Any Fountain Pen Writers?

[Slowswift Lerasium Mistborn]

So, if I understand correctly, the correct course of action for finding bits in one's ink is to remove said ink from existence, right?

[Kasimir Nightwatcher]

1 minute ago, Slowswift said:

So, if I understand correctly, the correct course of action for finding bits in one's ink is to remove said ink from existence, right?

What kind of bits?

If it's mould, kill it with fire. If the ink is shedding pigment, that's less of an issue.

[Slowswift Lerasium Mistborn]

9 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

What kind of bits?

If it's mould, kill it with fire. If the ink is shedding pigment, that's less of an issue.

I don't think it's mold, though honestly I'm not too sure what that would look like. Whenever I turn the bottle upside down, there's little flecks of varying size that cling to the bottle. 

Here's a picture:

Spoiler

I've had the ink for several years now. I love the color, but it's a bit dry so I don't use it as often as I'd like.

Edited March 19 by Slowswift

[Kasimir Nightwatcher]

11 minutes ago, Slowswift said:

I've had the ink for several years now. I love the color, but it's a bit dry so I don't use it as often as I'd like.

Hmm. Two questions:

1. If you sniff it very lightly in a well-ventilated area, does anything smell off? 

2. No white specks or fuzz?

3. What happens if you cap the bottle and shake it gently. More or less specks?

My current take is that it looks like dye separation rather than SITB but again, comfort level issues - if you aren't remotely willing to take the risk, definitely just throw it out. If not, I'd say dedicate a pen to it just in case so in the absolute worst case, you won't have cross-contamination, and then take it from there.

Edited to add:

Sorry, I should clarify I've experienced this with Kyo-no-oto Aonibi and Diamine Eau de Nil. In the case of Eau de Nil, it's very obvious sedimentation and it reduces with shaking. Shaking doesn't fix the Aonibi issue but I've been using it in a beater Jinhao that's been dedicated to the ink with zero issues. (Beater for cross-contamination worries.) No mould, no smell, no fuzz on the pen and it's been months.

Edited March 19 by Kasimir

[Coolmint Crew Leader]

31 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

What kind of bits?

If it's mould, kill it with fire. If the ink is shedding pigment, that's less of an issue.

I'd kill it with fire anyway.  

[Kasimir Nightwatcher]

14 minutes ago, Coolmint said:

I'd kill it with fire anyway.  

Your pen, your choice!

[Coolmint Crew Leader]

2 hours ago, Kasimir said:

Your pen, your choice!

I meant the ink…

[Kasimir Nightwatcher]

11 minutes ago, Coolmint said:

I meant the ink…

Oh, I know. I meant that I'd never disagree with not wanting to take that risk (as long as it's not clearly mould) with some pens, but would also be fine putting it in a cheap beater. Boiled that down to a 'your pen, your choice' statement since it's really about risk threshold and I can get having a strict policy of not messing around when inks behave abnormally.

[Coolmint Crew Leader]

1 hour ago, Kasimir said:

Oh, I know. I meant that I'd never disagree with not wanting to take that risk (as long as it's not clearly mould) with some pens, but would also be fine putting it in a cheap beater. Boiled that down to a 'your pen, your choice' statement since it's really about risk threshold and I can get having a strict policy of not messing around when inks behave abnormally.

Back in the Way Beforetimes, I had both pudding ink and weird-floating-white-particles ink.  By the time Pudding Ink showed up, I knew better than to use it.

[Kasimir Nightwatcher]

4 hours ago, Coolmint said:

Back in the Way Beforetimes, I had both pudding ink and weird-floating-white-particles ink.  By the time Pudding Ink showed up, I knew better than to use it.

I have had mouldy ink, ink with sediment, and ink with particles. I haven't had issues using the last two with a beater and avoiding cross contamination, but have explicitly highlighted it's a risk appetite issue. Certainly throwing out any ink is a surefire way to avoid any problems altogether. 

[Cyclops Prelan]

Well, I have discovered that a Platinum Preppy EF and Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin are not a good fit.  I had to keep pressing down a little to write.  And that was my whole point in getting into fountain pens in the first place; so I wouldn't have to press down and mess with my arthritis.  Anyway, I moved it to a Fine Preppy, and it's working just fine now.  Possibly avoided a major cuh-tass-truh-fee.  Maybe.

[Cyclops Prelan]

And NPD a week or so back, a 3-pk of Preppy .2s (black, blue/black, and red) with a small folder of arrow sticky notes for a price I absolutely could not pass by.  Pens were less than $5 each (not counting the sticky notes; less if figuring the SNs into the price) and I've been wanting .2 EFs for the longest time.

And of course the pic wouldn't upload.

[Slowswift Lerasium Mistborn]

On 3/19/2023 at 10:09 AM, Kasimir said:

Hmm. Two questions:

1. If you sniff it very lightly in a well-ventilated area, does anything smell off? 

2. No white specks or fuzz?

3. What happens if you cap the bottle and shake it gently. More or less specks?

My current take is that it looks like dye separation rather than SITB but again, comfort level issues - if you aren't remotely willing to take the risk, definitely just throw it out. If not, I'd say dedicate a pen to it just in case so in the absolute worst case, you won't have cross-contamination, and then take it from there.

Edited to add:

Sorry, I should clarify I've experienced this with Kyo-no-oto Aonibi and Diamine Eau de Nil. In the case of Eau de Nil, it's very obvious sedimentation and it reduces with shaking. Shaking doesn't fix the Aonibi issue but I've been using it in a beater Jinhao that's been dedicated to the ink with zero issues. (Beater for cross-contamination worries.) No mould, no smell, no fuzz on the pen and it's been months.

1. It smells like my water bottle does when I leave it for a week and forget to clean it. The other ink from the same company, purchased at the same time, has no odor.

2. No white specks or fuzz.

3. Fewer specks.

I think it's just gone rancid, whatever that means for an ink. I'll probably toss it.

[Kasimir Nightwatcher]

1 hour ago, Slowswift said:

1. It smells like my water bottle does when I leave it for a week and forget to clean it. The other ink from the same company, purchased at the same time, has no odor.

Oof. If it smells off/awful, toss.

[Slowswift Lerasium Mistborn]

38 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Oof. If it smells off/awful, toss.

Will do! I'd like to keep the bottle, though--any recommendations on how to clean it? Should I use bleach, or will soap and water be sufficient?

[Kasimir Nightwatcher]

12 minutes ago, Slowswift said:

Will do! I'd like to keep the bottle, though--any recommendations on how to clean it? Should I use bleach, or will soap and water be sufficient?

Bleach, and consider letting it sit in the sun for a while. If you're considering putting any inks in it in future, definitely bleach.

[Slowswift Lerasium Mistborn]

19 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Bleach, and consider letting it sit in the sun for a while. If you're considering putting any inks in it in future, definitely bleach.

Thanks!

[Kasimir Nightwatcher]

Jinhao 82 is surprisingly fun to use o_O

Picked one up in a M on a whim because it was $2 and looked like a Sailor in a colour I liked. Haven't regretted it! Did give myself a scare when I dropped it nib-first but it was a short drop and I just had to readjust the nib a bit but it's writing better now, if that's even possible...

[Coolmint Crew Leader]

4 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Jinhao 82 is surprisingly fun to use o_O

Picked one up in a M on a whim because it was $2 and looked like a Sailor in a colour I liked. Haven't regretted it! Did give myself a scare when I dropped it nib-first but it was a short drop and I just had to readjust the nib a bit but it's writing better now, if that's even possible...

TWO dollars?  I'm jealous.  ;-)  Paid about ten for mine, and it's a dry, stingy writer.

[Kasimir Nightwatcher]

Just now, Coolmint said:

TWO dollars?  I'm jealous.  ;-)  Paid about ten for mine, and it's a dry, stingy writer.

Maybe try dropping it nib-first... J/k, I winced as I typed this.

Tbf I heard Jinhao nibs are a bit of a roulette?

[Coolmint Crew Leader]

11 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Maybe try dropping it nib-first... J/k, I winced as I typed this.

Tbf I heard Jinhao nibs are a bit of a roulette?

That is possible.  I have two Jinhao 80s (I liked the first so much I bought another), and they write well.  And I got a few 992s.  Just starting to test them now.  The blue and the orange are also good writers.  The green is stingy.

*shrugs* Why no smilies here?    Oh, wait.  Just found them.  

[Kasimir Nightwatcher]

14 hours ago, Coolmint said:

That is possible.  I have two Jinhao 80s (I liked the first so much I bought another), and they write well.  And I got a few 992s.  Just starting to test them now.  The blue and the orange are also good writers.  The green is stingy.

How do you compare the 80 to the 992?

[Coolmint Crew Leader]

9 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

How do you compare the 80 to the 992?

In what ways?

Well, the 80 is the one that 'looks like a Lamy 2000' but is a c/c filler.  The only nib available I was Fine.  Gold trim on mine, feels nice in the hand, and posts well, and writes a very very fine, but not stingy, line.  At least the ones I got!  

The 992 set (black, coffee, orange, green, blue and I think clear) are demonstrators.  They have the size and form of the Sailor 1911 and also post well, but the nibs write a fatter line than the 80, and at the moment I can't see how they're marked, whether Fine or something else.  Silver trim on these.

[Kasimir Nightwatcher]

1 minute ago, Coolmint said:

Well, the 80 is the one that 'looks like a Lamy 2000' but is a c/c filler.  The only nib available I was Fine.  Gold trim on mine, feels nice in the hand, and posts well, and writes a very very fine, but not stingy, line.  At least the ones I got!  

Oh, sounds sweet  Looks like the 2k has to be a pretty major selling point there, since it's a c/c Jinhao.

Fair about the 992 set - soiunds more standard at least.

[Coolmint Crew Leader]

44 minutes ago, Kasimir said:

Oh, sounds sweet  Looks like the 2k has to be a pretty major selling point there, since it's a c/c Jinhao.

Fair about the 992 set - soiunds more standard at least.

Do you not have an 80?  At first, they were only available in black, but now there's blue, brown, olive, and probably red.  Fun little pens.