Ancient Copper - Diamine

[Abner C. Kemp]

I have also had Ancient Copper in a number of my pens for long periods of time with absolutely no problems at all. Perhaps you got a bad bottle.

[HalloweenHJB]

I have also had Ancient Copper in a number of my pens for long periods of time with absolutely no problems at all. Perhaps you got a bad bottle.

 

Same here. I've been using it in a vintage 1930s Waterman, and I have not had any crud issues. But I do tend to flush and re-ink the pen every so often, since any highly saturated ink can cause problems if it sits too long.

[Gaslight]

The writing sample looks boring in comparision to what I usually get from Ancient Copper.

 

I use/used it regulary in a Vanishing Point, a butterline stub Twsbi, a faber-castell basic and in a vintage flex pen.

 

Never any problems whatsoever..

[Jackson]

I had similar crudity on the nib of my Visconti Opera Elements (Medium, 14k), but zero on my Levenger True Metalist (Medium, steel)--no creepage on that one either. Both pens were filled from the same bottle of Ancient Copper.

[abstract49]

Similar experience to several others: I don't recall which pen it was, but the first time I loaded up with it, I had significant creep/crud, hard starts, etc.

 

However, I've had it in a Sheaffer 300 M since 9/4, and it has performed well, and the nib has remained clean. That is, with the exception of the long weekend (Thanksgiving, almost 6 days) when I left it nib down in my pen cup. Even then, it cleaned up easily, and the pen continued working well immediately.

[mhosea]

A list of factors that I can think of that might be involved.

• Quality of the cap seal. Lots of pens don't seal all that well, especially Chinese push-cap pens.
• Variation in the ink--some do it, some don't? This is discounted, IMHO, because of reports that some pens do it and others don't when filled from the same bottle.
• Relative humidity. Is dry air more likely to cause the problem?
• Amount of time uncapped during normal use. Even in use, ink wicked to parts of the nib outside the normal flow dry out and could seed the crystallization process.
• Length of time the pen is inked. The longer it is inked, the more likely the crystallization process will get seeded.
• Manner of storage of the pen (vertical nib up, vertical nib down, angled nib up, angled nib down, horizontal).

[Snargle]

Over the past two years, I've used Diamine Ancient Copper in about 6 pens (both modern and vintage) and never ran into a nib crud problem. Maybe I got a bottle from the good batch?

[mhosea]

Over the past two years, I've used Diamine Ancient Copper in about 6 pens (both modern and vintage) and never ran into a nib crud problem. Maybe I got a bottle from the good batch?

 

My personal guess is that it's not a "batch issue". When I did a deliberate dry-out experiment with an IG ink, it also did this, at least in that particular pen. That is to say, rather than dry out in place in the reservoir, it wicked out onto the nib and dried there. My guess is that it is associated with dryout--something seeds it, and then the ink flows continuously to the place where it is forming, the wet ink diffuses into the pile of crud, the water from the ink evaporates, the crud gets bigger...

[Occipital Lobe]

It seems to be "pen-specific"

I´ve used AC from the same bottle in different pens.

TWSBI 580 (M) didn´t give any residue, but just smooth performance.

Lamy Al-Star 1,1 also worked flawlessly over an extenden period.

Pelikan M800 (M) gave smooth performance, but excessive residue in the feed and on the nib itself.

I currently have my Visconti HS Bronze Age (F) inked with AC for approximately 10 days without any residue.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Occipital Lobe

[Jamerelbe]

I agree, this almost certainly is NOT a batch issue. I have a couple of other inks like this, that are prone to creep out onto the nib and dry out, leaving a crusty residue if left alone for long enough. The key thing to note is, the 'crud' is entirely water soluble - with Ancient Copper, it may well look like rust, but it washes off with no difficulty. The Jinhao x450 pen I left inked with Rouge Hematite while away for 2 weeks, on the other hand... Well, hopefully it'll be fine too!

[tinysnail]

Visvamitra, I love the colour you got in your review. The dark copper-red is nicer than the browner shade I am getting out of my brush pen:

http://i.imgur.com/lA9Qhil.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Check the flow of that pen....

[tinysnail]

Me? I think it's fine. My understanding is that the pen isn't going to lay down as wet of a line since it's spread out over a wide area and I'm going pretty quickly. Maybe I'll fiddle with it and check, but I am getting less saturation with most inks, quite understandably.

[amberleadavis]

I would expect less ink with the brush, but that's pretty watery.

[PS104]

 

I have mixed feelings about Diamine inks - I like the variety of colors and their intensity but many of them aren't well behaved (they tend to clog pens, cause nib creep / nib crud).

Ancient Copper has amazing color that I enjoy a lot but it causes terrible nib creep / nib crud. It's almost artistic in its expression:

http://imageshack.us/a/img560/2622/ogfj.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img541/2440/g8gp.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img833/8135/uprn.jpg

Still, the color is great

 

This is a clear example of pen abuse

Aren't there laws against this

[Uncial]

Never had a problem with it myself.... but......try Red Dragon. As a colour, it is quite close to Ancient Copper.

[the_gasman]

I use Diamine AC intermittently. I love trying lots of different inks, so I only ever partially fill the reservoir and then use the pen/ink combo for a relatively short time. I then wash thoroughly before changing ink. Maybe because of this, I don't see crud/clog.

[BetwixtTheLines]

Those pictures are scary!

I haven't experienced any sort of nib creep with my Diamine AC, and I've been using it in various pens. How do you store your pens, op? I store mine either horizontal or standing up with the nib side up.

[Frank C]

I use Ancient Copper all the time in my Pelican M101N. I keep the cap on it and store it upright. A little precipitation doesn't bother me.

 

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precipitation_(chemistry)

[HalloweenHJB]

I haven't had any trouble with Ancient Copper, but then again, since some people have had trouble, I did a double filter through coffee filters, and that has worked for a number of inks that have a tendency to get gunky (e.g., Red Dragon, Vampire Red, etc.)