How Much To Stockpile Of Your Favorites?

[RJS]

Unusually for members of this forum, I don't have duplicates of any ink. I'd stockpile some Pilot Blue Black but I have the giant bottle of that already.

 

I am tempted to buy backups of Diamine Asa Blue and Platinum Blue Black. Especially the Platinum, as no one aside from Cult Pens seems to stock it, and they aren't always in stock. 

[brokenclay]

27 minutes ago, RJS said:

Unusually for members of this forum, I don't have duplicates of any ink.

I don't either. I subscribe to the "there will be another bus" philosophy of ink buying.

[como]

Without stockpiling anything, I somehow already have 30+ bottles of ink. The moment the sentiment turns from joy to commitment, it becomes a turn-off for me. Stockpiling might just be that catalyst of the sentimental change 😀!

[SilverStoneMetallic]

Months ago, I found a shop that had the old 50 ml bottles of Sailor Nioi-Sumire for less than the new 20 ml bottles go for. I purchased six, was billed for six and then eight showed up!

The only other ink that comes to mind that I would like to accumulate a reserve of is Montblanc Hadrian Red, but with my vehicle part addiction and school apartment rent to pay, that will likely have to wait.

 

[Daneaxe]

Except for accidentally getting a double here & there, I don't stockpile. So I look far & wide, trying many different inks, from India, Germany, Sweden and Japan. More than 40 diff inks accumulated, happy to have them all, and more to come, in time and with more experience.

I started with the Pelikan 4001 series, and have started paying (ouch my wallet!) for the Iroshizuku inks which are real nice an' juicy.

Diamine is still a favorite, good ink at a nice price, largely well-behaved and with loads of variety - over 100 different inks to choose from , just from this supplier!
😃
I might in time get a favorite which I'll decide that I *need* to have multiples bottles of in reserve, but so far, I don't see the need.

[amberleadavis]

So, of the few I stockpiled, some have become cloggy over the years.  Pelikan Blue-black, MB Blue-Black *both were IG inks* and some of the Private reserve inks.  Oh, and in fairness, it's not that I stockpiled, so much as I didn't make it through the bottles in a timely fashion.

[inkstainedruth]

Not making it through the bottle in a timely fashion was my problem with Akkerman IJzer-Galnoten.  Last time I pulled that bottle out and inked up a pen with it, I discovered that there was some precipitate in the bottle.   

Now I'm starting to worried about other IG inks I have which haven't seen a lot of use recently....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[OCArt]

I seem to remember reading that a little precipitate was not abnormal. I definitely remember that you should NOT shake an iron gall ink bottle before pen filling.

23 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

[snipped] Last time I pulled that bottle out and inked up a pen with it, I discovered that there was some precipitate in the bottle.   [snipped]

 

[inkstainedruth]

Sadly, it seemed to be more than just a "little" precipitate.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Now I'm starting to worried about other IG inks I have which haven't seen a lot of use recently...

 

I have six unopened 60ml bottles of Hero 232 blue-black iron-gall ink (after giving a couple of such away), but I'm just not going to worry about it, since they nominally only cost US$3 or so each (and effectively about US$5 each). Obtaining replacement bottles, should that be required in time, could be difficult and/or more costly; but that's unavoidable, whether I have a stockpile or not.

 

But I will refrain from stockpiling iron-gall inks in the Platinum Classic Ink product line at fourfold to sixfold the price. Having some Platinum Blue-Black (iron-gall) ink cartridges from pens I acquired a number of years ago, and still not seeing anything wrong with them today, I'd like to think my (slightly less expensive) stash of full bottles of that ink won't spoil within a decade or so.

 

[pencils+pens]

I don't stockpile inks. I usually order another bottle of an ink I like when it gets below 1/4 left. I have had a few inks I liked, Levenger Smokey. Private Reserve DC Supershow Green and Organic Studio South Beach Blue, go out of production. I just find replacements.

 

[fireant]

3 hours ago, OCArt said:

 I definitely remember that you should NOT shake an iron gall ink bottle before pen filling.

 

 

This is good to know. Thank you.

I only have a few Iron Gall inks, mainly two or three KWZIs.

[OCArt]

You might be interested in this page of Iron Gall Tips and Tricks by Konrad Zurawski of KWZI inks

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for posting the link, OC Art!  Looks like it will be a really interesting read.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[A Smug Dill]

On 12/15/2021 at 9:47 PM, DvdRiet said:

A thousand years from now you will still be trying to empty those bottles! 😁

 

Egads! I finally pulled my finger out, and updated my spreadsheet of how much of which inks I have, after neglecting it for at least the past six months (because it's turning into “too much work”). That I've had to redo the labels on the side of cartons of unopened ink bottles shoved under the guest bed was the trigger.

 

I now see that I have 145 unopened bottles of ink stockpiled (i.e. excluding the inks of which I only have one bottle each, but have yet to get around to opening and testing/using), amounting to well over eight litres in total volume.

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by A Smug Dill

[AmandaW]

14 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

...over eight litres in total volume

 

More writing? Or drawing?

[DvdRiet]

7 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Egads! I finally pulled my finger out, and updated my spreadsheet of how much of which inks I have, after neglecting it for at least the past six months (because it's turning into “too much work”). That I've had to redo the labels on the side of cartons of unopened ink bottles shoved under the guest bed was the trigger.

 

I now see that I have 145 unopened bottles of ink stockpiled (i.e. excluding the inks of which I only have one bottle each, but have yet to get around to opening and testing/using), amounting to well over eight litres in total volume.

 

I think it’s safe to say that you are the exception to ‘ink is the consumable and not the investment’ that makes the rule! 😅

[A Smug Dill]

10 minutes ago, DvdRiet said:

I think it’s safe to say that you are the exception to ‘ink is the consumable and not the investment’ that makes the rule! 😅

 

I'm ashamed to say I even have spare bottles of Noodler's Ink, mostly from a buying spree early in 2014, before I knew any better. That said, there is one Noodler's ink colour I'd still buy more of today, if I see it offered at a significantly discounted price; in fact, I just asked “our favourite” retailer in NL about it, since it doesn't list that colour in its web shop catalogue.

[sansenri]

I don't stockpile by default, however I do find I have some 2-3 bottles of the same inks coming with pen purchases that come with an ink bottle included (some pen makers could use a bit more fantasy in the ink they bundle in...).

In such cases I usually use the extra bottles for ink mixing experiments, it's fun, let's me have an additional colour, and reduces the stockpile.

[Enkida]

The only ink I've ever stockpiled was one bottle of Montblanc Irish Green, and that was for my husband, who loves that color.  We have enough inks that I don't feel the need to do that; also, I realize how little ink I actually use when I'm not painting with it, so I often waffle with myself over getting bottles that have more than 30 mL in it because those will, literally, outlast my lifetime most likely.

The one ink I regret not buying a second bottle of is Blackstone Barrier Reef Blue.  My current bottle is already too low to fill pens, though with a syringe I have enough to keep going for another fill or two, and all of my local shops here stopped carrying Blackstone and I can't seem to find a website for their company.  Maybe they stopped making ink?  I don't know (probably worth a forum search, but I'm a little afraid of the answer I'd find...).  On the other hand, Diamine's A Night in Jodhpur has shot up to replace it in its absence, and while not quite the same color, I get a similar enjoyment out of it.  So it's probably a good thing I didn't stock up, because my Jodhpur bottle is 80mL big, and again... that's a lifetime, and also from a relatively local shop, with seemingly no danger of going out of stock in the next couple of years.

... this thread has made me realize I should get off my duff and finish my Barrier Reef Blue and stockpiles be damned.  I've been fear-hoarding it for at least a year now because I don't want to "run out" and I really love using that ink.  Ink was meant to be written with, damn it, especially if you like it!  It's officially back in the rotation!