Ess Registrar's Ink

[politovski]

hey,

another almost daily use ink for me, definitely on the cheap paper i am sometimes forced to use, and (oddly enough) on death certificates (although there are no requirements on inks here in the states).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/politovski/12448763733/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/politovski/12449114864/

one thing that i have noticed, though, is that the cheaper papers (and those with more bleaching agents in them) seem to really bring out the character, whereas heavier papers and those without bleach tend to manifest as just a dark blue. a great ink though, and i'll likely be getting more when this bottle runs out. but, it does require fastidious cleaning, first with distilled vinegar, then ammonia after a good solid flush. and, my vanishing point's convertor and cartridge just seemed to cause this stuff to "clot" up and stick to the sides and innards of the pen. also, a friend of mine with a lamy vista whom a gave a sample refers to this as the squeeky ink. i have noticed that a bit with my lamy 2000. odd.

-p

[mirosc]

Thank you for your observations. I, too, like to use it on cheap paper, it works nicely on Moleskines...

[Bemo]

Yep it's performance on cheap paper makes it very good at work where the paper is very variable. One of my favorite inks.

[The Good Captain]

Thank you for your observations. I, too, like to use it on cheap paper, it works nicely on Moleskines...

Indeed. Along with my favourite Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black. Lamy Blue-Black isn't bad either.

[politovski]

and here are the images:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3834/12448763733_67fd788cea.jpg

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7425/12449114864_374c1167fa.jpg

[Fuellerfuehrerschein]

I checked if direct sunshine/light will cause ESSRI to break down and throw a sediment. For that I inked up a Lamy Z26 converter - the converter variant with the clear transparent barrel - with ESSRI and put it in a Lamy Vista demonstrator pen. After two weeks of light exposure in the Vista the ESSRI had stained the plastic barrel of the converter and the rather persistent staining had to be removed with the help of some chemical solutions for part two of my test. For that I inked up the converter with ESSRI again and put it in a Lamy Studio pen. In the Studio the converter is not visible and hence gets not exposed to light. After two weeks I checked the converter and could not see the previously visible staining. Several weeks later a slight staining ring appeared where the the piston and converter barrel meet, but this staining ring can be easily removed. From this experiment I learned to store my ESSRI bottle dark and cool in a box in the fridge.

[Steffen Larsen]

Registrar's Ink - be it ESS or Diamine, to me they are 100% similar, down to the smell - is a good one for the paper you have bought in huge quantities before you realised it's prone to bleed-through.

Whitelines paper was a bitter disappointment to me. Until came "Registrar's Ink" along with Platinum "Blue-Black", just about the only inks with decent behavior. In particular the Platinum ink in a Pelikan M200 14K-Medium looks stunning and is highly recommended for Whitelines, no feather, and shadowing never was prettier.

[Bo Bo Olson]

ESSR is much better than Diamine.. as said by many who own both....and lots cheaper in a bigger I believe bottle too.

 

Having ESSR, from my reading....it did not have the problems Diamine had.

 

ESSR is what a manager of the British ink Stephen's was able to get in his settlement along with the huge wooden vat to make it, back when the conglomerate that bought up Stephen's decided the bottom line was more bonus this year for selling the factory lot, that keep it making inks....Stephen's was a major British ink for generations.

[tinta]

Where is a good place in North America (actually Canada, if that can be done), where I can order ESSR?

 

I use every commercial iron-gall fountain pen ink, except ESSR & Pharmacist's.

[Steffen Larsen]

 

 

ESSR is what a manager of the British ink Stephen's was able to get in his settlement along with the huge wooden vat to make it, back when the conglomerate that bought up Stephen's decided the bottom line was more bonus this year for selling the factory lot, that keep it making inks....Stephen's was a major British ink for generations.

 

 

Thanks for the info. I looked up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Stephens_(doctor) and it's highly interesting.

 

Still, I'd say that the two "Registrar¨s Ink" are so similar that they are the same ink, or made according to the same recipe to the last dot. Color, smell, general behavior are the same. I dipped a finger in each bottle and drew two fat lines next to each other: exactly the same beginning and end, shading, color etc. Only difference being two different fingerprints at the end. Hard pressed I might admit that there's a bit of violet in the ESS and it perhaps has a greater tendency towards becoming saturated .....but two lines of the same ink in two pens never are completely similar.

 

I got my ESS in a plastic bottle looking much like the bottle for the Writing Desk inks by Diamine, a larger version of the 30 ml Diamine plastic bottle. The Diamine "Registrar's Ink" I have in a 30 ml glass bottle, this is always a bit expensive. Also the 100 ml Diamine RI costs a little more than the ESS 110 ml.

 

(Huge fat saturated blots of both inks on Whitelines paper, and there is absolutely no bleed-through)

Edited April 4, 2014 by Steffen Larsen

[amberleadavis]

This ink is actually fun to watch dry....really.. i starts off bright blue and becomes darker blue until it is almost black.

[fiberdrunk]

I wish someone in the U.S. would carry this ink!

[checkrail]

I wish someone in the U.S. would carry this ink!

ESS sell postage included to the rest of the world for £10.50, only £1.30 more than the domestic price. Check their website for details. They are very quick.

Regards

Timothy

[Bemo]

Second on the ease, speed, and reasonable price of ordering. Wonderful ink really.

[Steffen Larsen]

ESS Registrar's ink ordered here:

http://www.registrarsink.co.uk/registrars_ink.html

[fiberdrunk]

Thanks for all the great info about ESS. I think I'm going to have to buy a bottle and see what all the buzz is about for this ink. I've only ever heard good things about it.

[Steffen Larsen]

Thanks for all the great info about ESS. I think I'm going to have to buy a bottle and see what all the buzz is about for this ink. I've only ever heard good things about it.

 

There are a few caveats: preferably not a very dry pen, or the line will become too thin and uneven what with all the shading. That is, no Safari for me anymore. It should be a pen easy to flush and clean: some refill systems are a bit difficult, eg Parker aeromatic. I wouldn't ever use some of my Parkers, too much work. Pelikans are some of the easiest to take apart and flush, imo.

 

Otherwise: have fun! The smell (blood!), the change of color while drying, the water resistance (I have a sample in a bottle of water for more than a month and a half now, with little fading to see), the permanence and the complete lack of feather and bleed-through justify the bit of extra trouble.

Edited April 7, 2014 by Steffen Larsen

[Bo Bo Olson]

It's so hard...getting down to 5 pens in rotation...when I come over and look at the inks.

Have only 9 10 pens inked....not the normal 17.

I have an urge to ink a pen with ESSR..... ...... no .. ...pen diet time.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Bo Bo Olson

[amberleadavis]

It's so hard...getting down to 5 pens in rotation...when I come over and look at the inks.

Have only 9 10 pens inked....not the normal 17.

I have an urge to ink a pen with ESSR..... ...... no .. ...pen diet time.

No no...... Diet is DIE with a T. Don't do it.

 

PS, I'm down to four inked pens and I'm hyperventilating. It's horrible.

[Steffen Larsen]

 

I'm down to four inked pens ...

 

Is such a thing possible? You are one strange person

 

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