J. Herbin Vert Olive inky thoughts.

There's been quite a few reviews lately for the J. Herbin inks and this color in particular. I will not steal any thunder, but Inkophile did a very well documented follow up on the ink here last week and Biffy Beans has a great one as well. The kind people over at Exaclair sent this one over for me to try out.

Speaking of Exaclair, it is confirmed, my Target also has the Rhodia notebooks. That is sweet! Back to the ink...

This ink could be one of my favorite greens out there. My ink reviews boil down to how well it flows in my pens and if I like the color on the page at the end of the day. That's it. At this level...if I get bleeding, shading and all that (to me) they are just by-products of different pen/paper combinations. I have ink that I love in some pens, but that hate in others. I have not found one that I do not like this ink in.

I took some liberties with the olive on the bottle for a quick little drawing. (dotting actually, click for better picture.) I also have kept my Waterman 92 filled with this for the past week and they are very happy together (along with a Sheaffer Lifetime.)

Here's the color, not associated with any paper. The J. Herbin line has really been a good ink for me. I am not afraid to put it in any of my pens and it has been very consistent. Here's a link to the official color page. http://www.jherbin.com/pdf/Herbin_Fountain_Pen_Ink_Swatches.pdf Oh, by the way, J. Herbin has been making inks for over 300 years, that's alot of time to get it right and they do.

We have Winners!

The was my randomizer. My limited budget kept me from hiring 49 clowns to fight it out until one was left standing to decide a winner so I decided to cut out some numbers....

Then I threw them on the floor and ask my 22 month old son to go pick one. In the spirit of fairness he cannot read or count yet, he has never met any of you and I thought it was funny.

Here we are! After rolling around in the numbers to mix them up, he finally popped his hand up into the air grasping this! His tiny little fingers are holding on to number 7 and the winner is Shade who runs a blog here. Nice!! Congrats. Shoot me your details (address and which prize) and choice and I will get them sent snail mail ASAP.

And for bringing the funny? Lisa S. won that one with the story of catching her dogs "in the act" and then slipping in their poo trying to stop them. I am not sure why that wins, but it just does. Lisa can win the choice of the other prize that Shade does not want or I have a few others in the vault to choose from.

Thanks everyone for the incredible comments. There will be another contest coming up shortly and I appreciate you reading and back tomorrow with another pen.
Seth

Private Reserve Copper Burst Ink Review

This is my first ink review and I want to give mad props to everyone out there who reviews ink. It's not an easy thing to shoot or discuss. I picked up the Copper burst my last trip to Bromfield Pens and if you have been reading, you know I have been raving about it lately. It stays in this pen and my copper Esties. It just feels right.

This is as close as I can get on the screen to the color. It's brown, but just when you think its just brown, out flies a sweet copper tone that satisfies. I have had zero issues with any clogging and the ink likes most of the paper I use. This was on 100 cotton paper. I own a few other Private reserve inks and they all perform exactly as I ask them to, It's not bullet proof, but for 99% of my inky needs, they have it covered.

It's a color that does not scream "fun" or "hey look at me, I just mugged a clown and came up with some new ink colors." I like that it is subtle and classy, but gets you out of the black and blue ink tones.

The flex here came from one of my dip pens, that's why in the larger pics, the ink gets a little shady, I was putting a ton of ink on the paper for some of these strokes. The cotton swap above is your best example. when I throw this ink in one of my EF nibs, I am not afraid to use it anywhere. It's good ink.

A Christmas Pen and another Triad

This is why I love vintage fountain pens, a gift from my brother. Yeah, it's sort of dirty and I haven't done anything other that put a little polish on the nib for the pictures, oh...the sac sounds like a baby rattle when you shake it, but I know there is still life in this thing.

Mark my words, once this pen is restored, I will track down the Keener family and return this pen back to it original owner keep this for my own and forget all about the inscription.

It's a "Penman" pen, I have no idea how to date this one, It has a nice feel to it and looks like it should be an easy restore. (There's even a little "Jewel" on the cap.) I will clean it up and post pictures another day. Good Pen.

I am also about to bust into another couple gifts. I am pretty sure these were NOT $2.39 each. I can't wait to get into that Private Reserve Copper burst. I have the perfect Copper Esterbrook for that. If I can get around to shooting it this week, you should see a special edition "What did she bring me" and "Guest pen cup #2": all in one post. More to follow.

Thanks again for all the great comments and emails. Good stuff.

J. Herbin major score

For some reason, my local art store was selling these inks for $2.39 each. Don't bother tracking these down, I bought all they had. I am not sure why they were on sale but I will take it. They are not usually colors I would buy, but for that price, it's worth it to see if I can fall in love with a new color. Good Ink.

Sorry for the light post today, still gathering my wits from Christmas celebration, but I will be back on Monday with a major addition to the pen collection. More to follow.

Uni-Ball Signo 207 takes a bath

There's a huge sticker on the front of the package that says "Helps prevent check fraud." Sanford uses a special ink formula that traps the ink into the paper fiber to prevent washing your info off of your checks.

So being the curious fellow that I am, I wrote down a quote and did my best to get rid of it.

Click for better views....I did not feel like having a bunch of guys in suits knocking on my door so I didn't do any online research on how to commit check fraud. I did do a 6 hour soak and then sprayed on some Spray and Wash and gave it a little scrubbing. The first picture is just after the soak.

It reminds me of the Office Space quote: "I can't believe what a bunch of nerds we are. We're looking up "money laundering" in the dictionary." Good Stuff.


This was after the scrubbing. Bottom line, it held up very well. In the past I would sign my checks with a fountain pen, but... no more, this is my new pen of choice when it comes time to give that little punk up the street a check for mowing my lawn. (I never trusted him anyway.)


It's a Good Pen. It's a .7 and writes like it,  puts down a nice fat line of ink.  There's one more day to get your guess in on winning a free pen. Just check yesterdays post, and the winner will be announced tomorrow.