Any Good Inks That Have A Fast Dry Time, Little To No Feathering, And No Bleed Through?

[Shamalama]

I'm looking for an ink (I am a newbie) and I plan on using this in school, so I need a ink that is either blue or black (preferable black) that has a fast dry time and handles various types of paper.

 

P.S. I am planning on buying a Lamy Safari as my first fountain pen.

[Arkanabar]

And going by the flag you've selected, the ink ought to be readily available in Japan.

 

The answer will depend not only on the ink, but also the paper and the pen. If you write on sketchbooks made of newsprint, that will reduce dry times and increase feathering. If you use 62gsm Tomoe River paper, that will reduce feathering, but increase dry times.

 

I'm going to repeat three suggestions that I see made a lot, basing them on the assumption that you'll often find yourself writing in "blue books" made of paper not much (if any) better than newsprint pulp. I have no experience of the inks I am discussing; merely the collected tales of those who do.

 

First, get a Japanese pen. A Japanese medium writes about like a Lamy XF, and if you're writing in Japanese characters, you'll want the finer lines. And the less ink your pen lays down, the faster that ink will dry.

 

The first ink I'd suggest is a Sailor nano-pigment ink, e.g. Sei-Boku (blue-black) or Kiwa-Guro (black). These inks are highly regarded for their ability to keep tight lines without feathering, even on bad paper. You don't want to let these dry out in your pen, because while the nano-particles may be small enough that the brownian motion of the water molecules will keep them in suspension, there is no guarantee that they will go back into suspension should the water all evaporate.

 

The second thing I'd suggest is an iron-gall ink. They are a transparent solution of ferrogallic acid that oxidizes into an insoluble dark-grey solid, with various dyes and colorants (blue is the classic colorant) so you can see what you've written while waiting for the precipitate to form. The reaction starts within seconds, but it may take hours or days for it to completely finish. Like the nano-pigment inks, iron-gall inks strongly resist feathering, but again, it's a bad idea to let them dry out in the pen, because the acid will turn into the solid precipitate, and you'll need to clean it out with a suitable acid. There's a thread around here somewhere on cleaning up this kind of mess, but I'm not going to look it up just now. One member has kept a Pilot Plumix filled with IG ink for years, without flushing, and had no troubles.

 

Platinum's new "Classic" line is a series of iron-gall inks that ought to be available to you locally. So too might Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black. And Rohrer & Klingner make a couple of iron-gall inks, Salix (blue-black) and Scabiosa (purplish-mauve).

 

Finally, because you won't want to let these inks dry out, I'm going to suggest a Platinum Plaisir. It's relatively inexpensive, and I doubt there is a better pen at the price point for not drying out.

[antichresis]

To add to Arkanabar, you are lucky because Japanese inks are very good ("world class") and very cheap locally (compared to worldwide prices): Pilot Blue-Black or Pilot Black, Platinum Blue-Black or Platinum Carbon Black, and the aforementioned Sailors are all good. Regular Sailor Black is excellent as well.

Edited April 20, 2017 by antichresis

[Connly33]

Out of the small ink collection that i have, my fastest drying, least feathering ink is Sailor Storia Night, it is a blue nano-pigmented ink. It is a really true blue and behaves very well in all of my pens. On any paper that i use it on. So i can deffinitly agree with the Sailor Nano-pigmented ink suggestion.

 

For taking notes in class with my Pilot Vanishing point F it is deffinitly my go to ink at the moment.

[Jose80]

I'm into broad and flexible nibs with very wet flow, and I do experience issues with dry time as a very large amount of ink is left on the paper. If dry time is paramount I would suggest a thinner nib with drier flow, but that is not the route I'd take myself, I prefer dealing with longer dry times and a wetter/smoother flow as writing is more pleasing (again, for me).

[max dog]

Montblanc Permanent Blue. Its a magical elixir that cures all fountain pen ills. Just flush your pen out regularly every 2nd or 3rd fill as it is a permanent ink.

[ColdDeadHand]

...

 

First, get a Japanese pen. ..the less ink your pen lays down, the faster that ink will dry.

 

The first ink I'd suggest is a Sailor nano-pigment ink, e.g. Sei-Boku (blue-black) or Kiwa-Guro (black). T...

The second thing I'd suggest is an iron-gall ink. ...

Platinum's new "Classic" line is a series of iron-gall inks that ought to be available ...

Finally, because you won't want to let these inks dry out, I'm going to suggest a Platinum Plaisir. ...

+1 to all that.

 

Platinum Classic inks are great and good-looking. I'm on Forest Green right now, and you could use that for school if you wanted (unless they're super-strict). Try Carbon Black in that line.

 

Whatever you get, I suggest you also grab a Platinum Preppy and keep it handy. Fine line, takes weeks for the nib to dry out, and they are cheap, so you won't worry about scratching or losing it.

 

Any ink will take a while to dry if you pour it on, so I'd stay toward either a Japanese medium or even fine nib, and you should be good, even on junk paper. If you still have feathering issues, maybe try Preppy in XF.

 

Let us know what you decided on!

[dcwaites]

I would start with either Platinum or Pilot Blue-Black.

The first is a mild iron-gall blue black, well-behaved, and rather water-resistant when dried, and the second is a permanent when dry dye-based blue-black (actually, a mixture of blue and black inks).

 

Both dry relatively quickly, and behave well on many papers.