Hero 202 Blue-Black (*not 232*): Iron Gall?

[PithyProlix]

As far as I can tell Hero 232 Blue-Black seems to be getting scarce from my online sources. (I recently ordered a bottle Hero 232 & 233 and was sent 2 bottles of 233 instead. Then the seller promptly raised the price to over 3x what I had paid ...)

 

Hero 202 is still readily available. I did a search here: the evidence - while there's not a lot of it - seems to suggest that Hero 202 is likely iron gall. Has any more evidence turned up recently?

 

I'll probably take a chance on it since it is so inexpensive but I need more ink that I won't use like I need a hole in my head.

[silverlifter]

I got some from here a little while back.

[PithyProlix]

I got some from here a little while back.

 

Thanks for the link. I just tried to order from them a few days ago and they wanted about $25 shipping (least expensive method to Thailand) for ~ $40 order of ink - after getting a quote for about $8 - so I cancelled the order.

 

That said, I did find 232 a few hours ago at a decent price on Aliexpress (I couldn't find it through a search - it was suggested while looking at some other ink).

 

Regardless, it would be nice to know if 202 is actually iron gall ...

Edited October 15, 2020 by PithyProlix

[OCArt]

You could run a test to see if a written sample of the Hereto 202 is water proof with only a slight loss of the dye color. If so then apply bleach to a dry sample and see if a faint iron rust remains as in this post. That will confirm the ink has an iron gall component.

Edited October 15, 2020 by OCArt

[PithyProlix]

You could run a test to see if a written sample of the Hereto 202 is water proof with only a slight loss of the dye color. If so then apply bleach to a dry sample and see if a faint iron rust remains as in this post. That will confirm the ink has an iron gall component.

 

Thank you for the advice. I actually thought to do that but then I saw this post showing that bleach had completely wiped away R&K Salix.

 

Luckily I found and ordered Hero 232 after my initial post.

[PithyProlix]

BTW, I just found out this little tidbit from a Tianjin Ostrich-ink Co. sales representative: while they vary in formulation, all of Ostrich's blue-blacks are made with iron gall. I might buy some and report back.

[Mech-for-i]

No 202 is not iron gall, its basic dye based blue-black. 232 is your IG blue-black , and 234 your old fashion formulated Carbon Black ( heavy in carbon content , high maintenance ). Ostrich is a very reputable ink Mfr , in fact they dated all the way to early 1930's and was the first industrial ink Mfr in China. Some of their low end ink though are better avoided , feather too much IMHO.

 

The issue with some of the modern IG formula is that they are actually pretty low on the Iron ferrous part, which is why I tend to stick with these old formula IG ink instead.

[PithyProlix]

No 202 is not iron gall, its basic dye based blue-black. 232 is your IG blue-black , and 234 your old fashion formulated Carbon Black ( heavy in carbon content , high maintenance ). Ostrich is a very reputable ink Mfr , in fact they dated all the way to early 1930's and was the first industrial ink Mfr in China. Some of their low end ink though are better avoided , feather too much IMHO.

 

The issue with some of the modern IG formula is that they are actually pretty low on the Iron ferrous part, which is why I tend to stick with these old formula IG ink instead.

 

Thank you for the info on 202 - exactly what I was looking for.

 

I am waiting for an order of 24 of Ostrich's Flower series inks to arrive - looking forward to them. I saw your posts here about some of them. Have you tried their sheening inks? There are 5 different sheening colors in their "1935" series and 4 in their "Ocean" series.

Edited October 15, 2020 by PithyProlix

[Mech-for-i]

 

... Have you tried their sheening inks? There are 5 different sheening colors in their "1935" series and 4 in their "Ocean" series. ...

Did try them, well its kind of OK, I mean just as many of these sheening ink goes, it highly depend on what kind of media you put the ink onto , really for the sheen to go through you need a wet flow pen and a good coated or very densely pressed paper which will pool the ink and let it it work its charm. Cotton paper, artist paper and most simply day to day use paper or writing with a fine / medium nib would yield at best minimal effect or no effect at all. They are saturated ink though. The flower series are amazingly good colour ink , and mixable. Not quite so sure about this years release though , am not into the Pigment ink nor the Shimmering kind.