How Long Does Ink Last?

[casualmerlinconstant]

Basically, ink lasts for quite a while if you treat it right, e.g. not leaving the cap off or loose, not spilling much and not using a brush to slather it onto the page. There are people gleefullly using 70 year old ink.

 

For someone in primary school I think that one bottle of ink, probably a washable blue for that age range, will usually last at least a year.

 

I've been out of primary school for a little while, so I don't recall exactly what my ink usage rate was back then, but I'm sure that I used very little. That has probably not changed for the current primary schoolers.

 

He said primarily for school. Not that he is in primary school haha. I was using crayons in primary school, aaahhh good times.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

He said primarily for school. Not that he is in primary school haha. I was using crayons in primary school, aaahhh good times.

 

"Oh. Well, that's very different. Never mind." Ms. Emily Litella.

[KBeezie]

I concur with the others. It depends on the size of the nib. Even so, one bottle of ink should last a long (long long) time. Many have bottles of ink years old.

 

I reconstituted a bottle of Skrip Melon Red that had dried up to just red crust on the bottom of the bottle as it was sitting on a shelf in a thrift store for 2$. I think it's from maybe late 50s to late 60s. Not waterproof (But all of the ones for "Home and School" were washable), but decent.

 

Besides bottled inks are better for the environment (well in terms of cartridge throw-aways).

[amberleadavis]

It depends ... This one is from Skyppere

 

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r315/skyppere/IMG_3923-002_zpse2e37dd3.jpg

 

For me, some have lasted decades.

 

KTC is from a reconstituted ink stone and it's probably a few centuries old. Very few inks (though we all know of some) go bad.

[amberleadavis]

I am considering getting into the fountain pen hobby, and I am wondering how long bottled ink lasts. Specifically, to be used for primarily school notes and homework, with a fine or extra fine lamy nib (if that makes a difference). How many milliliters of ink do you guys usually go though with schoolwork? I realize that there are a lot of variables at play here, but a rough estimate would be very helpful to me. Thanks

 

 

BTW, welcome aboard.

 

I'd suggest going to the pay it forward thread. See if you can get some samples to try. Find out how much ink you use. I use a LOT, but then I play with my ink ... a LOT. Even still, I'm probably not going to use up all my inks in my lifetime. In college I would use about a bottle a semester, and I wrote 15 pages per 1.5 hour class, so that would be 10 pages per credit hour .... 60 ml would 1800 pages for me (I think). 1 filled 2 pens each night they had small converters, and I used a Sheaffer cartridge every day. Oh, so maybe I used more ink than I thought. I don't think most people write that much, and let's get real, word processing back then was a real pain.

 

Anyway, 2 ml samples, should be a couple of fills on the fine or extra fine nib - if you write a lot you probably won't use at 2ml in a week.

[KBeezie]

It depends ... This one is from Skyppere

 

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r315/skyppere/IMG_3923-002_zpse2e37dd3.jpg

 

For me, some have lasted decades.

 

KTC is from a reconstituted ink stone and it's probably a few centuries old. Very few inks (though we all know of some) go bad.

 

 

[KBeezie]

Anyway, 2 ml samples, should be a couple of fills on the fine or extra fine nib - if you write a lot you probably won't use at 2ml in a week.

 

I recommend a syringe if you want to make sure you got all of it in the pen (fill directly to empty cartridge or converter), mainly because sometimes it can be a pain getting the nib down into the bottom of a skinny sample vial.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I recall from my university days getting though a bottle in a little over a semester. There was one particularly note-intensive class that saw a little more than a whole converter gone in a 90 minute session (that was also my 'only got this one low-end Waterman' days), so the consumption went up a little that semester.

 

I would, by the way, recommend the Diamine 80ml jobs. My memory is based on 57ml Parker bottles.

 

...oh, I also follow the suggestion about finer nibs. Not only do you get more words/ml, but you're less phased by over-absorbent paper which might appear in test booklets.

Edited April 22, 2014 by Ernst Bitterman

[Beckwith]

If you're interested in samples, you can also look at Goulet Pens here: http://www.gouletpens.com/Shop_All_Ink_Samples_s/976.htm

 

They offer two milliliter samples of, as far as I can tell, all the ink they sell. As others have mentioned, the type of ink you use can also have an impact on how long a fill lasts. So if you want to test some out for duration, or just to get a bunch of colors, this is another option besides the "pay it forward" thread.

[Runnin_Ute]

I once filled my Noodler's Konrad with Goulet B nib just before writing a letter that was about 2-4 pages long. I had to refill after I finished, maybe slightly before. (Noodler's Apache Sunset)

 

That is an extreme example though. I keep 8-10 pens inked. I have 5 c/c pens inked, 4 piston & 1 lever fillers inked right now. I filled two last night both c/c pens. They both went a week or so.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Runnin_Ute

[h.farmawi]

 

 

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XD

[Skyppere]

I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating. If you like occasional pastel inks you can double the life of your bottle of ink with a simple technique. When your pen runs dry, remove the converter or the cartridge and without flushing, fill it up with water and put it back in the pen, There's enough ink in the pen, cartridge/converter and so forth for another complete use. It is lighter but just pastel instead of full on neon hues that are so popular today...

[Skyppere]

It depends ... This one is from Skyppere

 

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r315/skyppere/IMG_3923-002_zpse2e37dd3.jpg

 

For me, some have lasted decades.

 

KTC is from a reconstituted ink stone and it's probably a few centuries old. Very few inks (though we all know of some) go bad.

I feel a need to set the record state. It was I who brushed the bottle of ink off the table onto the tile floor. Shere Khan just came to investigate. I might add that it all cleaned up with nary a stain.

skyppere