09 April 2016

brush repair & testing inks


While at our son's as "granny nanny" last month, I laid my smaller travel squirrel mop brush on the counter . . . where it promptly rolled off onto the floor and broke. I thought at the time that it seemed odd that the break was so even.

Then this past week I was gently squeezing excess water from my larger brush of the same style and it broke off as well, in the same way. Now I realize that this is a weak spot in how the bristles are attached --- I am hoping that super glue will fix both of them. I did a search online but could not find either brush in a travel form so I would really like to save these.


Then a couple of sample inks arrived from Goulet Pens. I have been wanting to try De Atramentis Document white ink for fountain pens ever since learning of it from Liz Steel's blog. Currently I use a Uniball Signo Gel Pen for white lines but really want a fountain pen white ink -- it would especially be cool to fill my white Lamy Safari pen! Unfortunately, it just doesn't write as consistent of a white line as the Uniball Signo pen. Ink goes on smoothly enough but it dries much lighter than when wet. In one spot, where I may have gotten some skin oil on the dark paper, it would not write at all even after repeated tries.

I also tried a sample of Platinum Mix-Free (whatever that means?) Earth Brown. Here, I was looking for a water-soluble burnt sienna colored ink that I could 'bleed' with a bit of water added. I have used Platinum Carbon Black ink and loved it, so I thought their brand might be good. I love the color, with just the right amount of 'bleed', but it is so thin that I cannot fill my pen's converter. It took 5 or 6 tries to even get it half-filled. Maybe I could fill an empty cartridge with the ink, using a syringe. Or perhaps it would work better in a Noodler's Creeper pen? Not sure . . .

2 comments:

  1. Platinum's Mix Free inks are a group of inks they've made available to those who want to mix their own colors. If you're not happy with your earth brown, you might want to try J. Herbin Lie de thé, which is an inexpensive, washable ink with a hint of red in it. I like it very much. Diamine makes some really nice browns as well. --- Larry

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  2. Thanks so much, Larry! I came close to buying some Diamine ink but was not familiar with the brand. I'll take a look at both!

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