Editing The Pen Addict 234/transcript (section)

== Sailor Inks ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh, I think so.

'''Mike Matteson:''' So that's an ink that is singular in its ability to bleed through everything from every nib.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Exactly, yeah. If you didn't say it, that's the one that like shoots immediately through the back of the page.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay, I don't think it's that one that I have then. Yeah, no, it wouldn't be.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, that one got killed like right when they released it because it performed really poorly. But in general, I agree with you. And most of their inks, they're actually some pretty cool colors and perform really well.

'''Mike Matteson:''' Yeah, I mean, the thing about black magic is that it's supposed to be quick dry, and it definitely does that. But it just didn't work out well enough, I think. So full disclosure, since we're going to talk about ethics, my wife works at Franklin Kristoff now. This is a pretty recent development. So I...

'''Myke Hurley:''' Uh-oh, uh-oh. We're stepping into an ethical black hole already. I can't believe it.

'''Mike Matteson:''' Yeah, yeah, I know. I totally want to talk about that later in the ethics section. Yes. But, yeah, so she works there. So that's my full disclosure. But nonetheless, I did all those ink reviews well before she started even thinking about working there.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So... Yes. And if you've been to a pen show recently, say in the past, what, three, four, six months, maybe since the summertime, you've seen Audrey probably working for Franklin Kristoff at their table. And she's wonderful. And I always go over there and check on her because they're always so busy. I'm like, hanging in there. How are you doing? You doing okay? She's like, oh, yeah. I haven't sat down.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, I maintain the Franklin Kristoff table at any pen show is one of the very best things that you can see. Like, it's just so good. It's set out, like, so superiorly to everybody else. You know, like how they have the stations, like all the testing stations, and you kind of go through and effectively build your own pen. It's just perfectly designed. Very, very smart.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I was going to say, you mentioned the Sailor inks. And I had this question in here later in the list. But since you mentioned them, I want to talk about the new inks because I'm a huge Sailor ink fan. It's probably my favorite ink brand. But I haven't bought any of the new colors yet. And you've got samples of all of them. And I just wanted to kind of get your feel, I guess, number one overall as a group of inks, how they compare to their last inks, and then kind of what are some of the standouts from that lineup? Because I need to go shopping.

'''Mike Matteson:''' Man, I have been holding myself back from shopping because I know I'm going to go to more pen shows soon. And I'm like, I've got a, I've been cataloging inks and I'm up to like 400 and something counting samples. So I've got inks. I don't need more bottles, Myke. So I actually had a few in my cart and Audrey said, did you, do you really need bottles of those? I'm like, not now. So the new collection, I think, is overall pretty strong, but it's less utilitarian than the last. And I'm glad they didn't get rid of any of the old inks because there are some real standouts in that older set. I mean, it's not old. It's like a year, year and a half old or something like that. But there's some real standouts in there. But a lot of them are like blues or very dark colors, that kind of stuff. And this new one, this new series really brings out the colors. It's got, I mean, oranges and pinks and light blues and greens and reds and purples, right? Right. So of those, probably my least favorite. And I know this is one that Anna really picked out last on the gift episode or something. The Sakura Mori. Sakura Mori. And it's just too light a pink for me. It's not my jam, but it seems like a good ink. And likewise, I think the light blue, the Yuki Akari, I think it's called, is a little bit too light for me as well. But it's a nice bright blue if you're into light blue. But standouts, man. The Riky Cha, which is this like, I don't know, it looks like wet tea leaves or something like that. It's kind of a brownish-greenish ink. I love that one.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, see, that's a color I'm trying to get into. Like, I feel like I should enjoy that color. I never buy anything. But that might be one I have to branch out my color palette on.

'''Mike Matteson:''' Yeah, Riky Cha is great. Also, Diamine Salamander is kind of in the same vein, but way darker. Yeah, and the Doyu from the Sailor's Last Set is also super good. It's like an extra dark brown. So that one's a standout. And also, Irori, the red, super good. I've been using that one a lot because it's paper-grading time. And, man, it's just a pop-off-the-page carmine sort of red with a little bit of gold sheen to it. Not a ton, but enough that you can see it if you use a broad nib or something like that. And it's really good. And then third on the list, I think, would have to be Chushu, which is this kind of like... It looks like a gray mostly, but it's definitely like a violet gray kind of color.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, so that's number one on my list. That's what I was telling Anna. Like, that's the one I want to see in person. That's a color I will really dig if it's what it's looking like on the paper and all the samples that I've seen so far. Like, you know, I'm obviously an orange guy and have, you know, Sailor oranges coming out in my ears before I even buy this new bottle. So, but having something like that purple-y gray kind of... That one I'm going to put at the top of my list. And then maybe like the tea leaf one that sounds really, really cool.

'''Mike Matteson:''' Yeah, I actually wrote my show notes since we're talking about what we wrote our show notes in. I wrote mine in Chushu. So I'm trying that one out now. It's probably going to be one of the next reviews I do. Cool, cool. It's very good. It's purple, but it's gray, but it's definitely got a little bit of a purple-y cast to it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I have an old Sailor ink. I'll have to... I don't know the name off the top of my head, but buying it, you think it's a gray, but in the pen and on the page, it comes out purple. So I wonder how similar it is to this. I can't remember the name off the top of my head. So out of all your inks, do you have a go-to color? Like, I'm known for blue, blacks, and oranges. That's kind of like my range of things. And Myke's pretty much into orange as well, Mr. Hurley. Do you have any particular ones that you always go to? Like, if you get a new pen, what are you filling it with, I guess, is probably a good way to put it.

'''Mike Matteson:''' Well, that's going to be like a two-fold answer.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's never straightforward with ink.

'''Mike Matteson:''' Or with philosophy professors, right? So my qualified answer is Aurora Black. And the reason it's qualified is if I'm getting a new pen and I want to make sure it works, I'm going to put Aurora Black in it. Totally fair. That's what I use Pilot Blue Black for.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I totally agree with that.

'''Mike Matteson:''' Yeah, yeah. That's a good one, too. It's hard to find. And so I don't want to use up my bottle of the Pilot Blue Black. Just the Pilot ink. It's kind of hard to find around here. But yeah, Aurora Black will flow in anything. So if it works at all, Aurora Black will work. Whereas if I put some other inks in there, you know, it might be hit or miss. So that's usually what I go through first. But that said, I don't like writing in that. I don't love Aurora Black. Sure. It's just a little bit bleedy and it's a little bit too wet. So it's not my favorite thing. So my go-to, the one I keep putting in pens, I've got a couple. And one of them is Franklin Kristoff Emerald 357, which is this like brilliant emerald color. I love it. It's in at least like two or three pens right now. And the other one is Private Reserve American Blue. And I've got that in a pen constantly because I love that ink.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay, cool. I'll have to look. I need to look at that. Like I'm definitely on the side of I don't really use much Private Reserve or Noodlers because I'm worried. But I probably shouldn't be. You know, I clean my pens well enough. I have good fountain pen hygiene to where I should branch out a little bit more and not like freak out over every little thing that goes into my pen. Have you found that to be the case with like a lot of your Private Reserve and Noodlers not really an issue as long as you're maintaining your pens well?

'''Mike Matteson:''' You know, I wouldn't necessarily put it in older pens with, you know, what might be a more fragile seal or a sack that's subject to, you know, pH differences or something. But I haven't had any problems. And maybe I've just gotten lucky. But I've been using my first ink was Private Reserve. It was Lake Placid Blue. And I've used that for, I don't know, like 20 years or something. I've never had a problem. I use a lot of Noodlers inks, especially starting out. It's been a little I've been getting back into them a little bit recently just to, you know, some some show specific ones and that sort of thing. But I haven't had any problems, really, like some of them are a little oversaturated. And so maybe they don't flow perfectly. But I mean, it's nothing a little bit of water won't take out of your pen, you know? Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I can't live my life that way.

'''Mike Matteson:''' On the edge. You can't live on the edge, Hurley.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I really just struggle to try and use inks that could damage my pens. You know, like, I really just try my best to avoid that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I mean, it's fair. You have enough options to where you don't have to do that. Yeah. Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And I'm not a big and I don't I don't think I'll ever be like a big ink swapper. Like, I like to find inks that I like and then I will use that ink in a pen for like four years. Right. Oh, yeah. I can't do that. I can't do that either. I like to just find the ones that I like and then every now and then I'll add to it. Like, I added like two or three colors to my collection recently, which is like unprecedented. But it was just like I basically, you know, I said, like I bought two inks just because there was one for two like for two different pens. I mean, because I just wanted to do the pairing. So maybe I'm moving a little bit more towards that. Right. Like maybe this might be like when in episode one of the show, Brad said he didn't like fountain pens. You know, this might be one of those things that people can point to in a few years time as I maybe move more into inks because I'm buying less pens. You know, like inks might be a nice thing for me to start looking more at. Like I was just looking at those sailor inks that you were talking about and kind of lusting after them a little bit. So maybe I'll add one of those. But like I just as it stands right now, I don't like to to to change my inks too frequently because I like what I like. But I'm really just not keen on keen on like taking the risk, you know, especially with my nicer stuff. Maybe with some cheaper pens, I would be more willing to do it. But, you know, if you're looking at putting like an ink that could damage the inside of my Edison, like I'm just not interested in doing that.

'''Mike Matteson:''' Well, I don't know what's going to damage your Edison. I mean, those are cartridge converter pens. They've got a standard, you know, like stainless steel nib and like a plastic feed or whatever. Like there's nothing. Those inks are not going to hurt it. You know, be careful with the vintage stuff, maybe. But I mean, your average Edison's or whatever.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Additional, additional moving parts. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, like this is the pump filler Menlo, right? Like that is a.

'''Mike Matteson:''' Oh, yeah, yeah. That's a temperament a little beast right there. It is. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like I've quite frequently just put an ink into that and pumped it and ink just spurted out of the pumps. Like, right. Well, that's happening today.

'''Mike Matteson:''' Does that use a silicone sack? I actually don't know.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't know.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It has. It's it has a silicone. Like there's a sheath and that covers part of the pump system in the back of the pen. I don't know exactly the material it's made of. But Brian has had some problems with that with some inks. So, yeah, that's a very specific case. Great pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Super temperamental because it's a really weird and amazing filling system.

'''Mike Matteson:''' But yeah, that's the reason I don't have an Edison yet because I really want one of those pump filler ones. I also don't want to spend that much money right now.