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Hey hey folks who love their Lamy fountain pens! :)
Have you found a black waterproof ink that works for you? I'm finding that carbon black ink (my absolute fave) seems to gum up the works after a time. Is there an additive I can add to the ink so this doesn't happen? Or just a different ink that still works well for sketching?
@hollie how long has it been since you deep cleaned your pen? Maybe that’s all it needs? How long do you leave the pen between uses?
Alternative 1: @akunz has been using R&K Sketchinks in his Vista without any issues, might be worth a try. Maybe he can chime in with his experience.
Alternative 2:
Switch pens to something like a Platinum Desk Pen, these are designed for Platinum Carbon Black not to dry out in the pen.
@paradoxmo @akunz 1. Thanks, will check those out!
2. I have a good one for the carbon ink, I love the Pilot Kakünos. I just want to find something the Lamy can handle. :)
@paradoxmo @hollie Yes, I‘m using SketchInk („Lotte“ and „Thea“) from Rohrer & Klingner in my Lamy Safari and I‘m very happy with that.
I use it daily and if I leave it for a week or so and the nib gets clogged or dried out I'll hold the tip into a glass of water for a short time which has always cleared up any clogging right away.
@hollie my waterproof black ink recommendation is always Sailor Kiwa Guro!
I use both inks a lot -- carbon dries faster, but Kiwa Guro has a way better flow, so it shouldn't gum things up!
@mvu, @eclecticpassions Thank you both, will try the Sailor's! Seems like that's a popular choice. :)
@hollie@social.coop supposedly (as in, I haven't tested it, but I'm thinking about trying it out), you can add glycerine to ink to make it lubricating. Might be worth looking into, if you want to stay with your existing ink.
@binsk I've heard of people doing that for watercolors too, adding them to the pans. I didn't know it could work with inks but that makes sense. Thanks!
@hollie
I've had good luck with Noodlers Heart of Darkness. I actually find it to be the best behaving ink, and if a pen is being finicky, I use that one.
@trixter @hollie Yeah, Noodler's Bulletproof Inks (my preference), most inks labled "document signing ink", or iron gall inks are all waterproof, but note that iron gall inks will eat through paper given enough time. Be careful with some of the waterproof inks, though, some (not all) will stain pens so I wouldn't use them with a clear or demonstrator pen.
@hollie Specific to your question, Noodler's Eel Black isn't as steadfast as your carbon black but is specifically designed to lubricate pens and is waterproof once dry. I use it after cleaning out inks like carbon black or any mica-containing inks to kind of dislodge any remaining pigments or glitter and lube things up again.
@Meadhbh Oh yes I've had Noodler's stain pens before. It's good stuff but I've had mixed results. I've heard of the Eel Black but I haven't tried it, I might give it a shot! Thanks! :)
@hollie Have you tried Sailor's Kiwa Guro?
Noodler's Polar Black is my standard black. Works well in all my pens so far. Logo is my only Lamy and usually ends up with Polar Black
@hollie
@hollie My favorite is the Write and Draw Black Elephant from Octopus Ink. Very black and waterproof. But I think it also depends on your nib. I’m mostly using fine and very fine nibs but in my Lamy Safari even the finest nib seems wider than most other brands to me.
I’ve had Lamy fountain pens for a long time since they were used in elementary school and most of them seem pretty indestructible to me so maybe give it a good cleaning as well, especially if you are using darker inks.
@hollie my experience with permanent inks – R&K SKETCHinks, De Atramentis Document, multiple Noodler's, Platinum Carbon Black and Sailor Sei-boku – is that over time only regular cleaning really helps to avoid clogging.
I found these instructions on how to extract and clean Lamy Safari feeds quite helpful. A piece of rubber cut from a bicycle (inner) tube helped immensely. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruHMlUdnxbs&t=1192s
@hinnerkh Oh heck this is great, thank you! (Also apparently I'm pronouncing Lamy wrong lol)
@hollie I used to use Noodler’s Heart of Darkness and sometimes Platinum Carbon Black but now it’s de Atramentis Document Black constantly for all my urban sketching. I have about 8 fountain pens filled with it at any given time and have never had blockages. It’s great stuff. de Atramentis also sell a thinner that doesn’t reduce waterproofness.
@andrewscott I haven't heard of that one! I'll look for it, thank you!
@hollie Here are a couple of comparisons from my sketchbook…
The first is a disaster—I was sketching with a new pen and whatever ink came in its cartridge. Unwisely tried to use watercolour, total disaster and a blight on my sketchbook. 
The second is watercolour over de Atramentis Document Black. No bleeding or smudging, much more successful.
@hollie I use waterproof inks in my watercolor sketches and I really like DeAtramentis Document inks. I’m currently in love with urban grey! Goulet Pens is my online source and has excellent videos about cleaning & changing inks in the Lamy pens as well.
@ibhoneybee Oh I love a good grey! :)
@hollie , Goulet pens also sells sample sizes of their inks wo you can try them out before buying the big bottle. They are a fantastic company!
@hollie Try De Atramentis Document Black [must be from the "Document" range] or Document Urban Grey, which works beautifully with watercolour. I find De Atramentis is well behaved in most pens, although I haven't used a Lamy pen for sketching in a very long time. (My go-to is the TWSBI Diamond Mini and the TWSBI Eco. Then Kaküno if I want an extra fine point, because no one does fine nibs like the Japanese; and a Pelikan M200/M205 if I want a very flexible nib.)
@frindley You are the only person I've ever talked to that urban sketches and knows about the Kakünos! I LOVE them!! :D Been using them for a decade and I talk about them all the time and nobody ever seems to know them. :)
@hollie Not sure about the US, but I've only noticed the Kaküno pens being promoted/sold in Australia in the past five or so years, even though other Pilot products have had a strong presence for a very long time. And even now, they tend to be found in stores that specialise in Japanese stationery. The other factor is that they're usually promoted as fountain pens for children, with the bright colours and smiley face nibs (my nib has its tongue sticking out – very kawaii). Meanwhile, the sketching community is only now emerging from the domination of Lamy, which I think was led by a few prominent sketchers who favoured the Lamy Safari and recommended it.
I became interested in the Kaküno and also the Platinum Preppy because I was looking for affordable Japanese EF nibs in a regular fountain pen format rather than the very long, tapered desk pen format that Pilot and Platinum make.
@frindley Here, I met my first Kaküno in a Japanese stationary store in Seattle (NW corner of US) many years ago (maybe 2015?), and it was hanging with other inexpensive plastic fountain pens. It was nowhere near the art/sketching stuff. I was also looking for an EF nib. I'd been gifted a beautiful brass Kaweco EF but the line was strangely thick for EF - come to find out that's normal in European fountain pens.
I was amazed at the delicious tiny-line scratchiness of the Kaküno, it was perfect!
@hollie I have a copper Kaweco Lilliput in "EF", but it's F at best. Sweet pen, though.
@hollie I use lamy pens with Noodlers Bulletproof Black a lot.