blue or black ink?

Jo wrote:

" Is anyone using black ink in a fountain pen? Does that look good? I know
black ink only from india ink and calligraphy. Pelikan sells ink refills
in big bottles (1000 ml) only for the two colors royal blue and black.
So there must be a market for black ink, I guess. I'm trying different
shades of blue and als some brilliant green. Now I'm wondering how black
would look like.

Just about the only ink I normally use is black. My 3 favorites are
Noodler's, Swisher Pens and Aurora. I've heard that Doctor Black and
Pelikan India Fount (or something like that) are both good inks too, but I
have not been able to locate these inks in the States. BTW, Noodler's Black
is also waterproof. Hope this helps.

Best wishes,

(Johannes Grubber) writes:

Is anyone using black ink in a fountain pen? Does that look good? I
know black ink only from india ink and calligraphy.

I use mostly black ink in my fountain pens and sometimes blue. I am also
going to try out more exotic colors, maybe even orange.

Aurora Black is the best black ink I have been able to buy. It is very
dark black and it flows well. No, it doesn't flow, it actually runs like
a scared rabbit. Next black ink I am going to get is Pelikan 4001
Brilliant Black and Caran d'Ache Black.

Parker (Quink) Black has way too light tone and it has grey, blue and
blue-grey undertones. Sheaffer (Skrip) Black (made in Slovenia) looked
just black for me. I just could not see undertones in it. If you want
some very safe and thin black ink for some very dry fountain pen that
has flow problems, Sheaffer Black may be good choice.

Pelikan sells ink refills in big bottles (1000 ml) only for the two
colors royal blue and black.

That Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black has got praising reviews. It is so
black ink.

http://www.marcuslink.com/pens/ink-02.htm

But Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue sucks raw eggs through a very thin straw,
rotten frogs and golf balls through a garden hose and snow out of Mt.
Fuji: I have one 30 ml bottle of it and sometimes I hate it so much that
I'd like do like Martin Luther and throw that bottle to the wall. It is
so pale, washed out and light shade of blue. Yuck! Best blue inks I have
been able to buy are Waterman Florida Blue and Parker Blue (improved,
not that old crap). Waterman Florida Blue has good flow, too. Blue Pilot
Varsity (AKA Vpen) has very dark blue ink, but it has disturbing amounts
of purple or violet tones.

Now I'm wondering how black would look like.

Well, it may look a little bit boring in the long run, if you write only
with black ink. But if you write something that must be readable even
after many decades, you'd better stick with black ink, probably
Noodler's Ink (fraudproof) Black.


--
Juhapekka "naula" Tolvanen * http colon slash slash iki dot fi slash juhtolv
"Lennän taas. Olen juppihippipunkkari ja vaihdan paikkaa. Lennän taas. Turha
meikäläistä yrittääkään kategoriin laittaa. Hei mä lennän taas. Olen
juppihippipunkkari ja vaihdan paikkaa. Lennän taas." Neljä Ruusua

"Chuck Swisher" writes:


I've heard that Doctor Black

What is that?

and Pelikan India Fount (or something like that) are both good inks
too, but I have not been able to locate these inks in the States.

Pendemonium sells Pelikan Fount India. It is water proof, too.

http://www.pendemonium.com/ink_pelikan.htm


--
Juhapekka "naula" Tolvanen * http colon slash slash iki dot fi slash juhtolv
"Lennän taas. Olen juppihippipunkkari ja vaihdan paikkaa. Lennän taas. Turha
meikäläistä yrittääkään kategoriin laittaa. Hei mä lennän taas. Olen
juppihippipunkkari ja vaihdan paikkaa. Lennän taas." Neljä Ruusua

Johannes Grubber wrote:
Is anyone using black ink in a fountain pen? Does that look good? I know
black ink only from india ink and calligraphy. Pelikan sells ink refills
in big bottles (1000 ml) only for the two colors royal blue and black.
So there must be a market for black ink, I guess. I'm trying different
shades of blue and als some brilliant green. Now I'm wondering how black
would look like.

Jo


I'd say next to blue, that black is the most common, and may be THE most
common color used in fountain pens.

I use Noodler's black sometimes, but perfer purple or a medium blue for
most writing. I'm starting to like some of the orange/yellow family too.
I have some green, but I only use it at Christmas time.

I have not been impressed with Pelikan inks. Noodler's, Swisher's and
Sheaffer all seem to work well. Montblanc is crap, though the bottles
are great.

That's all!

DAve

On Wed, 18 May 2005 03:47:05 +0200,
(Johannes Grubber) wrote:

Is anyone using black ink in a fountain pen?

Yes, it's the ink I use for things that must be read in the future and
which need to be photocopied. I use Noodler's Black for that. I'm
using Noodler's Black mixed with a couple of other inks in some pens
though.

Does that look good?

Depends on the eye of the beholder. Black really stands out well on
legal pads, IMO.
--
Obscurity in the face of adversity is no dice.

Juhapekka Tolvanen said:

Pendemonium sells Pelikan Fount India. It is water proof, too.

http://www.pendemonium.com/ink_pelikan.htm

I have a bottle of this - I bought it at an art supplies store. In my
opinion, it is no blacker and no better-looking than standard inks such
as regular Pelikan black, Aurora, etc. I think Noodler's and Swisher's
black inks are blacker than Fount India.

Does anyone else who has used Pelikan Fount India find any advantage to
it for fountain pen use?

(With a dip pen, I have used real India ink - it's very very black
because it's more like hard shiny paint than ink. Pelikan Fount India
looks nothing like that - at least not the bottle I got.)

Standard warning - never use real India ink in a fountain pen. It can
easily ruin your pen, because if any of it dries then the pen is
permanently clogged, and chemicals won't clean it out.

Addition to standard warning - Pelikan Fount India is definitely not
India ink, so go ahead if you want to try it - but I did, and IMO it
was not better than other good black inks.

David

"Johannes Grubber" wrote in message
Is anyone using black ink in a fountain pen? Does that look good? I know
black ink only from india ink and calligraphy. Pelikan sells ink refills
in big bottles (1000 ml) only for the two colors royal blue and black.
So there must be a market for black ink, I guess. I'm trying different
shades of blue and als some brilliant green. Now I'm wondering how black
would look like.

Jo

Black ink has always been the traditional ink used for business. It is very
formal. Blue is also acceptable. These rules are somewhat ignored these
days, but in the days of only snail mail correspondence, black was "the"
ink. My black of choice for permanence and legal documents is Noodler's
black. For my everyday writing I like Swisher black ink; it dries faster
and I think it is a little blacker --if that is possible. Will you like the
colour? Only you can know and the colour of paper can make a big
difference. For legibility nothing beats black on white; contrast rules.
My guess is that black out-sells other colours, but for personal
correspondence variety is nice, and reveals more of one's personality.

Regards,
Terry
--
The address is bogus so remove the excess.

Dave wrote:

Does anyone else who has used Pelikan Fount
India find any advantage to it for fountain pen
use?

It is pigmented drawing ink. I'm no artist so I will forward this to
Reid McIntyre, an artist who sometimes posts here. IIRC, Reid has
mentioned in past posts that there are reasons artists prefer an ink
that deposits pigment on the paper rather than a dye-based ink that
soaks into the paper. Pelikan Fount India is a water-based drawing ink
safe for use in fountain pens. If you're not using the ink for drawing,
you probably won't find it to have advantages over dye-based inks. -- B

Juhapekka Tolvanen wrote:

Pendemonium sells Pelikan Fount India. It is
water proof, too.

To clarify... Pelikan Fount India is **not** waterproof. It is
water-resistant. Pelikan Fount India is water-based. It doesn't contain
shellac.
Waterproof India Ink contains shellac... which is what makes it
waterproof. -- B

"Juhapekka Tolvanen" wrote in message
...

But Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue sucks raw eggs through a very thin straw,
rotten frogs and golf balls through a garden hose and snow out of Mt.
Fuji: I have one 30 ml bottle of it and sometimes I hate it so much that
I'd like do like Martin Luther and throw that bottle to the wall. It is
so pale, washed out and light shade of blue. Yuck!

Aw.. come on. Tell us what you really think. :-)

I haven't used this ink but I am very picky about blue inks. They have to
be unique in some way.

I use Aurora when I use black ink. Which isn't often. IMO it's the best
out there - nice, rich, almost shiney black ink but flows well, absorbs well
and is a good safe ink. I haven't tried Noodler's but as it is fraud-proof
ink I imagine that would be quite useful. Have heard nothing but good stuff
about it.