Safest All Around Well Performing Inks? Looking For Alternatives To Lamy Blue

[white_lotus]

KWZI is a handmade ink out of Poland. I think only available through Polish pen shows, and sources. A few group buys have been made via this forum.

 

Many people here have learned through experience that much paper unsuited to fountain pens is to be found. There's a recent ongoing thread about Moleskine (which I still regularly use) and some inks work fine. With paper that thin you'll have to expect some show through, but often the overall readability is not effected.

 

Many people here also simply use much better paper.

[amberleadavis]

With KWZI, you'll have to hit someone up for a sample. It may involve trades in dark scary places like ice cream shops.

[civil]

Hmm, I was going to say, maybe just taking the plunge and buying a whole jar of KWZI on a whim would be less trouble, but further research suggests it might be about the same? All the information I can find is on this site apparently Almost like a secret society (group buys is the only way?).

Edited March 13, 2015 by civil

[musicman123]

I have used Waterman Blue-Black (now called Midnight Blue), Red (Audacious Red), and turquoise (Inspired Blue) and they all behave quite well even in extended time periods. I have also used Parker Quink Black which is good, but a bit boring like you mentioned. Another good ink I could recommend, if you want more colors, would be Diamine Oxblood. It has been working well, and I accidentally left a pen inked with it for 2 months no use, with no problems at all.

[Zdez Zaphareon]

Hmm, I was going to say, maybe just taking the plunge and buying a whole jar of KWZI on a whim would be less trouble, but further research suggests it might be about the same? All the information I can find is on this site apparently Almost like a secret society (group buys is the only way?).

theres a guy in the classifieds that sells ink by the ml, he has some KWZI to choose from.

[amberleadavis]

Okay, assuming you can't get your hands on some KWZI inks ....

 

If I were going to chose some great beginning and safe inks on a budget, I'd buy 5 Noodler's inks.

 

Rattler Red

Navajo Turquoise

plain ole Blue

Purple People Eater (okay, it's just called purple) and

Green Marine

 

 

On a larger budget,

 

Pilot Iroshizuku - Asa Gao and Kon Peki

Diamine - Red Dragon and Damson

De Atramentis - Moss Green (Did I mention it's waterproof)

 

If you can afford to go crazy:

 

Yama Dori

Tears of a Clown (Ruby)

June Bride

That Black Beetle Ink or Ink of the Witch (Black Purple)

MB DeFoe OR Japanese Cicada (another Sailor)

[bone215]

It may be a paper issue. I am a big fan of day timers and I used them when I was working, however, a few (maybe more than a few) years ago their paper became very fountain pen unfriendly with really bad bleed through no matter what ink or how fine a nib I used.

Different paper is now how I do my planning.

I don't know if that info is relevant for your situation.

[ailevin]

For years I used primarily Waterman Florida (now Serenity) Blue because I liked the darker and slightly violet leaning shades better than leaning toward greenish/turquoise, and I need a change from the sky blue or washed out blue-black Sheaffer colors I grew up with. Also, it was a recommended safe ink for my vintage pens and came in longer international cartridges for my cartridge pens. I know that many find it boring, but it was a distinctly fountain pen color. I also used black in an XF pen (usually MB permanent) for more technical work. I never had any problem with either ink, and I had more than one repair/restoration person comment that they used Waterman inks not only to test but as a cleaner of sorts to remove clogs, etc.)

 

These days I find myself using Namiki (or Pilot) Blue more than anything else. It seems very well behaved in that it washes off hands and surfaces easily but is very water resistant on paper. Waterman seemed to be just the opposite--it would disappear almost completely on the page if I set down a wet cup, but it was rather difficult to scrub off my hands. It also has a pretty quick dry time on most papers, and it writes a pretty tight line without a whole lot of feathering on cheap paper, though there is some. Also, while not quite true blue, (it leans to the red rather than green), but it is truer blue than Florida/Serenity. I also use it as a base for mixing up my own blue-black using either Noodler's Black or Namiki Black, and I have not had any sediment or bad combining problems.

 

I also use Noodler's 54th Mass diluted to 80% very regularly. At this dilution, I have less nib creep, better dry times, more shading, and it brings out the blue/gray a bit more. I like my blue-black more dark blue than black-blue. I've found 54th Mass to be better behaved and easier to clean than some of the other intense Noodler's inks. I've also used Noodler's Black and Heart of Darkness and have not had maintenance problems with either. I have found that Noodler's Black will "age" in a pen, which I assume is evaporation of water, and as it gets more concentrated the dry times can extend indefinitely, particularly on non-absorbent papers, but even on absorbent papers, if the ink is too concentrated it will just sit there and smear at you.

 

I have sampled a number of inks and I recommend doing this because of personal preferences in pens, paper, and ink. However, I'd rather not comment on an ink I haven't lived with for a while. I just ordered a bottle of one of Pilot's fancy ink, the Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo, and I have a bottle of Pilot blue-black coming on what seems to be a very slow boat from Japan.

[civil]

From some of the reviews I have read so far, some KWZI IG inks will dry in the nib from simply sitting capped for not very long, creating false starts and other issues.

Just wondering if this is really a safe ink in that case, comparatively speaking (to me a false start that requires some water after only a day, is not very far from a clog, even if not severe, although I do know it is not quite the same thing).

I have not read all the reviews, so I don't yet know which ones don't exhibit this behavior.

 

I may get to sample some KWZI IG ink in the near future (thanks to some generous members), so it would be helpful to be able to skip ahead of time the inks that are a bit problematic in the first place.

Edited March 18, 2015 by civil

[amberleadavis]

So what are you going to try?

[alarickc]

 

From some of the reviews I have read so far, some KWZI IG inks will dry in the nib from simply sitting capped for not very long, creating false starts and other issues.

 

Just wondering if this is really a safe ink in that case, comparatively speaking (to me a false start that requires some water after only a day, is not very far from a clog, even if not severe, although I do know it is not quite the same thing).

I have not read all the reviews, so I don't yet know which ones don't exhibit this behavior.

 

I may get to sample some KWZI IG ink in the near future (thanks to some generous members), so it would be helpful to be able to skip ahead of time the inks that are a bit problematic in the first place.

I can speak for three KWZI IGs. IG Blue Black is perhaps the most "hard-core" IG ink you can safely run through a fountain pen. According to Konrad himself IG BB has the highest ferro-gallic content of any fountain pen ink out there, but is safe because he uses pure chemicals instead of brewing ink from gall nuts. Even so, the ink is a little dry and acidic as *bleep*, I'd suggest only using that one in acrylic pens with gold nibs or easy to replace steel nibs. On the up-side, I could write legibly with an EF nib on a napkin, I kid you not.

 

IG Green 2 is way lower maintenance, wetter, and still great on bad paper. More die will smear with it though, even with hand moisture. Even so, if you spill or smear water on it it will still be very legible, like any decent IG. Highly recommended.

 

IG Violet 3 is really pretty and pretty well behaved in the pen, but still feathers and bleeds a little more on bad paper. In a fine nib it's still usable on cheap recycled paper, but only if you write a little fast. To be fair though, other than IG Green 2 and IG Blue Black I haven't seen many inks that do work well on that paper. Oddly enough, Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi is one of them. Not as waterproof though.

[civil]

So what are you going to try?

I have been given the option of a few among the following KWZI ink samples:

Violet #9

Brown Pink *

IG Green #1

IG Turquoise

IG Violet #3

Azure #4 *

Gray Plum *

IG Blue #1 *

There are a number of other brands on the list I received, which I am not familiar with, I intend to do some reading on this site before deciding which ink samples to request.

Edited March 18, 2015 by civil

[civil]

IG Violet 3 is really pretty and pretty well behaved in the pen, but still feathers and bleeds a little more on bad paper. In a fine nib it's still usable on cheap recycled paper, but only if you write a little fast. To be fair though, other than IG Green 2 and IG Blue Black I haven't seen many inks that do work well on that paper. Oddly enough, Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi is one of them. Not as waterproof though.

Thanks for your thoughts, of the inks you mention, only the Violet 3 was in the list I was sent, maybe there will be some way to try the others, although I was given the option to choose among the following Pilot Iroshizuku inks: Syo-ro and Kosumosu.

 

Waterproof is always nice, but not required for my application.

Edited March 18, 2015 by civil

[civil]

So what are you going to try?

Well, I have settled on the following:

KWZI:

IG Violet #3

IG Green #1

IG Turquoise

Based on the reviews, I will also try Pilot Iroshizuku:Kosumosu and J Herbin: Poussiere de Lune.

I figured might as well try, maybe the drying in the nib issues can be addressed with different pens and such.

ScienceChick is the generous donor.

Edited March 19, 2015 by civil

[alarickc]

Well, I have settled on the following:

KWZI:

 

 

IG Violet #3

 

IG Green #1

IG Turquoise

 

Based on the reviews, I will also try Pilot Iroshizuku:Kosumosu and J Herbin: Poussiere de Lune.

I figured might as well try, maybe the drying in the nib issues can be addressed with different pens and such.

ScienceChick is the generous donor.

Nice selections! I hope you have fun with them.

[ScienceChick]

This might not work for everyone but with the KWZIs that want to hard start (not many of them, IME) I've found that storing the pen lying down cures the hard starts completely. Works for BSB, too.

[Lou Erickson]

Next month's Iroshizuku Group Review is Kosumosu, and I've loaded it in a pen to write the introductory graphic. It is very pink!

 

A pretty ink, and, like all the other Iroshizuku inks so far, nicely behaved, but much pinker than I expected. Of course, it rather does look like the flower, which is what they aim for.

 

You'll see more of it next month if you look.

[civil]

Today I got a fine nib Pilot VP. At first I was frustrated by the ink flow, it is on the drier side, smooth but dry, tried Noodlers BB and Waterman blue. As I researched how to make it flow better, I made a disconcerting discovery at home: all the cheap paper I struggled with so much at the beginning of the year (planners, etc, especially DayTimer) now work really well with my dry VP!

In particular the DayTimer paper, that enemy of all that is good in fountain pens, when I use the VP normally, it has show through but not bleed through, if upside down, it has no show through!!

I am not yet sure what to do, do I try to get the flow fixed, or do I keep it as is and go back to my cheap paper planners I spent January and the better part of February trying to make it work?

I mention this here because this was a major reason for this topic at the time. With my currently dry Vanishing Point, the type of ink used seems to be apparently irrelevant (at least with the wettest ink I tried so far, Waterman blue).

[max dog]

Montblanc Permanent Blue works great on any cheap papers. It's my go to ink I use for my Moleskine notebooks at work. It's ultra well behaved and cleans up easy.