These are pages from the 2006 issue by Greg Clark. This format will remain basically unchanged with the exception of the font. Please note, there are numerous ink brands listed in the 2006 edition that are no longer available. Some have gone out of business or are not being imported to the United States. A few of them I have been able to acquire from foreign vendors.
What is the Ink Sampler?
Fountain Pen Inks - A Sampler was born nearly twelve years ago out of Greg Clark’s personal curiosity of ink chemistry. What inks would be okay for use in his collection of fountain pens. He began testing pH levels of inks in his own collection and making a type of chart of his inks with the data he collected from his research and testing. As time past his friends saw his charts which contained a swatch of the ink color and his testing notes and they started asking for copies. This is how the Ink Sampler began.
Greg started out with his personal collection of seventy inks. When he was ready to retire his job and the Ink Sampler, his collection of inks had grown to over five hundred inks. The last issue of the Ink Sampler he produced had four hundred and ninety different inks listed. That did not include a page of vintage inks he provided his readers.
Greg has written an article in the August/September 2008 issue of Stylus Magazine which goes into more detail about this in his own words. Greg is a regular author for Stylus and has written a multitude of articles about inks. Get a copy; you won’t be disappointed with the issue.
What Does the Ink Sampler Contain?
The Ink Sampler has been a perfect bound book of between thirty to sixty pages of information. Viewer’s will find actual hand written or had “painted” swatches of each ink included in the issue. At first sight this allows the viewer to compare ink colors from on brand label to another, listing all brands by color groups starting at blacks with the blacks, Blues with the Blues, the Reds, Greens, Browns, Purples, Oranges, Yellows and the rainbow in between.
The book going forward will remain virtually the same as it has always been. One major change will occur in the binding. It will no longer be perfect bound, but the new issue will be coil bound so the book will lay flat. I am also contemplating a different type font for the text of the book.
Technical Data included in the Ink Sampler.
pH level
The second and possibly the most important piece of information is listed under the ink brand, ink name and color. The first will the pH value of each ink and will be coded (pH = ?). A 7.0 - 7.2 rating is considered to be neutral. The lower the pH value the more acidic the ink is while at the other end of the scale, the higher value the more alkaline the ink becomes. Neither one of these extreme levels are good for all fountain pen materials. Each extreme in the scale can effect how ink will react to different pen materials and can react negatively to the plastic, rubber and metals parts making up the fountain pen itself. Nathan Tardif, founder and manufacturer of Noodler’s ink has written a very good article on his web page at the following link: http://www.noodlersink.com/pH.html. There is good deal of other ink related information on his site. Reading these articles will give the pen and ink enthusiast a better understanding of the value these level’s.
Water Resistance Testing.
Almost anywhere you write or read materials written with a fountain pen, there will be a potential water hazard to be faced; rain, drinks, sweat, humidity and condensation. What will the ink being used do if it gets wet. With nearly all inks the dye will slough off somewhat when exposed to liquids, some will meld into a pool of color leaving no trace of the words or image made on the page, but some inks will leave an image embedded into the fibers of the paper that will not be washed away.
For most people this is not an issue, but once you have spent hours preparing notes and documents and somehow the drink sitting on the desks gets spilled on those pages, the loss of those thoughts, ideas, insights, and notes which may never be retrieved in ones mind, water resistance will come to be a major consideration in your selection of inks.
Water resistance qualities have become even more important as the years have pasted due to criminal activity in check forgery, document tampering and other related types of crime. Because of these concerns many of us want to know how well the ink we use will stand up to water hazards, chemical bleaching and other types of “check washing” technique’s. This issue confronts fountain pen users on a daily basis.
The Inks Sampler will answer these questions by providing water testing on each ink in the Sampler. Water Resistance will be included under each ink sample in the format of (W=?) The code BP = Bullet Proof, E = excellent, VG = very good, G = good, F = fair, and P = poor.
Ink Fading from Sun (UV) Exposure.
How long will images written or drawn last when exposed to constant long term sunlight? Testing this quality in inks started when Greg Clark hung a note on his office door and after a period of time exposed to California’s unrelenting sunshine the signature he signed the note with began to disappear. Seek a better fade resistant ink, Greg took a copy of the Ink Sampler, took it apart and secured the pages to a sturdy backing and placed them daily on the roof of his office building. He put them up every morning and took them down every night. As time past he made notes on each ink and graded them on a scale which is printed under each ink with the pH and water resistance date as (S = ?) The code BP = Bullet Proof, E = excellent, VG = very good, G = good, F = fair, and P = poor are also used here.
I am personally interested in this information as I have seen the signatures of officials on several certificates, diplomas and other types of documents framed on my walls fading away. The signatures on these emotionally valuable items are irreplaceable and one day, there will be no signature to verify the validity of these certificates. A person who is responsible for signing these types of documents will find the results invaluable.
Here in Central Illinois our weather is so unpredictable, rainy and humid it would be difficult to run these tests on my roof, besides, I live in a nicely shaded neighborhood. I am in the process of negotiating for green house space at a local nursery to conduct these tests. Glass windows and no exposure to rain will allow the test page to remain in place 24/7. Fade test results may potentially be delayed, however, all previously tested data will be included. If the upcoming issue of the Ink Sampler is published without current Sun tests, we will provide all purchasers of the issue with the test data when completed.
Other Information and Data
Ink Costs - I’ve heard comments from many people who seem to think inks are expensive. The Ink Sampler will include a Cost Analysis of inks per mL based on the price from the most prominent sources. Most ink prices will be based on retail cost from Pendemonium and Swisher Pens. They seem to have the largest selection of available inks I have found. Other sources are compared and an average price listing is used for those inks not found at the two listed websites.
The data will show the price per mL. One mL of ink is equivalent to two to three “fill-ups” of ink, depending on the filling system and nib size being used. When looking at this data one may see how inexpensive inks are compared to the cost of the pen in which one is using the ink. Currently, the highest priced ink is Caran D’Ache at 63 cents per mL. The majority of popular ink averages out to 20 cents per mL or less. If you are using a large, wet writing nib, the ink won’t go as far. An extra-fine nib will take the ink through a lot of words.
The most important fact about ink cost is that just because an ink is expensive per mL, doesn't’t mean the ink is the best quality for that two thousand dollar limited edition someone saved a long time to possess .
Color Characteristics - It is important to note inks have a multitude of unique characteristics. The use of inks with specific pens, papers, and environmental conditions will vary for each user. What one experiences will be unique to these conditions. An ink can appear very different in a fine nib pen than it does in a larger nib pen. The quality of the paper one uses will also affect performance. Drying times will be affected by the moisture in the air, as well as by the characterized of the ink. Be prepared to either accept these characteristics or to look for another ink to suit ones personal requirements.
Future Specialty Volumes - As the Ink Sampler moves forward with production, I envision the possibility of special edition books on specific brands and types of paper. For the standard publication the Ink Sampler will be printed on good quality office 20-28 pound bond paper. (Paper is typically graded by the weight per ream (one ream = 500 sheets.) Futuristically, if enough interest is expressed, I will make Special Editions utilizing the most requested types of papers. My personal choices would be to have additions on Rhodia, Claire Fontaine Triumphe, Levenger’s Circa.