Re: Private Reserve
They are a small but well-respected ink company based in central Indiana. They have a "core" group of about 40 colors, but also are known for special runs for big pen shows and the like. They just kind of plod along and do their thing, turning out a solid product for a good price. There are a couple of stores around here that sell their products, which is why I actually have quite a bit from them(in my home stash-not my office stash). Among their staple inks, I find "American Blue" to be a great all around blue color for general writing. It's about the same hue as Waterman blue, but with a stronger/more saturated color. They make a nice range of green inks, but I've settled on "Sherwood Green" as a good, general purpose hunter green(or shall we say British Racing Green
) type color. I've not found a red from them that I really like, and I've tried a couple of different ones.
BTW, there are a couple of companies that make only inks without making pens. By and large, they are very well respected. Companies like Private Reserve and Noodlers don't use fancy bottles but just provide a solid product.
Most of the pen companies have their own distinctive bottles for ink, and they are often designed with an eye toward practicality event though many elaborate designs. Waterman and Pelikan bottles, for example, are designed to be turned on their side when they are low to give a deeper pool from which to draw ink. Lamy bottles are ugly but quite utilitarian-they have a "well" in the center that drops down into a plastic ring(containing a handy roll of dropper paper) so that you can get the last ink out. Probably the best known is the Mont Blanc "shoe." When the bottle is low, you can tilt it and fill the "heel" and draw your ink from that. The old Sheaffer's "Ink Well" bottles were the best, though-the have a trough molded into the mouth of the bottle that can be filled by tilting the bottle. It works best with Sheaffer's Snorkel pens, but can be used with anything.
Most of the blue prints just have additional surfactants. I've done some ink mixing myself and have added small amounts of Kodak PhotoFlo which is essentially what they have in it-some folks suggest Dawn if you don't have and don't want to buy a huge bottle of PhotoFlo to get a half milliter. I do have the big bottle since it's a necessary evil for darkroom work.
Iron gall inks in some senses are relics from the past, but were among the first "permanent" inks. The iron compounds themselves are nearly colorless in solution, but over the course of a few days oxidize to a dark blue-black color. Modern formulas usually have a blue dye so that what is written is immediately visible, but the ink will darken over time. Freshly written Pelikan blue-black, for example, is sort of a pale blue-gray color, but within a day will be nearly black. It's a fun thing for me to see when, for example, I'm making lecture notes and pick up where I left off the previous day. BTW, the blue dye will usually wash out if it gets wet but the iron gall stays(it can be bleached out).
The downside to iron gall inks is that they are slightly acidic and generally corrosive. Although they are "permanent" inks they are not archival since they can be rough on the paper. If you are not careful about keeping your pen clean, they can turn into a real mess. Although it's not really an issue now with stainless steel nibs, in general I try to always pair iron gall with a gold nib.
