Save money on ink by making your own shimmer

In which I go out on a limb and try to recreate an ink that I can't easily import using some mica powder and some samples.
You don't need to buy bottles or samples of different shimmer inks. You can experiment and create your own custom ink that is exactly what you're looking for.
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[@animula6908]

This is the kind of thing I’d rather watch someone else try than try for myself. Thanks for being the mad scientist for our sakes.

[@pensinfocus]

Happy to be the mad scientist! It was a fun experiment.

[@James-cn5qe]

The piston converter works better. It pushes the ink into the feed. The spring converter will pull the ink back when released. I use about 2 grains of pigment to 3ml of ink. It seems to work well.

[@davecharvella4854]

Very cool! I primarily use my pens for journaling, so not a huge fan of shimmer inks. However, I do enjoy the look of most sheening inks. Using a Twisbi pen of any sort, is a great choice when experimenting like this ... easy to disassemble/clean. Thanks for sharing ... cheers!

[@elainenabors9832]

Love this!! Thank you♥️♥️

[@tracyverberkmoes4818]

I was wondering "could I..." and looked for this idea----so glad to see you tried it and succeeded! I'm wondering if it has to be that brand mica though....pricey. Have you tried it with any others?

[@pensinfocus]

This is the only brand I've tried. I recently received some stuff right from China that's made for eye makeup that I've got queued up for a video soon. Whatever you use, it has to be very fine, like talcum powder.

[@Severus34564]

Great Video :D I enjoyed your first video, but this is awesome. While I absolutely love shimmer inks, I currently try to use more standard inks, as I have some I don't ever use otherwise from Inkvent 2021 and 2022. But maybe it would be an idea to make a shimmering sample? Guess I need to think about that and watch your experiments 😄

[@pensinfocus]

Let me know if there's any combination of ink and shimmer you'd like to see - even if it's vague or just a feeling. I've got a lot of options for both shimmer and ink. I'm doing filming today and I'll try to work it in. As for standard inks, even though the IV calendar has a lot of shimmers, I really like Flame from 2022 Inkvent and also Candlelight from 2021(?); both of those are standard inks.

[@Severus34564]

One thing I'd really love to see would be the Harry Potter House Colors with Shimmer in the correctly corresponding color. Montegrappa has their line, but I kinda feel it's missing the shimmer it needs. Slytherin green with silver Shimmer, Ravenclaw Blue with a mix of Coppery/Silver Shimmer, etc. Something similar to that would be awesome. From Inkvent 2022 though one thing thats stuck in my mind would be a variant of One More Sleep with Shimmer. From Inkvent 2021 Ash with Silver Shimmer could be interesting. Flame is also quite nice, but I haven't used it as extensively as I should have yet.

[@pensinfocus]

@@Severus34564 Looks like we're in different time zones; I JUST finished shooting and put away all the lights, tripods, etc. However I've been playing a ton of Hogwarts Legacy, so that plus your request is a perfect excuse to do a Hogwarts-themed episode. So look for that video in about two weeks, plus your name in the credits :)

[@Severus34564]

@@pensinfocusMight be with different Time Zones, I'm in Europe, but also have been driving a lot today. Thank you. I'm looking forward to that episode. Can't wait what you come up with :D I love Hogwarts Legacy. Though I'm still not finished after 40 Hours. But I'm also looking forward to the video you just shot.

[@capajensen5689]

I love this video! I had never diluted my inks ... though sometimes I've had to thicken them a bit with gum arabic so that the ink will "cling" to the nib a little better. Maybe I'll play around with dilution also. I'm curious -- which dip pen nib are you using in the video? It looks very smooth to write with! I've got some dip flex nibs, but I'm always on the lookout for more. :)

[@pensinfocus]

Thank you! The pen I’m using is a Turned Wood Oblique Pen Holder from John Neal Books. The nib is a Zebra G Titanium.

[@mohammedhussain1935]

What fountain pen did you use in this video?

[@pensinfocus]

A TWSBI Swipe in the color called “Salmon”

[@apontutul]

Thanks for sharing. How much for 20ml ink would you suggest?

[@pensinfocus]

There are no rules here :) How much sugar goes into a cup of tea? Though I’d suggest starting small with only a single ml to see how well everything goes and eyeball the ratio from there.