EFNIR: Sailor Kiwaguro

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Sailor Kiwaguro

This is review #201 in my series.  Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Cleaning wasn't bad for a permanent ink, but I did have to get out the Q-Tips and pipe cleaner to wipe away the grey
film left behind. This is a brown-leaning black, but the brown is only visible in larger swatches, not in writing. The images are all accurate to my eyes: black.

The line width measurement is one of the lines used for dry time.  Magnification is 100x.  The grid is 100x100µm.  The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each.  The line width for this ink is roughly 306µm. (For the curious, with 201 inks measured, the average line width is 294µm.)

The first smear is likely just a fluke of the light, but I thought the rainbow was neat, so I included it - it's pretty close to what I saw.  The second smear shows the brownish undertone to this black - not quite the right shade, but not too far off, either.  Both let you try to find a path through the maze.

And here is a screen of the final result, for those not interested in the video:

Scan of Completed Review:

Zoomed in photo:

Absorbent Paper Closeup (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper):

Line width measured via microscope at 100x:

Microscope slide at 100x:

Microscope at 100x, different area:

Water test results:

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

Previous Review: De Atramentis Document Dark Blue.

Want to influence the inky sequence?  Take the "next ink" poll.

View a list of my inks, complete with review results in this google sheet.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh?  Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy.  Comments appreciated!

[InesF]

Thank you, @LizEFfor the review of this ink, for trying hard to safe Makhabesh and for writing thoughts of the characters in cursive. Great!

 

The ink is almost black, therefore almost all said.

Black ink with some coloured undertone may be interesting. While I love black-blue, black-green and, to a certain extent, black-red, the black-brown does not appeal to me.

 

If it helps, there is another 💥 (fireball) donation, to be aimed towards the monstrosities.

[yazeh]

Great job @LizEF Really neat microscopic imagery. 

Quin to the rescue, rated R for bloody violence  😛

Here's is a Kiwaguru with fude nib 

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks for the review!  I like black inks, but pigmented scares me off.  
 

Will Makhabesh be saved?  Tune in next week.

 

And: This is your brain.

 

This is your brain on Kiwaguro!

Vastly enjoyable.

[LizEF]

5 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you, @LizEFfor the review of this ink, for trying hard to safe Makhabesh and for writing thoughts of the characters in cursive. Great!

You're most welcome!

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

The ink is almost black, therefore almost all said.

Black ink with some coloured undertone may be interesting. While I love black-blue, black-green and, to a certain extent, black-red, the black-brown does not appeal to me.

You'd never know the brown was there from this nib, but it would be obvious from a broad, dry nib, I think.  Either way, it holds no interest for me at all.  I believe this is one of the samples I got when looking for the perfect black ink for my aunt - this one didn't make the selection.

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

If it helps, there is another 💥 (fireball) donation, to be aimed towards the monstrosities.

Every bit helps, I'm sure!

[LizEF]

5 hours ago, yazeh said:

Great job @LizEF Really neat microscopic imagery. 

Thank you!  Yes, fun stuff these images.  Very glad I didn't give up on the microscope.

 

5 hours ago, yazeh said:

Quin to the rescue, rated R for bloody violence  😛

Yes, our battle is getting quite graphic, isn't it?  Well, it's soon to end.......

 

5 hours ago, yazeh said:

Here's is a Kiwaguru with fude nib 

 

Fabulous!!  Absolutely fabulous!  Thank you, @yazeh!   I love it. 🥰

[LizEF]

4 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Thanks for the review!  I like black inks, but pigmented scares me off.  

You're most welcome!  The pigment cloud is fun, though, right?

 

4 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Will Makhabesh be saved?  Tune in next week.

 

4 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

And: This is your brain.

 

This is your brain on Kiwaguro!

It does look sort of brain-like, doesn't it?

 

4 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Vastly enjoyable.

  Thank you!

[Sailor Kenshin]

' Brain and brain!  What is brain?'
 

Ten points for ID-ing the quote.  😜

[LizEF]

44 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

' Brain and brain!  What is brain?'
 

Ten points for ID-ing the quote.  😜

I lose - I live under a rock...   Surely someone is more aware of the outside world (would be impossible for that not to be true).

[Inkvisible]

Star Trek, original series, season three, “Spock’s Brain.”

[LizEF]

10 minutes ago, Inkvisible said:

Star Trek, original series, season three, “Spock’s Brain.”

👏  And this is something I might have remembered, were it not for TNG, which pretty much ruined all other versions of Star Trek for me.

[Sailor Kenshin]

17 hours ago, Inkvisible said:

Star Trek, original series, season three, “Spock’s Brain.”

We have a winna!  I have come to like this episode—-as a comedy.

[knarflj]

I was a little behind on reading these reviews because we were out of town.  I confess that first I raced through the story bits of both reviews I'd missed to find out what happened to Makhabesh.  Not till after I'd caught up on the story did I even look to see what ink was being reviewed.  Black is not my colour, so this one's definitely not for me, but I am very glad to see Quinn and Essri hastening to help Makhabesh!  Thanks, as always, Liz!

[LizEF]

49 minutes ago, knarflj said:

I was a little behind on reading these reviews because we were out of town.  I confess that first I raced through the story bits of both reviews I'd missed to find out what happened to Makhabesh.  Not till after I'd caught up on the story did I even look to see what ink was being reviewed.

 🥰

 

49 minutes ago, knarflj said:

Black is not my colour, so this one's definitely not for me, but I am very glad to see Quinn and Essri hastening to help Makhabesh!  Thanks, as always, Liz!

 You're most welcome!

[arcfide]

I'm surprised by the lack of lubrication you experienced, as I think this ink is supposed to have a reputation for being pretty "slick" on the nib. 

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, arcfide said:

I'm surprised by the lack of lubrication you experienced, as I think this ink is supposed to have a reputation for being pretty "slick" on the nib. 

 

Hmmm, I just checked, and @LizEF's sample of this ink did not come from my bottle, which is pretty old and I've been finding it less well-behaved (and more apt to produce clustering of pigment particles) than I remembered it.

[PithyProlix]

Great review - thanks!

 

But what can I say? It's a black ink. Black is not the 'new black' (well, at least not in my house).

[LizEF]

6 hours ago, arcfide said:

I'm surprised by the lack of lubrication you experienced, as I think this ink is supposed to have a reputation for being pretty "slick" on the nib. 

No idea what to say, except, did they test it in a Japanese EF?

 

5 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Hmmm, I just checked, and @LizEF's sample of this ink did not come from my bottle, which is pretty old and I've been finding it less well-behaved (and more apt to produce clustering of pigment particles) than I remembered it.

My sample came from Goulet Pens in February of this year - part of a bunch of black inks I got while hunting for one that would be suitable for my aunt.

[LizEF]

4 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

Great review - thanks!

Thank you!  And you're very welcome.

 

4 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

But what can I say? It's a black ink. Black is not the 'new black' (well, at least not in my house).

  We agree, then.  ::colorful fist bump::

[Sailor Kenshin]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

No idea what to say, except, did they test it in a Japanese EF?

 

My sample came from Goulet Pens in February of this year - part of a bunch of black inks I got while hunting for one that would be suitable for my aunt.

Did you settle on one?