Dr. Inkenstein Tests A Quartet Of Blue-Blacks

[Sailor Kenshin]

Lately, Dr. Inkenstein has been, well, let's say highly INTERESTED in blue-black inks. After all, they are our favorite colors, if you include those which look teal, like Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku and Chesterfield Teal.

 

So based on various online reviews and scans, I tested a bunch of new inks (all except the Everflo, which is not at all new and has been on my ink hutch for years, and is not a true blue-black but it's here for comparison purposes).

 

Part of the 'fun'of testing inks is finding a perfect ink/pen combo. The Nemos write dry. The Hero and Lamys write wet. The dip pen dips. So many different factors, including paper!

 

The paper here was, uhh, an Office Depot composition notebook with Brazilian paper. The scan looks different from the photo. The differences are interesting. The ink colors in real life are also different. On to the particulars.

 

Brand(s): Everflo, Diamine, OrGaNicS Studios, Private Reserve

 

Color(s): True Blue, Eau De Nil, BlakWa (sample courtesy of a pen pal), Ebony Blue

 

Intensity: Ebony Blue the highest and most saturated; the Diamine and OS less saturated. Everflo was tough to place. It's semi-saturated, and not a real BB, but whatever. ;p

 

Flow: All except the OS had decent flow, that is, until the PR EB had been in the pen for a couple of weeks, and then it needed multiple water-dips to start. It also began smearing badly. FPG had a discussion on similar problems with intensely saturated inks; it appears that it's just part of the breed. Dilute or suffer.

 

The reluctant nature of the OS was not due to the pen (A Hero Summer Colors), because with its provided cart of Hero ink, that pen is an absolute gusher. I believe the Diamine would have good flow but the Nemo pens are dry writers.

 

Shading: None whatever in the Everflo. All others had varying good degrees of shading, and the PR had SHEEN!

 

Summary: While OS and Diamine Eau De Nil look almost identical on paper, in the scans and photos they look quite different, with the OS Blakwa appearing far more green. Possibly the BlakWa shades a bit better than Eau De Nil.

 

What follows is the scan AND the photo of the four inks.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7347/11298988096_350663ef7e_z.jpg

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7324/11309385205_867a9b1eb2_z.jpg

 

 

We have further blue-blacks to test: Noodler's Blue-Black, a sample of Chesterfield Night Sapphire, which I like a lot, and the cart that arrived with the Hero Summer Colors. Until next time!

[Ursus]

Somehow they tend to turn out either black or blue. Apparently it is very difficult for the companies to find the exact point where an equilibirium is kept. The old black-blue Quink was right on, though...

[hbdk]

The good old Pelikan 4001 B/B seems to get it right. My preferred ink for Baoer and LAMY.

[Ursus]

- And Pelikan ink can even be found here in Denmark. Nice to meet fellow Danes!

[Sailor Kenshin]

The good old Pelikan 4001 B/B seems to get it right. My preferred ink for Baoer and LAMY.

I had a bottle. One of my favorites, until Something Dreadful occurred, and now it lays down as just a medium-gray.

[Ursus]

 

I had a bottle. One of my favorites, until Something Dreadful occurred, and now it lays down as just a medium-gray.

- Well, then you can't even say that it has got the blues I wonder what happened, chemically speaking...

[Sailor Kenshin]

Me, too. I wonder how I could find out, since they don't allow that ink in the U. S. any more. Perhaps it arrested itself.

[Ursus]

It might have had a self destruction mechanism We should be greatful that it did not explode on New Year's eve. What a mess that would have been.

[SteveE]

Just a couple of my own observations:

1. I'm surprised you had trouble with EverFlo True Blue. I've used it in a bevy of c/c pens and it flows beautifully, no feathering and no dry-out. I do not expect any shading from my nibs, as most are tuned to about 9 on a 0-10 wetness scale.

2. I'll be watching for your observations on Chesterfield Night Sapphire. I have it and their Sapphire. Sapphire is very close to True Blue, both in color and flow. Night Sapphire is closer to a blue-black, but I always note that if I fill an otherwise wet-flowing pen with Night Sapphire, the pen's flow dwindles and I often end up emptying and flushing it out before I get to use up all the ink. I don't recall having this behavior with any other current ink.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks for the comments!

 

I'm finding the same problem with Night Sapphire. Love the color, but it's needed a water dip to start just about every time.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Here's another blue-black display. One of these days I will remember to take a shot of the pen I'm using, too. Really.

 

 

http://extras.ourpatioparty.com/files/6713/8940/4104/Pilot_Metropolitan.JPG

 

I'm pleased with how much the CNS resembles Tsuki-Yo, especially In Real Life, and not from scannage. It's a good inexpensive alternative...what, eight dollars vs. twenty-eight?

 

CNS might benefit from a drop of dilution. Failing that, a water-dip to start.