Inky T O D - Would You Buy Ink Powder To Mix If It Were Fp Safe?

[dcwaites]

I have some of the ink pictured by Amber at the top of the thread. It is a true iron-gall blue-black. It goes down blue, dries to black, is resistant to water and other solvents when dry, except for bleach, which fades it to light yellow.

 

All the powdered inks I know of, and have some of, were designed for dip pens. They don't have any biocides or flow control agents. You just add water. By making one of them more concentrated than suitable for dip pens, I was able to make it work for a Platinum Preppy, but I was reluctant to try it on a more valuable pen.

 

Were a modern ink manufacturer to make a powdered ink suitable for fountain pens, the buyer would have to source locally not only water, but suitable biocide, wetting agent and flow control agent.

Adding a drop of Dettol, Teepol and Glycerol to a bottle of freshly diluted ink powder might just not cut it. You would have to know what chemicals, in what dilutions and in what quantities to add to 50 mls of ink.

 

That is not to say I am against the idea. I am all for it. However, we might need FPNer Pharmacist's help in getting the right mix.

[JustWrite Pen Company]

I think powdered ink is a great idea. I've been interested in powdered ink for some time now, mainly because of the savings in freight (getting it to me and then getting it to my customers) but it does has some other advantages like shelf life, less storage space, ability to vary the saturation, and the ability to make up only as much ink as you need at one time. Ink pellets or tablets would be more convenient and may in fact be preferable to powdered inks.

To the best of my knowledge, there are currently no powdered inks available that are suitable for fountain pens. If they were to become available we'd definitely stock it and it's something I'd be very interested in commissioning if there were sufficient interest.

[saskia_madding]

If the ink could give me the same properties of yummy shading, good behaviour, great saturation, and knock me out of the park sheen, then I'd be all for ink in powder form.

[Seele]

Kevin,

 

A thought. If you can find a way to make dried ink in pellet form, it would be a lot easier for the customers to handle: say make each pellet suitable for dissolving in 10ml of water, then the customers would just need to count the pellets. Bear in mind that gunpowder was only made viable when the powdered ingredients were made into pellets, and Burroughs (now Glaxo Smith Kline) built its fortune by making medicine (and other products) in tablet form for easy handling.

[ethernautrix]

My first thought was how much easier it would be to travel by air with powdered inks.

 

My second thought was... does water quality make a difference?

 

My third thought was what someone else brought up, about how liquid inks already contain biocides and such.

 

My fourth thought was to stop numbering my thoughts.

 

I like the idea of powdered inks and ink pellets.

[dizzypen]

I would and I have.

 

Several years ago now I acquired some Thistle & Co Blue-Black on ebay. It works very well in fountain pens. I think I still have some around here somewhere.

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2551/3974208701_2c55008561.jpg

[Ted A]

Is there any reason why a biocide, wetting agent, etc could not be included in the powder? So is that really an issue.

 

I think it would be great fun to use, especially if mixing was possible. It's been many years (many, many) but my daughter and I used to dissolve dye tablets in vinegar and water to create colors for Easter eggs. It seems as if this would be the same principle.

[Inkysloth]

I don't see why soluble biocides couldn't be incorporated into the ink powder. I'm sure lubricant / flow aiding compounds are also available in powdered form.

[proton007]

Not sure about mixing it, but it surely sounds like a good idea to reduce transport costs!

Edited April 18, 2014 by proton007

[amberleadavis]

Ethernautrix, I think water quality makes a difference. So purified or distilled water it would be.

 

Kevin, I hope you can find someone to make them. I want them. It makes the little experimenter in me happy.

[JustWrite Pen Company]

All of the ingredients needed for fountain pen ink: dyes, humectants, surfactants, biocides, buffers and so on are readily available in powdered form. It's not exactly Rocket Science either, I think there simply has never been a demand for it.

[amberleadavis]

Demand

Demand

Demand

 

[vossad01]

BUT if a reputable manufacturer made one safe for fountain pens, would you buy it? Would you want it to be mixable?

 

Yes and Yes. Not being mixable would not strictly be a deal breaker for me though.

 

The above is of course provided the ink is a decent ink and the ink is priced reasonably. I would at least want the properly stored powder to have a long shelf life even if it did not last as long (ex mold issues) when mixed with only water.

 

I have not given it much thought, but I have wondered how I might dehydrate some of exiting ink for reconstituting later.

[fiberdrunk]

So, JustWrite, DCRoe and I were conversing back stage about saturation levels of ink. Seele and DCWaites have both directed me to powder inks. The concept of powdered inks is hardly new ... You can still buy some that is for dip pens at various historical parks.

 

BUT if a reputable manufacturer made one safe for fountain pens, would you buy it? Would you want it to be mixable?

 

 

Yes, I'd say so, especially if it looked as nice as what is pictured! I'd be even more interested if it were iron gall, too.

[Sasha Royale]

Ink is plentiful. Ink is cheap. Not much appeal here.

[dcwaites]

So, JustWrite, DCRoe and I were conversing back stage about saturation levels of ink. Seele and DCWaites have both directed me to powder inks. The concept of powdered inks is hardly new ... You can still buy some that is for dip pens at various historical parks.

 

BUT if a reputable manufacturer made one safe for fountain pens, would you buy it? Would you want it to be mixable?

 

 

I got mine from eBay vendor dragontoots. You could contact her to see if she has any left.

Also look at the other powdered inks she has on sale.

 

The problem is that it needs to be used within weeks of being made up, so you really don't want to make up a full quart at once. I just scrape a bit off (it has solidified like an old tin of Milo or Horlicks) and dissolve up into a few mls of water. That gives me enough fresh ink for experimenting.

[SamCapote]

Mixed this up in 2011, added distilled water, biocide, & glycerine.

 

Just looked at it and used it again today after seeing this thread, and it's still perfectly intact, color, fastness, lubricity, etc. No sediment or yuckies.

 

So my answer is yes, and have used it in expensive pens.

[thesunshine]

I'm going to be a dissenting voice on this one. Personally, I tend to like my fountain pens to be as fuss free as possible. I love being able to write in whatever colour I want to, but if I had to source my own suitable ink container, measure out the correct proportions and risk spilling the ink everywhere as I'm trying to reconstitute it, I don't think I would have ever gotten into fountain pens in the first place. I would have seen it as just too much of a bother.

 

Price (or shipping costs) aren't really an issue for me either. Again, if price was really that big a constraint, I would just be using that infinite supply of promotional ballpoints that people keep handing out to me.

 

Having said that, I can see how dry ink would be much more convenient for you to ship overseas, JustWrite. Lucky for you though, I'm located in the same country as you. So you can continue to ship me bottles filled with liquid with impunity!

[dragonaura]

I would buy it. Being in New Zealand, everything is overseas and postage can really add up. I think last time I was on the goulet website postage for a for bottles of ink and a pen was almost the same as the value (nothing against them, they do a great job but why does postage have to be so expensive). I don't really see how the postage could be cheaper but if the maker could fit more powder per ml in the same size container I would be all for it. I like playing around with this sort of thing and of course the makers will probably never give up the liquid ink option

[amberleadavis]

Great Stuff, Sam.