Pay It Forward 2014

[Amberjack]

The drawing for the Diamine Syrah and Sapphire Blue ink samples is now closed and we have two winners.

 

Syrah = Ian the Jock

 

and

 

Sapphire Blue = Chrissy

 

Congrats you two. Send me a PM with your mailing address and I'll get these in the post to you.

 

-Jack

[Ian the Jock]

The drawing for the Diamine Syrah and Sapphire Blue ink samples is now closed and we have two winners.

 

Syrah = Ian the Jock

 

and

 

Sapphire Blue = Chrissy

 

Congrats you two. Send me a PM with your mailing address and I'll get these in the post to you.

 

-Jack

Whoo-hoo, happy days.

Thanks Amberjack, I have a new pen coming in the mail which will suit the syrah ink just nicely.

Many Thanks

Ian

[Runnin_Ute]

They just do not know what they're missing. FYI these inks mix very well and can be tuned to write very wet or very dry. BlackStone inks have been the only ink I've seen to stop feathering/spreading on one of my overly wet pens.

These people are really missing out aren't they Steve?

 

Currently I have all four in a pen - Green (mine really is green), red, black and blue. I have the black mixed wet, blue mixed dry and the other two like more normal fp inks. Although even then they sometimes feel somewhat wet.

 

Green is currently in a Parker 45 Flighter with 14k medium nib, the Red in a Noodler's Konrad with a Goulet Broad, the Blue in a Esterbrook LJ with 2464 ( nib, and Black in a Esterbrook J with 1555 Gregg nib.

 

The green/magic is actually a gorgeous color. Just ask some of my penpals who have had a chance to see it on paper - I am writing a letter right now with the green on cream colored Tomoe River paper.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Runnin_Ute

[Runnin_Ute]

Yesterday I have send out the TWSBI 530 to its new rightful owner dladuke.

This concludes my first PIF.

Congrats to dladuke!!

 

I just received a 580 with a B nib in the mail. Love it already. Enjoy the 530.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Runnin_Ute

[SleepingCat]

I received my MAGIC Green Cashmere ink sachet today. It came in a cute, little green envelope with a ghost and a speech bubble with words I didn't quite comprehend. The powder is in a 4g bag and is marked MAGIC. I'm really excited by it. Thank you, amberleadavis

There is one thing I don't really understand, though. The measurements of (I assume to be water to add to actually make the ink) indicates that the more water added, the drier the ink. What does this mean?

[TheRealScubaSteve]

A wet ink will feel like it's gliding across glass, but a dry ink will have more resistance across the page. If you do not know which you prefer, I would recommend mixing with 30 ml water and then mixing a 2 ml batch of that mix with an additional 2-4 ml water to test. You can always add, but it's difficult to remove water.

[SleepingCat]

A wet ink will feel like it's gliding across glass, but a dry ink will have more resistance across the page. If you do not know which you prefer, I would recommend mixing with 30 ml water and then mixing a 2 ml batch of that mix with an additional 2-4 ml water to test. You can always add, but it's difficult to remove water.

Thank you, I kind of figured that, but why does adding more water make the ink drier?

[Cyber6]

Thank you, I kind of figured that, but why does adding more water make the ink drier?

 

Cause you are diluting the surfactants in the ink. Water has "surface tension", surfactants break/lower the surface tension so the ink can flow better... that is what makes a "wet" ink.

 

 

C.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Cyber6

[amberleadavis]

I received my MAGIC Green Cashmere ink sachet today. It came in a cute, little green envelope with a ghost and a speech bubble with words I didn't quite comprehend. The powder is in a 4g bag and is marked MAGIC. I'm really excited by it. Thank you, amberleadavis

There is one thing I don't really understand, though. The measurements of (I assume to be water to add to actually make the ink) indicates that the more water added, the drier the ink. What does this mean?

 

 

So, on the envelope, fill in the bubble, what would Inky (the ghost) say about the sachet or ink? Then take a picture to share with us here.

 

See the explanations below about why more water means less wet. (Sounds silly, but dishsoap makes water wetter because it spreads the molecules, but a chemist could explain it better).

[SleepingCat]

Here's Inky and the card plus ink sachet.

Edited December 2, 2014 by SleepingCat

[Kuhataparunks]

My PIF will be... I hope at least someone is interested...

A Pilot Elite "EF!"

Air quotes because, well, check out the picture and you'll see.

 

I expected it to write like a Pilot EF, and I was very, very disappointed.

 

I will ship only to the continental US.

 

EDIT...! What an incident....! I was writing with it unposted, forgot it wasn't posted and it rolled onto the hardwood floor, nib down. Its not too badly messed up, but it is noticeable.

 

It will go out to the first to PM me with an address.

Vieuxcarre has claimed this offer.

I'll be posting another one any time soon, if you missed out. Thanks everyone

[amberleadavis]

Here's Inky and the card plus ink sachet.

 

 

You didn't get the joke?

 

Oh Honey, I don't just love you for your bottle.

 

With desirable and curvy bottles.

[SleepingCat]

 

 

You didn't get the joke?

 

Oh Honey, I don't just love you for your bottle.

 

With desirable and curvy bottles.

Oh! Okay! I didn't catch that. It makes sense now.

[amberleadavis]

So... I will be "inheriting" more Magic Cashmere, so I'm going to keep sharing. In January, the SuperPinks will be testing out more powdered inks. In order to become a SuperPink, you will need to gain experience in testing inks and Powdered inks, but you might asked... What are these ink powders?

This should help answer the question. The powders were developed by Black Stone Ink company and sent to me for testing. Because I love to share the experience, I opened it up to others in this thread. More than 50 FPNers helped test the first four batches of powdered inks - Amber, Balls, Cashmere and Diamond. Here are the results of those tests, sorted by color.

Blue

Blue Batch A = Blue Amber
Blue Batch B = Blue Balls
Blue Batch C = Blue Cashmere
Blue Batch C version 2 = Too Blue Cashmere
Blue Batch D = Blue Diamond

Black

Black Batch A = Black Amber
Black Batch B = Black Balled
Black Batch C = Black Cat
Black Batch D = Black Diamond

Green

Green Batch C = Green Cashmere
Green Batch D = Green Diamond

Red

Red Batch C = Red Cashmere
Red Batch D = Red Diamond


After those tests, only the Cashmere line was distributed for further testing. Attendees of the Toronto Pen show were given three of the Cashmeres (Black, Red and Blue) and beta testers known as the SuperPInks were given sachets of four inks to test (Black, Red and Magic). The Green Cashmere suffered a mixing meltdown and ended up being Magic. Each sachet of Magic is a different color AND it changes color as it dries. ITS DANG COOL and will never be made again.

As for the name SuSeMai - Blackstone was originally the SUper SEcret MAker of Ink. Blackstone said it like Toshiba - like Sue See Mah. DCPritch who thought it was funny that I'm an attorney by day and ink tester by night, says it as So Sue Me. The rest of us just call it AWESOME INK POWDER.


Now... on to the PIF:

Rules: If not within the US, you pay actual shipping. You cannot have already won one of these inks.

Okay, I'm heading home for the night, but when I get back, I hope to see some PMs.

First five people who PM will each receive a sachet of ink. I'll chose the ink but you can suggest if you really want a particular color.

Same rules, you can't have won before.

[mknoblauch]

This one is loooooong overdue, about three weeks, to be exact, due to my need to focus during a rather intensive quarter of MBA studies in which I had fallen somewhat behind. I struggled to balance studies, work and family, the latter usually suffering as I tried to keep on top of the former. I have actually been simply re-inking the same pens for the last month, and any posting I have done to FPN since the 2nd week of November has been like playing hooky from my life responsibilities.

 

Now, however, the papers and midterm in Business Law are behind me, and my team has worked our way up to first place in the Business Simulation Game last week. But delayed gratification only makes getting to the reward even more fun, and yesterday I was finally able to play with the inks and papers I had received as a PIF from Amberlea!

 

The PIF was an ideal "Holiday Primer" package, and included 5 sheets of fabulous FP friendly paper that she embellished with a festive red ribbon in the left margin using the ink she also sent, an exclusive mix that Amberlea has baptized as "Fire Diamond Dolomite."

 

Ever the generous soul, Amberlea also threw in some Black Swan in Australian Roses (old formula, which I had never tried before last night!) and some folded vellum card stock.

 

About the Fire Diamond Dolomite.... Wow! What an Ink! Amberlea, ditch your legal practice --you need to start bottling this stuff and expand the color line! It is clearly one of the most well-behaved inks I have ever used.

 

I wrote on cheap notebook paper, copier paper, the FP friendly paper from the PIF (see below) and various Christmas cards. In my Kaweco Classic Sport with fine nib, the ink performed flawlessly, with little to no feathering on the notebook paper. Drying times were less than 5 seconds on the copier paper, and under 10 seconds on the FP friendly paper.

 

A surprising feature of the ink was the fact that it is water resistant to a degree that I would rate as moderate to high! I just wasn't expecting that at all, but got tipped off to it after I decanted the both inks from the pipettes they came in and was rinsing them out. The Fire Diamond Dolomite pipette took many more rinses to clean out than the one the BSIAR came in.

 

Knowing that Fire Diamond Dolomite is water resistant, another pleasant surprise is how easy it is to start up the pen after 10 hours with the nib upright. Everyone knows reds can be finicky. They dry out quickly and tend to make otherwise well-behaved nibs become hard starters, but I have had no hard starting with this one at all. This morning I pulled the Sport out of the pen cup and the ink flowed just as if I had just filled the pen.

 

I am enamored with Fire Diamond Dolomite, and only wish I hadn't put it into a pen with a fine nib. To really appreciate the color, you need to run it through a pen that lays down more ink --my Kaweco Dia broad would have been a better choice than the Classic Sport F.

 

You can see the difference in the robustness of the red color between Amberlea's ribbon and my writing with my drier nib. In my Kaweco fine, the result I got was more of a vermillion red/ orange (a dead ringer for Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki) , and when I wrote more slowly and exerted a little more pressure, I got a red out of it that nearly perfectly matched Diamine Poppy Red (see the samples next to the swabs below). These three inks would appear to be long lost cousins!

 

Thanks, Amberlea, for all of the goodies!

 

 

Edited December 3, 2014 by mknoblauch

[amberleadavis]

This one is loooooong overdue, about three weeks, to be exact, due to my need to focus during a rather intensive quarter of MBA studies in which I had fallen somewhat behind. I struggled to balance studies, work and family, the latter usually suffering as I tried to keep on top of the former. I have actually been simply re-inking the same pens for the last month, and any posting I have done to FPN since the 2nd week of November has been like playing hooky from my life responsibilities.

 

Now, however, the papers and midterm in Business Law are behind me, and my team has worked our way up to first place in the Business Simulation Game last week. But delayed gratification only makes getting to the reward even more fun, and yesterday I was finally able to play with the inks and papers I had received as a PIF from Amberlea!

 

The PIF was an ideal "Holiday Primer" package, and included 5 sheets of fabulous FP friendly paper that she embellished with a festive red ribbon in the left margin using the ink she also sent, an exclusive mix that Amberlea has baptized as "Fire Diamond Dolomite."

 

Ever the generous soul, Amberlea also threw in some Black Swan in Australian Roses (old formula, which I had never tried before last night!) and some folded vellum card stock.

 

About the Fire Diamond Dolomite.... Wow! What an Ink! Amberlea, ditch your legal practice --you need to start bottling this stuff and expand the color line! It is clearly one of the most well-behaved inks I have ever used.

 

I wrote on cheap notebook paper, copier paper, the FP friendly paper from the PIF (see below) and various Christmas cards. In my Kaweco Classic Sport with fine nib, the ink performed flawlessly, with little to no feathering on the notebook paper. Drying times were less than 5 seconds on the copier paper, and under 10 seconds on the FP friendly paper.

 

A surprising feature of the ink was the fact that it is water resistant to a degree that I would rate as moderate to high! I just wasn't expecting that at all, but got tipped off to it after I decanted the both inks from the pipettes they came in and was rinsing them out. The Fire Diamond Dolomite pipette took many more rinses to clean out than the one the BSIAR came in.

 

Knowing that Fire Diamond Dolomite is water resistant, another pleasant surprise is how easy it is to start up the pen after 10 hours with the nib upright. Everyone knows reds can be finicky. They dry out quickly and tend to make otherwise well-behaved nibs become hard starters, but I have had no hard starting with this one at all. This morning I pulled the Sport out of the pen cup and the ink flowed just as if I had just filled the pen.

 

I am enamored with Fire Diamond Dolomite, and only wish I hadn't put it into a pen with a fine nib. To really appreciate the color, you need to run it through a pen that lays down more ink --my Kaweco Dia broad would have been a better choice than the Classic Sport F.

 

You can see the difference in the robustness of the red color between Amberlea's ribbon and my writing with my drier nib. In my Kaweco fine, the result I got was more of a vermillion red/ orange (a dead ringer for Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki) , and when I wrote more slowly and exerted a little more pressure, I got a red out of it that nearly perfectly matched Diamine Poppy Red (see the samples next to the swabs below). These three inks would appear to be long lost cousins!

 

Thanks, Amberlea, for all of the goodies!

 

 

 

 

I'm so glad you loved it! I have 3 pipettes left. I thought it was totally cool.

[amberleadavis]

 

Now... on to the PIF:

 

Rules: If not within the US, you pay actual shipping. You cannot have already won one of these inks.

 

Okay, I'm heading home for the night, but when I get back, I hope to see some PMs.

 

First five people who PM will each receive a sachet of ink. I'll chose the ink but you can suggest if you really want a particular color.

 

Same rules, you can't have won one of these inks before.

 

 

Three more are still available.

[Kuhataparunks]

Mind if I bump in here among the ink discussion?

My PIF this time around is a Pilot Metropolitan with a Fine nib.

Be aware that the cap is slightly loose and will come off at some point if you carry it around(which, I carry all my FPs at some point in time.), the cap will come off. It seals the nib so it won't dry out, but does not click like it's supposed to.

I therefore hope someone can use this only at their desk, kind of like a desk pen; otherwise, like I stated, there is a high likelyhood of staining a shirt or clothing.

Shipping only to Continental US.

PM me with an address and please assure me it will be used. I will choose who gets it after I receive two addresses.

 

EDIT: unimpressed_llama has claimed this offer. I hope he is now a rather impressed alpaca. enjoy!

Edited December 4, 2014 by Kuhataparunks

[Anirban4u]

PM sent for that flexi goodness

[Jbloodwo]

A hearty congratulatations to all the recent winners of pif's