Shimmer Inks…what pens to use?

[Sailor Kenshin]

I got the Diamine InkVent Calendar and there are a lot of glitter/shimmer inks in there. And I have been gun-shy of those since I clogged the feed of a Preppy with some orange glitter ink.  

Any recommendations for a pen that can take it? Nothing expensive, please. Not even as much $$ as a TWSBI.

Oh, and I tested the InkVent glitters, 'scuse me, SHIMMERS, with a glass dip pen. 😜 But I would like to load an actual pen with some because most of them were intriguing.

Thanks!

[kestrel]

I've run J. Herbin, Diamine, and Birmingham glitter inks through a couple of Sheaffer No Nonsense pens with medium italic and broad italic nibs and had no problems.  I won't put them into any pen unless I can clean nib/feed ultrasonically afterwards.  Flushing with an ear syringe isn't quite enough to get all the little sparklies out.

[mulrich]

I’m comfortable using shimmer inks in any c/c pen. As long as I can force water through the feed I can clean out any particles. 

[Penguincollector]

I bought an NOS BB Pilot 78g specifically to try shimmer inks. There was still one available at Peyton Street Pens for under $20 a couple of days ago. I just cleaned the pen but haven’t filled it yet. I was planning to do that this weekend. 

[Licue]

I use shimmer inks only in FPs where I can easily pull out and separate nib and feed.

Maybe it's different with an ultrasonic cleaner (I never had one 🤷🏼‍♀️), but just pushing water in and out (via converter/syringe/piston) never seemed enough to remove all the shimmer sitting between nib and feed.

[tde44x]

I've put them in TWSBI 580's and a SWIPE without problems. Although I have to admit I am now using shimmer inks only with my dip pens as I am too lazy to clean them out when they do clog.

[JulieParadise]

The most important aspect is a wet nib.

 

I have used Diamine Golden Sands for months in a Pelikan M200 Clear Demo F, M, B (different nib units, because these are so easily swappable) without any damage to the pen.

 

With those Pelikan pens it is also easy to unscrew the nib unit, so cleaning isn't a problem at all.

 

Lately I have used Diamine Inkvent Subzero in this pen and a smaller Pelikan M350 IM; it had stayed in there from Mid-November until way into March. Again, no problems.

[Sailor Kenshin]

11 hours ago, kestrel said:

I've run J. Herbin, Diamine, and Birmingham glitter inks through a couple of Sheaffer No Nonsense pens with medium italic and broad italic nibs and had no problems.  I won't put them into any pen unless I can clean nib/feed ultrasonically afterwards.  Flushing with an ear syringe isn't quite enough to get all the little sparklies out.

Ooo, I actually have some of the Sheaffer NN pens with italic nibs.  Thanks! 

[dragondazd]

My Kaweco perkeo is pretty wet. I use it for testing.

[dragondazd]

@amberleadavis mentioned the osprey pens are pretty clog-resistant. Sounds like a solid option i intend to try (not to mention the flex options...)

[peroride]

At a pen meet, some spoke highly of a TWSBI ECO with shimmers but my take on large volume fillers has not been fun.

 

After clogging a plastic bock 250 feed and turning it into gold 🤩 on the my Opus 88 Opera eyedropper (it swallows all kinds of ink) with Pelikan Edelstein Golden Beryl (the reviewer used all kinds of FP nibs), I realized letting these boutique inks sitting for weeks in a pen is not the way to use them. 

 

I think I found myself a new hobby/freedom using the Kakimori steel nib. $$$ But it has been a real game changer and I can use these inks freely with abandon: dip, write, wipe, rinse, next ink, repeat.  Fun, funner, funnest!

 

I also have had success with the Osprey dip pen, Pilot Parallel and a Broad Jowo (but the ink was less disturbed Herbin Vert Atlantide) 

 

So in sum, dip pens are the way to go for me as the clogging and cleaning experience is not worth the hassle.

 

 

 

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks!  I was going to look into the Ospreys anyway.

[Licue]

I'm a bit surprised so many people recommend dip pens for shimmer inks.

Sure, the cleaning would be a lot easier, but don't you find it impractical for any kind of longer writing? How do you deal with the tendency of shimmer particles to quickly sink back to the bottom of the bottle? Do you close and re-shake the bottle constantly? Stir the ink with the dip pen? 🤔

 

Admittedly I'm not a big fan of dip pens to begin with, but to me it seems they would be especially impractical to use with shimmer inks - at least if you want to write more than just a few words.

[peroride]

3 hours ago, Licue said:

write more than just a few words.

 

With the Pilot Parallel, I use the infamous Con-40 and store nib down and the glitter settles in the feed. The Pilot Parallel writes plenty especially with the corner but I mainly use for character practice.

 

Here's my process with the Kakimori nib:

• Take any ink bottle, shake, syringe aliquot of ~2-4 ml into a ink sample vial. 
• Cap and shake ink sample vial and uncap
• Tilting the vial toward horizontal taking care not to spill any ink
• insert dip nib and rotate to slather in ink
• write lots (see Pen Addict video below testing with different inks)
• I place the open vial on a plastic take out salsa/condiment dish so it is at a low angle slant and can also re-prime the nib that way as well if there is a sufficient amount

I can write plenty on 1 dip with the Kakimori nib similiar to Brad of Pen Addict fame:

 

[chemgeek]

I find that pens with a wide, transparent ink reservoir bore are easier for resuspending shimmer inks, and visualizing the suspension status. So there is significant value in something like a TWSBI Eco or 580. You can fill them as much or as little as you like. The 580 has the advantage of being able to easily remove the nib unit for thorough cleaning. Both the Eco and 580 run wet enough to handle shimmer inks.

[amberleadavis]

I've done really well with an Osprey Madison with a Pilot Parallel nib.