Recommend a blue ink for cheap paper?

[Horseflesh]

I'm going to get someone a modest pen for Xmas, but they are not a fountain pen nerd and definitely will not have fancy paper. Their favorite color is blue, so I would like to find a blue or blue-black ink that performs OK on random cheap paper.

 

A high maintenance ink like iron gall is probably a bad idea because honestly, I don't expect them to jump into the joys of fountain pen maintenance right away, you know? (In fact the pen will probably be a Platinum Plaisir (EF) as it seems to tolerate being left unused better than most pens.) The ink does not need to have great shading and pony party sparkles, it just needs to be a dependable workhorse. I'll be available for pen rescue maintenance if needed... Just hoping to avoid that and give them a good trouble-free writing experience. 

 

In searching for old posts on this, I came across these recommendations. 

 

• Waterman Serenity Blue (Often recommended, but Mountain of Ink says it feathers badly on copy paper)
• Pilot Namiki Blue (but I cannot find a review that actually shows or describes copy paper performance)
• Parker Quink Blue or Blue-Black (seems OK on nasty paper per this report)
• Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black (this review says it was great on bad paper. All reviews say you can't actually buy it in the USA, though I see it on Amazon?)

 

 

Thanks for your input!

 

 

[I-am-not-really-here]

Are you expecting this new user to draw ink from a bottle or use cartridges? Platinum uses a proprietary cartridge, though there is an adapter (?) that allows international carts instead. 
 

 

[Horseflesh]

Fair question. There will be a more experienced FP user available to set up the pen, so bottled ink will be OK. 

 

If I get a Platinum pen I am sure it will come with their black ink, which is OK but not awesome from what I remember. We can refill that cartridge with whatever. 

 

[Licue]

Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black is an iron gall ink!

It's also rather dry - could be somewhat un-fun to write with in an EF Plaisir 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Horseflesh]

3 minutes ago, Licue said:

Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black is an iron gall ink!

 

Oops! OK, probably not the best choice then.

[OCArt]

10 minutes ago, Licue said:

Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black is an iron gall ink!

Not in the USA, evidently Pelikan didn't want to fill out the haz mat forms and instead took the IG out in ink shipped here.

[Licue]

48 minutes ago, OCArt said:

Not in the USA, evidently Pelikan didn't want to fill out the haz mat forms and instead took the IG out in ink shipped here.

Are you sure? 

I'm aware there are/were(?) problems getting 4001 Blue-Black in the USA, but I don't think I've heard before that Pelikan is producing a special IG-less version of their Blue-Black for the US market 🤔

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

Pilot Blue does feather a bit on extremely poor paper. In a dry Plaisir EF there might not be much feathering.

[LizEF]

IMO, you should get them paper to go with their pen.  That said, Lamy Blue/Black does well on poor paper.  Platinum Blue/Black seems like another good option.  And despite it being iron gall, I'd recommend Rohrer & Klingner Salix.  They say its iron gall content is fairly mild, and it does very well on absorbent papers.

 

Sailor Souboku does very well, but it's a permanent ink, so unless the pen seals very well, you may not want to go there.

[OCArt]

1 hour ago, Licue said:

Are you sure? 

I'm aware there are/were(?) problems getting 4001 Blue-Black in the USA, but I don't think I've heard before that Pelikan is producing a special IG-less version of their Blue-Black for the US market 🤔

Ah, I stand corrected. Evidently they just chose not to market it in the USA, details here https://thepelikansperch.com/2016/04/20/pelikan-4001-blue-black-story/

[ErrantSmudge]

5 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Platinum Blue/Black seems like another good option. 

 

I have read that Platinum Blue-Black is also iron gall?  I was going to recommend it based on my experience using it for over a year in a Curidas with EF nib.  It has behaved very well and has worked well on even the cheapest papers.  It has the advantage that you can use it in cartridge form with a Plaisir.  Personally I think it's good to start a newbie off with cartridges and then move on to bottled ink.

[Sidney]

I've used Waterman Mysterious Blue, Quink Blue-Black, and Pilot Namiki Blue on cheap copy paper at the company I work for. I didn't notice any feathering. My job doesn't require a lot of writing, so experiences can differ. Cheap scratch pads that our vendors leave behind feather. You have some time to try ink samples. Or, you could get them some samples and a blunt tip syringe since bottled ink will be okay.

 

 

[Runnin_Ute]

2 hours ago, OCArt said:

Not in the USA, evidently Pelikan didn't want to fill out the haz mat forms and instead took the IG out in ink shipped here.

Actually they didn't want to change the formula,  so don't import it instead. My last two bottles came from Cult Pens in the UK.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Runnin_Ute
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[Runnin_Ute]

As part of your gift, give them some nice paper that is reasonably priced. (Red n Black, Apica etc)

[LizEF]

30 minutes ago, ErrantSmudge said:

I have read that Platinum Blue-Black is also iron gall?  I was going to recommend it based on my experience using it for over a year in a Curidas with EF nib.  It has behaved very well and has worked well on even the cheapest papers.  It has the advantage that you can use it in cartridge form with a Plaisir.  Personally I think it's good to start a newbie off with cartridges and then move on to bottled ink.

Yes, it's IG, but it doesn't seem to be a problem.  Maybe some IGs are, but I'm not convinced all are - Platinum wouldn't include it with steel-nib pens if it were (IMO).

[Horseflesh]

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

IMO, you should get them paper to go with their pen.  That said, Lamy Blue/Black does well on poor paper.  Platinum Blue/Black seems like another good option.

 

I have used Platinum Carbon Black and found it to be pretty easy to live with on cheap paper. It doesn't feather, and even dries so fast that a lefty friend of mine was finally able to enjoy a fountain pen when I gave him a 3008 loaded with PCB. If their blue or blue-black ink behaves the same that would be a very good option. 

 

2 hours ago, Runnin_Ute said:

As part of your gift, give them some nice paper that is reasonably priced. (Red n Black, Apica etc)

 

I will, though I know this person well and they won't reach for it first... Not for a while, anyway. So the pen has to basically work on whatever paper is scattered around already. 

 

My fallback plan is Platinum Carbon Black as I have already tried it and seen it work well... But blue is their favorite color, so hopefully I'll find a similarly tolerant blue.

 

Thanks everyone for the recommendations, I have some things to try. Plenty of time left. 

 

[Karmachanic]

6 hours ago, Horseflesh said:

Platinum Carbon Black

 

 

You'll need to flush it regularly, and remove the nano particles (soot) occasionally. Rapido Eze may work.  Ultrasonic definitely will.

[LizEF]

7 hours ago, Horseflesh said:

I have used Platinum Carbon Black and found it to be pretty easy to live with on cheap paper. It doesn't feather, and even dries so fast that a lefty friend of mine was finally able to enjoy a fountain pen when I gave him a 3008 loaded with PCB. If their blue or blue-black ink behaves the same that would be a very good option. 

Hmm.  My experience with PCB on absorbent paper wasn't so good (top is puzzle paper, not much better than newsprint; bottom is 20lb copy paper):

 

But Platinum Blue Black was better:

 

And since I'm there...  Lamy Blue Black (on puzzle paper, like the top half of above images):

 

Sorry, I don't have absorbent paper images for Salix or Souboku, but I know they're both excellent on it.

 

 

[txomsy]

My go to ink for bad paper is Noodler's X-feather. That is a black ink, but there is a new "X-feather blue".

 

It may not be the best recommendation for a beginner, but if this person actually gets engaged and wants to try, it may be a good recommendation.

[Horseflesh]

Thanks for the pics @LizEF! That's super helpful. 

 

Interesting that my PCB experience was better... Maybe my sample cheap paper isn't as bad as I think it is.