Fountain Pen Ink Theory
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Discussion of fountain pen inks in some more detail. current ink prices: Monteverdi 14cents/ml + shipping ($7-$9 usually) Noodler’s 14c/ml + shipping, or 17c/ml Parker Quink 15cents/ml Diamine standard 19c/ml + shipping, or 23-25c/ml Namiki 20c/ml + shipping Sheaffer standard 20c/ml + shipping Waterman 21c/ml Rohrer-Klingner 24c/ml + shipping Pilot standard 25c/ml Pelikan 4001 27c/ml Lamy standard 21c/ml + shipping, or 28c/ml Platinum standard 33c/ml Sailor Jentle 34c/ml De Atramentis 37c/ml + shipping Kaweco 37c/ml + shipping, or 58c/ml Sailor Tokiwa-matsu 40c/ml Aurora 40c/ml + shipping, or 47c/ml Diamine shimmer 41c/ml Diamine 150th 40c/ml + shipping, or 46c/ml Graf von Faber-Castell 40c/ml + shipping Platinum Carbon 42c/ml J.Herbin standard 43c/ml Visconti 44c/ml + shipping Montblanc 46c/ml J.Herbin 1670s 54c/ml Pilot Iroshizuku 56c/ml + shipping, or 60c/ml Pelikan Edelstein 56c/ml + shipping, or 60c/ml Sailor Nano 66c/ml Caran d’Ache 66c/ml + shipping, or 79c/ml pelahale pH data 10/5/2016 VINEGAR: 2.20 Cold Gatorade G2 drink: 2.96 Cold Diet Sunkist soda: 3.37 2% cold Milk: 6.64 My local tap water: 8.12 My “distilled” water: 8.22 10% Dawn dishwashing liquid solution: 8.97 Ammonia: 11.65 Bleach (ultra-concentrated): 12.5 Montblanc Blue: 2.33 Aurora Blue: 2.44 Diamine Eclipse: 4.73 Akkerman Bekakt Haags (brown): 4.81 Pelikan Edelstein Sapphire: 4.84 Diamine Ancient Copper: 6.33 Akkerman Voorhout Violet: 6.34 Noodler’s Heart of Darkness: 6.44 Aurora Black: 6.5 Pelikan Brown: 6.88 Akkerman Het Zwarte Pad (black): 7.05 Sailor Epinard: 7.3 Lamy Black: 7.78 Franklin-Christoph Black Magic: 8.02 Noodler’s X-feather: 8.24 Noodler’s Zhivago: 8.43 Noodler’s Walnut: 8.54 Pilot Blue: 8.59 Iroshizuku Take-Sumi: 8.64 Noodler’s Antietam: 8.72 Iroshizuku TsuKushi: 8.84 Sailor Blue-Black: 9.14 Sailor Miruai: 9.16 Pilot Black: 9.17 Iroshizuku Yama-Guri: 9.41/9.43 Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo: 9.47 Sailor Doyou: 9.53 Iroshizuku Yama-Budo: 9.72 Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun: 10.09 my data on ink dry times on Rhodia 80gsm lined paper indoors in 72F, moderate humidity (45%). Noodler’s Zhivago black: 8+minutes Noodler’s Walnut brown: 3+minutes Noodler’s Antietam orange: 2+minutes Noodler’s X-feather black: 2 minutes Diamine Eclipse black: 75 seconds Lamy Black: 45 sec Sailor Epinard Green: 43 sec Stipula Calamo brown: 40 sec Edelstein Onyx black: 35 sec Edelstein Sapphire blue: 35 sec Aurora Black: 30 sec Sailor Jentle Blue-Black: 27 sec Iroshizuku yama-budo: 25 sec Montblanc MidnightBlue: 25 sec Omas Sepia brown: 23 sec Iroshizuku yama-guri: 22 sec Iroshizuku take-sumi: 21 sec Iroshizuku tsuki-yo: 15 sec (very variable from 8sec to 50sec) Pilot Black: 9 sec (28s on dotpad, graphpad) Noodler’s Bernanke Black: 2 sec (feathers horribly on everything)
Comments
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As usual, you have provided an interesting addition to the material available online on this subject. As almost all of my pens have ink sacs, I would appreciate a recommendation as to which brand or brands makes inks which are safe to use in my pens. Please keep up the flow of informative and interesting presentations!
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Enjoyed this and learned a good deal. Thanks.
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Could you please provide links to those articles and posts you mention at the beginning?
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Very detailed analysis thanks you . One consideration is bacterial infections which in theory could cause ph. fluctuation in an ink however this is likely to have a fairly slight effect overall plus most users would spot a severe infection .Also if the ink has evaporated this would potentially increase ph , as you mentioned bad ink hygiene
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I love fountain pens and I love the art of balancing combinations of papers and inks. I also love how you measure the strength of acid by how much time it takes to dissolve a human body. Very practical!
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I always thought ink was just ink. Thanks for the video.
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What is your field of study at the university?
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Thank you for providing a scientific statement on this subject. Easy to understand and follow. I learned something new.
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The MB Royal Blue PH really shocked me. I still have 3 bottles of the stuff too. Thank you for the video.
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Your investigation of this topic is excellent, and I was pleased to tweet about it. Thank you.
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It's great to see another video from you. I enjoy listening to you no matter the topic. I wonder if the inks that you were once content with, Iroshizuku Yama Guri, Sailor blue/black, and the Iroshizuku black (can't remember the name) have changed? If so, have you added any to your favorites? Good to see you back.
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A new upload?
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Very, very interesting. Thanks for sharing this.
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Interesting coincidence. I am currently performing a test of around 30 inks. I have included a small piece of latex (the same that EdisonPens uses) with ink in scintillation vials, and I am studying the effect of the inks on the sacs. I will then be performing pH tests on all the inks. After a conversation with Brian Grey about which inks to use in my pump filler, I felt compelled, as a chemist, to perform the study.
Thanks for the video.
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