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Your top three brands?


PithyProlix

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What are your top three favorite brands? Also, which three brands are most represented in your collection? (Let's stick to bottles, not samples.)

 

My favorites:

  1. L'Artisan Pastellier (I like their Callifolio and Classique lines equally well.)
  2. TAG Stationery, also called Kyoto TAG and Takeda Jimuki. (I like the Kyo Iro and Kyo No Oto lines equally. I have no experience with their Fumisome natural dye ink.)
  3. PenBBS

 

Diamine is close behind and, on another day, I might have chosen them over PenBBS. Both brands have many inks I really like but also many that I really don't, but PenBBS probably has a better 'hit rate' for me.

 

Most number of bottles in my collection:

  1. Diamine (13%)
  2. L'Artisan Pastellier (12%)
  3. PenBBS (7%)

 

I tend to be very cost conscious so I tend to buy high value inks, which makes sense given the brands I have the most of. 

My pens for sale: https://www.facebook.com/jaiyen.pens  

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My favourite ink brands are Iroshizuku, Teranishi and Taccia. Hmmm... all Japanese, I hadn't noticed that!

 

Most in my collection are

- Diamine 15%

- Rohrer & Klingner 8%

- Van Dieman's 7%

 

I don't have so many of my favourite brands (combined they're 12%) quite simply because they are more expensive than the others so tend to be special occasion purchasing - birthday etc.

 

 

Will work for pens... :unsure:

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I have mostly

Diamine (no shimmer inks)

Pelikan 4001

Montblanc (selected colors)

Aurora (Blue and Black)

 

I have two inks that don't perform as well in most of my pens. They're sheening and are too dense to flow well, Diamine Bilberry and Aurora Blue Black. I'm using them in two pens that have ebonite feeds and that's where they work best. They end up clogging in most of my other pens. Even my vintage Auroras with ebonite feeds have trouble with them flowing well. That said, they clean out and rinse out very cleanly without staining. I generally avoid sheening inks whenever possible. I also don't use shimmer in fountain pens because I've spent far too much time cleaning them out of other people's pens.

Stolen: Aurora Optima Demonstrator Red ends Medium nib. Serial number 1216 and Aurora 98 Cartridge/Converter Black bark finish (Archivi Storici) with gold cap. Reward if found. Please contact me if you have seen these pens.

Please send vial orders and other messages to fpninkvials funny-round-mark-thing gmail strange-mark-thing com. My shop is open once again if you need help with your pen.

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  Wow, this is really hard. Traditionally, my top three brands have been Parker Quink, Sheaffer Skrip,  and MontBlanc, with a smattering of Waterman here and there.Within the last couple of years (in no small part due to @fireant’s influence), I have expanded into so many different brands that it’s hard say what my current top three ink brands are. Right now, I think it’s Diamine-because of the sheer variety and general good behavior, Herbin- because they are generally very safe for the older pens but have a good variety, and Sailor-because they are pretty (overnight or 2 day free shipping is also why I have so many-darn impulse buying!).
 

  I have a ton of shimmers and sheeners now, that I would never have considered even five years ago. There are some really eye catching inks in the Chinese market now, like BanMi and YuYi. Tastes change, and since I found out that sub $2 fountain pens exist, I’m taking more chances on buying ink. Plus, with the proliferation of glass pens and new style dip pens, I don’t even have to fill anything. 

Top 5 (in no particular order) of16 currently inked pens:

MontBlanc 144R F, Diamine Bah Humbug

Parker 45 Deluxe M, Lamy Turmaline 

Unknown Chinese Maker A-108 Acrylic Pen M, Diamine Dusted Truffle 

Waterman Caréne Black Sea, Teranishi Lady Emerald

Pilot 742 FA, Namiki Purple cartridge 

always looking for penguin fountain pens and stationery 

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@Dillo, would you use Diamine Bilberry in a sacced pen? I love that color, but my ebonite feeds, bar one eye dropper, are all lever or button fillers. I have heard that sheening inks are ok in sacs but have also heard that they can be harmful, so I am stuck wondering what is more likely to be the case. 

Top 5 (in no particular order) of16 currently inked pens:

MontBlanc 144R F, Diamine Bah Humbug

Parker 45 Deluxe M, Lamy Turmaline 

Unknown Chinese Maker A-108 Acrylic Pen M, Diamine Dusted Truffle 

Waterman Caréne Black Sea, Teranishi Lady Emerald

Pilot 742 FA, Namiki Purple cartridge 

always looking for penguin fountain pens and stationery 

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Monteverde by far.  I can't say which are 2 and 3;  JHerbin?  Waterman?  Diamine (because InkVent)?  Iro?  
 

I'm afraid to count.

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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These two would require too much counting; call it 15 bottles apiece.  Top of the head, 5/6s of the Pelikan Edelstein (have 5 or so 4001's), MB; all but Oyster Gray/Cool Gray are from back when MB was running €13-15.

 

I really, really had to twist my arm to buy the newly labeled Cool Gray at the price gouging €23. Unfortunately, I wasn't into gray ink back then when MB was just an expensive in, not a price gouging ink keeping up the Jones, the @ €30 Cd'A (5 old discontinued cheap ones..€8.00), GvFC (1)...and over here Japanese ink cost €35....

I was lucky getting Kon-piki (an ink I will buy again...unless pointed at a Diamine clone) at 'only' €30. (I just read that type of Japanese inks only cost $18 in the US.

 

Which is cheap in inflationary America....and Biden had nothing to do with the high price of pens in the States. 15+ years ago I was in the States and shocked at the price of Groceries; Germany with it's 7% sales tax on food was much cheaper.)

I'm not into pink inks:sad:, but my wife being in town bought me Iroshizuku Kosumosu. One day, after I clean out my dirty pen cups, I’ll have to try that ink.

 

I just got into Diamine with in the last two years, 15.

5 glitter inks, the only one I'd buy again is the grand Arctic Blue. I really like the Silver Fox Gray, and Ultra Green is also a good shading ink.  I have some I've not tried yet.

 

DeAtramentis, 9....it's been a while since I've bought any, in with all the funny names for the same ink, I don't gamble. And he has many saturated inks, and I chase shading inks. I do like Cement Grey...looks like a flight line after a rainy night, as dawn cracks.

His Royal Blue is fairly saturated, and tinges toward (blue) purple....somehow Wiki and my antique Crayon Box are not on the same page for purple...they go reddish, and my crayon box was blueish purple.

I replaced Waterman Blue with the more saturated DA Royal Blue. ... Once Waterman changed names, I tend to forget the original and the new names. The safe ink. I'm glad I never got Havana brown.

 

I do like Herbin inks, but only have the 5 I've had for years...and a 'list to buy'...there are some brand-new Paris ones that look good.

 

New to me, 6 Pure Pen inks that shade, and pride themselves, they are a tad off from other companies main colors. Seems so.

 

Octopus shading inks (have 2) are some I'm going to buy...or I am willing to think about it. Not their tilt to see Sheen Inks.                  I have that problem with all the sheen inks I bought.:rolleyes:

Krishna (4)....shaded but was not a sheen monster...just the normal tilt to see some sheen.

I have found out that to get sheen, one has to use Asian/Japanese papers.

 

............................................

It is hell living in the Golden Age of Inks, with just small coins of silver.

 

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

Ransom Bucket cost me many of my pictures taken by a poor camera that was finally tossed. Luckily, the Chicken Scratch pictures also vanished.

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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In no particular order Stipula, Diamine and Iro.

It's hard work to tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.

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5 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

@Dillo, would you use Diamine Bilberry in a sacced pen? I love that color, but my ebonite feeds, bar one eye dropper, are all lever or button fillers. I have heard that sheening inks are ok in sacs but have also heard that they can be harmful, so I am stuck wondering what is more likely to be the case. 

 

I wouldn't put it in a pen with a sac. I would find a modern pen with an ebonite feed instead. (Or get a feed from the Flexible Nibs place). There are a few things I would avoid with sacced pens. Sheening inks with a heavy dye load are one of them. I would also avoid Noodler's and Private Reserve. It seems to cause problems in those concentrations of dye. Pilot, Sailor, Platinum I would also avoid because they don't interact well with latex sacs. Use something more like some of those somewhat acidic and less saturated inks that Diamine, Pelikan, Lamy, and Montblanc make. I've had the best luck with those. Also avoid anything containing the Allura red dye such as Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Red, Diamine Hope Pink, and Diamine Orange. Inks with that red dye seem to interact very badly with sacs as well.

 

I do use inks that aren't really suitable for sacs in my other pens. I have some pens specifically dedicated for testing inks and using inks that stain or react with things. They have gold nibs and half of them are mostly or all ebonite. I have glass dip pens for shimmery inks.

Stolen: Aurora Optima Demonstrator Red ends Medium nib. Serial number 1216 and Aurora 98 Cartridge/Converter Black bark finish (Archivi Storici) with gold cap. Reward if found. Please contact me if you have seen these pens.

Please send vial orders and other messages to fpninkvials funny-round-mark-thing gmail strange-mark-thing com. My shop is open once again if you need help with your pen.

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I would say, Noodler's, followed by Herbin and Kala inks. Herbin is more by default as there's a stationary store nearby, which sells 10ml bottles :) 

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  Thanks, @Dillo. I will keep Bilberry out of my sacced pens in that case. I did just remember that I have an ebonite feed from Flexible Nib Factory in in a pen, and an ebonite eye dropper that might like it.  I’ll stick to the more tame inks for my oldies. 

Top 5 (in no particular order) of16 currently inked pens:

MontBlanc 144R F, Diamine Bah Humbug

Parker 45 Deluxe M, Lamy Turmaline 

Unknown Chinese Maker A-108 Acrylic Pen M, Diamine Dusted Truffle 

Waterman Caréne Black Sea, Teranishi Lady Emerald

Pilot 742 FA, Namiki Purple cartridge 

always looking for penguin fountain pens and stationery 

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19 hours ago, AmandaW said:

Iroshizuku


Hmm, I would have thought that they don't have enough grey & grey-leaning colors for you! (I do like fuyu syogen, kiri same, yama guri, and shin kai a lot though, especially the first two.)

 

15 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

Tastes change, and since I found out that sub $2 fountain pens exist, I’m taking more chances on buying ink. Plus, with the proliferation of glass pens and new style dip pens, I don’t even have to fill anything. 

 

Here, here - I pretty much exclusively use dip pens and brushes with shimmer ink. It's more about them being special use & special occasion inks (plus they

 shimmer comes out much better with a wide line) than the clogging potential. 

 

14 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Monteverde by far.

 

Interesting! I've never tried it. 

 

Why is Monteverde so appealing to you? 

 

14 hours ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

MB; all but Oyster Gray/Cool Gray are from back when MB was running €13-15.

 

I really, really had to twist my arm to buy the newly labeled Cool Gray at the price gouging €23. Unfortunately, I wasn't into gray ink back then when MB was just an expensive in, not a price gouging ink keeping up the Jones

 

I want to try MB more but they are prohibitively expensive here, much more than €23, even. Because of this the only modern MB I have is Swan Illusion Plume - I lucked out at finding a bottle at a really low price. (The "Made in W. Germany" vintage blue black is a top favorite for me and the even earlier vintage "King's Blue" is the only koenigsblau I've found that I like). 

 

9 hours ago, yazeh said:

Kala inks

 

Oh, I really want to try Kala. Some of their colors seem *really, really* appealing to me!

 

9 hours ago, Dillo said:

Pilot, Sailor, Platinum I would also avoid because they don't interact well with latex sacs.

 

I had no idea about this. All those companies put out a ton of sac-filler pens, so it is a little surprising, though I suppose no one is making inks specifically to use with sacs anymore. 

 

9 hours ago, Dillo said:

Use something more like some of those somewhat acidic and less saturated inks that Diamine, Pelikan, Lamy, and Montblanc make. I've had the best luck with those.

 

So, my experience with less saturated inks in sac-filler pens has not been good, generally. My sac-fillers seem to want wet inks and my experience is that less saturated seem to be dry. 

My pens for sale: https://www.facebook.com/jaiyen.pens  

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In no specific order:

Noodlers

Monteverde

KWZ

 

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@PithyProlix, I love MV because,  by and large, their inks just WORK.  They are thrifty to buy.  And they make enough colors for almost anyone.

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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Most of the inks I have a 2nd (or 3rd!) bottle of are from the Kobe range. I've resigned myself to $1 per ml as the properties are impeccable and the colors subtle and complex without being flashy. I could probably get by with just inks from the Kobe line if I was so inclined, in fact my EDCs are nearly all Kobe at this point.

There are inks I like from Robert Oster, Kio Iro/KyoNo Oto, Taccia and I am currently dabbling with a few inks from Sailor's 50 States and Ink Studio lines - hmmm, so I could probably get by with just Sailor inks!

I would need to find equivalents to Herbin's Cacao (which may be 50 States Maine?), Diamine Vivaldi (50 States New Hampshire?) and Oster's Burned Orange (which may be Ink Studio #573 or #873?) but yes, I think I could cover my main palette with just Sailor.

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10 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

I had no idea about this. All those companies put out a ton of sac-filler pens, so it is a little surprising, though I suppose no one is making inks specifically to use with sacs anymore. 

It's pretty important to note that many of the Japanese pens, especially the newer ones, used non-latex sacs. We see the latex sacs from the 60's or so, but many of the 70's pens from the big three use translucent material for the sacs that is resistant to the newer inks. Also of note is that Platinum's traditional Blue Black that they still make to this day is generally safe for sacs (not so much to steel nibs–I've seen a lot of severely pitted steel nibs used with Platinum Blue Black because it's a pretty ubiquitous ink where my family is from. Gold nibs never really have issues with it, it doesn't really seem to affect the plastic, and it cleans out very cleanly otherwise). As a side note, it's highly acidic unlike the alkaline formulations of most Japanese inks. pH is not that important to the ink necessarily, but it tells you a bit of what's in the formulation. Pens generally are fine no matter what the pH is (with the exception of iron gall which can corrode steel if care is not taken with maintenance). You have to worry more about the dyes and other chemicals in the ink attacking the plastics, but this is not really anything to do with the pH. This generally works by the dye molecules embedding themselves between the polymer chains in the plastic and cleaving them apart. pH tells you very little about whether this sort of thing will happen. The dyes are also chemically responsible for the breakdown of the sacs.

 

With my sacced pens, as long as the nibs are well tuned, I've never had any trouble and needed to use any specific ink other than the ones I've mentioned. As long as it doesn't destroy the sacs, I've never had any trouble as long as the nibs are adjusted properly. Many of my sacced pens have ebonite feeds (but not all of them) and this tends to work well with pretty much any ink.

Stolen: Aurora Optima Demonstrator Red ends Medium nib. Serial number 1216 and Aurora 98 Cartridge/Converter Black bark finish (Archivi Storici) with gold cap. Reward if found. Please contact me if you have seen these pens.

Please send vial orders and other messages to fpninkvials funny-round-mark-thing gmail strange-mark-thing com. My shop is open once again if you need help with your pen.

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Easy for me. Rohrer & Klingner (7 different inks), Waterman (7) and Parker Quink (4) are both my favourite and most represented brands in my collection.

 

For inks I only buy locally and those are available at a nice price.

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Based on my current inventory:

—Diamine

—Pilot/Iroshizuku

—Robert Oster

though Aurora, Monteverde, and Noodler’s also represented.

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For me it would be:

 

Waterman 

Iroshizuku 

Herbin

 

I have multiple bottles of the above. I have exactly one bottle of Sheaffer Skrip Red and Pelikan 4001 in dark green.  I have lots of cartridges that I rarely use. 

 

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