Birmingham – Edgar Thomson Steel Works Coking Coal Black

[crahptacular]

The Birmingham Pen Co.’s line of inks (30 colors when I bought the sample pack, but I think they’re at 40+ and counting) feature various colors based on or inspired by notable locations or people associated with its home city of Pittsburgh, PA. I bought their sampler pack, and plan on slowly going through the whole line of inks, though I expect it will take me quite a while. For those interested, I posted some color swatches in a different topic (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/328952-birmingham-pen-co-ink-swatches/) where you can get a quick idea of what the whole line looks like together.

 

Coking Coal Black is a pretty neutral black of only moderate darkness (as far as black inks go, that is). It’s not a super-black black (from the comparisons, Platinum Carbon Black is a darker black), but neither is it the palest black (Noodler’s Black is lighter). I’d say it’s on the lighter side. As far as hue goes, it’s close to neutral, though I’d say it’s a smidge on the cool side rather than the warm side (Noodler’s Black is warmer, Nurebairo is much cooler). Even when watered down, the ink just went from neutral black to neutral grey, maintaining the lack of color. Performance was spotty: in the Kakuno, it was fine, but in the LX, it was uncomfortably dry. I’m not sure if the Lamy happened to be a bad pairing or the Pilot was a good one, but writing with the Lamy was downright unpleasant and I couldn't force myself to finish using the fill. Writing appearance followed as expected: moderately dark black in the medium nib, almost entirely grey in the broad nib due to ink starvation. Overall, even apart from the performance issue, I didn’t find this ink interesting; neither its color nor its behavior was remarkable. Among other black inks which boast extreme darkness, water resistance, permanence, etc., this one didn’t stand out to me or impress me.

 

Flow/Lubrication: Moderate in my Kakuno (med), unbearably dry in my LX (broad)

Shading: Low

Sheen: None

Water Resistance: Moderate (legible grey remains)

 

 

The following sample was done with a Pilot Kakuno (M) and a Lamy LX (Broad) on Tomoe River (68gsm, white, loose-leaf). Doodle was done with a size 0 liner. Flex writing was done with a Zebra G nib.

 

Inaccurate Image(s) Disclaimer: Didn’t do much to this one. For the review, there’s a bit too much blue (mainly noticeable in the last two comparisons). Also, the writing samples came out a little washed out, but all in all it’s pretty accurate. The ink definitely shaded to grey for a majority of the broad nib writing.

 

Scan:

 

 

Comparison inks from left to right (big smear is the featured ink):

Noodler’s Black, Sailor Kiwa-Guro, Platinum Carbon Black, Kyo no Oto Nurebairo, Organics Studio 5^th Anniversary Special No. 3

 

Writing Samples (scans; some color correction), from James Joyce’s “Araby”

 

Maruman Mnemosyne:

 

Midori MD:

 

Franklin-Christoph:

[lapis]

I like the touch of blue in it. Or is there a half a touch of teal as well?

[crahptacular]

I would say there's a bit of blue beneath the surface, but not teal. Interestingly, when watered down a lot in the pan, it looked purple... but I couldn't see even a hint of purple once it hit the paper.

[visvamitra]

Great presentation.

[Tas]

Great presentation.

+1

 

Thanks again.

[ENewton]

This is not an ink I would use for writing, but I've been using my sample for brush calligraphy practice. It's so much quicker to clean up than sumi.

 

I was also hopeful for some purple but don't see it on the page.

 

Thanks for the reminder to reread Araby.

Edited July 2, 2018 by ENewton

[rudyhou]

oh, i'm liking this grey shade a lot

[amberleadavis]

Thank you. I especially love the drawings. You are quite an artist.

[Misfit]

Thank you. I especially love the drawings. You are quite an artist.

+1