Deep Black Ink That Is Slightly Wetter Than Pelikan Black

[3nding]

Hi everyone,

 

Does any of you know of a dark, well-behaved, black ink that is common and easy to find and slightly wetter than Pelikan. I don't want anything as wet as say Aurora Black or J. Herbin Perle Noire, although I love those blacks. I just need something that will make my pen work just a little better because I am in between being too wet on some papers and too dry on others. I already tried Noodler's Black so I'm looking for something different.

 

Thank you all very much in advance,

 

3nding

Edited February 4, 2018 by 3nding

[goodpens]

Diamine Onyx is a good option.

[Carrau]

Monteverde Black or Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi.

[3nding]

  On 2/4/2018 at 10:36 PM, goodpens said:

Diamine Onyx is a good option.

 

I will have to check out Diamine inks at some point. This could be a good excuse to do so. Thanks!

[3nding]

  On 2/4/2018 at 10:51 PM, Herrjaeger said:

Monteverde Black or Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi.

 

I'm really interested in trying Iroshizuku, but isn't it a wet ink? Assuming Pelikan can be considered a dry ink will Iroshizuku not be too wet for me? Because Aurora Black is a bit too wet for my needs and I have read that Take-Sumi is wetter.

Edited February 6, 2018 by 3nding

[carlos.q]

You should consider Montblanc Mystery Black ink.

[doggonecarl]

I find Lamy black a little wetter than Pelikan Brilliant Black and Waterman Black a little wetter than Lamy. Depending on how "dark" is dark for you, check out some ink swabs and the reviews here on the forum.

[3nding]

  On 2/6/2018 at 5:57 PM, doggonecarl said:

I find Lamy black a little wetter than Pelikan Brilliant Black and Waterman Black a little wetter than Lamy. Depending on how "dark" is dark for you, check out some ink swabs and the reviews here on the forum.

 

I don't need it to be as black as say something like Aurora Black. Similar to Pelikan Brillant Black in terms of darkness would suit me very well. I mostly need it to be not too wet and not too dry and very cheap-paper friendly because as a university student I have to write on paper of highly variable quality. Some are really absorbent and make something like Pelikan Black out to be super wet while other papers are very smooth and make Pelikan Black out to be super dry.

 

Sometimes, in the same notebook, one page makes the pen writes extremely wet and the very next page makes it write extremely dry. I don't know if there's any ink out there that would be able to satisfy this crazy requirement.

Edited February 6, 2018 by 3nding

[dadoody]

mmm Heart of Darkness?

[3nding]

  On 2/6/2018 at 9:35 PM, dadoody said:

mmm Heart of Darkness?

 

Would you recommend Heart of Darkness over Noodler's Black (the regular one) for my needs?

[3nding]

It's not the deepest of blacks, but in terms of performance I have to say I am leaning towards Pilot/Namiki Black at the moment. It's lubrication is excellent, the black is good on most papers (except on Moleskine paper for some reason where it appears to be more greyish). It is only to wet on the most absorbent of absorbent papers. Are there others blacks with similar characteristics but blacker and ever so slightly drier?

[Pentode]

For decades I used 4001 Brilliant Black most of the time. My go-to, not-quite-as-dry black was always Montblanc Black. Its not quite as dark, but close and its just a bit wetter.

 

Ive also found Skrip and Quink to be in that ballpark in terms of wetness, but neither of those are anywhere near as dark.

 

Wetter still and were getting into Waterman and Diamine territory. Very good inks but wetter than youre looking for, even if theyre not quite as wet (or as black) as Aurora.

 

I have a bottle of Monteverde that is very, very black but I havent used it in a long time and I cant recall how wet it is.

[3nding]

  On 2/7/2018 at 1:59 AM, Pentode said:

For decades I used 4001 Brilliant Black most of the time. My go-to, not-quite-as-dry black was always Montblanc Black. Its not quite as dark, but close and its just a bit wetter.

 

Ive also found Skrip and Quink to be in that ballpark in terms of wetness, but neither of those are anywhere near as dark.

 

Wetter still and were getting into Waterman and Diamine territory. Very good inks but wetter than youre looking for, even if theyre not quite as wet (or as black) as Aurora.

 

I have a bottle of Monteverde that is very, very black but I havent used it in a long time and I cant recall how wet it is.

 

Thanks a lot for the advice! I'm definitely interested to try Sheaffer Skrip Black because I have heard very good things about it (also, it's the ink that Albert Einstein is always pictured with or at least the classic bottle anyway) but I have read some bad things about Quink Black causing issues, especially in Parker made pens for some reason. What has your experience been with that?

[doggonecarl]

  On 2/8/2018 at 1:28 AM, 3nding said:

 

... I have read some bad things about Quink Black causing issues, especially in Parker made pens for some reason. What has your experience been with that?

 

That's crazy talk! Where are you reading this? In my experience, Parker Black is a safe, inoffensive ink whose only fault, if it has one, may be it's lack of water resistance.

[dcwaites]

  On 2/6/2018 at 10:20 PM, 3nding said:

 

Would you recommend Heart of Darkness over Noodler's Black (the regular one) for my needs?

 

I just posted this in another thread

[mariom]

  On 2/6/2018 at 12:26 AM, 3nding said:

 

I'm really interested in trying Iroshizuku, but isn't it a wet ink? Assuming Pelikan can be considered a dry ink will Iroshizuku not be too wet for me? Because Aurora Black is a bit too wet for my needs and I have read that Take-Sumi is wetter.

In my experience, Take-sumi is very wet and quite prone to bleed-through on anything but the best papers. It's also not a deep black, so perhaps not the option you're looking for.

 

I quite like Graf von Faber-Castel Carbon Black.

[Pentode]

  On 2/8/2018 at 1:28 AM, 3nding said:

I have read some bad things about Quink Black causing issues, especially in Parker made pens for some reason. What has your experience been with that?

I have read the same but have not had any problems, personally. Its not a very saturated black, but its always behaved well for me.

 

Maybe I just have it trained well?

[katerchen]

  On 2/6/2018 at 11:33 PM, 3nding said:

It's not the deepest of blacks, but in terms of performance I have to say I am leaning towards Pilot/Namiki Black at the moment. It's lubrication is excellent, the black is good on most papers (except on Moleskine paper for some reason where it appears to be more greyish). It is only to wet on the most absorbent of absorbent papers. Are there others blacks with similar characteristics but blacker and ever so slightly drier?

 

I was going to suggest just that. The "coke bottle" version costs under $20 USD.

 

It has very good flow -- probably a bit "too" good for naturally wet pens. It's also a very nice dark black on paper.

 

-k

[3nding]

  On 2/9/2018 at 3:58 PM, Pentode said:

I have read the same but have not had any problems, personally. Its not a very saturated black, but its always behaved well for me.

 

Maybe I just have it trained well?

 

If only there was a Caesar, The Ink Whisperer guy to teach us how to do it

[3nding]

  On 2/8/2018 at 10:26 PM, dcwaites said:

 

I just posted this in another thread

 

Thank you! This was very interesting! If I have to write on both poor paper and quality paper, which one of the too would be more multipurpose? Is diluted Noodler's Black better on quality paper comparatively to Heart of Darkness on poor papers (i.e. which one is the best on their weak paper type) if that makes any sense?