Inky T O D - what is an ink that you have never tried, but you could be convinced to try or buy?

[txomsy]

For me it might be one of Monarca inks. I've been attracted by them since I saw the first reviews.

 

Other than that, I did lust after Troublemaker's inks until they were overwhelmed and became unobtanium. Happened to get Simoun and Doña Victorina before that happened and love them. Wish they were as easily (and versatile) obtained as they were at the beginning, I'd certainly would consider getting other colors.

 

But I already have too much ink to finish first.

[Misfit]

On 7/26/2022 at 11:06 AM, ErrantSmudge said:

 

Thank you, I'll be on the lookout.  There's surprisingly few reviews of the current Birmingham ink lineup here on FPN, so photos and reviews are definitely welcome.  Especially since Birmingham sells their inks only in bottled form, so it's hard (impossible?) to get them as samples.

 

Here is a photo of Eroded Bronze ink on Tomoe River paper. 

[Misfit]

And here is Birmingham Pens Waterfront Dusk. 

[ErrantSmudge]

@Misfit Thank you for the photos!  I agree, writing shows off an ink better than swatches.  Waterfront Dusk is a nice dark purple that's not too dark, and Eroded Bronze is a nice shader.

[Misfit]

@ErrantSmudge you are very welcome. 

[dragondazd]

Hey guys! based on some initial testing, Birmingham Oil Beetle might be a good substitute for yama dori. Sheening included! Here it is on TR 68gsm.

 

The investigation continues...

[dragondazd]

On 7/24/2022 at 12:25 AM, A Smug Dill said:

 

To me, early on, they were “The Expensive Line” of relatively exotic (but safe, unlike Noodler's Ink) inks… that I could get somewhat cheaply, which turned it to an overall positive instead of a negative. The local Kinokuniya store, and ‘boutique’ fountain pen specialist stores, in town that stock them wanted ≥A$50 a 50ml bottle, whereas I could get them for the effective price of A$17 a bottle, provided that I always engineered to spend >US$100 per order. That's how I ended up with 15 out of the 24 colours in the original regular line-up of Iroshizuku inks, by the time 2014 rolled around.

 

 

You certainly don't need to, but I think you “should” try them all, especially if you have ready access to ink samples (as in being able to buy them for no more than, say, $2 a pop on average inclusive of tax and delivery, even if you have to buy several at once to minimise shipping charges), as is the case in the US but not in, say, Australia.

 

Yu-yake shades very well, so you should try that especially if you put such a premium on apparent shading (with at least as much importance as whether you like the colour).

 

Ina-ho is still “the” gold ink for me, even though Platinum Classic Ink Citrus Black is more interesting (in an almost gimmicky way). It's only been discontinued relatively recently, so by no means is it unobtainium by the 50ml bottle at this stage. It has surprisingly good water resistance, which sets it apart from other contenders.

 

The also relatively recently discontinue Tsukushi will probably take something like Tomoe River FP paper to really show off its complexity and sheen.

 

 

Again, they offer surprisingly good water resistance for lighter-coloured inks. A long time ago, before I had several dozens to hundreds of different inks at my disposal, I didn't think much of them in terms of have practical uses for the colours; but now I've grown to really appreciate how they stand out among other a plethora of unsaturated pale ink, in terms of legibility and other qualities (such as water resistance) on paper; whereas the crowd favourites such as Kon-peki and Asa-gao are far more readily substitutable with inks of other brands.

 

Whereas Chiku-rin, for me, remains “interesting and rarely used”.

 

 

Thank you for inspiring me to revisit iroshizuku. It's hard to argue with the cost of a sample. I am going through a few slowly.

 

 

[amberleadavis]

12 hours ago, dragondazd said:

Thank you for inspiring me to revisit iroshizuku. It's hard to argue with the cost of a sample. I am going through a few slowly.

 

 

The Iroshizuku inks which I too considered to be expensive, have been such wonderful inks.They are wet, they are more fade resistant than other inks, they don't satin, and they are pretty. All around, they are a great value for the performance and functional bottle.

[inkstainedruth]

I really like some of the Iroshizuku inks.  But, like other brands, I like some and detest others.

I had tried Kosumosu after seeing some reviews on FPN, but when I tried a sample, and on crummy paper?  Disliked it intensely -- I never got the lovely pink to orange shading that people were showing; and under incandescent light, it looked like overripe watermelon.... And Asa-gao?  When I started on FPN several people said "This is my go-to blue!" but I tried a sample and found it drippy -- I'd write about a page and then watch a big blob of ink roll down the nib!   OTOH, I would *never* want to be without Kon-peki, Yama-budo, or Yama-guri, and I also like Murasaki-Shikibu but don't use it much).  And I bought a *third* bottle of Tsuyu-kusa when I heard that it was being discontinued (I never understood why it didn't get the love some of their other blue inks got -- I find it to be a very restful, quiet (but well behaved) ink.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Checklist]

Sailor Souboku.  I like the color and waterproofing, but I am nervous about putting pigmented ink in some of my vintage pens, particularly my Parker 61.  I also don't want 20 bottles of ink, each with a different limitation about what goes with what pens.

[dragondazd]

After sampling most of the blue iroshizukus, I decided to get a bottle of tsuyu-kusa before it was too late. It was my favorite of the lot.

[dragondazd]

On 7/26/2022 at 3:52 PM, ErrantSmudge said:

 

Of the ones you've listed, these look the most interesting:

 

Waterfront dusk

cherry blossom

oil beetle

 

I'd also add Electron, but even though I love cyan-turquoise blues, I already have several in my collection!

 

Thanks!

I posted cherry blossom and oil beetle.

 

I liked electron but as you might imagine it's hard to tell it apart from some other inks of that shade.