# Favorite inks



## Penultimate (Apr 3, 2017)

Greetings
What are your favorite brand(s) of bottled ink?  I just used up a bottle of Aurora black and was happy with it. I now have Noodlers No Feather black and it seems I'm having trouble with ink flow. Not sure if it's the ink or me. Both nibs worked with the Aurora ink. 

I'm using Schaefer Scrip red in a TWSBI and it writes great.  
Thanks
Mike


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## Mr Vic (Apr 3, 2017)

Private Reserve Velvet Black. Nice smooth flowing ink.


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## TattooedTurner (Apr 3, 2017)

I've seen Pelikan take some knocks on a subforum of a shaving forum I'm a member of, but I've loved their royal blue since the first time I tried it. Most the discontent surrounds it being a dry ink, but that's perfect for me since I use it to sign off IV labels at my job and can do without the smearing since it gets handled right away. I was off for 10 days, picked up my fountain pen first thing this morning and had no problem writing with right from the start. Another plus is the color stands out so all the nurses always know if something was written by me, regardless of whether or not it has my signature.


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## darrin1200 (Apr 4, 2017)

I have switched to J. Herbin and love it.


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## lhowell (Apr 4, 2017)

TattooedTurner said:


> I've seen Pelikan take some knocks on a subforum of a shaving forum I'm a member of, but I've loved their royal blue since the first time I tried it. Most the discontent surrounds it being a dry ink, but that's perfect for me since I use it to sign off IV labels at my job and can do without the smearing since it gets handled right away. I was off for 10 days, picked up my fountain pen first thing this morning and had no problem writing with right from the start. Another plus is the color stands out so all the nurses always know if something was written by me, regardless of whether or not it has my signature.



I have stayed away from fountains being that I am left handed and smear ink everywhere. Being a "dry ink" as you call it would this maybe work for a lefty without smearing quite a bit?


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## More4dan (Apr 4, 2017)

Waterman inks are very smooth, water based so easy to keep nibs and feed clean. However there are limited colors. I've also used Diamine inks and are similar but in an extremely wide range of colors 


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## Penultimate (Apr 4, 2017)

Hi
Thanks for all the advice. Looks like I'm going to try a bunch of these. 


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## Mr Vic (Apr 4, 2017)

Mike,

If you are looking to sample different inks, head over to https://www.gouletpens.com/
Not only do they have a boat load of videos about fountain pens but they also sell sample vials of ink. I'm guestimating from 500-600 or more different brands/colors.

I've absolutely no affiliation but was his Q&As every Friday night. A wealth of FP knowledge.


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## TattooedTurner (Apr 4, 2017)

lhowell said:


> I have stayed away from fountains being that I am left handed and smear ink everywhere. Being a "dry ink" as you call it would this maybe work for a lefty without smearing quite a bit?



That's a tough call to make. I don't think left handed people can completely eliminate smearing regardless of the ink unless they write underhanded, though a drier ink certainly helps.


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## JP1337 (Apr 12, 2017)

I am a big fan of Caran D'ache Chromatic series of ink, in particular I use Idyllic blue a lot. Stunning blue colour.

As far as my favourite brand goes, Pilot Iroshizuku have been my best performers. Really lovely consistent flow, good saturation. I like my inks slightly on the wet side but not super wet.


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## bmachin (Apr 13, 2017)

Hi Mike,

As you've already discovered, pens can be rather fussy about their diets.  Richard Binder's article is well worth a read:  

RichardsPens.com &bull; Pens That Write Right!

For what it's worth, if you are looking for an extremely broad selection of colors from a brand with no apparent vices, try Diamine.

Bill


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## Penultimate (Apr 14, 2017)

HI Bill
Thanks for the link. I've used Richard's site for pen history but didn't notice the ink info. That is good info. I bought a sampler pack of black ink from Goulet Pens. I'll report my findings. 
Thanks 
Mike


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## More4dan (Apr 14, 2017)

If want more information you can try the Fountain Pen Forum. 
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/
There is an entire discussion board just about inks. 


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## budnder (Apr 14, 2017)

I tend to use my fountain pens on plain paper a lot and settled on this for that purpose:

Sheaffer Skrip
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Q5XQYQ


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## Penultimate (Apr 15, 2017)

Dan
Thanks for the link. There is a lot of info on inks there. I like how it is organized. 

Roy
Do you think that the Scrip ink is better than the other brands for plain paper? I write on plain paper at work and notice that the ink flows differently on each type of paper. I have Scrip red in a Lamy and it works great. 


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## budnder (Apr 15, 2017)

Penultimate said:


> Dan
> Roy
> Do you think that the Scrip ink is better than the other brands for plain paper? I write on plain paper at work and notice that the ink flows differently on each type of paper. I have Scrip red in a Lamy and it works great.
> Sent from my iPad using Penturners.org mobile app



I had some Pilot Iroshizuku and some J. Herbin Eclat De Saphir, which are nice on nice paper, but that I wasn't happy with on plain old paper. I did some research on the subject and ended up with the Pilot Scrip and some Noodler's X-Feather Black. Both worked great on plain paper, but I prefer the Scrip simply because of the color.


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## Bryguy (Apr 25, 2017)

*Diamine!*

I use Diamine inks. The company has been around for a long time and has a very wide range of colors. I believe they are rebottled by https://www.birminghampens.com/
under their own brand for a little less$, but they don't rebottle the whole palette of Diamine  colors.
I'd be leery of Noodles as Richard Binder suggests they may be acidic and can,therefore, cause long term damage.


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## RobS (Apr 25, 2017)

Noodler's Massachusetts 54th or as I like to call it slate blue, is what I use daily.  Dries quickly and everyone loves the color.


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## Texasshipagent (May 28, 2017)

Regret you have asked a rhetorical question  ! Some pens like some inks some others, but can say the most consistent ink have used on all pens is J Herbin.  


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## keithbyrd (May 28, 2017)

TattooedTurner said:


> lhowell said:
> 
> 
> > I have stayed away from fountains being that I am left handed and smear ink everywhere. Being a "dry ink" as you call it would this maybe work for a lefty without smearing quite a bit?
> ...



My sister and niece are both left handed both use fountain pens and both love them with no smearing!


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## glycerine (May 31, 2017)

I like Private Reserve and Sailor.


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