What Kind Of Ink Is The Best?

[AlanO]

Dear Alan, I do not use modern fountain pens, because they are not good, just old fountain pen. I am using temporary Geha 790 from 1950-1960 and Pleikan 400, 400 NN from the same period. The nib of these pens is 14 K gold plated and I clean the nibs very often. I will try to find out something about an iron gall ink.

 

I think you still need to be very careful with vintage 20th century pens too, especially nice ones. I want to try an iron gall ink too, but I wouldn't leave a pen loaded with it for any length it time - I'd fill it before use, then empty and clean it immediately afterwards.

 

You can probably get some advice on using iron gall ink at the Inky Thoughts section, at...

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/forum/5-inky-thoughts/

There are people there who know a lot more about ink than I do. Good luck in your quest, and have fun

 

Alan

[uemuraw]

If you want to try a lot of inks, there are a couple of neat approaches. Goulet pens sells ink samples at reasonable prices. They even have a sort of ink of the month club where they send a few samples each month. Another approach is to check out the classifieds here. Some folks want to clear their collections to make room for something else. I once got about 50 bottles of ink for about 4 USD per bottle.

 

The FPN inks are worth looking at. Made to specs from FPN ink mavens, I think they speak more to what a user wants than what sells. I think that translates into inks that are easy to live with and love. Great colors and great behavior.

 

I once got an old bottle of Pelikan 4001 Königsblau. I wanted the bottle, not the ink (I needed the bottle for my Kung Te-Cheng). By the time I emptied the bottle, Pelikan was a favorite because it's so very well-behaved. So I got another bottle of Königsblau.

 

Bottom line: hard to go wrong with Pelikan 4001.

[nscampos]

Aurora.

 

There, I said it.

Unfortunately, Aurora just has one black and one blue.

[Bristol24]

Yikes! I am going to become an INK JUNKIE! Reading all of these comments can be addictive... or at least compelling. My personal favorite two daily use inks (as state elsewhere) are Parker Quink Permanent Black and Hero 232 Blue Black (Iron Gall). Both are very well behaved on inexpensive papers so I can use them just about anywhere I might need a pen.

 

Cliff

[FOUR X FOUR]

To me, the most gorgeous ink has to be, " Iroshizuku shi asi tau shen sai "

[sirach]

Of course everyone has their own opinion... and in mine...

 

Diamine Makes a Beautiful Dark Olive Green, almost black ink.... Racing Green (I think only available from Rolfe Thiel (http://goo.gl/WGpQGE))

Smoothest, Best color variation, light blue / turquoise : Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki http://goo.gl/BgbJd1

Best professional purple : MontBlanc Lavender Purple http://goo.gl/miWufH

Best Black : Aurora Black http://goo.gl/odb0Rt

Best Permanent Black: Noodler's Black http://goo.gl/W5qnRi

Best Shading ink : Noodler's Apache Sunset http://goo.gl/Stp2KF

Best All Purpose Well Behaved Blue : Waterman Serenity Blue http://goo.gl/NAWF58

Best Signature Green : MontBlanc Irish Green http://goo.gl/29YGIh

Best Red for Writing : Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses http://goo.gl/Tor9xI

Best Grading Ink : Private Reserve Plum http://goo.gl/cLf2DU

[Abner C. Kemp]

This depends a lot on the pen but in general I think I prefer slightly drier inks in my everyday writers as I feel like I have a bit more control and the dry times are better. I'm a big fan of Kaweco inks as they run a bit on the dry side but still seem to flow very nicely. Pelikan inks are great for wet writers but in a regular pen I find them just a bit too dry. Montblanc inks are a bit wetter but have always been among my favorites. The older MB Midnight IG ink was slightly dry and made for a perfect daily writer IMO. Pilot standard inks are fantastic as well.

 

In terms of specific inks, you'll probably find one of these in my daily writers:

 

Kaweco Midnight Blue

Montblanc Royal Blue

Montblanc Midnight Blue

Pilot Blue Black

Edited October 18, 2015 by Abner C. Kemp

[HalloweenHJB]

Of course everyone has their own opinion... and in mine...

 

Diamine Makes a Beautiful Dark Olive Green, almost black ink.... Racing Green (I think only available from Rolfe Thiel (http://goo.gl/WGpQGE))

Smoothest, Best color variation, light blue / turquoise : Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki http://goo.gl/BgbJd1

Best professional purple : MontBlanc Lavender Purple http://goo.gl/miWufH

Best Black : Aurora Black http://goo.gl/odb0Rt

Best Permanent Black: Noodler's Black http://goo.gl/W5qnRi

Best Shading ink : Noodler's Apache Sunset http://goo.gl/Stp2KF

Best All Purpose Well Behaved Blue : Waterman Serenity Blue http://goo.gl/NAWF58

Best Signature Green : MontBlanc Irish Green http://goo.gl/29YGIh

Best Red for Writing : Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses http://goo.gl/Tor9xI

Best Grading Ink : Private Reserve Plum http://goo.gl/cLf2DU

 

Excellent list. Well organized. My list would have a few different responses and categories:

 

Best Autumn Ink: Diamine Autumn Oak

Best Shading Ink: [TIE!] Noodler's Apache Sunset and Diamine Ancient Copper

Best Grading Ink: J. Herbin Rouge [Rose Scented]

Best Red for Writing: Sailor Jentle Oku-yama

Best Scented Ink: de Atramentis Patchouli

Best Sheening Ink: [TIE!] Akkerman Shocking Blue and Pilot Iroshizuku Momiji

Best Nearly Impossible To Get Ink: Waterman South Seas Blue

Best Sparkly Ink: [TIE!] J. Herbin 1670 Rouge Hématite and Diamine Blue Lightning

 

Just my 2¢...

[dompred]

[...Best Nearly Impossible To Get Ink: Waterman South Seas Blue...]

 

Why nearly impossible?

[Coop]

The answer to this question is really quite simple...

 

The best ink is the one you have available when you need it...

[HalloweenHJB]

 

Why nearly impossible?

 

I may be wrong, but I thought that it had been replaced by Serenity Blue, and South Seas Blue was no longer in production. That's what I had heard...

[AlanO]

I may be wrong, but I thought that it had been replaced by Serenity Blue, and South Seas Blue was no longer in production. That's what I had heard...

 

South Sea Blue was apparently renamed to Inspired Blue, while Serenity blue is the new name for Florida Blue...

http://blog.gouletpens.com/2012/02/waterman-ink-name-changes.html

http://www.gouletpens.com/waterman-inspired-blue-50ml-bottled-fountain-pen-ink/p/WM-S0110810

[HalloweenHJB]

 

South Sea Blue was apparently renamed to Inspired Blue, while Serenity blue is the new name for Florida Blue...

http://blog.gouletpens.com/2012/02/waterman-ink-name-changes.html

http://www.gouletpens.com/waterman-inspired-blue-50ml-bottled-fountain-pen-ink/p/WM-S0110810

 

Thanks for the info! Good to know.

[Sasha Royale]

Pelikan 4001 series of inks has good flow characteristics, in both vintage and current fountain pens. It seems to be universally available.

[J85909266]

I'm very traditional with my inks. I tend to only use blues and blacks.

 

The best inks I've used, so far:

 

Noodler's Black - Truly Black, flows very well, permanent, works on any paper without fuss, doesn't smudge when dry

 

J. Herbin Bleu Nuit - Unique, dusty color, great shading, works on most papers, does not smudge after drying

 

Lamy Blue Black - Deep, navy blue color, works on most papers, does not smudge, nice shading

 

Iroshizuku Shin-Kai - Unique, deep blue/grey color, sheens, shades, doesn't smudge, very nice flow

 

Noodler's Blue - Rich, gorgeous cerulean blue, resists feathering on most paper, poor water resistance and can smudge when dry in humid places

 

Pilot Blue Black - Decent water resistance, no smudging, doesn't feather on most papers, nice dark blue color, sheens

 

Now, I have tried many other inks, and cannot say what I said about these inks. They really are nice. Noodler's blue isn't as stalwart, but that color!

[uemuraw]

I've become a fan of Pelikan 4001 Königsblau. Well-behaved. That makes a difference over time. I always have some loaded up in a Pelikan 140 that I'm fond of, and a Pilot Vanishing Point that I always have handy away from a desk.

 

I have fun with Noodler's inks, but I will usually rotate them (so many colors, gotta get 'em all!) along with the pens (gotta flush 'em well to change colors. Then I load 'em with water, until a few days later I see traces of color - then a flush and a dry before a color switch). I guess Noodler's inks can sorta be their own hobby.

 

I always have Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng loaded in a couple Platinum Plaisirs.

 

I always have FPN Van Gogh Starry Night Blue (made by Noodler's) in a Sailor Pro Gear Realo because that particular pen and ink combination just really resonated unexpectedly with me.

 

I plan to make an habitual pairing between Noodler's Ottoman Azure and a Platinum Shoji pen because I have a maki-e coverter, and it looks like i could make a sort of portable acquarium if I use the right blue. But first I have to run through some blue-black mixed with Private Reserve Copper Burst.

 

My vintage Parkers always have some form of Quink in them. But I might switch to Königsblau, or a "nibmeister blue" since the Quinks don't always capture my fancy.

 

As a matter of fact, I probably got the notion to try the "nibmeister blues" by reading this very thread. Some chat about Waterman re-naming, then I thought about some nibmeisters using Waterman as their testing ink for all their work ...