Iron Gall Ink???

[Armstrong]

What is iron gall ink? I have heard it mentioned here before and it has me curious. I assume it has iron oxide in it. Does this cause pen cleaning problems, staining? I also heard it is water resistant. Is this true? What are its overall characteristics, concerns, etc.?

[RudyR]

This is probably the definitive source of information concerning Iron Gall ink.

http://irongallink.org

Most modern iron gall inks (or at least the ones I am personally familiar with) have little but mostly no effect on contemporary pen materials. It probably will still eat into steel nibs which are used mainly in dip pens and not quality modern Fountain pen nibs (of course if you use cheap imports from say RED CHINA then the chance of encountering a steel nib are greater). Stainless steel and resins are very resistant to iron gall inks. Rhodium plated and gold nibs, even more so.

It can be flushed from a pen very easily and quickly. It is recommended that you flush your pen at least every 3 months after continuous use, which really should apply to all inks since many inks can leave deposits behind, especially the very highly saturated inks like Noodlers, Diamine and Private Reserve.

All the iron gall inks I have used have high water resistance/waterproof properties. For the most part, iron gall inks tend to be drier writing fluids than other writing fluids on the current market.

What I have tried and still have in the way of Iron gall inks is as follows:

Montblanc Midnight Blue (Iron gall formula, Discontinued, ID No.105194):
This is my still my most favorite and most used ink. Its not as water resistant as the rest but does leave a very dark grey legible image after hours of soaking in water.

Lamy Blue Black (iron gall formula, discontinued): Treasured by many. It has wonderful shading properties.

Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrar's Ink (otherwise known mostly on forums as ESSRI):
The most entertaining of all my iron gall inks to use since you actually get to see the shift from blue to blue/black as it oxides in short order.

Platinum Blue/Black:
Very good ink with more of a blue than black color on paper. Also the wettest writing iron gall inks I have tried. A Pelikan I was using was having issues with my iron gall inks. Hard starts, flow issues and drying out had been the norm with my iron gall inks. Loading it up with Platinum B/BLK gave very satisfactory results and is still in use today.

Diamine Registrar's Ink:
My least favorite of them all. Expensive, overpriced, driest writing ink ever. Absolutely would not write longer then 5 seconds with the Pelikan mentioned above. Nothing special.

So yeah, they can all be very different.

[RudyR]

I forgot to mention that I also have and have used Rohrer and Klingner Salix and Scabiosa. Good inks but haven't used it enough to form a really good opinion except that the Scabiosa has a nice shade of purple

[nospam666]

"Red" China?! Now there's an expression I haven't heard in decades.

Thanks for the info on iron gall.

[Dreck]

My experience with IG inks (which I have used almost exclusively for the better part of the past year) is that they do require a little more TLC, and more frequent flushings. The R&K Salix is a very pretty cornflower blue, and is probably the "tamest" of all ferrogallic inks.
I have also used Chesterfield "Archival Vault," which is supposedly re-branded Diamine Registrar's. I've used both, and am not convinced this is the case, although the Chesterfield is definitely more affordable.

If you're curious enough to try some IG, but not quite ready to invest in a bottle, I'll be more than happy to send you a bit to try. I bought a couple 100ml bottles of the Chesterfield when xfountainpens.com ran a sale, and I still have most of a bottle of ESSRI tucked away in my desk. If you're interested, PM me your details.

[Edith]

Someone else mentioned Rohrer and Klingher Scabiosa. I use it every day and appreciate a number of qualities that it has. One is that it causes no bleed-through or feathering problems, even on the inexpensive paper I use at my job. Another is that the color varies dramatically, depending on the paper I choose--from a pale, dull lavender to almost black. A third is that the color changes over time, most often to a strange, coppery lilac like no other color I have ever seen. Finally, it cleans very easily out of my pen.

I have read that with iron gall, it is important not to let the ink dry out in the pen. Because I use it in a daily writer, I have never had any problems.

[MrAndersen]

the color changes over time, most often to a strange, coppery lilac

The extent of the colour change will depend on the exact ink, but modern iron gall inks are also infused with conventional dye to keep it from looking like snot while you're writing. The dye will fade slightly and the iron gall-component will turn purple-ish as it reacts.

Other than that comment, I'll just echo what has been said - clean well, clean often, follow maker directions and just treat it like you would any heavy ink. Modern IG inks are going to be fine with most pens, including stainless steel nibbed ones (also, apparently 'cheap imports' includes $280 Visconti pens, $200 Cross pens, and ~$150 Faber-Castell, Edison, Parker and Pelikan pens. Today I learned that mileage does, indeed, vary).

[Armstrong]

If the ink does not have dye added is it a brown color once dried?

[MrAndersen]

If the ink does not have dye added is it a brown color once dried?

I think very old iron gall ink can turn brown-ish after hundreds of years depending on the paper (the paper has a big impact on the ink colour), but generally speaking, it's purple-black. It's used for blue-black inks, too, but dark purple is the colour most associated with iron gall ink.

Edit: I should be more precise. Iron gall ink with no dye is a dirty kind of brown tending towards 'black' in its liquid form, but dries black, purple, lavender etc. as it reacts. Vintage IG ink was less accurately formulated and balanced, and would keep reacting for a looooong time, doing strange things to both paper and ink.

[Armstrong]

Very interesting. Yes I have noticed with my own writing that inks I am very familiar with like Noodler's Luxury Blue (not IG) change shade considerably depending on the absorbancy of the paper. I am assuming that iron gall inks were the dominant ink for a long time. I did not realize they had that color tendency. Do modern IG inks always contain dye or are there some that do not?

Recommendations for IG ink (with or without dye)? (Thanks for those above btw.)

[The Good Captain]

And of course, there's my beloved Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black. See this link to get the official 'line' on it!
http://www.pelikan.com/pulse/Pulsar/en_GB.CMS.displayCMS.205954./document-proof-ink

[inklord]

Thanks to everyone above contributing to Armstrong's thread. I use both 'modern'. i.e. fountain pen approved, and traditional iron gall inks. The older, now mostly discontinued blue-black inks from Lamy, Pelikan and Montblanc were similar to R&K Salix, though usually a darker shade. R&K Salix (blue-grey) and Scabiosa (dusty purple) can be mixed in any ratio, and the Salix/Scabiosa mix 2:1 is one of my favorite inks. As has been mentioned above, NEVER let iron gall inks dry in a pen. and, with demonstrators being so common: iron gall droplets inside a clear or translucent cap or pen body that have dried thoroughly are often difficult to flush away, especially from textured surfaces such as inside turned pens (Frnklin-Christoph ice models, for example). But that is equally true for some other staining inks, notably J.Herbin 'Rouge Hematite'. Just use good pen hygiene!
On traditional iron gall inks: These are usual brownish, black (and what a velvety, deep black it is) or bluish, and absolutely indelible once applied. They are acidic and will stain dip-pen nibs black, but when cleaned/flushed away after use, have no further adverse effect. They darken with age and actually attack the paper in some rare cases. They work great with glass dip pens and from turkey or goose quills. My 'Abraxas' iron gall ink will go down a brownish, translucent grey, then slowly over a day or two, mature to a deep black-hole-like darkness... aaah, the magic of writing (never use in a fountain pen, though :))

[Armstrong]

Thanks folks, lots of good info. I had no idea that Iron Gall inks were still that popular.