Smoothness of black inks, compared to other colors. Why?!

Hi All,

My somewhat limited experience with inks, tells me that black inks are
the smoothest and best flowing of all, without being "watery".

Why, please, if anyone knows the answer?

Other than that: alternatives to Waterman Havana Brown, that make your
scratchy pens feel normal, and your goods ones feel very good??

TIA,
JBR

On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 17:53:03 GMT, (BigBen)
wrote:

My somewhat limited experience with inks, tells me that black inks are
the smoothest and best flowing of all, without being "watery".

PS - My reference for best ink, as long as proper flow (not too much
nor too little), and smoothness (making you "less good" nibs feel ok)
is Black Quink.

Regards,
JBR

BigBen wrote:
Hi All,

My somewhat limited experience with inks, tells me that black inks are
the smoothest and best flowing of all, without being "watery".

Why, please, if anyone knows the answer?

Other than that: alternatives to Waterman Havana Brown, that make your
scratchy pens feel normal, and your goods ones feel very good??

TIA,
JBR

On Mon, 02 Jan 2006 17:53:03 GMT, BigBen typed:

Hi All,

My somewhat limited experience with inks, tells me that black inks are
the smoothest and best flowing of all, without being "watery".

Why, please, if anyone knows the answer?

IMO, "smoothness" and "scratchiness" have everything to do with the
polish of the nib-tip and alignment of the tines, and nothing to do
with the ink.

As far as best flowing, I've found that some blacks flow freely;
others do not. Many of us here agree that the best-flowing ink is PR's
TANZANITE, a purplish-blue.

--
Cordially,

Serge Dasara
1/3/2006 10:56:39 AM

IMO, "smoothness" and "scratchiness" have everything to do with the
polish of the nib-tip and alignment of the tines, and nothing to do
with the ink.

Cordially,

Serge Dasara
1/3/2006 10:56:39 AM


That makes sense, however, one of my Cross fine pens was a bit scratchy. I
put one drop of liquid dish soap in the bottle of ink, mixed and refilled my
pen. Now it is as smooth as it can be.

Jeff

On Tue, 3 Jan 2006 10:59:51 -0500, Serge Dasara
wrote:

IMO, "smoothness" and "scratchiness" have everything to do with the
polish of the nib-tip and alignment of the tines, and nothing to do
with the ink.

There's a particular foutain pen I have, which is delightfull with
black Quink, not to so good with W. Havana Brown ... I swear!
Another one, unberable with Havana, just acceptable with black Quink;
blue Quink doesn't seem to work so well ;-)

Cross released some gel refils, mainly for Ion range, of which I've
tried several colors - black was perfect, every other not much better
than a regular ballpoint.


As far as best flowing, I've found that some blacks flow freely;
others do not. Many of us here agree that the best-flowing ink is PR's
TANZANITE, a purplish-blue.

OK, I'll keep that in mind if I decide to go blue, thanks.

How about browns? (The closest to brown that PR seems to have is
Copper Burst; Noodler has some Wallnut, if I'm not mistaken)
Anyone else writing down in brown (other than the Havana that I
presently use)?

Regards,
JBR

On Tue, 03 Jan 2006 22:48:27 GMT, (BigBen)
wrote:

There's a particular foutain pen I have, which is delightfull with
black Quink, not to so good with W. Havana Brown ... I swear!

Updated info: with Rotring brown cartridges, just as good as with
black Quink! (It's a shame I find the color a bit too dark, and
apparently it doesn't come in bottles.)

Regards,
JBR

On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 04:30:54 GMT, R. Paul Martin typed:


In my experience some inks have a lubricating quality that's more
pronounced than others. Ink can definitely play a role in what happens
when the tip of the fountain pen goes over the paper.

Of course ink plays a role, but let's be more specific: do you mean
"wetter" i.e. better flow, or "smoother" - there is a difference.

I agree that some inks flow better than others and write "wetter"
(such as PR Tanzanite); but I have never experienced an ink that can
smooth a mis-aligned or rough nib...
--
Cordially,

Serge Dasara
1/5/2006 10:11:34 AM

On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 04:30:54 GMT, R. Paul Martin
wrote:

In my experience some inks have a lubricating quality that's more
pronounced than others. Ink can definitely play a role in what happens
when the tip of the fountain pen goes over the paper.

Ah! Now we're talking the same language! All other things being equal,
in the same pen, some inks let you write more frelly, smoothly, while
others make myou feel like you just scratching a dry nib on the paper.

My experience with diferent inks, even of the same basic color, if you
prefer, tell me that.

And it's not just a matter of amount of ink flow either - I have a
very "wet" capless Pilot, which dispenses loads of Waterman Havana,
and yet still scratches a bit, but feels smoother, despite
(apparently, at least) dispensing a smaller quantity of M.Blanc Sepia.


I know I won't use the M. Blanc Sepia with most of my other pens, but
it's made the Pilot a lot more easy to use - my friends kept
complaining about the time it would take to dry the ink from my
signature on some legal papers ;-)

Regards,
JBR

On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 06:30:31 GMT, R. Paul Martin
wrote:

Swisher Pens has Noodler's Grizzly, which is a waterproof ink, and
Swisher's Cocoa. Pendemonium has Eternal Brown, which is also
waterproof. And then there's Noodler's Standard Brown, which is not
waterproof. Pelikan has Brilliant Brown, which I've never tried.

Hi Paul,

I live on the other side of the "pond" ... Portugal, to be precise.

I'm waiting for some Sheaffer and Pelikan browns, and P.Reserve Copper
Burst, which I ordered from The Writing Desk.

I'm not very confident about waterproor inks, or higly saturated ones
- I like the idea that I can wash the pen, and clear any clogs, just
using water.

Best,
JBR