Ink Suggestions

[jjrez0216]

I am a new user to fountain pens but I do have some knowledge about them. I ordered a Pilot Metropolitan in a fine nib but I am having trouble choosing ink. I am a college student who will be using cheap notebook paper, I know expensive paper is better but I cannot afford purchasing it. I am looking for a black ink and maybe a blue black or blue ink. Currently I am looking at the Pelikan brilliant black ink and the noodlers black or noodlers 54th Massachusetts. I am clueless because I have yet to test any of the inks but I was hoping for some guidance. If anyone can tell me what their favorite ink for cheap paper is or what they believe the best ink is, that would be appreciated. I am a new member here and I am excited to be a part of it! Thanks

[ehemem]

I write a lot on cheep paper with Japanese fine nibs, and my two basic inks of choice are relatively inexpensive: Noodler's Black, which is also waterproof, and Pilot Blue Black, which has very good water resistance. Either of those 2 inks should meet your needs. The rest of the Pilot lineup are also good.

[inkstainedruth]

I'm not a great fan of Noodler's Black -- I prefer Heart of Darkness because it's a bit better behaved. I haven't tried Pilot Blue Black, but I do like 54th Massachusetts.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[jjrez0216]

I write a lot on cheep paper with Japanese fine nibs, and my two basic inks of choice are relatively inexpensive: Noodler's Black, which is also waterproof, and Pilot Blue Black, which has very good water resistance. Either of those 2 inks should meet your needs. The rest of the Pilot lineup are also good.

Thanks! I will look into the noodlers black

[jjrez0216]

I'm not a great fan of Noodler's Black -- I prefer Heart of Darkness because it's a bit better behaved. I haven't tried Pilot Blue Black, but I do like 54th Massachusetts.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I have seen so many prefer noodlers black for cheap paper, any reason why you don't lean towards it?

[haruka337]

Franklin-Christoph inks.

 

Great colors, great writing experience, inks are affordable and well behaved.

 

Google reviews of the ink and search it on the forums as well, as their on-line swab and writing sample on their website is not color accurate.

 

Sailor Nano Kiwa-guro and Sailor Nano Sei-boku are fantastic with "everyday" paper, however the inks are more expensive, but quite worth it.

[jmccarty3]

Pilot Blue-Black should do quite well in your Metropolitan. It can be bought quite inexpensively in the 70 ml bottle.

[Pensei]

I think the best ink to use on spongey paper is R&K Scabiosa or Salix. I don't know of any ink that is less inclined to spread out over the paper. I agree with the comment above regarding Sei Boku, but it's a fair amount more expensive.

[inkstainedruth]

I have seen so many prefer noodlers black for cheap paper, any reason why you don't lean towards it?

 

The cellulose reactive ("bulletproof") inks tend to only bond where the ink actually touches the paper. If it's in a wet pen, then only the bottommost layer will bond, and the rest can smudge. I find that Heart of Darkness actually dries a bit faster, and is still well-behaved in other respects (no feathering or bleedthrough, etc).

I did try Noodler's Black a couple of years ago as the first leg of an experiment to see what black ink worked best overall in a Platinum Preppy set up with the rollerball head during sub-optimal conditions: outside, in humid weather, on really crummy printer paper, for inking pencil drawings; it needed to dry relatively fast, not feather or bleed, be smudge-resistant when dry (so the pencil lines could be erased) *and* have white-out pens work over it. The first year was NB vs. Private Reserve Invincible Black, and the results were only fair at best. It was, however, better than PRIB, which stained the inside of the Preppy it was in.... And a lot better than Aurora Black and Sailor Kiwa-guro -- neither of which did well with the rollerball setup.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[dylim1]

I'm not a great fan of Noodler's Black -- I prefer Heart of Darkness because it's a bit better behaved. I haven't tried Pilot Blue Black, but I do like 54th Massachusetts.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

+1 for Noodler's Heart of Darkness.

[MathurinKerbouchard]

Pilot Blue Black, Pilot Black, Noodler's Black and 54th Massachusetts.

For the waterproofness/resistance of these inks take a look at a post by cjr: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/312466-water-testing-18-inks-and-3-papers/

[Liis]

My Metropolitan Fine has Cult Pens' Deep Dark Purple as a designated ink - writes well in mu cheap notebooks and is more interesting than simple black. DDP bleeds horribly on cheaper paper (when used with other pens, medium or wide) but this pen keeps it in check.

 

My best ink for cheap paper is Rohrer&Klingner's Scabiosa, it does not bleed and looks interesting. I keep that for my better flowing pens, for it tends to be dryish. Would not suggest this ink for Metropolitan Fine nor Medium though.

 

Personal experience is that Metropolitans need a wet ink for comfortable writing.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Liis

[Arkanabar]

Having used both Noodler's Black and Noodler's Heart of Darkness on cheap and horrid paper, I'd go for Heart of Darkness. It dries faster and is less prone to smudging. And HoD comes with a free eyedropper pen, usually a Noodler's Charlie, but sometimes a converted Platinum Preppy.

[Sasha Royale]

I haven't been a college kid for 45 years. However, I find a lot of uses for the notebooks that I find at the August, back-to-school sales at Wal-Mart. I have a bunch of Composition notebooks and a bunch of 17¢ spiral notebooks. Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue is not nearly as "saturated" as Noodler's inks, but still very legible. It is well-behaved about bleeding through the paper. It is inexpensive to use, and functions well in all my pens. It flushes out of feeds and sacs easily.

 

Which college ?

Edited September 1, 2016 by Sasha Royale

[jjrez0216]

Pilot Blue Black, Pilot Black, Noodler's Black and 54th Massachusetts.

For the waterproofness/resistance of these inks take a look at a post by cjr: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/312466-water-testing-18-inks-and-3-papers/

I am interested in the 54th Massachusetts, lets hope i get my hand on some soon!

[jjrez0216]

I haven't been a college kid for 45 years. However, I find a lot of uses for the notebooks that I find at the August, back-to-school sales at Wal-Mart. I have a bunch of Composition notebooks and a bunch of 17¢ spiral notebooks. Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue is not nearly as "saturated" as Noodler's inks, but still very legible. It is well-behaved about bleeding through the paper. It is inexpensive to use, and functions well in all my pens. It flushes out of feeds and sacs easily.

 

Which college ?

I liked my noodlers bulletproof black over the Pelikan Brilliant Black, but maybe ill give the royal blue a shot since I have yet tested a blue. I am a community college student hoping to transfer to UC Santa Barbara soon for an Economics and accounting degree!

[cardigan33]

The Pilot Metropolitan with the fine nib is one of my favorite every day pens. I started with Noodler's Black, but switched to J. Herbin's Perle Noire. I find it better behaved and just as rich on the page, though it is a fair bit pricier. Lately, I've been using Diamine Bilberry which I'm finding to have an excellent, smooth flow from the Metro F. It's working well for for me on a range of papers, including cheap notebook and copy. Little bleed through or feathering, though the dry time lags just a bit... Nice distinctive blue.

[ENewton]

A nib as fine as the one you are using will probably allow you to use virtually any ink on cheap notebook paper. I often use a Pilot Prera fine, which I believe has exactly the same nib as your Metropolitan fine, and because it lays down so little ink, I find I can write on virtually any kind of paper with virtually any ink, whether dry (e.g., Pelikan 4001) or wet (J Herbin, Iroshizuku).