DeAtramentis Document Inks, and Diamine Registrars ink

[stevekolt]

Has anybody been using them? Are there any downsides, or things I should be wary of? Do they make it more difficult to flush and clean the pen? Appreciate any advice about them.

[Dreck]

I use Diamine Registrars, and have found it to be better-behaved than ESSRI (although almost prohibitively more expensive for this impoverished professional student). I don't have any sample bottles available at the moment, but if you want to send one to me I'll be happy to return it filled with some. If you send two sample bottles, I'll put ESSRI in the other.

[stevekolt]

Dreck thank you for the generous offer, but I found a full 100 ml. bottle of the Registrars hiding amongst my ink boxes. Is it any more difficult to clean and flush the pen when using it? And I have to ask, what is ESSRI?

[grainweevil]

And I have to ask, what is ESSRI?

Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars Ink (http://www.registrarsink.co.uk/registrars_ink.html). (They don't put a possessive apostrophe in there for reasons that escape me)

No experience of either of them to contribute, I'm afraid.

[naimitsu]

I had a sample of dA Document Red in a TWSBI, and I was completely underwhelmed by the color saturation. At best, it looked like a pastel red (think faded and kinda chalky looking), and to make matters worse, it is a rather opaque ink, so it looked rather disturbing in a demonstrator. It looked like a solid piece of plastic in the barrel and it bothered me to the point of unwillingness to use it.

The other other pigmented ink I've used is the Sailor Storia Night Blue, and that's a much better looking ink (though I haven't put it in a demonstrator, so I can't speak to that). It does not look like a faded blue out of an EF VP nib.

[Dreck]

Dreck thank you for the generous offer, but I found a full 100 ml. bottle of the Registrars hiding amongst my ink boxes. Is it any more difficult to clean and flush the pen when using it? And I have to ask, what is ESSRI?

In my experience, it's no more problematic than the Noodler's inks I used to use (El Lawrence, 54th Mass, Heart of Darkness, #41 Brown), and much less troublesome and prone to staining than my daughter's DeAtramentis Lilac. It will definitely stain an ink window, but some determined scrubbing with a cotton swab soaked in vinegar will help clean it up.
I've been given to understand that you shouldn't use traditional pen flush for iron gall inks. Something about the ammonia tarnishing the nib, I think. A good flush for IG inks is 1:10 vinegar with distilled water. I generally include a drop of dishsoap for every 10 or 20ml of flush I've made.

If you want to try some ESSRI (http://www.registrarsink.co.uk/registrars_ink.html) to compare it to your Diamine, my offer still stands.