Comments on: The Differences Between Fountain Pen Ink and Calligraphy Ink

By: Noah Enholm

Noah Enholm — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 09:32:29 +0000

Fountain pen ink flows across the page smoothly and easily due to its thin and liquid consistency. Contrarily, calligraphy ink is often made of a thick, rich, and sticky texture that catches the eye and leaves a striking impression.

By: Tony 1951

Tony 1951 — Sat, 30 Jul 2022 08:14:06 +0000

Yes, I used that Winsor and Newton dual purpose ink in one of my cheap fountain pens. It was rather too thick and the pen wrote dry and was reluctant to start after being left. Since then , I have been making my own iron gall ink. I found that Quink would wash away at the least bit of water splash. Not much use for say, addressing envelopes in the UK.

By: Richard Wideman

Richard Wideman — Tue, 31 May 2022 12:40:28 +0000

In reply to JOHN PAUL.

More confirmation!

Thanks for taking the time to comment John Paul 🙂

By: JOHN PAUL

JOHN PAUL — Mon, 30 May 2022 08:17:49 +0000

Hello HJ and Richard and others:
I also made a mistake and used Calligraphy ink in my old
Parker pens. It slowed the flow of the ink enough in both
the 45 and 51 that I had to take them apart and clean out
the tanks and the tip. I spent quite a bit of time getting all
the residue out. After the flush I put the QUINK ink back in
and have not had any problems since. I will leave the calligraphy
ink for those pens only.

John Paul

By: David

David — Sun, 29 May 2022 23:48:51 +0000

Hi J and Richard,

Thanks for your comments on this. I did try using the Winsor and Newton Ink in my Pilot Metropolitan….and the results weren’t great; the ink was quite reluctant to flow. So I flushed the pen and bought standard ink which works well. No harm done that I can tell, but that’s the last time I will use the calligraphy ink in a fountain pen, notwithstanding the label “For Fountain and Dip Pens”
Once again thanks for taking the time,

David

By: Richard Wideman

Richard Wideman — Sun, 29 May 2022 15:42:15 +0000

In reply to J.

Hey J,

Ah good to know. If it says calligraphy ink, just avoid it for pilot parallels/fountain pens. It’s a good rule.

Thanks for your input. I appreciate you taking the time.

By: J

Fri, 27 May 2022 04:16:04 +0000

Hi Richard,

Like David, I have a bottle of Winsor & Newton, and it is labelled for fountain and dip pens. For example: https://gwartzmans.com/collections/calligraphy-new/products/winsor-newton-calligraphy-ink-30ml-black

The bottle I have is a green ink, and I found it did not work well with a Pilot Parallel pen.

Thanks,
J.

By: Richard Wideman

Richard Wideman — Tue, 17 May 2022 12:42:33 +0000

In reply to David.

Hi David,

If it is labelled for “fountain and dip pens” I would be very interested in the product and would like to try it. Based on it’s labelling, it should be fine.

However, anecdotally, I have only seen “For dip pen and brush” on Winsor and Newton Calligraphy Ink. Which definitely should NOT be in you fountain pen.

It might be fine… but if you want to be safe I wouldn’t use it, since typically calligraphy ink means pigmented ink which is not good for fountain pens/pilot parallel.

Thanks
Richard

By: David

David — Fri, 06 May 2022 08:42:22 +0000

Hi Richard – I bought the Winsor and Newton Calligraphy Ink because it says that it can be used for “Fountain and Dip pens”. Should I not use it in an ordinary fountain pen?

By: Richard Wideman

Richard Wideman — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 12:23:10 +0000

In reply to JOHN-PAUL J KEON. No problemo John-Paul!