The Perfect Black Ink

[Mongoosey]

I'm hesitant to put a carbon ink in my soon-to-come cross pen, so I was thinking what other inks are available and have some waterproofness while being available in large quantities:

 

-pelikan brilliant black 1L -somewhat waterproof, easy to clean, but not lubricated so I would have to test with the nib when pen gets here

 

-pilot black, 350ml -somewhat waterproof also, but the black is meh and gray. I often find these pilot inks too lubricated

 

-heart of darkness, 135ml -definitely waterproof but very lubricated and not sure of its safety

 

-noodlers black, 80ml -to my eyes this was a nice shade of black with brilliance. The lack of lubrication is like pelikan black. This may be one of the candidates

 

-jh Herbin perle noire, 500ml, anniversary edition bottle - I haven't tried this ink in a long time. It didn't leave a huge impression on me at the time but I know it is less lubricated than the pilot black. I seem to remember it being like pelikan black but with maybe a bit more lubrication.

 

When the pen comes I will get samples of noodlers and Herbin again to compare with pelikan black. The advantage of pelikan black is that it is my work ink: cheap, doesn't feather, dries fast and is pretty well saturated as a black.

 

Though I love the ink, the Water Resistance of Pilot Black didn't impress me. I tested it out on Mead Paper and it could handle a quick spill and clean up, but anything that lingered caused spread and feathering that made some of the words illegible.

 

I didn't test Pilot black on good quality paper, though.

 

I understand further your concern about the Carbon inks. After using Platinum Carbon Black in my Vista for some time, being the guinea pig, so to speak, ink that has dried on the inside of the cap will not come off with the typical wet cloth and wipe, even with using soap:

 

 

Once it dries it's a b!#ch to get off. If this dried out in a pen and feed?... It's F@#$ed lol. It would need some serious pen flush treatment.

 

Though Kiwa-Guro is a Carbon ink, it's in a whole other class. I've used that in clear demonstrators and this Vista and never had a problem. Ink that would dry out on the inside of the cap would wipe off like any other ink.

 

Kiwa-Guro's pricey, and it may be worth having a back-up affordable ink to "rest the pen soul", so to speak, but if that nib is tuned like other sailor nibs... Kiwa-Guro with that pen is something I'd like to hear about. You're getting into "I only need one pen inked" territory.

Edited July 21, 2020 by Mongoosey

[MuddyWaters]

That's reassuring, and I might end up trying it if I'm not satisfied with the first inks I will try: waterman blue, pilot blue black, pelikan black, in that order. I just don't like the fact that I would have to take out the sailor nib to clean it properly (don't want to risk damaging it in the process). But if the kiwa guro becomes the one ink for that pen, then I will have less worries about having to clean it.

 

One pen one ink is the ultimate goal

[meetbistrian]

+1 from me on KiwaGuro.

 

It's expensive but a very nice dark black. Maybe not as dark as Boodler's black but still dark as (bleep). Worked really nice to me in japanese EF's and UEF, pretty much any nib I throwed that ink into worked flawlesly.

However, I would not add any permanent ink into any demonstrator or clear pen. Noodler's Black permanently stained the body of an Moomnam M2 for me. but for any convertor filled pen I own KiwaGuro always drawn me when I was thinking about a permanent black.

 

The only thing I dislike about it is that, if I use a highlighter pen on top of it it will smudge a little and will stain the felt cap of the highlighter. But I still like it so much I have 3 bottles of it.

[A Smug Dill]

+1 from me on KiwaGuro.

 

It's expensive but a very nice dark black. Maybe not as dark as Boodler's black but still dark as (bleep).

 

It isn't expensive on account of price, though.

 

Source: Amazon.co.jp

 

That is today's "street price" (as sold by Amazon.co.jp), and at today's exchange rates, equivalent to US$14.90 for a 50ml bottle. Obviously, the individual buyer's circumstances can make it expensive to acquire; but if we have to account for that, then even Hero 234 carbon black ink can be considered expensive. I can order a 56ml bottle of Hero 234 for less than US$2, but after adding in shipping and tax, the total for a standalone order for a single bottle would easily come to more than US$10 if I want it sent to me in Australia in a trackable manner; buying a bottle of Waterman ink locally would cost me less.

 

Speaking of which, Hero 234 is noticeably darker than both Sailor kiwaguro and Platinum Carbon Black.

[MuddyWaters]

Just a word of caution about hero 234: it is cheap but there are many reports of clogging pens on here. I wouldn't put it in a nice pen.

[Mongoosey]

Since other pens I recently tried to acquire didn't work out,

 

I decided to clean out my Lamy Vista-EF, and put Noodler's Black in it so I would only need one pen inked. It works perfectly. It's a Daily Driver I can use for long writing sessions as well as an EDC I can take anywhere I need to go while working on any quality paper.

 

It feels great in my 52 gsm Tomoe River Paper journals, but also in my 8.5"x11" Mead 5-star Notebooks, which I honestly prefer because I like the feedback of the paper. It's not bad like cheap 20 lb copy paper, but just right for me, plus I love writing in a full sized notebook.

 

I tried using Kiwa-Guro with it, but that was actually too smooth, but when I switched to Noodler's Black it gave me just the right amount of control I needed.

 

I am now officially hooked on Lamy Vista/Safari/Al Star EF's with Noodler's Black.

 

After trying some expensive pens with expensive ink with expensive paper I am happily disgruntled at how much I love this very affordable Pen-Ink-Paper combo. I actually disregarded this combo previously because of the lower price and not expecting much.

 

But Lamy makes some great affordable full sized pens, Noodler's Black is solid, and they work great on my inexpensive Mead 5-Star paper.

 

This combo fits my preferences like a glove, worries over, *Mic drop*

Edited August 15, 2020 by Mongoosey

[MuddyWaters]

I'm back in the same cycle I was in last year: trying to find the right black ink for my Lamy 2000. 

 

I found the 4001 somewhat boring. A montegrappa ink (which I suspect is made by diamine or some other maker) gave a good middle ground of smooth with some feedback. Kiwa guro was next: way too smooth, I couldn't control it. 

 

Looking forward to trying pilot black again. Maybe I should get montegrappa black? (If it has some permanence)

[MuddyWaters]

Just tried platinum carbon black. It's more lubricated than I thought it would be. I would put it just a notch under kiwa guro. It's much more lubricated than pelikan black ( and if I remember well noodlers standard black). The biggest problem of this ink for me is that it widens the line width too much. Reminds me of HoD in that regard. 

 

I will have to try pelikan black again. I am also tempted by diamine black though it has poor permanence. I generally find diamine inks to be lubricated and flow just right. 

 

[MuddyWaters]

I have been trying my carbon black sample some more, and I have to say this is a nice marriage with my Lamy 2000 medium nib. I think this is the combination I can settle with. 

 

As I said, it is much more lubricated than I thought it would be, but it is not as lubricated as kiwa guro, which makes me tighten my grip too much because of how slippery it feels. This platinum carbon black makes the writing angle forgiving while allowing me to keep control of the pen. 

 

One of its downsides for me right now (subjectively) is how black it is. But I realize many people including myself at many times do enjoy pure blackness on the page. So I'll stick with it and buy a bottle for myself.

 

(Pelikan black will remain as my ultimate work ink in other pens on cheap paper - doesn't feather and I have a liter of it.)

[inkobsessed]

I tried Parker, Waterman, Visconti, J.Herbin, Pelikan 4001 and Edelstein, Sheaffer, Montblanc  but keep coming back to Lamy black.

Not the blackest but dark enough and therefore very readable on the page. Works niet in all off my pens / nibs. Always starting very well even after a long time of not using your pen. Nice in the middle between wet and dry. Behaves very well, no skipping, no feathering, no spreading even on bad paper. Fairly waterresistant and on top off that: you can buy it everywhere.

[ENewton]

I am suddenly looking for a black ink, to use in my Kuretake #8 brush pen when the original cartridges are empty.  I read somewhere that the ink in the cartridges, albeit branded Kuretake, is Platinum Standard Black, which has the advantage of being a relatively inexpensive ink.  Does anybody on the forum know? 

 

Of course, Kuretake has been making ink for a long time, but they've been making Sumi ink for use with conventional brushes, so it wouldn't be terribly surprising if they acquired their dye-based ink from another source.   

 

The pen takes a Platinum converter, but it doesn't necessarily follow that Platinum makes the ink packaged with the pen.

[efpen]

On 6/7/2020 at 5:13 PM, MuddyWaters said:

I'm thinking of getting an eye-dropperable Opus 88 though, but not sure how that would handle carbon particles.

I own 3 opus 88 pens (clear demo, omar and jazz) and am using them exclusively with Platinum Carbon Black and Platinum Pigment Blue waterproof permanent inks. The pens handle the carbon and pigmented inks very well. Opus 88 pens are designed to be taken apart for re-filling (eye-dropper filling mechanism) and I flush the feed/nib and the barrel every two months to keep them clean and tidy.