The Perfect Black Ink

[Arkanabar]

It's still Lent, so I'm still using only black ink (at least, for myself -- anything I write for my wife is in Ku-Jaku [an ink she gave me] in an Aqua F Pelikan M205 [a pen she gave me]).

 

One of the inks I'm using is Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin, in a Charlie, diluted 1:1 with distilled water. If I need the convenience of a slip cap, I am currently using a Jinhao 911 flighter filled with MontBlanc Mystery Black, another ink I find not too much to my taste. It's a rather flaky combination; I find a Hero 616 does much better with this ink. When the 911 and my last Hero 616 are gone, I'm going to get another 10-pack of Hero 616s from jewelrymathematics, if he's still on ebay.

[gmathio]

I'm using Edelstein Onyx, which is a very good black for my liking. Lively black, smooth in writing, but takes some time to dry on paper.

[TSherbs]

I'm using Edelstein Onyx, which is a very good black for my liking. Lively black, smooth in writing, but takes some time to dry on paper.

How do you find the Onyx different in use from the Pelikan Brilliant Black? Just curious. I like blacks.

[WaskiSquirrel]

How do you find the Onyx different in use from the Pelikan Brilliant Black? Just curious. I like blacks.

 

I've used both. I mostly use the Brilliant Black. The Onyx has more shading and isn't quite as black, but it does seem to dry more quickly. I've heard the Onyx is more lubricated, but I'm not good at judging this. It handles all kinds of paper as well as the Brilliant Black. The differences are subtle and not really enough (in my mind) to justify the price.

[WaskiSquirrel]

I'll add that JetPens has a huge write-up on black inks.

https://www.jetpens.com/blog/the-best-black-fountain-pen-inks/pt/20

[bluebellrose]

Platinum Regular Black

 

Enough Said. It works on TP!

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/249462-platinum-standard-black/

Edited April 10, 2020 by bluebellrose

[TSherbs]

 

I've used both. I mostly use the Brilliant Black. The Onyx has more shading and isn't quite as black, but it does seem to dry more quickly. I've heard the Onyx is more lubricated, but I'm not good at judging this. It handles all kinds of paper as well as the Brilliant Black. The differences are subtle and not really enough (in my mind) to justify the price.

 

Thanks, Waski. Exactly what I was wondering....

[TSherbs]

I'll add that JetPens has a huge write-up on black inks.

 

https://www.jetpens.com/blog/the-best-black-fountain-pen-inks/pt/20

 

And this is a GREAT tool

[gmathio]

How do you find the Onyx different in use from the Pelikan Brilliant Black? Just curious. I like blacks.

 

To tell you the truth, I haven't tried the Brilliant Black. I'm not a huge black ink fan, I prefer blues. I use the black with my old style M600 black pen, so I'm quite happy with just one black ink.

[TSherbs]

 

To tell you the truth, I haven't tried the Brilliant Black. I'm not a huge black ink fan, I prefer blues. I use the black with my old style M600 black pen, so I'm quite happy with just one black ink.

I get it. Thanks.

[MuddyWaters]

I finished my fill of Kiwa-guro and started to enjoy it by the end. The was so smooth and thick that it made the writing angle more forgiving: there was enough ink to coat the nib tip around the angles of the somewhat squared off medium lamy 2000 nib. The only drawback was some cosmetic nib creep.

 

I have just put in a fill of Noodler's Black from a sample I purchased. There are severe performance issues such as lack of flow which make me doubt whether this batch was a good one. I think that I will simply empty this fill back and try the next ink: HOD or platinum carbon black.

 

Edit: seems to be flowing better on second try. Maybe there was an air bubble or something. I will stick with it and see how it goes. For now, since the Lamy 2000 is a fairly wet pen, there is not too much shading as the ink is quite saturated. There is a bit more of that watery brilliance that I like from fountain pen inks. The BB lubricates the nibtip less, making it somewhat easier to control, though it also makes the nibtip more susceptible to skipping due to less coating of the tip.

I will update as my black trials progress. I am not done the fill of Noodler's BB. I prefer the look of this ink once it is dried on the page. It is more black than I thought it was. For my Lamy 2000, it is plenty black, and dries to a more brilliant shine than the Sailor Kiwa-Guro's matte finish. The Noodler's BB is much less lubricated though, so gives more feedback. I would probably want a tad more lubrication. Nice that it does not nib creep like the KG though.

 

Next to try from samples I have: Pilot Black and Noodler's HOD. After that, I will want to try take sumi.

 

Would one expect hod to lubricate more than noodler's black?

Edited April 13, 2020 by MuddyWaters

[stoof2010]

 

While my experience of Noodlers bears this out, this should really not be necessary for a normal (ie., non-shimmer) ink.

 

One of the reasons why I don't buy that brand.

With bulletproof inks it is necessary. Any ink from any brand really that has any special properties in any way should be shake. But especially Noodlers. Regular non bulletproof, non archival, normal inks are fine and done need to.

[MuddyWaters]

With bulletproof inks it is necessary. Any ink from any brand really that has any special properties in any way should be shake. But especially Noodlers. Regular non bulletproof, non archival, normal inks are fine and done need to.

But I thought noodler's black had no particles to shake. Correct me if I'm wrong..

[TSherbs]

But I thought noodler's black had no particles to shake. Correct me if I'm wrong..

I see particles in every variety of Noodler's black that I have owned. Maybe it's just grit. I dunno.

[MuddyWaters]

I see particles in every variety of Noodler's black that I have owned. Maybe it's just grit. I dunno.

I remember reading some threads questioning whether noodler's permanence came from this cellulose reaction they speak of or untold micro particles. Anyway, I'm fine with it either. It seems like a decent ink but I am after more lubrication.

[MuddyWaters]

I proceeded to trying Pilot Black. To recap:

 

Kiwa-Guro: very lubricating, a lot of nib creep leaves carbon deposits on the nib, matte finish of the writing, line width is moderate.

Noodler's Black: not much lubrication, no to minor nib creep, brilliant and satured finish on the page (my favourite), line width moderate to narrow

Pilot Black: lubricates well, no nib creep, low saturation finish with some shading but no brilliance at all, the line width is much wider than above two inks

 

Pilot Black is nicer to write with than Noodler's due to increased lubrication for the Lamy 2000 squared-off nib, but the writing doesn't have the same appealing appearance as Noodler's Black once it has dried on the page. Also kind of like writing with one order wider nib width. My guess is that Pilot Black like other cheap inks is probably not that saturated (not necessarily a bad thing) and that Take Sumi might remediate to that.

 

Some might suggest Aurora Black but a minimum of fade-proofness and waterproofness would be desirable for me.

 

Other than Take Sumi, I will want to try Noodler's Black Eel too (apparently it is bulletproof too but lubricated compared to Noodler's BB). Anyone try this one?

 

Edit: after reading reviews, it is probably better to just try HOD next in the noodler's line. Sounds like black eel has serious nib creep issues. Wouldn't surprise me at the quantity of inks released by Mr. Tardiff that some might not be tweaked as well as others.

Edited April 20, 2020 by MuddyWaters

[MuddyWaters]

I'll add that JetPens has a huge write-up on black inks.

 

https://www.jetpens.com/blog/the-best-black-fountain-pen-inks/pt/20

Thanks for the reminder waski. I just noticed when you posted this that there is an expandable picture of waterproofness for each ink in the test.

[stoof2010]

But I thought noodler's black had no particles to shake. Correct me if I'm wrong..

I don't actually see it really per se, but if you use it for many folks and don't clean you start to get particles in the feed and on nib, so I took that as stuff in it.

Just to be safe I always shake bottles

[MuddyWaters]

Seems like I can't edit past posts long after they were written. I will update my running list of comparisons here:

 

Kiwa-Guro: very lubricating, a lot of nib creep leaves carbon deposits on the nib, matte finish of the writing, line width is moderate.

 

Noodler's Black: not much lubrication, no to minor nib creep, brilliant and satured finish on the page (my favourite), line width moderate to narrow

 

Pilot Black: lubricates well, no nib creep, low saturation finish with some shading but no brilliance at all, the line width is much wider than above two inks

 

Noodler's HOD: very lubricating (KG>HOD>Pilot B>>>Noodler's BB), I have not noticed nib creep, it is very dark with no shading (comparable to Noodler's BB), writing keeps some brilliance like Noodler's BB, line width is large (HOD > Pilot Black >> KG > Noodler's BB)

 

 

Overall, I would want to get a second sample of HOD to dilute it some, to reduce its lubrication and line width a tad. On the other hand, I think the lack of shading would not be remediated by reasonable dilution, which is a hit against this ink I guess.

Edited April 24, 2020 by MuddyWaters

[Noihvo]