In Search Of Ink For Fast Writing And Note-Taking

[ClaytonLittle]

The problem with quick-dry inks is that they don't evaporate water quickly, they are just sucked into paper more easily, and therefore don't sit on top where your unsuspecting hand might smear it. So any quick-dry ink is going to feather more than a regular ink, especially in cheap paper that you may be using as a student. But getting a more FP-friendly paper brings up the same problem again, because less absorbent paper like Rhodia will reduce feathering, but now your ink doesn't get sucked into the page and no longer has a quick-dry effect. The only thing I can recommend is using normal ink but with the most absorbent paper you can use without it feathering and using an extra-fine nib. Using a fine nib will really help to keep your words from multiplying themselves on other pages as you turn the page.

Another thing you can do is use a notebook or notepad with a rather stiff spine, so that the pages don't smush together when you turn them, but rather fan out, floating millimeters away from each other,

Edited January 7, 2014 by ClaytonLittle

[amberleadavis]

The problem with quick-dry inks is that they don't evaporate water quickly, they are just sucked into paper more easily, and therefore don't sit on top where your unsuspecting hand might smear it. So any quick-dry ink is going to feather more than a regular ink, especially in cheap paper that you may be using as a student. But getting a more FP-friendly paper brings up the same problem again, because less absorbent paper like Rhodia will reduce feathering, but now your ink doesn't get sucked into the page and no longer has a quick-dry effect. The only thing I can recommend is using normal ink but with the most absorbent paper you can use without it feathering and using an extra-fine nib. Using a fine nib will really help to keep your words from multiplying themselves on other pages as you turn the page.

Another thing you can do is use a notebook or notepad with a rather stiff spine, so that the pages don't smush together when you turn them, but rather fan out, floating millimeters away from each other,

 

I have to say that switching to MiquelRuis paper during law school was one of the best investments I made on my tiny budget.

 

 

Welcome Aboard: It's my resolution this month to say welcome aboard to each member I see with less than 50 posts. I'm hoping to encourage your assimilation to the collective through cheerfulness. Is it working?

[scrivelry]

What I haven't noticed in this thread is a suggestion about your pen. If you are willing to budge on the pen and try to make a new friend, make that friend one with a fine or extra fine nib and it iwll decrease the amount of ink on the paper and therefore the amount that has to absorb, dry, etc.

 

If you just want to try a fine or extra fine and not commit, you can get yourself a Chinese fountain pen with a fine nib off ebay - look for one with free shipping and if you do it right you can get one for well under five dollars, then you can see if you can deal with a really fine nib.

 

When I was in college, the price of a piece of pizza was a capital investment on my tiny budget, which is why I suggest paying so very little to just check out a different nib size. Once you know what size you want you can always ask for a different pen in that nib size for a holiday gift or save up or whatever it takes....

 

T

[YoungPenmanship]

What I haven't noticed in this thread is a suggestion about your pen. If you are willing to budge on the pen and try to make a new friend, make that friend one with a fine or extra fine nib and it iwll decrease the amount of ink on the paper and therefore the amount that has to absorb, dry, etc.

That is something I have considered and pens at the moment seem affordable with the money I have left over from buying class books and such.

 

When it comes down to inks, I seem have to received a lot of good input, but the only way is to sample these inks myself on different papers with the sort of pens I have at the moment. Thanks for all the feedback.

 

Everything so far has been thus helpful and now its up to me to test it out on my own.

[cwhite5]

I know you've gotten a lot already but I'd like to cheerlead for my favorite ink and give my 2 cents about some of the others-

 

I have a bottle of Bernanke Blue that's only 2 fills light because although it did indeed dry very fast, this came at the price of vivid showthrough, bleeding, and feathering on all the papers I used it with. I also used Quink for around 1.5 years and while it behaved well, the washable blue fades extremely fast depending on paper choice, and in general they're pretty weak around water.

 

At school I use Rohrher and Klingner Salix iron gall ink, which I find to be a very professional blue black. I have experienced absolutely no feathering, only minimal spreading with a very broad nib, and absolutely no showthrough to the next side of the page. This ink behaves like a champion on all of my papers and in all of my pens. I have not experienced any smudging, including in note heavy lectures. The iron gall content also makes it very strongly water resistant, even more so after a bit of a wait. Only a tiny portion of blue comes off when it's wet.

 

Also: if you'd like to sample these you could use the gouletpens.com sample vials- after I quit my mainstay ink due to a coffee disaster, I used a whole bunch of these samples to determine what I'd move on to.

Edited January 8, 2014 by cwhite5

[AustinMalone1999]

Noodlers Kung Te Chang, generous flow for smooth writing, but a very fast dry time.