Do you drool in the office supply store? Do you seek out stationery stores every time you travel?
What is your unnatural love in the office supply/stationery store category? Give us all the juicy details.
Hello, my name is o. and I am a fountain pen addict. I have a ridiculously huge collection of mostly affordable German made fountain pens. I adore writing with them and using a variety of inks. I am not ashamed.
Hello, my name is PM and I have strategic stockpiles of sticky notes. I have recently branched out into dry erase static notes to change my office wall into a color-coded calendar.
Hello, my name is A. I have an inordinate fondness for binder clips. They keep my hands busy (interthreaduality). I cannot part with them.
Quote from: polly_mer on July 03, 2019, 05:01:52 AM
Hello, my name is PM and I have strategic stockpiles of sticky notes. I have recently branched out into dry erase static notes to change my office wall into a color-coded calendar.
Are we twins, separated at birth?
Facebook sends me ads for planners I don't need but desperately want. Has anyone even gotten one of them? Ink & Volt? Hobonichi? Drool....
Quote from: aside on July 03, 2019, 05:03:35 AM
Hello, my name is A. I have an inordinate fondness for binder clips. They keep my hands busy (interthreaduality). I cannot part with them.
Yes, the small ones are great for holding 25 to 30 one-page quizzes together.
My wife says to tell you about her, as she has to order her stationery from England. Baselton Bond, I think.
Yayyy! This one again!
Fountain pens. Just fountain pens.
Small to medium notebooks of heavy stock paper. I can't resist them.
I love my Levenger writing pads. Great paper, heavy duty, pleasure to write on.
Ooh - and my quad-ruled spiral bound notebooks. Hard to find outside of back-to-school season.
Quote from: ergative on July 03, 2019, 08:20:57 AM
Yayyy! This one again!
Fountain pens. Just fountain pens.
My people!
A good goose quill, well-pointed, and a strong brown ironweed/alum ink are all anyone really needs in life.
Honestly!!
M.
Quote from: mamselle on July 03, 2019, 12:03:52 PM
A good goose quill, well-pointed, and a strong brown ironweed/alum ink are all anyone really needs in life.
Honestly!!
M.
I've found that quills are better suited for broad-nib work. For proper pointed pen work you really need a steel nib. The goose quills, no matter how well seasoned, can't hold a point.
As for ink, my go-to preference is walnut.
Perhaps, but my supplier, Mr. Holbrook, is out of steel nibs at the moment, and I refuse to patronize that Anglican Tory, Mr. Price....
M.
Quote from: mamselle on July 03, 2019, 12:15:29 PM
Perhaps, but my supplier, Mr. Holbrook, is out of steel nibs at the moment, and I refuse to patronize that Anglican Tory, Mr. Price....
M.
I would not dream of asking you to compromise your principles. Perhaps this resource (https://thesteelpen.com/) can suggest to you a different supplier.
Quote from: ciao_yall on July 03, 2019, 11:02:05 AM
Ooh - and my quad-ruled spiral bound notebooks. Hard to find outside of back-to-school season.
Maybe we are twins because I buy stacks of those every back-to-school season.
Composition books with sewn bindings, both lined and quad-ruled. No wires to snag a sweater, plus they shelve neatly so I can find my scribbled notes months later.
I go into the stationery store--no, no longer; the romance is over. I found a great pen, "Extra Fine Liquid Espresso, Black Ink," and they are no longer to be found. Of course, there are a thousand other choices, should I want, say, "glitter gel ink." Right.
I have several fountain pens, but have given up using them. These include one of my oldest, a "Parker 51," duplicate of one I had in grade school (my first fountain pen). I will admit I had a liking for turquoise ink then, but, hey! it was sixth grade. Try and find turquoise ink now, anyway...
I also have one of the worst expensive pens there is, a Mont Blanc Meisterstuck guaranteed to leak under any condition. I no longer let it do so. It sulks in a pen and pencil holder next to some worn down, cheap No. 2 pencils with rock-hard erasers. "No, I'm sorry, looking miserable will not make me change my mind."
Last year I bought a limited edition 21 count box of various colored Sharpies (see the picture here: https://www.amazon.com/Sharpie-Point-Permanent-Markers-Limited/dp/B01LZS2E55 (https://www.amazon.com/Sharpie-Point-Permanent-Markers-Limited/dp/B01LZS2E55)) on clearance and another package of 3 metallic colored ones.
A box of 96 count Crayola Crayons with the now retired dandelion color is another treasured one.
Quote from: Juvenal on July 03, 2019, 06:30:54 PM
I have several fountain pens, but have given up using them. These include one of my oldest, a "Parker 51," duplicate of one I had in grade school (my first fountain pen). I will admit I had a liking for turquoise ink then, but, hey! it was sixth grade. Try and find turquoise ink now, anyway...
Oh, I have turquoise ink! I buy it in bottles and refill my pens. Türkis is my favorite, most of the time.
My pens are all medium to very inexpensive models of German brands. I love them and if one doesn't work the way I want it's not a huge loss.
This thread has been quiet. I guess working from home doesn't stimulate the pen and paper lust the way the before times did. But I have become so tired of typing that I got out all my fountain pens and cleaned them this weekend. And started writing notes in notebooks again. Tactile! My new discovery is Zebra Clickart retractable marker pens. They are incredibly satisfying to write with.
I doubt I am the only pen fetishist out here....
I gave an exam in person recently. Since this is the only hand-graded thing these students will get back from me all semester, I used a different pen color for every single question. Nobody commented about it. (At least I restrained myself and didn't use glitter pens.)
The other day I was crushed to find that my favorite ballpoint pen is no longer made. I'm jealously guarding the one I have and hoping I can find something to use as a refill.
I'm back to using fountain pens this semester, which makes me very happy. I'm considering splurging on some more expensive / nicer ones, but haven't decided what yet.
I have a fleet of Pilot Metropolitans in different colors that correspond to different color inks. And I've got a great assortment of inks from Noodler that are awesome.
Quote from: eigen on April 02, 2021, 07:37:21 PM
I'm back to using fountain pens this semester, which makes me very happy. I'm considering splurging on some more expensive / nicer ones, but haven't decided what yet.
I have a fleet of Pilot Metropolitans in different colors that correspond to different color inks. And I've got a great assortment of inks from Noodler that are awesome.
I've been eyeing those Pilot Metropolitans. I have three Lamy Safaris and a Rotring (they don't make fountain pens any more) but you can never have too many, right?
I'm another fan of fountain pens, but my current obsession is fine point dry erase/whiteboard markers.
Virtual learning means I need to keep up with student work in a different way, so I've laminated rosters and make analog notes each week. It's delightfully efficient and surprisingly pretty. I also use my office window for weekly to-do lists, so I get medium point markers for that.
My whiteboard marker obsession is the pilot refillable markers (http://pilotpen.us/categories/dry-erase-markers/). I love them. And the refills are cheap and I don't have to throw out the whole pen when they run dry. The tips last me 3-4 refills per marker.
Colors are really bright, there's a large range, and they write really smoothly and erase cleanly.
On fountain pens, what I like about the pilot pens is the really fine nibs. I've got a fine and medium, and the fine is really fine. Much more so than what I've found from other manufacturers.
For those with pen refill issues, contact this place.
https://www.bobslatestationer.com/
Ask for the pen counter, the buyer has 20 yrs experience buying pens and accessories, of all kinds, and matching inks and hard-to-get refills.
M.
I own one of those heavy cast iron tape dispensers. It will survive a nuclear war.
At our community's recent vaccine clinic they were giving out pens promoting the state's Rural Health Partnership. They were a good deal nicer-looking than those sorts of giveaway pens usually are. But they have a rather odd means of getting the point out for use. You don't push a button on top, twist it, or pull off one end. There's a slide on the side that you have to operate. It takes a moment to figure out.
I have various papers for various tasks: postit notes for quick reminders, classic yellow notepads for meet notes, those magnetic grocery pads for daily to do lists.
I also have a coveted red, metal Swingline stapler. No, you may not borrow my stapler.
Quote from: apl68 on April 05, 2021, 07:34:29 AM
At our community's recent vaccine clinic they were giving out pens promoting the state's Rural Health Partnership. They were a good deal nicer-looking than those sorts of giveaway pens usually are. But they have a rather odd means of getting the point out for use. You don't push a button on top, twist it, or pull off one end. There's a slide on the side that you have to operate. It takes a moment to figure out.
That reminds me of how you deploy the top on the Pilot Frixion pens: with the pocket clip. It can be confusing on first glance.
Hi my name is Wahoo (not my real name) and I am a butterfly binder clip addict.
It's been 40 years since my last visit, and I just can't stop opening and closing the clips, snapping inanimate objects as if I've got a herd of little ravenous bite-machines, and flipping the handles up and down, up and down, up and down like the binder is flying.
My wife has threatened to leave me if I accidentally clip her one more time, and neither of the dogs will come anywhere near me because I've lost control of the clips and sent them summersaulting through the air so often the pooches are traumatized. They think butterfly clips want to kill them.
Also, any highlighter that is not yellow is disgusting and against nature.
Thank you. I must go fly my clips now.
I realize I'm reactivating an old thread, so please forgive me, but I recently read Juvenal's post on the first page, in which he remarks that he can no longer find Sanford Xpresso pens, his favorite. My husband also loved those pens (they are the only pens he feels comfortable writing with), so a couple of years ago, when my searches for the Sanford pens became more and more difficult, I mounted a search for a replacement.
My first step was to figure out the technical classification for the Sanford pens. I learned that they are "porous point" pens, and used that name to search for what I wanted. Lo and behold, I found
Schneider Xpress pens (http://'https://www.amazon.com/Schneider-Xpress-Fineliner-Porous-190001/dp/B001P499ZC/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=CjwKCAiAwKyNBhBfEiwA_mrUMkv7EppAxcqbLB449qY7QktdhIusWbP7l99AtMDb--ip3BW_O17k4xoC6SQQAvD_BwE&hvadid=178354832878&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9032080&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=10356161970957873800&hvtargid=kwd-56408213636&hydadcr=22826_9920534&keywords=schneider%2Bxpress%2Bpens&qid=1638647088&sr=8-1&th=1'), made in Germany, .8mm, fine liner.
You can get a box of 10 for $18.99. I got them for my husband and he loves them! He says they are exactly like the Sanford pens, only better. They last longer, for one thing. And they are bright green, so he can always find them in the depths of his bag or desk drawer.
I know what it is like to love a particular pen and to find that it is discontinued, so even though it is so late, I thought I would post for Juvenal and anyone else that misses Sanford Xpresso pens.
Happy to see this thread!
My recent guilty purchase (because CVS had a 2-fer): Rainbow colored post-it notes.
Color-coding things helps you find them, right?
Of course, right.
M.
My Parker pen refills (Quink cartridges, black) have been shipped and will arrive on Tuesday. I have extra boxes of my Waterman ink cartridges, blue, for another pen.
I need the black ink to address the Christmas card envelopes.
Quote from: Langue_doc on December 04, 2021, 02:44:58 PM
My Parker pen refills (Quink cartridges, black) have been shipped and will arrive on Tuesday. I have extra boxes of my Waterman ink cartridges, blue, for another pen.
I need the black ink to address the Christmas card envelopes.
Ah, another fountain pen user. Have you ever considered making the switch from cartridges to bottled ink? It opens up your world in new and marvelous ways.
Quote from: ergative on December 05, 2021, 01:28:04 AM
Quote from: Langue_doc on December 04, 2021, 02:44:58 PM
My Parker pen refills (Quink cartridges, black) have been shipped and will arrive on Tuesday. I have extra boxes of my Waterman ink cartridges, blue, for another pen.
I need the black ink to address the Christmas card envelopes.
Ah, another fountain pen user. Have you ever considered making the switch from cartridges to bottled ink? It opens up your world in new and marvelous ways.
I have bottled ink, the adapters for the pens (or whatever they're called) and also calligraphy pens and ink (in ink bottles). I'm just too lazy these days. I went to school in Country X where we had to use real pens and real ink. I think the pens had a lever of sorts that you raised so that the suction would get the ink from the bottle into the pens. Back in the days, long past my school and college years (3-15 years ago), I would use calligraphy pens for my Christmas and other cards and also for addressing the envelopes. I probably need to get un-lazy.
I may have posted this on this thread earlier, but in time for the holidays, these folks (and in particular, Caroline, on the pen counter) are one of those privately-owned niche stationery places with pens, inks, etc. to die for...)
https://www.bobslatestationer.com/
Just to tempt anyone who needs that tiny little push over the edge...
M.
Quote from: polly_mer on July 03, 2019, 05:02:49 PM
Quote from: ciao_yall on July 03, 2019, 11:02:05 AM
Ooh - and my quad-ruled spiral bound notebooks. Hard to find outside of back-to-school season.
Maybe we are twins because I buy stacks of those every back-to-school season.
Hi Polly!
Hello, my name is Wahoo and I am an addict. I was clean all through secondary education----we only had an old electric typewriter in my childhood home, and it barely worked----and I was a disinterested student as an undergrad and it is remarkable I managed to stumble to the B.A. line at all.
Then I went to grad school, and I developed a <sniff> deep addition to yellow highlighters. Not the nasty blue, green, or pink highlighters (they make me puke) but those light, bright, lemony yellow highlighters. It is like filling your texts with sunlight and happiness! I just can't stop...
And I've got a weird fixation on three-hole punches. But I can stop any time I want.
I am back in hopes of reviving this thread and to share my recent stationery fetishism discoveries. Share yours! Let's revel in our love of office supplies!
* I subscribe to https://www.scribedelivery.com/, which for thirty bucks a month sends me interesting pens and really cool notebooks. Sometimes the pens and notebooks aren't my thing, but, about 90% of the time, the stuff is to die for. Like this gorgeous Rhodia dot grid notepad in A4 format. Or a Rhodia "reverse book" that is a square, quad-ruled spiral-bound notebook that, because it is square, makes as much sense to use with the binding side up as on the left. It's a thing of beauty.
* Because of Scribe Delivery I've also amassed an absurd collection of pens. My favorite so far is the Zebra Clickart retractable marker pens. I have a 36 color box, which makes me feel like a six-year-old with the 64-color box of Crayolas. So much fun. I have zero artistic talent, and even worse handwriting, but I love doodling with these, and watching all the stationery and planner porn on YouTube where people with talents make beautiful planners and journals (have they no jobs?)
* To feed this new pen habit, I now have a favorite website--JetPens.com. They carry all the groovy Japanese stationery, such as Hobonichi Techo planners, my favorite Zebra pens, fantastic fountain pen inks--I've learned the hard way never to carry my fountain pens, so they sit in a place of honor at home. All these new pens and notebooks have me doing far more hand-written notes than I did before. I've tried and tried to digitize everything, but for day to day, fleeting notes, nothing beats a good pen* and a good notebook. I have fully leaned into the realization that I enjoy the aesthetic/tactile aspects of hand writing, even though my handwriting is awful.
* Pencil: The Pentel GraphGear 1000, in .7 or .9 mm. The best mechanical pencil I've ever owned. The writing is silky smooth--sometimes it just feels better to write/doodle with a really good pencil.
Disclaimer: I don't have a stake in any companies mentioned here, except for a fervent hope they stay in business! Thanks for indulging my tale of stationery addiction.
I have a friend who would make dazzling contributions to this thread, but she doesn't do forum stuff....
She has a whole wall devoted to little wooden cubbies with pens, pencils, ink, etc. above her desk.
She does make very good use of them (calligraphy, artists' books, etc.).
She is now just trying to find a place to give away her stub ends.
Any suggestions?
M.
Quote from: mamselle on January 26, 2022, 08:17:27 PM
I have a friend who would make dazzling contributions to this thread, but she doesn't do forum stuff....
She has a whole wall devoted to little wooden cubbies with pens, pencils, ink, etc. above her desk.
She does make very good use of them (calligraphy, artists' books, etc.).
She is now just trying to find a place to give away her stub ends.
Any suggestions?
M.
Do you mean stub ends of like colored pencils? I wonder if a high school or college art teacher could use them or similar items.
Good thought. I'll mention that to her.
She just sent me a photo of a 'new' (old, re-furbished) printer's tray, set up vertically, with all its cubbies filled with more pens, inks, etc.
As long as the wind doesn't blow it down....
M.
I am a sucker for Montblanc pens—I mean Writing Instruments. Anyone else?
https://www.montblanc.com/en-us
I've had a Montblanc for over thirty years and have not used it for nearly that long. Sooner or later (sooner, usually) ink gets all over my fingers. It lords it in the pen/pencil holder on my desk, sulking among the riffraff.
And, lately, I'm not even convinced it might not be a fake. Would a real Montblanc stain your fingers? Anyway, it's so old that the now-present inscribed serial number was not a standard then, so doubt remains as to its nobility. Anyway, I recently bought a handsome little fountain pen on Amazon for about $16, and no inky fingers yet. Good boy!
Juvenal:
Thank you for sharing your story. Was yours a fountain pen? Rollerball? Or Ballpoint?
Fountain pens seem to have fallen out of fashion as penmanship has been eclipsed by keyboards. Both my parents had beautiful penmanship, alas, I did not inherit that gift. If I had, I would have favored fountain pens for sure.
My most recent Montblanc was a Meisterstück Rollerball instrument... I used it lovingly for two decades... it was lost in my last move three years ago, and I have been mourning it ever since—particularly because it was a gift. I am inclined to treat myself to another one following my tax refund. My boss recently gifted me with a nice Cross pen... but it's just not the same. Once you've had the best . . .
Quote from: simpleSimon on January 31, 2022, 09:47:19 AM
Juvenal:
Thank you for sharing your story. Was yours a fountain pen? Rollerball? Or Ballpoint?
Fountain pens seem to have fallen out of fashion as penmanship has been eclipsed by keyboards. Both my parents had beautiful penmanship, alas, I did not inherit that gift. If I had, I would have favored fountain pens for sure.
My most recent Montblanc was a Meisterstück Rollerball instrument... I used it lovingly for two decades... it was lost in my last move three years ago, and I have been mourning it ever since—particularly because it was a gift. I am inclined to treat myself to another one following my tax refund. My boss recently gifted me with a nice Cross pen... but it's just not the same. Once you've had the best . . .
It was/is the "Classic Meisterstuck." Fountain pen. I have used fountain pens on and off since the mid-Fifties. Off, now for a long time. My first fountain pen was a Parker--"Parker 51"? Anyway, replaced once or twice (dropping a fountain pen to the floor, nib down is a recipe for...), and I think the last is around somewhere. In the Seventies I tried to improve my handwriting by taking up Italic and an Italic nib. This worked for a while. Then came the keyboard era and hand-written correspondence dwindled to cards and my script aspect declined to that of an idiot. Generally, however, properly spelled.
If anyone has an old Parker 51 floating around a study that they never use, I will very happily take it off their hands.
Are stickers germane to this thread? I just spent a fun evening placing an order from Kawaii Pen Shop (https://kawaiipenshop.com/). Most of it is cute stickers, since apparently I have the tastes of a 6 year old, but I did order a metallic highlighter and a couple colorful pens.
I don't know why Japanese stickers are so much better than other ones. I have some classy, high quality stickers that are Okuyama brand, along the lines of these (https://www.tokopie.com/products/okuyama-sticker-sakura-flower) or these (https://www.tokopie.com/products/sticker-fun-handfan-okuyama), which look like they're made of origami paper with metallic accents. I bought them at a Japanese store in Hawaii but unfortunately can't find much online for reasonable shipping to the US. One of my students gave me some lower end Japanese stickers that were really cute, since she saw my planner and we were bonding over stickers. I'm hoping the ones I just ordered will be similarly cute.
I have a bunch of fountain pens, including a Montblanc LeGrande 146, a Pelikan M805, a Waterman Le Man 200, a Waterman Carene, a Pilot vanishing point, and a bunch of Waterman Experts. My travel pen is a Pelikan M150, which is a nice and compact piston filler, and seems to have a very good seal that keeps the nib wet even with infrequent use.
I, too, have a bunch of fountain pens, but they are much cheaper. They include a TWSBI 580, a Waterman Hemisphere (inherited from my late grandmother), three Pilot Metropolitans, an Esterbrook J, a Wing Sung 601 (very nice, that one!), a Moonman Q1, a couple of Sheaffers that don't write for various reasons, and a vintage Sheaffer Snorkel that does write well. Most of my pens are under $30, and none is more than $100.
I have some Sheaffer cartridge fountain pens. I haven't used them in years, after being caught in a drenching downpour once and losing an entire binder full of important class notes (they became quite beautiful, but unfortunately unreadable, watercolors).
Colleagues bought me a Mont Blanc ballpoint when I left a wonderful position seven years ago.
Other than that, my pen attraction has been limited to relatively cheap ones I can find in stores or on JetPens that are thick in the barrel and that dance over the page fast enough to keep up.
Quote from: paultuttle on February 05, 2022, 11:02:21 PM
I haven't used them in years, after being caught in a drenching downpour once and losing an entire binder full of important class notes (they became quite beautiful, but unfortunately unreadable, watercolors).
Far be it from me to proselytize too hard, but I'll just mention, briefly, in passing, a breath on the wind you can barely hear, that there are a wide variety of waterproof fountain pen inks available these days, and I'd be very happy to say more on the matter if anyone expresses any interest.
Go for it!
Also, sorry for the loss of the 'beautiful notes'...
And stickers can be quite beautiful.
Some are just silly, some are tiny works of art.
M.
Yes, please proselytize.
Quote from: paultuttle on February 06, 2022, 05:58:32 AM
Yes, please proselytize.
Aha! An invitation. Ok, There are three categories of waterproof fountain pen inks that you can explore. The first is brand-specific; the other two are more an ink-making technique than a brand.
NoodlersNoodlers is an American company run by one Nathan Tardiff, who makes his libertarian politics part of his brand. He names his ink colors things like Bernanke Blue and Bloody Brexit, and at one point in 2015ish he couldn't get glass bottles from his supplier at regular prices and released a youtube video explaining, at great length, what a travesty it would be for him to have to raise prices, and why, rather than succumb to this calamitous development, he had decided to temporarily switch to plastic bottles. Part of this philosophy also involves filling bottles all the way up to the very tippy tippy top, so that when you open them for the first time you're liable to spill them because they're so full.
Noodlers is wildly prolific in its varieties of inks. It is the maker of the infamous Baystate Blue, which eye-searingly vibrant, waterproof (on everything, including hands, clothes, pens, furniture, sink basins, and pen barrels), and had a bit of a bad moment back in 2013 or so when it caused the feeds of a batch of Lamy Safaris to melt. I believe that's been fixed now--Lamy changed their manufacturing of their feeds. However, it fades badly in light, and it tends to feather and bleed through paper, so I don't recommend it.
For waterproofness, you have a couple of options among the Noodler's brand. First is the series of
Bulletproof inks, which are designed to chemically bond with the cellulose of paper, and so is perfectly waterproof. There's a bulletproof Black(which I don't love--a bit too greyish for my taste, although I know many other people swear by it), but the line comes in many other colors, including Brexit Royal Blue, 54th Mass, Britannia's Blue Waves, and No. 41 Brown (so named after Scott Brown was elected to Ted Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts, ending the Democrats' supermajority by becoming the 41st GOP senator. As I said, Tardiff leans into his politics.) I've used 54th Mass and Zhivago from this line, and they've both behaved well for me.
For more permanence, you can go with the
Warden series, which are designed to be tamper proof as well as bulletproof. They all have the word 'bad' in the name: Bad Belted Kingfisher, Bad Black Moccasin, Bad Green Gator, and Bad Blue Heron.
Outside of these series, his ink Kung Te Cheng is also famously immovable in water.
Noodler's has a bit of a mixed reputation among inkophiles. Leaving aside the politics, his focus on experimenting with different ink qualities (bulletproof, tamper-proof, freeze-proof, glow-in-the-dark, shading, anti-feathering, etc.) can lead to extremely inconsistent results. Many people love some of his inks, but consider other ones unusable, too prone to feathering or bleeding or too slow to dry (or never drying). Even within batches there is inconsistency, so you might get a sample and like it, but when you buy a bottle it is from a different batch, and looks or behaves differently.
Iron Gall inksTraditional inks are made from iron gall, which oxidizes as it dries to a dark black color. In the past, there were a lot of fountain pen inks with a color called 'blue black', which were a combination of iron gall, which went down very pale but dried/oxidized to black, and blue dye, added to make the wet ink--otherwise too pale to see comfortably--more visible as you wrote. These old blue black iron gall inks were extremely corrosive, and tended to eat steel nibs (gold nibs, however, were resistant, hence the frequency of gold nibs or gold plated nibs in traditional fountain pen manufacturing). Modern iron gall inks are much less corrosive, possibly because of superior chemical manufacturing, but also possibly because the iron concentration is just lower. Also, they often contain added colors other than blue.
All iron gall inks are waterproof at a minimum in their iron gall component: The added dye might wash away in water, but the iron gall will leave behind legible letters. They're also quite fun to use, because the color changes dramatically from wet to dry, as the dye component is dominant when the ink goes down, but the iron gall darkens it as it oxidizes.
The Polish brand
KWZ makes quite a lot of iron gall inks that are reputed to behave nicely. I've used Iron Gall Green #3 and it behaves nicely. I also have a bottle of Iron Gall Turquoise, but it had a tendency to clog my Pilot Metropolitan (F nib), and left behind a dark film on the nib that didn't come off in rinsing, and instead required me to physically take apart the nib and feed and rub with a toothpick, so I can't recommend wholeheartedly. However, the color is really beautiful.
Diamine has a traditional blue-black iron gall ink called
Registrars, and Rohrer & Klingner make two iron gall inks: a blue-black (
Scalix) and a dusky purple (
Scabiosa). I have not tried them myself, because they have a reputation of being quite dry, but if you have a wet-writing pen they may well work out for you. Both Diamine and R&K are very well-established brands, and have good reputations for making consistent, well-behaved inks. Certainly I've liked every Diamine ink I've ever tried, although I've not tried their Registrar's ink myself.
Pigmented inksYour third option for waterproofness is to go with pigmented inks. Usually fountain pen inks are dye-based, because pigments have a tendency to clog the feeds. However, in the past ten years or so pigmented inks have become more common. I don't know what's changed--pigment-grinding technology, or something. One pigment-based ink that a lot of people swear by is
Platinum Carbon Black, which is absolutely immovable in water, although I think it has a tendency to feather/bleed. Other pigment-based waterproof inks can be found in
Rohrer & Klingner's dokumentus line, which includes a variety of colors, including magenta, green, light blue, dark blue, brown, and black. I've tried the R&K magenta, and although it behaved very nicely and was definitely extremely waterproof, it left chunks of dried pigment on the feed of my nib, and I had to spend a fair amount of time with a toothpick and nib flush to get it all off.
SummaryWaterproof inks come with trade-offs. Noodlers is a whole thing, on its own, from politics to consistency. Iron gall inks--even modern ones--tend to write dry in the pen (except for KWZ, which I think uses lower iron gall content and so are less waterproof), can be corrosive to nibs, and leave behind a film of sediment. This isn't a problem if your pen comes apart easily, like a Pilot Metropolitan, or if you have a dedicated pen that you just keep filled with the same ink all the time, ideally with a gold nib, but it's a bit of kerfuffle if you like to change inks a lot, which I do. And pigmented inks, while absolutely positively immovable in water, need special cleaning and have cloggy tendency.
I'd probably recommend you get a bottle of Noodler's 54th Mass: That particular ink tends to be well-behaved, easy enough to clean, looks reasonably professional, and won't wash away if you drop your notebook in a stream. When I bought a fountain pen and bottle of ink as a thank-you gift for a research assistant, that's what I got her.
Additional resourcesFountain Pen Network (http://fountain%20pen%20network), a forum for all fountain pen users. It is the embodiment of Rule 34 as applied to fountain pens: If you've thought of it, it's been discussed on FPN. I've linked to the 'inky thoughts' subforum, which on the first page as of this posting has a question from someone looking for a waterproof, easy-to-clean ink, but there's a huge amount of information there if you poke around.
Jet Pens comprehensive guide to Noodlers inks (https://www.jetpens.com/blog/Noodler-s-Fountain-Pen-Inks-A-Comprehensive-Guide/pt/902)
Jet Pens evaluation of waterproofness of a variety of inks (https://www.jetpens.com/blog/The-Best-Waterproof-Fountain-Pen-Inks/pt/829)
Goulet Pens collection of water-resistant inks (https://www.gouletpens.com/collections/water-resistant-inks?offset=48) (include all the ones I've mentioned here, and multiple others besides)[/url]. Goulet Pens is quite good also for getting small samples of inks before you commit to a whole bottle.
Anderson Pens (https://andersonpens.com/ink/ink-samples/) also sells sample vials, as do Shigure Inks (https://shigureinks.com/pages/ink-samples-order-form) but I've never bought from them myself. Really, any good pen store should sell samples of its inks. Don't go to Amazon for your ink. Buy it from a retailor that knows inks.
Mountain of Ink (https://mountainofink.com/blog/water-resistant-inks) is a SUPERB blog that by now has reviewed
thousands of inks, and carefully tags them by properties. I've linked to the page summarizing a variety of water resistant inks, although I think that page just provides a representative sample, rather than an exhaustive link of all inks reviewed with high water resistance. Whenever I'm considering buying a new ink, Mountain of Ink is one of the first places I go.
And, of course, I'm always happy to write more here if you have other questions about fountain pens. Or inks. Or paper. I have All The Thoughts.
Whoo-hoo!
Very glad you accepted the invitation!
Thanks--
M.
Thank you ergative. I have no practical interest in ink, but found your explanation fascinating.
Interesting. I wonder if the Noodler's "54th Mass" was in reference to the first all-black regiment in the Civil War (featured in the "Glory" film):
https://www.nps.gov/boaf/learn/historyculture/shaw.htm
Seems inconsistent with what some of the other names suggest, but not impossible, I suppose.
M.
Yes, it is a reference to that. The color is supposed to reflect the color of their uniforms. Tardiff isn't a rah rah Confederacy lost cause type of guy; he's an ideological libertarian, so being anti-slavery is consistent with that philosophy.
Quote from: ergative on February 21, 2022, 02:57:06 AM
Quote from: paultuttle on February 06, 2022, 05:58:32 AM
Yes, please proselytize.
Aha! An invitation. Ok, There are three categories of waterproof fountain pen inks that you can explore. The first is brand-specific; the other two are more an ink-making technique than a brand.
Noodlers
Noodlers is an American company run by one Nathan Tardiff, who makes his libertarian politics part of his brand. He names his ink colors things like Bernanke Blue and Bloody Brexit, and at one point in 2015ish he couldn't get glass bottles from his supplier at regular prices and released a youtube video explaining, at great length, what a travesty it would be for him to have to raise prices, and why, rather than succumb to this calamitous development, he had decided to temporarily switch to plastic bottles. Part of this philosophy also involves filling bottles all the way up to the very tippy tippy top, so that when you open them for the first time you're liable to spill them because they're so full.
Noodlers is wildly prolific in its varieties of inks. It is the maker of the infamous Baystate Blue, which eye-searingly vibrant, waterproof (on everything, including hands, clothes, pens, furniture, sink basins, and pen barrels), and had a bit of a bad moment back in 2013 or so when it caused the feeds of a batch of Lamy Safaris to melt. I believe that's been fixed now--Lamy changed their manufacturing of their feeds. However, it fades badly in light, and it tends to feather and bleed through paper, so I don't recommend it.
For waterproofness, you have a couple of options among the Noodler's brand. First is the series of Bulletproof inks, which are designed to chemically bond with the cellulose of paper, and so is perfectly waterproof. There's a bulletproof Black(which I don't love--a bit too greyish for my taste, although I know many other people swear by it), but the line comes in many other colors, including Brexit Royal Blue, 54th Mass, Britannia's Blue Waves, and No. 41 Brown (so named after Scott Brown was elected to Ted Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts, ending the Democrats' supermajority by becoming the 41st GOP senator. As I said, Tardiff leans into his politics.) I've used 54th Mass and Zhivago from this line, and they've both behaved well for me.
For more permanence, you can go with the Warden series, which are designed to be tamper proof as well as bulletproof. They all have the word 'bad' in the name: Bad Belted Kingfisher, Bad Black Moccasin, Bad Green Gator, and Bad Blue Heron.
Outside of these series, his ink Kung Te Cheng is also famously immovable in water.
Noodler's has a bit of a mixed reputation among inkophiles. Leaving aside the politics, his focus on experimenting with different ink qualities (bulletproof, tamper-proof, freeze-proof, glow-in-the-dark, shading, anti-feathering, etc.) can lead to extremely inconsistent results. Many people love some of his inks, but consider other ones unusable, too prone to feathering or bleeding or too slow to dry (or never drying). Even within batches there is inconsistency, so you might get a sample and like it, but when you buy a bottle it is from a different batch, and looks or behaves differently.
Iron Gall inks
Traditional inks are made from iron gall, which oxidizes as it dries to a dark black color. In the past, there were a lot of fountain pen inks with a color called 'blue black', which were a combination of iron gall, which went down very pale but dried/oxidized to black, and blue dye, added to make the wet ink--otherwise too pale to see comfortably--more visible as you wrote. These old blue black iron gall inks were extremely corrosive, and tended to eat steel nibs (gold nibs, however, were resistant, hence the frequency of gold nibs or gold plated nibs in traditional fountain pen manufacturing). Modern iron gall inks are much less corrosive, possibly because of superior chemical manufacturing, but also possibly because the iron concentration is just lower. Also, they often contain added colors other than blue.
All iron gall inks are waterproof at a minimum in their iron gall component: The added dye might wash away in water, but the iron gall will leave behind legible letters. They're also quite fun to use, because the color changes dramatically from wet to dry, as the dye component is dominant when the ink goes down, but the iron gall darkens it as it oxidizes.
The Polish brand KWZ makes quite a lot of iron gall inks that are reputed to behave nicely. I've used Iron Gall Green #3 and it behaves nicely. I also have a bottle of Iron Gall Turquoise, but it had a tendency to clog my Pilot Metropolitan (F nib), and left behind a dark film on the nib that didn't come off in rinsing, and instead required me to physically take apart the nib and feed and rub with a toothpick, so I can't recommend wholeheartedly. However, the color is really beautiful.
Diamine has a traditional blue-black iron gall ink called Registrars, and Rohrer & Klingner make two iron gall inks: a blue-black (Scalix) and a dusky purple (Scabiosa). I have not tried them myself, because they have a reputation of being quite dry, but if you have a wet-writing pen they may well work out for you. Both Diamine and R&K are very well-established brands, and have good reputations for making consistent, well-behaved inks. Certainly I've liked every Diamine ink I've ever tried, although I've not tried their Registrar's ink myself.
Pigmented inks
Your third option for waterproofness is to go with pigmented inks. Usually fountain pen inks are dye-based, because pigments have a tendency to clog the feeds. However, in the past ten years or so pigmented inks have become more common. I don't know what's changed--pigment-grinding technology, or something. One pigment-based ink that a lot of people swear by is Platinum Carbon Black, which is absolutely immovable in water, although I think it has a tendency to feather/bleed. Other pigment-based waterproof inks can be found in Rohrer & Klingner's dokumentus line, which includes a variety of colors, including magenta, green, light blue, dark blue, brown, and black. I've tried the R&K magenta, and although it behaved very nicely and was definitely extremely waterproof, it left chunks of dried pigment on the feed of my nib, and I had to spend a fair amount of time with a toothpick and nib flush to get it all off.
Summary
Waterproof inks come with trade-offs. Noodlers is a whole thing, on its own, from politics to consistency. Iron gall inks--even modern ones--tend to write dry in the pen (except for KWZ, which I think uses lower iron gall content and so are less waterproof), can be corrosive to nibs, and leave behind a film of sediment. This isn't a problem if your pen comes apart easily, like a Pilot Metropolitan, or if you have a dedicated pen that you just keep filled with the same ink all the time, ideally with a gold nib, but it's a bit of kerfuffle if you like to change inks a lot, which I do. And pigmented inks, while absolutely positively immovable in water, need special cleaning and have cloggy tendency.
I'd probably recommend you get a bottle of Noodler's 54th Mass: That particular ink tends to be well-behaved, easy enough to clean, looks reasonably professional, and won't wash away if you drop your notebook in a stream. When I bought a fountain pen and bottle of ink as a thank-you gift for a research assistant, that's what I got her.
Additional resources
Fountain Pen Network (http://fountain%20pen%20network), a forum for all fountain pen users. It is the embodiment of Rule 34 as applied to fountain pens: If you've thought of it, it's been discussed on FPN. I've linked to the 'inky thoughts' subforum, which on the first page as of this posting has a question from someone looking for a waterproof, easy-to-clean ink, but there's a huge amount of information there if you poke around.
Jet Pens comprehensive guide to Noodlers inks (https://www.jetpens.com/blog/Noodler-s-Fountain-Pen-Inks-A-Comprehensive-Guide/pt/902)
Jet Pens evaluation of waterproofness of a variety of inks (https://www.jetpens.com/blog/The-Best-Waterproof-Fountain-Pen-Inks/pt/829)
Goulet Pens collection of water-resistant inks (https://www.gouletpens.com/collections/water-resistant-inks?offset=48) (include all the ones I've mentioned here, and multiple others besides)[/url]. Goulet Pens is quite good also for getting small samples of inks before you commit to a whole bottle.
Anderson Pens (https://andersonpens.com/ink/ink-samples/) also sells sample vials, as do Shigure Inks (https://shigureinks.com/pages/ink-samples-order-form) but I've never bought from them myself. Really, any good pen store should sell samples of its inks. Don't go to Amazon for your ink. Buy it from a retailor that knows inks.
Mountain of Ink (https://mountainofink.com/blog/water-resistant-inks) is a SUPERB blog that by now has reviewed thousands of inks, and carefully tags them by properties. I've linked to the page summarizing a variety of water resistant inks, although I think that page just provides a representative sample, rather than an exhaustive link of all inks reviewed with high water resistance. Whenever I'm considering buying a new ink, Mountain of Ink is one of the first places I go.
And, of course, I'm always happy to write more here if you have other questions about fountain pens. Or inks. Or paper. I have All The Thoughts.
Wow! Thank you very much. Very helpful.
I'll be sure to check out these options.
Regarding the reaction of iron gall inks with the nibs, it might be because I think the iron gall inks contain acid. I have a recipe for making my own iron gall ink (science geek here) that uses vinegar (acetic acid) to dissolve iron to get it into solution. If they still use acid, that would be bad for the nibs or any metal parts, but wouldn't react with gold (most acids don't). I purchased a bamboo pen for my homemade iron gall ink.
Regarding Noodler's bulletproof inks, I tested one of them with other solvents, not just water, and they didn't wash off the paper. Nor did it wash off my wallet when the pen leaked. :(
This ink discussion was so cool. This is timely because of my recent discoveries:
* TWSBI Eco fountain pens. No converter, no cartridges, just a pen barrel that is clear and that holds and shows the ink. For a $35 fountain pen these pens write beautifully to me--and to be clear, I write and take notes, and have poor handwriting, so my standards are poor. I bought one as a treat to myself but loved it so much I bought a second one with a medium nib. Love them. I might get some fun ink for them.
* I discovered the syringes with blunt needles at JetPens, used to fill ink converters (for my Lamy Safaris and an older Rotring) without dipping the pen in the inkwell, which I find to be really messy. Now that I make less of a mess with my ink, I am thinking of exploring different colors and inks.
Quote from: Tee_Bee on May 07, 2022, 02:20:36 PM
This ink discussion was so cool. This is timely because of my recent discoveries:
* TWSBI Eco fountain pens. No converter, no cartridges, just a pen barrel that is clear and that holds and shows the ink. For a $35 fountain pen these pens write beautifully to me--and to be clear, I write and take notes, and have poor handwriting, so my standards are poor. I bought one as a treat to myself but loved it so much I bought a second one with a medium nib. Love them. I might get some fun ink for them.
* I discovered the syringes with blunt needles at JetPens, used to fill ink converters (for my Lamy Safaris and an older Rotring) without dipping the pen in the inkwell, which I find to be really messy. Now that I make less of a mess with my ink, I am thinking of exploring different colors and inks.
Welcome to the club! The TWSBI Eco is very popular, yes. I haven't ever used it, but I have a Diamond 580, and I'm very fond of it. It's the pen I take with me when I travel, because it holds so much ink I don't need to worry about bringing refills, and it is always reliable and well behaved. Be aware, though, that TWSBIs have a tendency to crack or break after a little bit. If you get in touch with their customer service they'll send you a new part for the cost of shipping--I had to do that when my nib collar cracked a few months ago--and that's very nice, and all, but it would be nice if they didn't crack in the first place.
Ink syringes are wonderful! I have a couple of pens which just don't fit converters very well, so I have to reuse empty cartridges, and an ink syringe is invaluable for refilling those cartridges.
Quote from: dr_evil on March 09, 2022, 02:03:05 PM
Regarding the reaction of iron gall inks with the nibs, it might be because I think the iron gall inks contain acid. I have a recipe for making my own iron gall ink (science geek here) that uses vinegar (acetic acid) to dissolve iron to get it into solution. If they still use acid, that would be bad for the nibs or any metal parts, but wouldn't react with gold (most acids don't). I purchased a bamboo pen for my homemade iron gall ink.
Regarding Noodler's bulletproof inks, I tested one of them with other solvents, not just water, and they didn't wash off the paper. Nor did it wash off my wallet when the pen leaked. :(
Yes, I think the corrosiveness of IG inks is the acid, although it sounds like you know a lot more about how they're made than I do!
I did a little digging on the Bulletproof vs. Warden inks. Apparently, so the story goes, Nathan Tardiff designed the bulletproof inks to be tamper-proof and immovable, and challenged his customers to prove him wrong. As you've discovered, they're resistant to lots of solvents besides water. But some science grad student or professor who worked with lasers managed to laser a bulletproof ink off a paper. So the Warden series is designed to be
laser-proof, in recognition of this young inkophile science person's discovery.
I didn't realize that you could use syringes to fill converters or cartridges--thanks for the info.
Quote from: Langue_doc on May 08, 2022, 12:56:34 PM
I didn't realize that you could use syringes to fill converters or cartridges--thanks for the info.
I only learned this in the last few months. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. Interestingly, the needles on the syringes are blunted to avoid any implication of misuse. I bought a set of them on Amazon in various sizes. Apparently the bigger ones are good for filling the ink tanks on the newer printers that use ink tanks instead of expensive cartridges.
A year or two ago, it was announced that Tomoe River paper was being discontinued by the manufacturer, Tomoegawa. This news sent the fountain pen world into wild heights of tizzy, for Tomoe River paper is considered the best of the best among those who sling ink.
I felt rather smug, because around the same time, a new paper, Cosmo Air Light, was released by Yamamoto, and it had many of the same properties that made TRP so popular. To be sure, I definitely made sure to stock up on TRP notebooks before the paper was gone, but I also felt confident that Cosmo Air Light would see me through.
Now I've just learned that Cosmo Air Light is being discontinued by Yamamoto, in an email full of foreboding hints that other Japanese papers would perhaps follow. And, as those who know know, Japan is where the best paper is made.
But Tomoe River (the brand) has been bought by a new manufacturer, Sanzen, and so lives again. Of course, ink-slingers have lots to say about the difference between the old TRP and the new Sanzen (and yes, I've read the articles and watched all the youtube videos that are, literally, videos of watching ink dry), but it seems to be a reasonably close clone.
So: am I safe? Will Sanzen TRP see me through? Or is Sanzen going to go the way of OG Tomoe River and Cosmo Air Light? I don't know. I've just bought some more notebooks of each.
It's rather silly, really: I'm panic-buying these notebooks faster than I can use them up. But at least I'll be sure that my fountain pens will always have something to write on that will show off their sheen and shading as it deserves to be shown off.
Quote from: ergative on September 26, 2022, 07:50:56 AM
A year or two ago, it was announced that Tomoe River paper was being discontinued by the manufacturer, Tomoegawa. This news sent the fountain pen world into wild heights of tizzy, for Tomoe River paper is considered the best of the best among those who sling ink.
I felt rather smug, because around the same time, a new paper, Cosmo Air Light, was released by Yamamoto, and it had many of the same properties that made TRP so popular. To be sure, I definitely made sure to stock up on TRP notebooks before the paper was gone, but I also felt confident that Cosmo Air Light would see me through.
Now I've just learned that Cosmo Air Light is being discontinued by Yamamoto, in an email full of foreboding hints that other Japanese papers would perhaps follow. And, as those who know know, Japan is where the best paper is made.
But Tomoe River (the brand) has been bought by a new manufacturer, Sanzen, and so lives again. Of course, ink-slingers have lots to say about the difference between the old TRP and the new Sanzen (and yes, I've read the articles and watched all the youtube videos that are, literally, videos of watching ink dry), but it seems to be a reasonably close clone.
So: am I safe? Will Sanzen TRP see me through? Or is Sanzen going to go the way of OG Tomoe River and Cosmo Air Light? I don't know. I've just bought some more notebooks of each.
It's rather silly, really: I'm panic-buying these notebooks faster than I can use them up. But at least I'll be sure that my fountain pens will always have something to write on that will show off their sheen and shading as it deserves to be shown off.
OK, that surprised a few guffaws out of me.