(I C U) Ink Review - Susemai - Black Cat - Black Cashmere

[Ted A]

Black Cat. Because of the previously mentioned issues, I didn't get to finish my review, but here are some notes:

 

 

At 16% this is quite black. There was a little lightening of the ink when I diluted it 1:1 with water, but it was still quite black out of a wet nib. In the Preppie with a fine nib, the ink was a bit lighter when diluted, though still quite dark.

 

Again a slow drying ink. 25 - 30 seconds on the Fabriano, though less than 10 seconds with a fine nib Preppie on Staples Brazil Composition book paper.

 

It did not bleed through the Fabriano Misto paper which is 85g/m^2. There was a fair amount of show through.

 

On Staples Brazil Composition book paper there was both show thorugh and bleed through

 

Clean up was fast and easy.

 

Not water resistant in the least.

[amberleadavis]

Thank you, everyone. I'm so sorry for the problems. For future reference, don't re-use food jars without seriously cleaning and sterilizing the jar.

[msun]

This is my review of Black Cat. I am aware that issues with mold has come up with this ink. I received the Susemai tester inks later than everyone else, and did not catch the mold problem until I had already inked my pen. I used a cheap easy to clean Platinum Preppy, so I decided to just test it anyway. My ink looks fine, and no apparent mold problems in my batch. But I will clean out my pen very well after this review.

 

http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/ah91/kikosun/Susemaiblackcat_zps03adead2.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Msun, cute cat and nice review.

[mhguda]

Here, a little late, is my review.

 

I love this ink. It's impressive even when diluted very much! When highly saturated (16%) the color is really deep. However the high concentration caused skipping and drying out for me. I like it best at 8%.

The only test this ink failed for me consistently was the water resistance test.

This one is on my wish list!

Thanks again to all who made this possible.

[visvamitra]

I dislike black inks so for instance just Ink Splash:

 

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/9369/p9UlvT.jpg

[amberleadavis]

I hope this black gets fixed, because it is a really wonderful true black.

[vossad01]

I have posted an Exponential Inky Gradient of Black Cashmere for those wondering about different concentrations.

[amberleadavis]

Those gradiants take hours to do, and we all appreciate your efforts, thank you.

[vossad01]

 

 

Because of the pen and paper used, here is another review of a better known ink for a reference point:

[DaveBj]

Here are the test sheets for Black Cashmere at both 13% and 6.5% concentrations.

 

 

[amberleadavis]

It really maintains being black.

[DaveBj]

It really maintains being black.

 

Sure does. I'm not going to do a 3.7% test, like I did with Blue and Red; I really don't want to see at what point it starts to turn purple. If it stays this black at 6.5%, it's a really good ink.

[amberleadavis]

Any signs of mold?

[DaveBj]

Any signs of mold?

 

Not in mine.

 

FTR, I mixed mine at the 30-ml dilution in an old 40-ml prescription bottle. The dilutions were done in clean (but not sterilized) sample vials. Once I was done testing, I transferred the inks to a nice 75-ml glass bottle from Hobby Lobby and diluted to 60 ml. I have not seen any signs of alien civilizations. I will check from time to time.

[mhguda]

Here are my remarks on the powdered black cashmere.

As for the other powders, I used regular copy paper and found a wonderful ink at about 8% solution.

This black is really black and I did not want to dilute further...

[amberleadavis]

http://www.maryhatay.com/Mark/Fountain-Pens/Mixed-Pens/i-PkDq5TP/0/XL/Penmanship%203-XL.jpg

[Runnin_Ute]

I don't recall how I tested this on the pre-mix, but when I got the sachet and mixed it up I mixed up 30 ml of it. Nice and wet and very opaque. Right now I have it in my Esterbrook J, had decent success in my most troublesome pen as well - a Parker IM Premium twin chiselled. (not as good as Noodler's Black but close)

 

Have never seen mold issues either. Amber, I have some tests of all four (black, blue, red, green and even a blue black mix I tried out) that I can throw in the mail to you if you would like. Cheap paper, and one to two nicer papers.

Edited December 6, 2014 by Runnin_Ute

[ScienceChick]

No mold in mine, either. I did have flecks of undissolved powder at 13% (30 ml of water) but diluting to ~9% eliminated them with no visible change in color or opacity.

[amberleadavis]

I'm glad to hear this.