Search the Community

Hello, This is a first and a mini review. To me personally the colour, shading and sensation are important. Yet, I can forgive many things, if the ink has that ​je ne said quoi factor. In preparing this review, I appreciated many times more, the work of so many reviewers, that I've enjoyed over the years, thank you. From what I understand Red Cashmere, in its powdered form, was the genesis of Black Stone inks, in Australia. I was intrigued by this ink, thinking it would be a nice sheening variation, albeit darker version of Rouge Hematite, but cheaper. My sample came from fountainfeder and it was the first ink I excitedly tried... I was taken aback by the colour as it transformed from a full throated luscious red into dark, almost blackish red. But it grew on me as I played around with it, especially when I could appreciate its shading, which can be quite dramatic, especially in scans. To me it's a reddish version of Ancient Copper. One issue, I found with this ink was startup. Nothing that a dip in a water wouldn't solve, but still. I hope it was a fluke. The ink has low to non water resistance on Tomoe River paper, but can survive pouring taking a short shower on cheap absorbent paper. I used a vintage Conway Stewart with OB flex nib and Jinhao 450, with a medium nib for my testing and Rhodia notebook. I wish I had other dark reds, shading inks to compare with, but I will leave that to the more seasoned members of this forum. Close up photo: Water test on cheap amazon copy paper... Notes that Amethyst de L'Oural with a fude nib, feathered into a bird..... Before After Most survived the water...but with Tomoe River they just washed out..... Before After - Yours ink-ly Bob

A Blast From The Past: Red Cashmere Fountain pen Ink is available exclusively at: United States: Lemur Inks ( www.lemurink.com ) United Kingdom: Cult Pens ( www.cultpens.com ) Australia: JustWrite ( www.justwrite.com.au ) Red Cashmere was originally developed as a powdered fountain pen ink back in 2014 as part of the SuSeMai project by the Th-INKing Outside the Bottle Group on the fountain Pen Network. Red Cashmere was developed by Kevin Watson and Dave Marshall from the JustWrite Pen Company and the Th-INKing Outside the Bottle Group provided extensive support, advice, testing and feedback. Thirteen powdered inks were developed by the SuSeMai project but none were ever released for sale. Powdered ink had several advantages including the obvious savings in packaging and freight (no glass bottle or water) and fountain pen users could make the ink up as concentrated as they liked in their own empty ink bottles. The powdered inks worked fine but had a fatal flaw. There was no way to ensure the even distribution of biocide through the powdered ink. The focus shifted to gels and concentrated liquids and the powdered ink idea was abandoned. Most of the powdered inks did not adapt well to the gel concentrate form and sadly, they were lost forever... until now. Almost 18 months of extensive experimenting and development, made possible by the tireless and enthusiastic testing and feedback from FPN members, ultimately led to the establishment of Blackstone Inks and now Blackstone Ink is resurrecting Red Cashmere as a conventional liquid ink. The new liquid Red Cashmere ink has all of the characteristics and qualities of the original powdered ink but none of the disadvantages. It's a rich, dark red, free flowing ink that's very well behaved. If you'd like more information about the SuSeMai project or Red Cashmere search for 'susemai' on the FPN. Special Acknowledgement: Blackstone Inks would not exist if not for the encouragement, assistance and support of the members of the Fountain Pen Network. Thank you all so much.

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/2015-Inklings/2015-Ink_0089.jpg

More images to follow. http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/2014-Inklings/2014-Ink_2071.jpg

SuSaMai Black Cat Cashmere: A Review First, I want to thank amberleadavis for her generosity in letting me try out SuSaMai Black Cat Cashmere ink powder through one of her PIFs. I love trying out different inks and colors, so this opportunity was much appreciated. I posted this review on the PIF subforum, and I am posting here for those who may be interested. The following is a first impression, slight in-depth review of the Black Cat Cashmere, which comes in powder form for you to mix as you like. There are other colors of course, and they are made by Black Stone Ink company. More background information can be found in the first post by amberleadavis here. Black, in general, is not my favorite color since it is so ubiquitous, but my experiences have shown that there is black and there is BLACK. Which one you prefer is all up to you. I have found Black Cat Cashmere to be a very decent ink. It is relatively well behaved, flows very well in the pens I have inked, and it dries relatively fast. It has some archival quality as long as there is enough ink on the paper and given adequate drying time. Black Cat Cashmere is also one of the darkest out of all the blacks in my stock. Your conclusions may vary depending on many factors such as wetness, paper, and nib as well as your own style of writing. The following scans try to demonstrate how the ink looks in different pens and writing applications. Some of the subtleties may not be readily apparent due to the limitations of the upload, but I hope it gives you a more than adequate idea of the properties of the ink. This does not follow my usual style of ink reviews, so forgive the inadequacies. All the writing has been applied on Rhodia Reverse Book, 80g., graph rule. I mixed one packet of Black Cat Cashmere (~4g) with about 55ml of distilled water. According to the packet, 50-60 ml is recommended for your normal fountain pen ink. Less water will result in more saturated color, and more will result in more diluted or washed out color. Most of the writing was done with my newest acquisition, a vintage BCHR Waterman 52 with a nice flexy 14k #2 nib. As you can see from the above scans, the only other black that is close to Black Cat Cashmere is PR Velvet Black. Even Noodler's HoD was not that close. The Pilot Black is not really in the same league since the Parallel Pens generally lays down a very wet line, especially the 6.0mm version. In conclusion, I am enjoying this ink. The ink can shade some depending on your writing style, and the color itself is very utilitarian for many applications. I would highly recommend this ink, and if you like to dabble, the powder gives you the opportunity to tailor the ink to your tastes. Enjoy.

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/2014-Inklings/slides/2014-Ink_1637.jpg

http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww62/major_works/SuSeMaICashmereBluereview_zps9634daae.jpg

Here's my review of the Susemai Black Amber ink sample from amberleadavis