Ink Bottle On The Desk

[BradGad]

So... we all tend to bond with our pens. In my case, though, I've found I've bonded most (OK, maybe I'm weird) with one of my ink bottles: My go-to is Pilot Blue Black, and I feel a special affinity for that rotund 70 ml bottle. I mean, just think of it... The Great American Novel is in that bottle! The saddest story ever told, and the happiest! The most wondrous poem! They're all in there, just scrunched up in liquid form. It's simply a matter of getting the ink out of the bottle and correctly placing it on the page.

I like to keep the bottle on the desk beside me as I write, to be my little muse and totem.

But, I know ink is best stored out of the light. I'm thinking that this is not a problem, since I go through about 3 ml a week, or more lately. (I have the 350 ml refill bottle.)

Would someone check my thinking here? It's OK to keep the little guy there on the desk beside me? (It's not in direct sunlight.)

[mhguda]

I think so yes. Although you might see a little evaporation. Enjoy!

[ac12]

There are arguments both ways.

 

In theory, UV from sunlight WILL cause colors to fade. Look at an old framed color photo, underneath the mounting board you will see the original color, and you can see how much the exposed colors faded.

 

But in practice, how much will ink fade, and will you notice it? Like the color photo, it may fade so gradually that you will likely not notice the fading. And the chemicals/dyes in the inks vary in their resistance to fading.

 

When I was in college, kept a bottle of ink on my desk, and it got the full afternoon sunlight on it.

 

If you are still worried, you could just fill the bottle half way, that way you go through the bottle faster, and it is exposed to sunlight less, before being used.

Edited February 28, 2017 by ac12

[Arkamas]

So... we all tend to bond with our pens. In my case, though, I've found I've bonded most (OK, maybe I'm weird) with one of my ink bottles: My go-to is Pilot Blue Black, and I feel a special affinity for that rotund 70 ml bottle. I mean, just think of it... The Great American Novel is in that bottle! The saddest story ever told, and the happiest! The most wondrous poem! They're all in there, just scrunched up in liquid form. It's simply a matter of getting the ink out of the bottle and correctly placing it on the page.

 

I like to keep the bottle on the desk beside me as I write, to be my little muse and totem.

 

Agreed! I recently got a bottle of Namiki black and it has to be one of my favorite ink bottle designs.

 

As far as storage, Brian Goulet has a FP101 video that quickly explains it all at 2:47. I would say frequent, direct exposure to sunlight is the most problematic thing but otherwise, probably not much. Like ac12 said, fading is likely to be a slow process. I keep my favorite bottles on my desk usually and just put the other less-used inks away for the sake of storage, but one of my desk bottles is Noodlers black and I don't have any worries in particular about it.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Kindly note that according to Member ESS, who markets iron-gall ink, that their ink should be kept in a cool dark place. I extend that learned advice to all I-G inks.

 

As a matter of personal preference I keep all my inks in the dark.

 

One idea is to [partially] fill the desk-top bottle with ink that is diluted to the Value (light-dark) that you see when the ink is written onto the page. (Less dazzling for those who use Black ink - so sorry. However, everyone might start using Orange or Turquoise inks. Or using large bottles as habitat for wee goldfish.)

 

Bye,

S1

[chromantic]

Fill the bottle with fake ink made from food coloring.

[Witsius]

While iron gall inks require some special care, Pilot Blue Black isn't an iron gall ink, so keeping it on your desk shouldn't hurt it at all. Ink in the bottle is generally well protected against damage caused by exposure to light since glass is pretty good at blocking UV. You should be fine.

[eharriett]

Chromantic has the right idea. My idea was pretty close. Find a bottle design you like, such as the Pilot Irosh. or Caran d'Ache, and buy an empty bottle from one of the many vendors who sell empty ink bottles. Fill it with distilled water, then eyedropper your favorite ink into the bottle until you get the color you desire to have in there. Sacrifice a little to save the rest and get the result you want.

[torstar]

So... we all tend to bond with our pens. In my case, though, I've found I've bonded most (OK, maybe I'm weird) with one of my ink bottles: My go-to is Pilot Blue Black, and I feel a special affinity for that rotund 70 ml bottle. I mean, just think of it... The Great American Novel is in that bottle! The saddest story ever told, and the happiest! The most wondrous poem! They're all in there, just scrunched up in liquid form. It's simply a matter of getting the ink out of the bottle and correctly placing it on the page.

 

I like to keep the bottle on the desk beside me as I write, to be my little muse and totem.

 

But, I know ink is best stored out of the light. I'm thinking that this is not a problem, since I go through about 3 ml a week, or more lately. (I have the 350 ml refill bottle.)

 

Would someone check my thinking here? It's OK to keep the little guy there on the desk beside me? (It's not in direct sunlight.)

 

 

It's okay to be weird on here, to a certain extent...

 

I probably have 50 bottles of ink at the office, a dozen on the desk, 20 or so in drawers, a dozen in boxes sitting around since the last move or clean-up...

[tmenyc]

Torstar...

 

I'm not sure I'd call that weird...perhaps a little outlierish, but not weird. Or, maybe I'm the outlier around here, having just one....the old Waterman bottle next to it is for flushing and for standing my OS Varuna ED up in for ED filling. And, 1920's blotter card and my wife's great uncle's bronze It's A Good Rule for 1948 ruler (her mother has 1949, which is brass and much nicer.)

 

Tim

 

 

 

[squink]

For myself the happiness and utility of having the ink bottle out would vastly outweigh potential for whatever noticeable fading/damage, especially if the ink isn't too hard to replace.

 

If you are really worried, you could line the bottle box with foil and keep the bottle inside its box on your desk. Just the box alone would help some but the foil should pretty much keep out all UV.

 

I kind of love your tribute to ink, though!

[torstar]

Torstar...

 

I'm not sure I'd call that weird...perhaps a little outlierish, but not weird. Or, maybe I'm the outlier around here, having just one....the old Waterman bottle next to it is for flushing and for standing my OS Varuna ED up in for ED filling. And, 1920's blotter card and my wife's great uncle's bronze It's A Good Rule for 1948 ruler (her mother has 1949, which is brass and much nicer.)

 

Tim

 

 

 

 

I didn't hold myself out as weird, the OP kind of suggested it and I noted that weird is fine around here, to an extent...

 

good picture!

[tmenyc]

did you notice that that was your 3500th post?

Congrats!

 

Tim

[ac12]

I like many of the bottles; Pilot Iroshizuku, Pelikan, Edelstien, new Cross, old US Sheaffer with the ink well, etc. I just have not found one that I would WANT to keep on my desk as "decoration." Desktop space being premium real estate. Unlike back in college when I only used ONE bottle ink (Sheaffer or Parker black), which I did keep on my desk. Today I use many different inks, which I keep and refill from ink vials stored in a shotgun shell box, which is kept in the bathroom where I do my refilling.

 

I do keep an inkwell on my desk. It is filled with water, for any pens where the nib has dried out. The design and weight keeps it from being knocked over. And at the end of the day, the colored water is sometimes rather nice looking. And I have no cats, to worry about drinking inky water out of the inkwell.

 

ps. a HEAVY votive candle holder makes a nice inkwell/water holder.

Edited March 1, 2017 by ac12

[torstar]

did you notice that that was your 3500th post?

Congrats!

 

Tim

 

They haven't banned me for life just yet!

 

A few times it may have come close...

[amberleadavis]

 

They haven't banned me for life just yet!

 

A few times it may have come close...

 

 

Tee Hee hee.

[amberleadavis]

I keep inks on the desk, in the cabinets and in the sun filled windows (2+ years and I haven't seen fading but I have had them evaporate).

[jmccarty3]

I keep my ink bottles in their original boxes. Those few that don't come with opaque boxes, like Sheaffer or Robert Oster, I keep out of direct sunlight. I'm a lot more cautious about keeping urushi pens out of the light than I am my inks.

[Sandy1]

While iron gall inks require some special care, Pilot Blue Black isn't an iron gall ink, so keeping it on your desk shouldn't hurt it at all. Ink in the bottle is generally well protected against damage caused by exposure to light since glass is pretty good at blocking UV. You should be fine.

 

 

 

Hi,

 

You are correct.

 

I apologise for my poorly written Post that could be read to infer that Pilot BlBk is an I-G ink.

 

Bye,

S1

[amberleadavis]

And always remember if you see "stuff" in your ink (as opposed to just ink), don't fill your pen from that bottle.