toucan Bright Blue, and so far it holds well in my fade test against the Royal Blue and Turquoise. But like most Toucan inks it really shines when partnering with a wet pen.

[Cyber6]

Just done my first review of the Toucan Bright Blue - fabulous!

http://ecclectitbits.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/ink-review-toucan-bright-blue-aussie-ink.html

 

LOL... I LOVE your review!!!!!... Please.. keep them coming..

 

 

C.

 

 

Edit. Adding this edit to say that they also come in 60ml pouches. IMHO the perfect size.

Edited January 14, 2014 by Cyber6

[WirlWind]

 

LOL... I LOVE your review!!!!!... Please.. keep them coming..

 

 

C.

 

 

Edit. Adding this edit to say that they also come in 60ml pouches. IMHO the perfect size.

 

Agreed.

 

I have 3x 60ml pouches on the way and I picked up a bunch of aromatherapy jars for like $5 that hold 60ml off ebay. Gonna be perfect for mixing and storing the inks in

 

Gonna be mixing the red with the sienna and trying that out soon as they arrive (hopefully tomorrow, guessing auspost is slow).

[Jamerelbe]

Have now tried both the Toucan Royal Blue and the Bright Blue in wetter pens, and can confirm they lay a brighter, stronger line than I've seen before. Still not my favourite shades of blue, but in an Ahab (for example) they certainly impress me a lot more. Thanks to DavidW and youstruckgold for the tip!

 

Re mixing, I've had one attempt: trying to create a shade similar to Noodler's Apache Sunset - 2 parts Sienna, 2 parts orange, then (because it was still too dark IMO) one part primrose. Not a bad approximation - Apache Sunset seems to me to not only change shade but also colour / hue depending on the amount of ink laid down, but my combo still shades pretty nicely! Wish I could provide a scan, but I don't have a flickr or other account, so that may be a little difficult...

[WirlWind]

So I had a few issues with justwrite and my order (ordered on the 8th, they arrived on the 22nd of Jan) but now I have a pen filled and I've started doing a little mixing. Bear with the me on the cheap paper and poor lighting, my phone's flash turns off before the photo is taken and my main room light is pretty pathetic. As mentioned in the review, it's 2:1 Sienna and Crimson. I was looking to make something that shaded nicely and gave a dried blood style finish and (I think) I really achieved that. Maybe next time I might make it 1:1 to add a little more red, since it looks more Sienna on copy paper. Also, the shading may be hard to see, but it is there. Click on the image and then the magnify button a few times and eventually it will scale up with 4k resolution or so and you will be able to see the letters much clearer.

 

::EDIT:: It colours much nicer and has much more shading on Rhodia off-white paper, but the page I wrote is too small to really show up nicely in a photo. Will wait for my A4 CF books to arrive.

 

 

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d110/WirlWind494/PHOTO_20140122_1548461.jpg

Edited January 22, 2014 by WirlWind

[cedargirl]

I've only been able to try the Toucan Bright Green so far. I have it in a Medium and a BB nib and like it both ways.

 

As the name says - bright!! green plain ... and simple.

 

I'm not normally a 'green' person, but I'm really liking this.

[WirlWind]

Just another quick pic from the other mix I tried today (As mentioned, I've named it 'mulberry stain' purple, because of the stains it left on my hand looking very similar.

 

Different pen, same paper. Justwrite and toucan, you guys have permission to use my pics, but honestly, I'd wait until I have better paper. I will replace the images when I do

 

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d110/WirlWind494/PHOTO_20140122_171449.jpg

[WirlWind]

Ok, so I apparently can't change / edit my old posts for some reason. Guess I took too long.

 

I just re-did the images on CF 90gsm paper. The purple really darkened up. Looks like a mix between blueberry and mulberry now.

 

When I get time, I might just do a full review for the Sienna / Crimson / Royal Blue but I'm waiting on a broad nibbed Jinhao pen before I try that. Reason being that it should be significantly easier to swap colours out with a c&c pen and the broad should show off the shading better.

 

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d110/WirlWind494/PHOTO_20140124_124459.jpg

[Albinoni]

Is Australia soo F poor that we cannot afford to make nice bottles for a fountain pen ink I'm quite discust at this, serving ink in a hospital grade bag what a joke if you ask me.

[Bananabender]

Is Australia soo F poor that we cannot afford to make nice bottles for a fountain pen ink I'm quite discust at this, serving ink in a hospital grade bag what a joke if you ask me.

Perhaps that is a little bit harsh when you compare the prices of bottled ink to what Just Write is offering.

60 ml bag for $5Aust. Looking at ebay Parker $11 for 57 ml. Personally I think it is a bit of smart marketing and economics as it will give them the opportunity to compete with the big manufacturers.

I have as yet not tried the product but most surely will

[Llewellyn]

Is Australia soo F poor that we cannot afford to make nice bottles for a fountain pen ink I'm quite discust at this, serving ink in a hospital grade bag what a joke if you ask me.

 

Pretty harsh indeed. I think it's a great idea. Easy to pack and send, keeps costs down - and you can't complain about the prices. You can refill old bottles instead of potentially sending them to landfill. Win win all round I say.

 

And the inks are great

Edited January 31, 2014 by Llewellyn

[youstruckgold]

No problem with the pouches here either - i think they're a fun idea.

[cedargirl]

I agree that the pouches are novel - I like them. And I like the price. And the ink of course!

[WirlWind]

Is Australia soo F poor that we cannot afford to make nice bottles for a fountain pen ink I'm quite discust at this, serving ink in a hospital grade bag what a joke if you ask me.

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5-x-60ml-GLASS-JAR-LID-CANDLES-balms-skin-care-OINTMENTS-Bath-salts-soap-/281113952510?pt=AU_Body_Care&hash=item4173b280fe&_uhb=1

 

If you don't have any spare ink jars lying around, these will do you fine. Probably still works out cheap even with these lol.

[Jamerelbe]

Is Australia soo F poor that we cannot afford to make nice bottles for a fountain pen ink I'm quite discust at this, serving ink in a hospital grade bag what a joke if you ask me.

 

I have to admit to being a little surprised at this reaction. This was a great cost-saving measure - both in terms of packaging and postage - and the hospital grade bags seem pretty durable, so no need to transfer them into bottles for storage unless you want to. You could, of course, ask the supplier to put them in bottles for you and double the price I suppose...

 

I've been using these inks now for a couple of months (since early December?) - mostly the red (crimson), green, orange and sienna and, more recently, the 'Bright Blue', though I bought samples of the lot - and I've been really impressed with how well they write. They're not even remotely waterfast - which means I can't use them extensively for work purposes (I have a selection of Noodler's 'bulletproof' and 'semi-bulletproof' inks for that!) - but they continue to flow well, they look great on a crisp white paper, and on Rhodia they shade pretty nicely to boot.

 

I'd love to put a couple of reviews up, but don't have an account I can post the pictures too (nor the inclination to set one up - not at the moment, anyway!). I'd also love to see the JustWrite crew make these inks available to an international market - but I understand that at this stage that doesn't suit their business model...

[Drone]

I don't think the bottles add all that much to the cost. Noodler's ink is 3 ounces (88ml) for $11-12 USD. It would be nice to have options; bottle or bag. Of course it would be nice to be able to buy this ink outside Austalia too, but it seems the Australian Government is making that difficult if not impossible. Sigh...

Edited February 1, 2014 by Drone

[WOBentley]

I don't think the bottles add all that much to the cost. Noodler's ink is 3 ounces (88ml) for $11-12 USD. It would be nice to have options; bottle or bag. Of course it would be nice to be able to buy this ink outside Austalia too, but it seems the Australian Government is making that difficult if not impossible. Sigh...

 

I thought it was just expensive...though when I responded with a PM and said I would be interested in finding out the cost I never got a reply. I have had ink shipped to me by Australian FPNers and there was no problem doing that, though that was a private individual vs. a corporate entity, maybe that is the problem? I still want 60ml bags of the whole set and hope they eventually become available here in the US...or perhaps I will have to pick up a set on my or a friends next visit...

[Seele]

Glass bottles might not add much to the cost of the inks as sold, but would add greatly to the cost of shipping. If these inks are only sold through just one B&M store across the counter, they could use Lalique bottles if you so wish.

[WirlWind]

 

I thought it was just expensive...though when I responded with a PM and said I would be interested in finding out the cost I never got a reply. I have had ink shipped to me by Australian FPNers and there was no problem doing that, though that was a private individual vs. a corporate entity, maybe that is the problem? I still want 60ml bags of the whole set and hope they eventually become available here in the US...or perhaps I will have to pick up a set on my or a friends next visit...

 

I've noticed that shipping to / from the US as an everyday person is usually far cheaper than what's offered from say goulet or another big company.

 

For example, I had an ahab shipped from the US and it set me back like $5 postage. To get a safari from the US from goulet, the cheapest option was $20.