Ink Swatch Book?

[tvradio]

Levenger used to sell cards with grid, lined or blank faces, and they worked pretty well. For a bargain basement card that does surprisingly well with ink, go to Dollar Tree and look for index cards made in India.

Thanks. Apparently there are several Dollar Trees in Harlem, so maybe I'll take a ride up there if the weather even goes above 20F again.

[tvradio]

Don't forget to check out this Inky Topic O'Day.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/266620-inky-t-o-d-what-is-your-method-for-keeping-track-of-your-inks/

Very interesting thread. Appreciate the link.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

I decline to use a notebook for my inky samples.

 

Part of the thing is that a notebook is assembled on a chronological basis, rather that a relational basis.

 

an inky notebook might do the trick if one has fairly few inks in their array, but if one goes exploring (esp. samples), then things become unwieldy at best.

 

I much prefer loose leaf folios. please see this prior Topic. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/248422-creating-an-ink-sample-book/?p=2714269

 

Bye,

S1

[Arkanabar]

I've cut down on how many pens I keep inked since I lost my job in (mental/behavioral) health records.

Right now, I have four pens inked.

My Hero 616, kept loaded with Noodler's Borealis Black diluted 1:1 with water for my bullet journals -- 70 sheet 8x10.5 inch college-ruled spiral notebooks that my wife bought over several Back-To-School events at WalMart for 10-25 cents each. We've piled up an entire box of them. This pen is also used at work, as it's inexpensive, reliable, and super handy for my typical current at-work use (I now work as a certified nurse aide) -- jotting down vitals or meals or brief notes on the run, often hanging on the outside of my breast pocket for quick access. This kind of clutch cap is ideal for deploying a pen in this manner.

My Pilot Parallel 1.5, currently filled with dregs of 1:1 Borealis Black, topped up with the Noodler's Rattler Red Eel I'd put into my 0.8mm stub Nemosine Singularity (including a couple drops of water I drew through the nib & feed into the converter, before adding to the Parallel's cartridge). I'm using it in my looseleaf journal (indexed in Bullet Journal style, to use up all the 20lb letter paper we've printed on one side) to first, hopefully teach me to write a little less cramped and narrow, and also to use up some of the inks I have no interest in replacing. This pen's next load is likely to be Waterman Purple, and filled wihtout washing. This journal is to serve as a repository for my graphomania, which is often natterings about the pen and ink I'm using at the moment.

My Pilot Prera Iro-Ai with the CM stub nib, filled with Diamine Sherwood. It also gets used at work.

My brand-new from under the Christmas Tree (ya heard it here first, folks) Pelikan M205 Aqua with Fine nib, filled with 4:1 dilute Iro Ku-Jaku. The ink is a stunning match for this stunning pen. Thus far, it has been used only to pen little billets-doux to my darling bride, who convinced her mother and her son to go in with her in purchasing it for me.

I have no trouble keeping track of which pens are filled, and with which inks. But I do find myself wanting to keep track of how various inks work in various pens.

So, I have two broad-ruled composition books; one with a page for each pen, to which I add an entry each time I fill it, giving me a history of what was in use when; the other, with each page recording my impressions or a reviews of my various pens and inks.

[amberleadavis]

Arkanbar - your bride has wonderful taste!

[lapis]

Hi,

 

I decline to use a notebook for my inky samples.

 

Part of the thing is that a notebook is assembled on a chronological basis, rather that a relational basis.

 

an inky notebook might do the trick if one has fairly few inks in their array, but if one goes exploring (esp. samples), then things become unwieldy at best.

 

I much prefer loose leaf folios. please see this prior Topic. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/248422-creating-an-ink-sample-book/?p=2714269

 

Bye,

S1

 

Nothing is more difficult for me than to stray away from your own most meritorious recommendations (not stated sarcastically by me in any derangement way measureable) ... however... for our pen and ink filling inventories it is not only that a notebook is but also that any loose leaf collection should be kept in a chronological order. That's the order in which they were filled in the first (and last) place, and that's the easiest and fastest (plus w/a least smeared and/or least faded) way to go back and accommodate previously made observations. I don't usually care which pen was filled with which ink six or twelve years ago, but if I do, I can still go back and sight that easily....

 

imho

[Noihvo]

[amberleadavis]

So, would I be OCD if I confessed that I do a little of all of the suggestions?

1. I have a google spreadsheet that lists which pen and which ink (because hey, I was doing an ink a day for a while.
2. I also put down a little swatch with the number in my GatzBCN notebook.
3. I then use a full page in my Hobinochi Cousin planner (1 ink per day), I then go back and look at similar colors and doodle with the new color on that page. If I reuse an ink, I go back to the same page and display it in the different pen.
4. I write on an index card with a little ghost which I also do a color wash, and I write down the pen. I store these by color.
5. I then attach little labels to my pen cap identifying which ink is in the pen.
6. Oh, and for each ink not previously part of the ink a day project, I write five CRVs and share them.

[Sandy1]

 

Nothing is more difficult for me than to stray away from your own most meritorious recommendations (not stated sarcastically by me in any derangement way measureable) ... however... for our pen and ink filling inventories it is not only that a notebook is but also that any loose leaf collection should be kept in a chronological order. That's the order in which they were filled in the first (and last) place, and that's the easiest and fastest (plus w/a least smeared and/or least faded) way to go back and accommodate previously made observations. I don't usually care which pen was filled with which ink six or twelve years ago, but if I do, I can still go back and sight that easily....

 

imho

 

Hello my friend,

 

Timeline of acquisition really doesn't matter, (does Waterman Florida Blue from the last millennium deserve different treatment than yesterday's Serenity?) though that is very useful to compare bottle-to-bottle : my old bottle of ink X to the new replacement bottle - did the ink shift / wobble?

 

For me the purpose of inky samples is to lead me to the ink I want to use, so I don't want a Table of Contents - I want an Index. ( I would find nothing more time-wasting than an A0 sheet full of chrono swab samples. ) My inky folios lead me to what might be rewarding pen+paper combos.)

 

I augment my Inky folios with a stack of inky swabs (as seen in my Ink Reviews), so I can present the same ink in several positions. e,g, kon peki in the Turquoise and Blue; and R&K Sepia in the 'not quite Black' and Brown arrays. (Stipula Verde Muschiato samples are all over the place.)

 

We each find our own ways to navigate the inky seas, and we do not always share the same compass rose. Regardless, let us find inky pleasure.

 

... Now if I could only find a similar way to wrangle my array of pens

 

Bye,

S1

Edited December 30, 2017 by Sandy1

[paperglo]

I'm trying to catalogue the inks I own and have tried so I can reference what I like and dislike. I tried a ring method but I don't think I like flipping through small samples one at a time.

 

I made swatches using a thick cardstock as well as more absorbent paper to showcase how the ink performs in either situation. I cut them down to fit into 20 pocket binder sleeves.

 

I'm now stuck debating on how I should categorize them - by color, brand, or property (sheen, shimmer, document, etc.). I feel like whatever method I go with, I'll want to change in the future. It shouldn't be too hard since they slip right out of the sleeves, but I noticed a couple of the inks rub off a little onto the sleeve and that is going to bother me.

 

I was searching the forum trying to find examples of other people's methods and I notice that a lot of people use journals or rings. I like the idea of the journals, but it would bother me to not be able to organize the samples. I thought about using a discbound system, but am not sure I want to go through cutting and punching every page.

 

 

[Pentode]

My extremely unscientific method of ink management is to keep several sheets torn from a rather generic office pad that happens to be made of fairly FP-friendly paper in my ink cabinet. The sheets - somewhere around 6x9 - stand up behind the back row of bottles and when I get a new flavor.... er.... color of ink I make a q-tip swab and a series of lines for the new ink and.... and thats it. The swatches are not in any particular order other than when I acquired them and that works out okay for me. I dont have so many inks that I need to dig for very long to find what Im looking for. Ive only used about 2 1/2 pages thus far.

 

Keeping track of how my pens are inked takes place elsewhere. I use the handy Fountain Pen Inventory database that I got here on FPN and I just add a line in the notes section that says Inked. I update it as I ink and/or empty each pen, although I dont bother to date it, and make brief, single-phrase notes to describe how a pen behaves with a particular ink.

 

Its not an especially surgical system but its a system of sorts.

[tvradio]

For what it's worth I'm leaning towards index cards, living in a card case/box. Arranging and rearranging cards would be simple, and mass comparisons could be done by laying them out on a table.

 

I expect I would likely group by color.

 

Right now as I begin with inks I'm looking initially for easy-to-clean, well-behaved inks that tend to avoid bleed/feather/spread, aren't too expensive, have potential for decent shading (well, maybe not for the black inks), and which wouldn't bother me if pages of text were in that color. (So turquoise is out.) I'm leaning towards a basic black like ones from Lamy or Aurora, a basic red like Sheaffer Skrip Red, and a couple of curveballs I'd like to try samples of, like J. Herbin Lie de Thé, Monteverde Olivine, and Diamine Chocolate Brown.

[paperglo]

My extremely unscientific method of ink management is to keep several sheets torn from a rather generic office pad that happens to be made of fairly FP-friendly paper in my ink cabinet. The sheets - somewhere around 6x9 - stand up behind the back row of bottles and when I get a new flavor.... er.... color of ink I make a q-tip swab and a series of lines for the new ink and.... and thats it. The swatches are not in any particular order other than when I acquired them and that works out okay for me. I dont have so many inks that I need to dig for very long to find what Im looking for. Ive only used about 2 1/2 pages thus far.

 

Keeping track of how my pens are inked takes place elsewhere. I use the handy Fountain Pen Inventory database that I got here on FPN and I just add a line in the notes section that says Inked. I update it as I ink and/or empty each pen, although I dont bother to date it, and make brief, single-phrase notes to describe how a pen behaves with a particular ink.

 

Its not an especially surgical system but its a system of sorts.

 

I tried using a Rhodia notebook in the beginning but as I added more entries it became pretty messy.

 

I only have 6 pens inked (is that an only? In this community I think so, right?) so I don't have much trouble keeping track of that ...yet. I assume this will become more difficult as this hobby (obsession) grows.

 

I never thought keeping track of ink would be an issue until I looked over and found that in the last year I've opened a dozen bottles, over 40 sample vials, and somehow keep acquiring more. For some reason I slow down and reconsider when I have to spend $50+ on a pen but have zero hesitation with dropping $45 on a bottle of ink (I'm eyeing two bottles at the moment, why?). I don't think I'll ever go through this all ink, but I love the options.

 

For what it's worth I'm leaning towards index cards, living in a card case/box. Arranging and rearranging cards would be simple, and mass comparisons could be done by laying them out on a table.

 

I expect I would likely group by color.

 

Right now as I begin with inks I'm looking initially for easy-to-clean, well-behaved inks that tend to avoid bleed/feather/spread, aren't too expensive, have potential for decent shading (well, maybe not for the black inks), and which wouldn't bother me if pages of text were in that color. (So turquoise is out.) I'm leaning towards a basic black like ones from Lamy or Aurora, a basic red like Sheaffer Skrip Red, and a couple of curveballs I'd like to try samples of, like J. Herbin Lie de Thé, Monteverde Olivine, and Diamine Chocolate Brown.

 

Ease of re-arranging and comparing is a priority for me, I think. Honestly, instinct tells me to group by color but the slight ocd in me really,really wants to alphabetize by brand (which honestly makes no sense because it's not like I'm shopping for a new ink in my own reference book...). I have a thing for organizing things in binders (postcards, stamps, show tickets...) so this will fit right in with my collection of binders

 

Check my ink list in my signature and let me know if you want to try anything at the next Big Apple meet (I have Olivine). I'm waiting for the FPN ink vial dealer to get back to me on selling me some vials, hopefully soon. One of my favorite everyday/office inks that I started with and still love today is the Pelikan 4001. I don't know if that's generally a well rated ink with old school/non-newbs, but for me it hits all the marks (no bleed/feather, $9.12 a bottle, nice colors). It's not waterproof, but I generally don't spill liquids on my docs/notes.

[Pentode]

One of my favorite everyday/office inks that I started with and still love today is the Pelikan 4001. I don't know if that's generally a well rated ink with old school/non-newbs, but for me it hits all the marks.

Its all I used for years. Fairly saturated, quite dry (Pelikan pens tend to write wet), extremely well behaved and reliable ink. I have a lot of options now but I still make sure I always have 4001 Brilliant Black in the house.

[Pentode]

I'm leaning towards a basic black like ones from Lamy or Aurora...

If you want a true black with good flow properties (its on the wet side of things) youre unlikely to do better than Aurora.

 

Ron Zorn turned me on to Aurora black when I told him I liked the way Waterman and Skrip behaved, but wished they were as saturated as Pelikan 4001. Unsurprisingly he wasnt wrong!

[EBGBs]

I did not have a ink book at first, and then thought I could use one, but wanted something tidy, compact and.. useful.

I went with an A5 ring file, but cutting pages in 2; each ink is on a half page.
By 'useful' I mean that I wanted something 'real life'; that would show me how the ink would actually look in a letter or at work; so I went for writing and doodling on 'average' paper as opposed to artsy swatches on top grade paper. I can move the pages out to compare different inks next to each other, or come across random pairing as I flip the pages.

I'm pretty happy with this so far - it fits the bill.

 

^ This was a random pairing; I wouldn't have thought of it if it had not jumped at me

[tvradio]

I ended up getting a pack of heavyweight 3x5" index cards and a cheap card case. Seems to work fine so far. To others I might instead recommend larger 4x6 or 5x8 cards though....

[paperglo]

I did not have a ink book at first, and then thought I could use one, but wanted something tidy, compact and.. useful.

 

I love how your monochromatic sketches really showcase the ink shades. It makes me want to learn to draw with ink (I'm one of those art students who always feared ink). Thanks for sharing.

[OwlHome]

 

So, would I be OCD if I confessed that I do a little of all of the suggestions?

1. I have a google spreadsheet that lists which pen and which ink (because hey, I was doing an ink a day for a while.
2. I also put down a little swatch with the number in my GatzBCN notebook.
3. I then use a full page in my Hobinochi Cousin planner (1 ink per day), I then go back and look at similar colors and doodle with the new color on that page. If I reuse an ink, I go back to the same page and display it in the different pen.
4. I write on an index card with a little ghost which I also do a color wash, and I write down the pen. I store these by color.
5. I then attach little labels to my pen cap identifying which ink is in the pen.
6. Oh, and for each ink not previously part of the ink a day project, I write five CRVs and share them.

 

 

This thread has some great ideas! I'm curious about point 5 above where you mention using little labels on the pen cap. What do you use to attach them? Do you talk about it in another thread, amberleadavis?

 

So far I've started a notebook with one page per ink where I'll have a line or two for each pen I've inked up with it and note the date. It's indexed bullet journal style with the line written with that particular ink. Or pencil for any that I need to go back and fill in after I've inked a pen with that ink again.

 

The back of my bullet journal has a few pages set aside for a line when I ink a pen so see how it works on that paper and note the pen and which ink. I haven't been including a date, but maybe I should.

[senzen]

This is the sort of thing that made me think "these people are insane"... But now makes perfect sense to me, particularly since it would have made my endless rotations much easier. Which doesn't make us any less crazy unfortunately .