Category: Fountain Pens

Posted in Fountain Pens

Exploring Ink via Science

Posted on by Charlie

There are a lot of things that fountain pen users look at when choosing an ink to use. Is an ink wet or dry? [Wetter inks have a faster flow while dry inks have a slower flow and more surface tension.] They also ask about the Three S’s .Is the ink a shading ink? [A result of a fountain pen ink pooling in certain parts of a letter when writing, so that the color and saturation of the ink appears different within a single letter or word.] Does the ink sheen? [When the fountain pen ink pools another color can be seen on top of the ink, especially when looked at in different light angles using certain paper types.] And the final S – does the ink shimmer? [Fountain pen ink that has small particles of glitter mixed in.] A common aspect that is also looked at is how water resistant the ink is. [Water resistance means that a portion of the ink will remain after being subjected to water. This might only be one ingredient of the ink, leaving behind a legible remnant with little or no representation of the original color.]

My current collection of bottled ink has five shimmering inks. At least one of my inks has some shading properties and another seems to have sheening properties that are dependent on the amount of ink put on the paper. Three of my inks are highly water resistant (I’d expect so since they are document inks)

There is another aspect that of fountain pen ink that I have decided to explore. That is the chromatography.

In chemical analysis, chromatography is a laboratory technique for the separation of a mixture into its components. The mixture is dissolved in a fluid solvent called the mobile phase, which carries it through a system on which a material called the stationary phase is fixed.

Wikipedia

In the case of fountain pen inks I am looking at the varying colors that make up each ink by putting fountain pen ink on a highly absorbent piece of paper then using water as the fluid and observing the different colors in the ink separate as they travel up the paper.

For my experiment I used Chromatography Paper Strips that I purchased on Amazon. After drawing a line of ink on each strip with either an inked fountain pen or a dip pen I attached the strips to a wooden dowl that I could suspend over a small bowl of water making certain that the ink line was not submerged when the paper touched the water. I set a timer and retrieved the paper at the 1.20 minute mark and let the water to continue working its way up the paper then waited for it to dry.

Ten ink samples (7 bottle inks, 1 cartridge ink, 2 samples)

Inks Tested

Top Row

  1. Wearingeul Twelfth Night, a sliver shimmering pink ink (bottle)
  2. Diamine Firefly, a gold shimmering orange ink (bottle)
  3. Ferris Wheel Press The Fluttering Heart, a gold shimmering pink ink (bottle)
  4. Platinum Black, a standard black ink (cartridge)

Middle Row

  1. Diamine Syrah, a wine colored ink (bottle)
  2. Pilot Iroshizuku Ka-Jaku, a teal colored ink (bottle)
  3. Jacques Herbin 1670 Stormy, a gold shimmering grey ink (bottle)
  4. De Atramentis Black Currant, a scented purple ink (bottle)

Bottom Row

  1. Diamine Dark Forest, a dark green ink (sample vial)
  2. Noodler’s Ink Bad Gator Green, a green ink (sample vial)
Note: There were a few inks in my current ink collection I did not test – my document inks as I already know from a previous chromatography trial that they do not separate and a shimmering ink that I intend to give away or parse out samples from that I do not intend to use further.

My Observations and Thoughts

I really need to cultivate more patience when it comes to waiting for results. Though this test was meant to separate colors it also showed me which inks are really not water resistance as the lines completely vanished as the water progressed up the strip. The two shimmering pink inks surprised me. The Fluttering Heart leans more brown than pink when compared side by side to Wearingeul Twelfth Night and in the chromatography it seems that the difference is the addition of yellow. I was also surprised to see the yellow and pink in Stormy Grey show up.

After looking closely at the dried strips of paper it quite surprised me to find that many of the inks that seemed to fade completely from the origin line displayed very light grey. I don’t think this is an indication of color but perhaps it is an indication of the inks lubrication. I may look into this further in the future, but for now it’s just an interesting observation.

Overall I wasn’t really surprised or wowed by the results of these inks. Partially because this was my second attempt at chromatography testing with these inks and partially because I have come across some amazing chromatography examples from other pen and ink enthusiasts.

Bonus

One of the many reasons I decided to explore chromatography was that I wanted to be able to fully use up the inks that I own and one of the ways to do that is through art. I came across Nick Stewart on Instagram (quinkandbleach) and was absolutely taken with the idea of creating art using chromatography.

While this isn’t quite the paper finish that Nick recommends in his tutorials (it’s not rough or rough enough) it is the right weight of paper – 200lb. This was one of my first attempts to see if I could do chromatography swatch. It didn’t work out (in this case I really think it was the finish of the paper that made the difference.) But I like it nonetheless. You can actually see the brilliant orange and the bright pink come through in Diamine Syrah which is one of, if not absolute, my favorite inks.

Much love,

Charlie

P.S. If you happen to have ink samples you no longer need or want or are just in the habit of sharing inks with other enthusiasts let me know. I’d be happy to share from my small collection. If you use the Fountain Pen Companion you can find me under Charlie M to look at my ink collection.

Posted in Fountain Pens

2023 Pen Superlatives

Posted on by Charlie

Ready for another dive into my fountain pen collection? As of this post I own 22 fountain pens. At any given time I have three or four of them that are inked and ready to use. You may have seen some of these pens in my previous posts regarding my collection. This round of questions come from Fountain Pen Community on YouTube, much like the #8penquestion tag that I answered a little while ago.

1. First pen Purchased:

While it might not actually be the very first fountain pen I purchased it is the first that has any memory attached to it. This is the fountain pen that came over with me from Germany in 1994. There aren’t any markings on the pen to indicate the manufacture. Thanks to Google I found references to a pen that was marketed as the AW Sizzle Stix Pen in the US that seems to be the type of fountain pen I have. According to the threads that I followed they were made by Reform. Looking Reform up just led me down a rabbit hole with even less information.

2. Most Recent Pen Purchased:

My most recent purchase is the Traveler’s Company Brass Pen. It literally arrived three days ago. I wasn’t looking at getting a brass pen any time soon though I was interested in them. However it ended up in my shopping cart when I decided to get a Traveler’s Notebook which was spurred on by my continuous watching of fellow pen/ink enthusiasts on YouTube. I don’t mind having been influenced into getting this pen as the other brass pen I considered was almost twice the cost. And I have a general rule about metal pens that are made of copper and brass – one is enough. I do look forward to seeing how the patina will form with use, just like the aging of the Traveler’s notebook.

3. Smallest Pen:

The smallest pen I own is actually my most recent purchase but I didn’t want to just repeat that answer. Instead I’ll tell you that I have three small pens in total. The Traveler’s Company Brass Pen, a grey Kaweco Sport, and a Monteverde Poquito in pink. I think there might be a converter for the Kaweco Sport but I haven’t looked into it, otherwise all of these pens take ink cartridges to use some of which are proprietary to the individual brand. I own only one Kaweco and one Monteverde fountain pen.

The Poquito fountain pen is no longer being made. It has a tip on the cap that you can use on touch screens though I haven’t actually tried it. The ballpoint Poquito is still being made but the current version has a soft tip to use on touch screens.

4. Largest Pen:

Overall I think the Pelikan Twist in Mystic Shine is the largest pen in my collection. I bought it shortly after talking to my mum about fountain pens and our memories of them. It’s meant to be a “starter” pen. It has a triangular grip section that is really comfortable to hold (for me at least). I can’t recall if I chose to get a medium nib or if that was the only option when I bought it. I love the color and the way it shifts.

5.Youngest Pen: (By Year) / Least Expensive

I’m combining two of the Superlatives for simplicities sake. The Preppy Wa in the color Fukura Suzame is both the least expensive pen I own and the youngest by manufacturing year. The Preppy Wa first came to market in 2021. This particular color was released this year (2023) and is a limited edition.

6. Oldest Pen: (By Year)

It took a bit of research and I was actually surprised that it wasn’t the Sengebusch handi-pen that I was gifted by a friend that was the oldest by manufacturing year. The Kaweco Sport is the oldest pen by manufacturing year in my collection. Kaweco introduced this pen to market in 1911.

8. Most Expensive:

Another recent acquisition I talked about in a previous post, the Twisbi Diamond AL-R in Prussian Blue is the most expensive pen currently in my collection. I took it out of the case it was in just for this picture. It’s not that I am worried about damaging it or anything. It’s just so pretty. I haven’t even inked it up yet.

9. Favorite EDC:

As my collection stands right now, the Retro 51 Lincoln (copper) is my favorite every day carry pen, though I have recently been leaving it on my desk which is where I do most of my writing. I adored this pen the moment I opened up the tube it came in. The weight, the way it writes, the look… it all just came together for me.

And that covers my 2023 Pen Superlatives. I had to do a bit of deep diving to answer these questions and I had to decide how to answer a few of the questions. (Youngest by year it was made or when it arrived in my collection for example) You wouldn’t get to see (and I wouldn’t get to share) much of my collection given the some interpretations and that’s not exactly why I’m writing these posts right?

Much love,

Charlie