Shimmer inks

[davisgt]

What is the appeal of shimmer inks? I have no experience at all with these types of inks. Wouldn't they clog a fountain pen? 

[inkstainedruth]

Depends on the pen and nib, and depends on the size of the particles.  For the original formula of J Herbin Rouge Hematite (which had big flakes of gold in it) I only used it in a cheap Chinese pen with a fude nib.

I bought a few early on (mostly samples) but almost never use them (and still have not opened the bottle of Edelstein Golden Lapis that was swag from this year's Pelikan Hub -- or the bottle of J Herbin Kyanite du Nepal that I got in the raffle.  Or for that matter, the bottle of J Herbin Kenzo Takada Shogun ink that I actually ordered without having tried a sample of it first. 

My issue with the shimmer inks is that when the ink dries, there is no way to keep the shimmer particles on the page, unless maybe using spray fixative.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[lapis]

FWIW, i.e. -- in case this might happen to help you in your collection of statistics -- shimmer inks don't appeal to me at all. Maybe/possibly if you're into artistry like many of us here. E.g. like Yazeh. But for me, "normal" writing with any ink in any pen on any paper, shimmer particles are a pain in the ahh, y'know. Can clog a pen as many of us have experienced. Even if it doesn't, I still do worry about that with a new ink in an old, expensive pen. And/or, such particles, however big or small, don't really seem to hang on tough, and, especially for certain times like Christmas or a birthday, such shimmer particles somehow fall off (as Ruth just said) or get pale. I used to be a scientist and always had access to powerful centrifuges. Awe, those were the days....

[yazeh]

Actually I rarely use shimmer ink. I have a few bottles (two I believe) and were bought when I got caught in the whirlwind of shimmer bandwagon. One bottle is abandoned in a drawer, and yes as @lapis said, and the other I use it in some artworks but not with a fountain pen. I use it brush directly, to create a night sky. It's Diamine Shimmering Sea, a dark blue with gold flecks. 

 

But to answer your question it's a question of taste & use or combination of both.  

Several times I had my text obliterated by water. So, I use exclusively waterproof /resistant inks. It doesn't mean I don't occasionally use or review other types of inks. But that's me. 

 

@Penguincollector is the shimmer queen. She can tell you why she likes shimmer inks

 

 

 

[LizEF]

On 10/28/2024 at 9:16 AM, davisgt said:

What is the appeal of shimmer inks?

The appeal is the same as any other visual property: the viewer likes what they see.  Whether it's shading, sheen, shimmer, the lack of shading, pastels, strong colors, sharp contrast, shiny or matte appearance, or whatever - the viewer likes the look.

 

A similar question could be asked about an inks behavioral properties: flow, lubrication, and dry time.  In this case, it's the feel, appearance, or behavior itself the user likes...

 

On 10/28/2024 at 9:16 AM, davisgt said:

Wouldn't they clog a fountain pen? 

Surprisingly, not as much as you'd think.  Glitter inks do best in a wet pen, where the increased flow of liquid helps the glitter particles move.  But the particles in FP ink are (by necessity) small enough to move through feeds without completely damming the channel.  I have found Diamine's shimmer inks to be the best-behaved.  I have also found (in my Pilot steel EF nib ink reviews), that if you fill through the nib and feed, you're likely to get a clog within a few hours of filling (I think this method of filling deposits excess glitter in the feed).  After that, even with the worst-behaving inks, you should be able to go about 2 days without any flow issues (depending on how much your write, and your pen).  And clearing clogs is pretty easy:

1. With the nib up, flood the feed as much as possible without forcing ink to dribble down the pen.  (Obviously, this requires a filling system that supports doing this.)  Then suck ink back into the ink chamber.  The excess liquid can be enough to loosen the dam and pull the glitter back out.
2. Dip the nib into or run it under water.  Again the extra liquid can loosen the clog.  You then have to deal with diluted ink for a little while.
3. Floss the tines with something fine enough that it won't alter the flow of any but the tightest tines.  Rather than using a brass shim (which is rather thick and used to make a nib wetter), I use the very fine strips of metal taken out of security / "don't steal this" thingies found on everything from electronics to gloves at the hardware store:

 

In my experience, the strips are of varying thickness, and I use the thinnest.  (Some folks have expressed concern that these are steel and therefore harder than gold nibs, but I've never had a problem from using one to floss the tines on a pen.)

[Penguincollector]

   I was pretty scared of shimmer inks at first, fearing that they would somehow mess my pens up forever. I blame my early experience with very saturated inks and persnickety Parkers. Most of my life, I stuck to using pens with inks made by the same company and that was that. When Noodler’s and Private Reserve first came out, I heard terrible stories about melted feeds and sacs and mouldy inks, so I kept away from them. 
 

   A couple of years ago I discovered cheap Chinese pens and then Diamine inks. Then Pelikan made Golden Lapis, and the shimmery floodgates opened. What I learned was that certain types of feeds are more prone to clogging with shimmer particles than others, regardless of nib width, and that trial and error is fun. I keep shimmer to easily cleaned pens, and have a plenty of dip pens for embellishments. I’m currently running a shimmer in in a 144, and that pen absolutely loves it. I steer clear of shimmer in sacced pens and pens with an inlaid nib. 
 

  Now I am messing around with mica powder and ready made shimmer additives and making my own ink mixes. The mica mixes have worked well, even in a Pilot Fine. The pens that haven’t worked well with shimmer ink so far have been Sheaffer’s. 

[Ditzy]

For me I simply think that the shimmer is pretty. It makes writing more fun. I actually find that high sheening inks make my pens clog more often. Made even worse if it is both sheening and shimmering. But it increases my enjoyment of writing, which in the end in this day and age is the main reason to write.

[midnightblues]

I like a bit of shimmer now and then, keeps things interesting. I generally use it in my Benu <B> nibs and rarely have issues with clogging - if they do, I just twirl the converter to pull the ink out of the feed and then send it back the other way until I see ink at the end of the feed (do this nib up btw!) It does tend to lurk in pens, so for example I'm currently using Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun in a Lamy B, but it must have had a tiny bit of shim leftover somewhere so now I have a very slightly glimmery grey. It's rather pleasing. TWSBIs take shimmer well and at least you can see where it's lurking and clean it out. 

Each to their own though. A very shimmery ink can smoosh glitter everywhere even when dry, but I'll take that any day over a smeary sheener. I cannot ABIDE smeary inks, and most sheeners do due to their nature. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

IMO, if a pen clogs , just add an ink near the original color to thin the glitter.

(Shake the pen fairly often..)

 

I do have a sponge in a rubber German postal cup, I use for pens that sat out way too long waiting for use.  (Often having 17 pens inked will get dry pens) That will start them that have dried, and pens that have clogged with glitter....or has for me.

.........

 

Diamine Arctic Blue (filled from the top) and Pelikan Golden Lapis (filled after a good shaking and let settle for some 30 seconds)  are real good no tilt glitter inks.

My other four Diamine inks didn't take with the trick I learned with Golden Lapis...shake and fill from the settling cloud of glitter. Those still have to be tilted to see glitter.

 

Some inks are glitter monsters, others will need glitter added.

 

 

[LandyVlad]

Interested in people's experience with Van Dieman's shimmer inks.

They have some lovely looking inks based on images and reviews I've seen.

 

Do such inks require a broad or stub nib to exhibit sheen and shimmer, or do they still do so with say a <M> nib?

[Sailor Kenshin]

I use dip pens.

 

Now and then, the Pilot Parallel.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Congradulations on your latest book.

My computer won't let me see anything on it.

Someday...next year I'll be done, and by the end of the year, done with the cutting of my western saga.

Got to cut 1/3 out.

 

I have a biography that requires no cutting, just need to do the last, and happy chapter.

Her husband continued to chase gold...so after 20 years she divorced him.

In gold rich Center City, Colordo, the richest square mile on earth, Mary Ann had a boarding home, in she had two daughters to marry off to men with ambition. He insisted in going to Montana.

One became one of the best lawyers in Colroado. The other owned a Wyoming store, a bank, and 1/4th of Nevada as cattle range. Mary Ann was right.

 

Moving down two thousand feet from Centeral City, to where one could breath, Mary Ann Alvord's first hotel, in Idaho Springs Colorado, in the late '60's. Famous for it's healthy warm springs. Second best hotel in that town.

Her and a woman from her home town, have a decade long battle who has the best hotel between them.

'House' was a better, more homey hotel.

Next hotel in Golden, Colorado, which was almost Capitol of Colorado.

When Denver won, Mary Ann moved to Denver. For three years, the best hotel in Denver.

So any woman that could do that, back in the day of 50 cents a day wages for woman's 12 hour day; needed a biography...young love, wilds of Missouri, California Gold Rush, Colorado Gold rush....divorce....marries her two daughters well, and in the end re-marries her first love....and they go off to California, where they had been before, to see the sun set.

 

Replaced by the Windsor as the best hotel in Denver in 1880, a mighty five story sky scraper, and one story observation deck. There may have been a hotel in NY, or Chicago, that was taller a story....perhaps. With an elevator shaft, six stories deep.

1881 Elevators became modern needing only a basement....one story deep, not as before, as deep as high.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Best of luck, @Bo Bo Olson!

[Bo Bo Olson]

Thanks....now off to throw in some thieves Cant, and Gibberish...criminal languages in to a scene where the two major characters hve just ripped apart a couple rouges.

The Gibberish that girls speak now, was once the upper class criminal's Cant language...the bosses langues spoked amoung themselves. 

The dumb, black jacking and KO drop expert, blond bombshell, has unexplored corners....only half so stupid....wise in other ways than the fallen ladies.

[LandyVlad]

If using a shimmer and/or sheening ink - is there any reason why a piston filler or vac filler would be better or worse for that use case?

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, LandyVlad said:

If using a shimmer and/or sheening ink - is there any reason why a piston filler or vac filler would be better or worse for that use case?

They are more difficult to clean, that's why. 

And for sheeing inks, it depends on the sheen. If it's one of those monster sheeners, you might stain the barrel, i.e if your barrel is transparent...

Unless you're planning to use the pen for that specific ink, for good  

[LandyVlad]

Allow me to rephrase - what would be better - TWSBI Vac TWSI piston or some pen with a converter maybe?

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LandyVlad said:

Allow me to rephrase - what would be better - TWSBI Vac TWSI piston or some pen with a converter maybe?

Shimmer: with convertor

Sheen: it depends, if it's a staining one convertor, if not anything goes. Also, if you're planning to use this pen/ ink combination for a long time, then use it in the pen of your choice. 

I have a Moonman M1 filled with Noodler's Polar Green, which can stain. It's the forever pen/ ink combo. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have very few pens with a converter, in most of my pens are pistons.

 

I've not yet had trouble getting rid of all my glitter (got some 6-7 glitter inks)....if I did, I'd try a similar color ink, with out glitter and just ignore it. Sooner than later all the giltter will wash out, with the non glitter ink.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I once managed to clog the feed of a Preppy with glitter ink.  It could not be saved.