Fountain Pen Ink?

D

DB1

Joined
Jan 4, 2002
Messages
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After using a couple of cheaper fountain pens for a while, I decided to get my first nice fountain pen - a Visconte Van Gogh, fine nib.

I was able to try it out at the store, and really enjoyed the way it wrote. The paper at the store was a thick stationary stock. When I got home and filled the pen with the supplied Visconte bottle of ink, I noticed that my lettering not only widened via bleeding on the paper, but the bleeding went all the way through the paper as well (the paper being typical legal pad stock).

It seems to be very free-flowing with the ink, so my question relates to ink viscosity - is there an ink brand that might work better in this pen that is a bit thicker, and less likely to bleed? I would really like to use this pen extensively, but the ink flow is just too much, and it gets messy. Am I going to have to invest in better paper?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and comments!
 
I recently bought a Waterman fountain pen and have had no problems using Waterman ink. I mostly use it to take notes in a standard spiral notebook, and have no problem with it spreading excessively or bleeding through. I know others here who know much more about this subject than I do, and they will come up with other options as well. HTH
 
Thanks for the suggestion, Erik. Like you, I will mostly be using it for taking notes in spiral-type notebooks.

I've been using a cheap Rotring Core for note-taking, using cartridge ink, and have had no issues with bleeding. This is my first foray into using bottled ink. I've got a few more pens on my list as well, and I'm wondering if they will all require different inks to fit the particular pen (why are all my hobbies so expensive? :rolleyes: )
 
DB1,

always nice to see another fountain pen convert!

I suggest also getting some different paper; my fav is Clairefontaine, which is an absolute pleasure to write on--very smooth, and heavier stock than legal pad. If you upgrade your paper, you will also have fewer loose fibers clogging up your nib.
 
Fountain pen ink varies quite a lot from brand to brand. I am also a fan of Waterman's ink for general use.

My favorite site for this kind of thing is Pendemonium. The folks there are pleasant, helpful, and knowledgable. I got a lot of good advice from them while I was learning my way around this new world. :)

On a purely practical level Pendemonium's web site offers detailed reviews of the different types of ink, including information about viscosity and drying time. They also have a very useful color chart that makes it easier to see what actual shades you are going to get with the various inks.

Have fun!

--Bob Q
 
Thanks guys for all the comments! I did notice a big difference when I switched to a better quality paper, so I think I may be ordering the good stuff from here on out.

I'm planning on getting a couple of different brands of ink to try based on the comments and websites mentioned (plus another pen or two...), then have fun mixing and matching pen, paper, and ink :D
 
Just an update, I ended up picking up a Pelikan M805 with a F nib, and have no issues with the ink bleeding through even the cheaper paper.

I believe the Visconti just lays a lot wetter line down, regardless of the ink (at least with the ink I've tried so far - Visconti, Parker Quink, and Private Reserve). Looks like I'll use it on high quality paper only.

BTW the Pelikan is the smoothest writing pen I've ever used :)
 
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