Diamine Archival Registers ink

[W Mitchell]

Did a simple water proofness test on this ink which I purchased a few weeks ago. After writing with a steel nib dip pen left the piece of paper out in the sun for a few hours so the ink would dry thoroughly.

Next put the paper in the kitchen sink and saturated it completely. The photo was taken with the paper still completely saturated.

 

Vitually nil ink run or feathering.

 

Although a simple test it would appear Diamine ink is very permanent and long lasting.

 

This ink is not suitable for fountain pens, only dip pens.

 

[A Smug Dill]

27 minutes ago, W Mitchell said:

This ink is not suitable for fountain pens,

 

Why not?

[inkstainedruth]

@W MitchellYeah, plus 1 to what ASD said.  Unless of course you let the ink dry in the pen....

Mind you, I didn't like Diamine Registrar's when I tried it.  I don't know whether I got a bad sample, but it was very washed out and oxidized to a pale blue grey (although the shading was nice).  And of course, IME IG inks do not have any sort of UV resistance, although there are other ones I like very much.

Clearly you don't understand how iron gall inks work.  They ARE good for fountain pens, but they DO need extra maintenance, such as more frequent flushing out.  Unlike regular inks, IG inks are very acidic (i.e., with a low pH).  So the best way I've found to flush pens out after using an IG ink is to flush with water (I use distilled water because I have a high mineral content in my water supply).  Then flush with a 9:1 ratio of water/distilled water and white vinegar (as opposed to the "normal homemade flush of distilled water and household ammonia (same ratio) -- clear, not the sudsing kind) with a drop of dish detergent (I don't know what the equivalent outside the US would be -- here, Dawn "regular" is good).  Then flush with more water.  Some people have said they use a crushed up vitamin C tablet in place of the vinegar -- but for me?  The vinegar is cheaper, because I can buy a jug and it lasts way longer than a bottle of vitamin C tablets would, given the small amount I'm using per flush.

Someone who is a chemist posted a while back that doing an ammonia flush after that (followed by flushing with more water of course) is good.  So I do that now.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[W Mitchell]

Read on the Diamine site this iron gall ink has sediments in it hence its unsuitabilty for fountain pens.

 

Noticed when first written and the ink is wet is a blue colour. After a while slowly darkens to black which is the behaviour of iron gall inks.

 

Writes well with a convential steel nib or calligraphy nib.

[A Smug Dill]

10 minutes ago, W Mitchell said:

Read on the Diamine site this iron gall ink has sediments in it hence its unsuitabilty for fountain pens.

 

Where exactly on Diamine's website, though?

• https://www.diamineinks.co.uk/listings.aspx?brandid=8 and subordinate webpages make no mention of that.
• https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Adiamineinks.co.uk+iron-gall returns no matches.

[W Mitchell]

Here is a link to Pen City from where I purchased the ink. They give warnings on using this ink in a fountain pen.

 

https://pencity.com.au/products/diamine-ink-30-ml-registrars?_pos=1&_sid=9e3a8a437&_ss=r

[A Smug Dill]

10 minutes ago, W Mitchell said:

They give warnings on using this ink in a fountain pen.

 

That doesn't mean iron-gall ink (i) as a writing fluid, before oxidation of the ferrous ions, contains sediments, or (ii) is categorically unsuitable for use in fountain pens.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_gall_ink#Fountain_pens

 

There are many iron-gall inks in the market today that are suitable for use in fountain pens. Platinum and KWZ Ink both have entire lines of iron-gall inks in different colours for fountain pen use. Pelikan 4001 Blue/Black remains an iron-gall ink; and so is Hero 232 blue-black. You just have to be careful and practise good “pen hygiene” when using iron-gall ink in fountain pens.

 

 

The same goes for pigment inks and shimmer inks which, unlike iron-gall inks, inherently contains insoluble particles suspended in the writing fluid as manufactured.

[Runnin_Ute]

I haven't used Diamine Registrars, but I have had Pelikan 4001 Blue Black in my Pelikan 140 since August 2017 continuously. A few clear water flushes is all per year (3 or 4/year). But I am using it regularly and I am not switching out other inks either necessitating more frequent flushes.

 

Now, Pelikan indicates it is a mild iron gall formula like most modern IG inks. But Pelikan Blue Black is much drier than say the KWZI Iron Gall inks I have tried (Turquoise, Mandarin). My understanding with both Diamine Registrars and ESSRI (also a Registrars Ink (Blue Black)) are "less" mild than other iron galls, but are still designed with fountain pens in mind, but can be used with dip pens as well.

[es9]

I really want to try diamine registrar’s, but I have a hunch I will hate it. KWZ is already pretty dry for my preferences. 

[yazeh]

15 hours ago, es9 said:

I really want to try diamine registrar’s, but I have a hunch I will hate it. KWZ is already pretty dry for my preferences. 

If you don't like dry inks, then it's not for you. These inks are very practical for very wet vintage pens. The dried IG ink, I've tried is the brown black, Gutenberg Urkundentinten G10. 

Another problem of IG inks is their relatively short shelf life.  

Incidentally, I've used some inks that are even drier than Registrars

[W Mitchell]

As I bought the Diamine for usage with a dip pen the issue of suitability for fountain pens was not a concern for me.

Writes very nicely with a dip pen.

[txomsy]

11 hours ago, yazeh said:

Another problem of IG inks is their relatively short shelf life.

 

I don't know. I've had an old MB permanent BB ink, which was in principle IG -I believe-) in an open bottle since the early '90s until almost 2020 when I finally used it all up. Let us say 25 years in a bottle that was half empty and used sporadically (i.e. re-opened from time to time --in other words, renovating the atmosphere).

 

Note: obviously I prefer either black or blue.

 

I think an unopened bottle may be able to last significantly longer. Still, that may be less than a non IG ink, but that's not necessarily a short shelf life. Specially if unopened.

 

Of course, if late 80's-early 90's MB Permanent BB was not IG, then please ignore all the above comments and, please, excuse and pardon my ignorance.

[A Smug Dill]

9 hours ago, W Mitchell said:

As I bought the Diamine for usage with a dip pen the issue of suitability for fountain pens was not a concern for me.

 

Fair enough. However, you asserted that,

 

On 5/16/2023 at 6:56 AM, W Mitchell said:

This ink is not suitable for fountain pens, only dip pens.

 

and this is, after all, the Fountain Pen Network; so such statements must be carefully reviewed, and rigorously challenged or validated, irrespective of whether it's of personal concern or consequence to you.

[yazeh]

4 hours ago, txomsy said:

 

I don't know. I've had an old MB permanent BB ink, which was in principle IG -I believe-) in an open bottle since the early '90s until almost 2020 when I finally used it all up. Let us say 25 years in a bottle that was half empty and used sporadically (i.e. re-opened from time to time --in other words, renovating the atmosphere).

 

Note: obviously I prefer either black or blue.

 

I think an unopened bottle may be able to last significantly longer. Still, that may be less than a non IG ink, but that's not necessarily a short shelf life. Specially if unopened.

 

Of course, if late 80's-early 90's MB Permanent BB was not IG, then please ignore all the above comments and, please, excuse and pardon my ignorance.

That I cannot affirm. I don't much about Montblanc ink.

 I know that  Essri bottles have  1.5 year of shelf life according to their website. 

And talking with Thom who developed the Büroserivce Bergman IG inks, he affirmed the same thing. At one point the ink precipitates. (I hope I'm using the correct form) and nothing can save it after that.

 

When I got the Urkundentinten G10, the brown/black IG ink both times the ink was expired. I didn't know better at the time. I still use it but only in art work with a Q-Tip. If I dip a Q-Tip at the bottom of the bottle I can create the dark brown colour otherwise it's a washed out sepia. 

[Mr.Rene]

Greetings!

From Christine Hesketh <diamine.sales@btconnect.com few hours ago...

 

Dear Customer,

 

Thank you for your email.

 

Our Registrar's Ink is suitable for fountain pens.

 

Kind regards,

Courtney

[Dip n Scratch]

I had a Delike Alpha that I used with Registrar's Ink for 3 months. Admittedly it was not a expensive pen, but all it took was a scrub and it was good-to-go for another 3 months.

A solution to Moleskine and Leuchturm notebooks.

Even better if used with a Wality eyedropper pen.

[mhphoto]

I’ve been running Diamine Registers ink in a Retro 51 Tornado for literally over five years with zero issues. Just flush between fills and don’t use ammonia-based pen flushes. 

[AceNinja]

On 6/15/2023 at 7:43 AM, mhphoto said:

I’ve been running Diamine Registers ink in a Retro 51 Tornado for literally over five years with zero issues. Just flush between fills and don’t use ammonia-based pen flushes. 

May I know during the 5 years period are you using the same bottle of diamine registrars?  I ask because I seemed to read somewhere that IG inks has a shelf life, citing that solid precipitation will form in a few years time.  Same reason that some people advice not to shake IG ink bottle just before refilling.

 

Diamine Registrar's probably one of the highest IG content ink in the FP ink category, and therefore probably the most subjectable to this... issue?

[XYZZY]

I just recently tossed out most of a 30ml bottle of Diamine Registrars that I bought April 2019.  It was awesome when new.  I hadn't used it since December 2019, but recently filed a pen with it: it was almost clear, after oxidizing on paper for a day just barely gray.  Before tossing the bottle I rinsed out the sludge...lots of iron particles down there.  I kept the sludge particles in case anybody with lab equipment would want to check them out.

 

I have a couple bottles of KWZ and a couple of R&K iron gall inks, but haven't had them long enough to know if there will be problems.  I would think it's inevitable though.

[Dip n Scratch]

I went to the effort of taping the lid of the bottle to exclude the entry of air to the bottle with my last bottle.

I gravitated towards Hero 232. It does not turn jet-black unless you use it in a eyedropper pen or a old lever-fill type which are both generous in respect of ink-flow.

Registrar's is for when you want a black that will not fade to brown as a dye-based ink will do.