OH, OH, let me predict the future.
Someone will give you some all-knowing definitive answer about the be-all end all product that you MUST use. Then the next person will explain/complain that the mentioned product is too expensive and inferior at any rate. Then some condescending soul will tiredly provide a link where this discussion has no doubt already taken place (just to remind you that they either have been at this longer, or just pay better attention than you). Then a diplomatic envoy will intervene and explain all the finer points of each an every type of available printing medium from crayons to blood. Then the thread will go off on a political tangent about which inks are exploitive or not. Then a voice of reason will tell you to experiment with all of them to find what you like best (which sort of defeats the point of asking for a recommendation in the first place). Finally, you'll do whatever think is best anyhow, regardless of the mayhem that you innocent question unleashed.

..... wha?... whe? where am I? look at the pretty colors....

I like Ranger archival Dye based inks (acid free), and occasionally Marvy Markers.

Warm Front

LOL I knew I liked you when I met you in Phoenix at the gathering! How long did it take you to get your car fixed? What was wrong with it? oh and thanks for the advice...... LOL LOL

Humngbrdwchr

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OH, OH, let me predict the future.
Someone will give you some all-knowing definitive answer about the be-all end all product that you MUST use. Then the next person will explain/complain that the mentioned product is too expensive and inferior at any rate. Then some condescending soul will tiredly provide a link where this discussion has no doubt already taken place (just to remind you that they either have been at this longer, or just pay better attention than you). Then a diplomatic envoy will intervene and explain all the finer points of each an every type of available printing medium from crayons to blood. Then the thread will go off on a political tangent about which inks are exploitive or not. Then a voice of reason will tell you to experiment with all of them to find what you like best (which sort of defeats the point of asking for a recommendation in the first place). Finally, you'll do whatever think is best anyhow, regardless of the mayhem that you innocent question unleashed.

What, are you trying to take all the fun out of it?

I'd attempt to answer the OP's question, but I haven't found a pad yet I'm happy with! Geometry Junkie let me use her Graphite Black pad last time I saw her, that looked pretty nice, I might have to try one of those.

I do suggest getting the best black ink pad you can find. Green looks like green no matter what type of ink it is, but lousy black ink looks gray -- or, in the case of one particularly odd pad I have, black with a yellow tinge around the edges. Black is a color you will be using a lot, and having a black ink pad that provides a true jet black color and clean, crisp images will be well worth the expense.

After some bad experience, I suggest avoiding the cheap StampCraft ink pads sold at Wal-Mart. It took me a while to figure out what it was this pad was doing. The pad has a layer of cloth on the top surface, as apparently all the better dye ink pads have. However, this particular piece of cloth is shedding lint. It is simply impossible to get an image without a spot somewhere on it caused by a bit of fiber that has rolled up on the surface of the pad and then stuck to the stamp. I thought it was just debris left over from carving -- or dust because the house could be cleaner -- but eventually realized that my other pads don't do it, just this one.

lol talk about going off topic... uh, it turns out Arizona in July is really bad for car batteries. Whodathunkit? ;)

After the car cooled off, it took a jump and we went straight to the nearest auto zone. They checked the old one, sold us a new one and even installed it for us... the catch? The battery post clamps they used were just a hair too big for the posts on Cold Fronts Focus. This meant that everytime we hit a bump or went over railroad tracks that the car would die for a few seconds before the post and clamp would reestablish a connection.
My super-duper punk-rock ghetto-style DIY solution? I bought a 30 cent pack of wrigleys, and used all the liittle foil wrappers as a shim to tighten the connection, and it got us all the way back to Texas without any further problems. Of course, the guys at the garage just shook their heads in disgust. I think they were just jealous of my Macgyver skills.
uhm, thanks for asking.

I hope this little automotive story adequately answered all of your ink pad questions.

WF

How long ago was this? The car should continue to run even if the battery is fully removed from the car. Once the engine is running the car opperates off of an electrical impulse created by the alternater turning. The battery only starts turns the motor over to start it and runs electrical components when the motor is off. If you hit a bump or an RR track and the morot dies then it isn't your battery. Your alternater may be bad. It may not be creating the amperage to keep your engine running. The battery will start the engine and run the engine till it dies, then the engine dies. The alternater is supposed to take the strain off of the battery as well as charge it. I don't know, but I would think that if you haven't had your alternater checked since you bought the new battery, maybe you should pretty soon. Auto Zone will do that for you too. Not to but in, just a heads up...

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I hope this little automotive story adequately answered all of your ink pad questions.

In case we forget our ink pads, do you know of any web pages explaining which automotive fluids make reasonable emergency inks?

< Just kidding, of course... 8)) >

Hey, wait, you forgot the 30-post back and forth on pigment vs. dye!

To that end, I like The Palette Ink pads (hybrid of pigment and dye). Their noir black is a beautiful black!

http://www.stewartsuperior.com/html/palette_line.html

(in searching so I could include a picture I just found those little cubes)...um, I think I need more ink...yeah!

dewberry

And I found way more colors than I already have. Yeah, that's going to be an expensive post about inks (for me).

http://www.stampin.com/online/accs/pads.htm#palettecubes

dewberry
happily contemplating beaux art blue

you are absolutely correct on all counts (my dad was a mechanic, and I seem to remember ignoring all of this information more than a few times:) uh, speaking of ignore...anyone know how to un-ignore somebody on AQ (as if this wasn't off-topic enough.
I didn't mean to imply that the engine stopped and that we had to re-start the car. However, power steering, power brakes, A/C, radio, and other such systems would take a short vacation, and this was trouble enough, and made it very difficult to navigate Phoenix area traffic (the county we're from doesn't even have a 3-color traffic light, so traffic is it's own hell for me without the other distractions).

WF

That ended up being an expensive post for me too. I'm trying the noir Palette pads after one bad experience with one of their metallic pads.

I also have been fairly happy with the Memories pad on that page. Mine is a bit dry, so I'm trying out the re-inker.

I'm a huge fan of the Brilliance Dew Drops that Webfoot carries on Stampeaz - and they come with reinkers. The Graphite Black is fabulous and my new current favorite is Perlescent Poppy, with Coffee Bean a close second.

Oh, and they are cute, and don't take up much room in a backpack, so you can carry more, More, MORE COLORS (muwaahaahaa!!!!!!).

I don't even carry markers anymore, unless specifically instructed to by people who have carved complicated blocks (say, QUILT BLOCKS, just an example off the top of my head), which have to be colored in, with about 50 colors each, usually sitting on a rock in the blazing sun in the dead of summer. But that's just an example.......

Mama Fox - who's really kidding, the quilt blocks were worth it (even the one at 10:00 at night when we thought the cops were going to be called...... ;-))

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I'm trying the noir Palette pads after one bad experience with one of their metallic pads.

I should have added that the Palette metallics don't work for me either. I think for a good metallic, you have to go with a pigment (and then wait for it to dry). But, then I find with those I often too much ink on the stamp and smudge it. I am always on the hunt for a decent metallic gold.

dewberry

I just ordered an Encore metallic gold that seems to work well. I've used the metallic green from them for years. It's thicker and less smudge-able than the other golds I've tried, but I haven't yet tried it on a hot and humid day in the middle of the woods with rain and curious hikers around.

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I'm a huge fan of the Brilliance Dew Drops that Webfoot carries on Stampeaz

I am *crazy* about these tiny little things. I want them all. Not only are they tiny but the colors are gorgeous. If you move the ink pad over the stamp rather than vice versa, they are a match for even the biggest stamp.

allemeyn

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I am *crazy* about these tiny little things. I want them all. Not only are they tiny but the colors are gorgeous. If you move the ink pad over the stamp rather than vice versa, they are a match for even the biggest stamp.

allemeyn

YES! That is one of the main things I like about them. I lost my Graphite Black Dew Drop, and (after going into a panic attack) immediately ordered another one (and $50 more stuff I "couldn't live without" from Stampeaz ;-)). Til it came, I used a regular sized Graphic Black Brilliance ink pad - and hated it. The smaller pads do a much better and more even job of inking <------ just my opinion, but it's true - LOL!!

Mama Fox - who found the "lost" Graphite Black about a month ago (under the car seat!) - so now I have TWO (muuwaahaahaa again!!!).

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YES! That is one of the main things I like about them. I lost my Graphite Black Dew Drop, and (after going into a panic attack) immediately ordered another one (and $50 more stuff I "couldn't live without" from Stampeaz ;-)). Til it came, I used a regular sized Graphic Black Brilliance ink pad - and hated it. The smaller pads do a much better and more even job of inking <------ just my opinion, but it's true - LOL!!

Mama Fox - who found the "lost" Graphite Black about a month ago (under the car seat!) - so now I have TWO (muuwaahaahaa again!!!).

When I was a newbie, way back when in about February-ish (so long ago, it seems :D), I actually posted this very question to this very board I think... It might've been Tools of the Trade though. And there were two recommendations that stuck out in my mind. The first is the graphite black Dew Drop. I actually have the full-size version and have been pretty happy with it. But I have a blue Dew Drop and I'm going to back up everyone else who has recommended these. You DO end up with more even ink coverage with Dew Drops, they're smaller and easier to carry! But the other recommendation was the Ancient Page ink pads. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to try these yet. Maybe this will save you some time though! :D

-gollygee

I really like that the Dew Drops have reinkers available too - I use one of them for my sig stamp and I love being able to reink it when it starts to get dried up.

Also, the Dew Drops come in 4 packs with reslly cool colors. My favorite is the Two Tone. It includes the rocket red gold I use for my sig stamp and two cool shades of black.

a.

OH, OH, let me predict the future.
Someone will give you some all-knowing definitive answer about the be-all end all product that you MUST use. Then the next person will explain/complain that the mentioned product is too expensive and inferior at any rate. Then some condescending soul will tiredly provide a link where this discussion has no doubt already taken place (just to remind you that they either have been at this longer, or just pay better attention than you). Then a diplomatic envoy will intervene and explain all the finer points of each an every type of available printing medium from crayons to blood. Then the thread will go off on a political tangent about which inks are exploitive or not. Then a voice of reason will tell you to experiment with all of them to find what you like best (which sort of defeats the point of asking for a recommendation in the first place). Finally, you'll do whatever think is best anyhow, regardless of the mayhem that you innocent question unleashed. </qoute>

WOW! You read my mind. This should be the STANDARD disclaimer for anyone thinking about posting a question (particularly about materials and/or mounting)

hmmm if it's going to be a standard disclaimer, I'm going to need to clean up the typos and grammatical errors. :)

I'm a fan or the "it's funny 'cause it's true" school of comedy.

...it's not sarcasm, it's satire ;)

This should be the STANDARD disclaimer for anyone thinking about posting a question

....or we could just number them so when someone posts a question we could just reply ....answer #1...or #2....which ever answer is correct. Like the joke about the carpenters that had worked together so long they knew all the jokes already so instead of telling the joke over and over one would just say ...." number 4" and they would all laugh.

Shiloh

I'll never tell!

Okay, I'll let slip this tip: use markers or dye ink pads to color box stamps. No pigment, unless you PROMISE to clean the stamps after you make your impression. Use whatever you like to color your sig stamp.

*S

Thank you for all the suggestions and of course Mechanics 101.... LOL

I'll tell ya which one sucks! I got a cheap stamp pad from walmart that worked well but pretty much died after a month so I went to Micaheals to get a new one. I got one called Anna Griffin Pigment Ink Pad. its aweful!!! its too inky and sticky! it made a smudgy mess and stained my stamp!!! I'm ticked but I guess it my fault, I picked it out. going to get a new tomorrow BECAUSE I thought "since this one seems to have a lot of ink I'll reink my old one with it." WRONG! the stuff is sooo sticky it stuck to the old stamp pad and ripped it out of the base. so now I have nothing. :(