Saturday, January 5, 2008

Thoughts on Saturated Inks in Vintage Pens

There are two brands of fountain pen ink that are well-known for having highly saturated inks: Noodlers, and Private Reserve. They produce a wide range of very rich, very intense colors, but the trade-off is some additional risk using them. Therefore, the conventional wisdom is that these inks are fine for modern pens, but shouldn't be used in vintage pens.

Then someone pointed out something dangerous to me. Structurally speaking, vintage pens are not appreciably different from modern pens. To the extent they are, they were designed to handle the poorer quality, more corrosive inks of the past. Theoretically, then, it shouldn't really matter if the pen is vintage or new. And indeed, of the few arguments this person got, they amounted to one spouting the common wisdom, and two not wanting to risk damaging a vintage and the difficulty of replacing damaged vintage parts.

So I got to thinking about it, and there are really two issues to worry about with the highly saturated inks: staining, and clogging.

First, staining. Really, any ink has a risk of staining, and the further you get away from black and blue, the worst it is. Top risks are red, then purple, then green. Since highly saturated inks have more dye in them, theoretically they'll have a higher staining risk.
Now, there's only so far I can let staining fear hold me back, because any pen in my use will have purple ink it at some time in its life. It's a law of nature. But here's the kick that's easy (at least for me) to forget about: is there anything to stain? The only material on a pen that will stain from ink is transparent plastic. Demonstrators (transparent pens) and pens that have transparent sections can all visibly stain. Anything else? You'll never see it. Even if it does stain, it's on the inside of an opaque tube. Is it really a stain if you can't see it? (Wow, that's downright zen.)
For pens that do have transparent parts, it really doesn't matter if it's modern or vintage. Both are at risk for staining. Age doesn't really figure in at all.

I do have to remark that, of the five pens on my desk right now, only one has a transparent section. Ironically, it's also the only modern one, a Waterman Kultur. And it's the one I shamelessly put highly saturated inks in. ^_~

The other risk of highly saturated inks is clogging. I suspect this is where the "modern pens only" comes in, but again it has less to do with age and more to do with filling systems. Some filling systems are easier to clog than others, and easier to clean that others. 90% of modern pens are cartridge/converter, and that's perhaps the easiest system of all -- you take out the cartridge and either soak or push water through the section, feed, and nib. If it gets clogged with ink, the odds are good that you'll be able to clean it out with relative speed and ease. On the other hand, if an old Snorkel gets clogged with ink, there's a lot of time and a little prayer involved (as I know from experience. :P) But, a modern piston fill without a removable nib is also going to be a pain in the butt to clean, while a vintage Esterbrook with removable nib and feed unit is going to be very easy, despite being a lever fill.
Once again, it has less to do with age, and more to do with the individual pen.

So, my final decision on when and where to use saturated inks comes down to evaluating the individual pen without regard to age. Is it easy to clean? Is it unlikely to stain (or are you not bothered if it does, as with my poor Kultur)? If so, go ahead and use saturated inks with impunity. If not, you're probably better off staying with more traditional inks.

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