Sailor Kiraguro Nano Carbon Black Ink

[dcwaites]

Sailor Kiraguro Nano Carbon Black Ink

I noticed in southpaws post of earlier today that he was looking for a review on Sailor's Nano Black ink. So I did one, and found that there was already one. However, having done the work, I decided to post it anyway.

This ink is Sailor's entry into the Ultra Black ink market. It is said to be a fountain pen friendly suspension of ultra (nano?) fine particles of carbon. It is available in two packages, a bottle of 50 mls and a packet ot 12 Sailor cartridges.

So, what can you say abou this ink? It's black. It's a solid, light-absorbing matt black. Not blue-black, not grey-black. Not greeny-black. Black black.

This ink works perfectly in fountain pens. Even though it is a pigmented ink, it doesn't clog up, presumably because of the ultra-find nature of the particles. However, it should be treated like any highly-saturated dye ink. Any pen with this ink should be used at least a couple of time s week. I use it in a P51 Special with an EF nib. It can be a hard starter if I don't use it for several days, or if I leave it uncapped for more than a few minutes. Other than that, it is a delightfully easy ink to use.

The ink dries quickly, and works on an extremely wide range of papers, from hard, smooth through to coarse, fibrous.

Because the ink is a pigmented one, the particles of (black) colour don't migrate through the paper. That means that it doesn't feather on even the most troublesome papers. And it doesn't bleed. Because of this, I have been able to use a couple of notebooks that are otherwise unuseable with fountain pens -- a Kikki-K notebook and a Kyokuto F64 Expedient notebook. Both bleed badly with normal dye inks, and show absolutely no bleeding or feathering with the Nano ink.

Once dried, the ink is absolutely waterproof, even more so than Pelikan's Fount India ink. I am not going to claim it is a bulletproof ink, but for normal purposes, it is waterproof. As well, because the colourant is fade-proof carbon particles, it should be archival as well.

This is a good 4 1/2 star black ink. The half star is because it is a high-maintenance ink.

Now for the pretty pictures --

http://lh5.ggpht.com/dcwaites/SO6xYWA9hUI/AAAAAAAAADo/OY9FQWwGo0U/s720/F64%20Paper%20Front.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/dcwaites/SO6xXGjWvVI/AAAAAAAAADk/VnAFTgCjnA8/s720/F64%20Paper%20Back.jpg

This the front and back of four samples on the F64 Expedient notebook. The Penman Sapphire and Platinum Preppy ink both bled through noticeably, but the P51 with the EF nib didn't show through at all. Even my firehose 1911 Classic with Zoom nib shows through less than the 1911M with Penman Sapphire.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/dcwaites/SO6xZAXkHrI/AAAAAAAAADs/TI-1Gd5sIe4/High%20Res.jpg

This is a close up comparing the Sailor Nano ink with the Penman Sapphire. You can see what a solid black ink the Nano is.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3122/2821046096_15a2c19a2c.jpg

This is from a post I did on another thread to show the relative water resistance of the Sailor Nano ink, compare to some other inks. The water was only on the bottom half of the paper.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/dcwaites/SO6xZwXV8PI/AAAAAAAAADw/Hi0wu0vAhCI/s640/Blacks%20Chromatography.jpg

Finally, we have some kitchen-bench chromatography of the Sailor Nano ink against a couple of other inks, Parker Penman Black and Private Reserve Velvet Black.
You can see that the Nano ink only has black while the other two are obviously mixtures of dyes.

[southpaw]

Hello dcw,

 

Thanks for the excellent and comprehensive review. I did miss the earlier review (no offense at all intended to the reviewer) - didn't catch the new category for Sailor inks below the main one. Anyway, I am of the opinion that the more reviews of any ink, the better off we all are as it increases the database - more opinions and experiences.

 

Thanks again,

Michael

[jmw19]

A fast drying, dark black, waterproof, and non-feathering ink? This has just migrated to the top of my "to-buy" list. Many thanks for the review.

Edited October 11, 2008 by jmw19

[mathmarc]

Just curious where people are buying this from?

 

thanks!

m

[Titivillus]

I'd be interested in some long term testing by someone! \

 

Kurt

[Memos Random]

Me too!

[Neill78]

I'd be interested in some long term testing by someone! \

 

Kurt

 

How long term and in what way? Longevity on paper? Pen maintenance?

 

I've had Kiwaguro in my Lamy 2000 non-stop since May and I haven't cleaned it once. Absolutely no problems. I haven't done any long term paper tests, but as it's supposedly basically the same as Japanese calligraphy ink (with smaller particles) it'd be safe to assume that the writing should survive for centuries. I think our poor quality western paper will disintegrate long before the ink starts to fade.

 

Neill

[feiye]

Thanks for the review!

 

I'm curious as to where you purchased your ink, I'm looking to get a bottle sometime soon.

[Titivillus]

I'd be interested in some long term testing by someone! \

 

Kurt

 

How long term and in what way? Longevity on paper? Pen maintenance?

 

I've had Kiwaguro in my Lamy 2000 non-stop since May and I haven't cleaned it once. Absolutely no problems. I haven't done any long term paper tests, but as it's supposedly basically the same as Japanese calligraphy ink (with smaller particles) it'd be safe to assume that the writing should survive for centuries. I think our poor quality western paper will disintegrate long before the ink starts to fade.

 

Neill

 

That sounds like what I was talking about!

 

[dcwaites]

I got a packet of 12 cartridges from eBay vendor engeika.

Search on eBay for item # 120308718770

 

Ujuku has it available in bottle form at his eBay shop, item # 120308428884

 

 

 

[ksskss]

I've been using this ink in a 18k Platinum UEF lately. VERY pleased with it. Lots of detail and precision. No bleeding /feathering. I've been using it on some 5 mm square grid paper (A3 format, 297 x 420) Kyokuto as well as French ruled Clairfontaine, using each line as a line of text. VERY nice. Quick drying. No skipping. No hard starts.

 

Has anyone tried blending this ink? I'd be tempted to put a few drops into something purple green brown or especially blue and I'm thinking maybe Sailor, Waterman or Diamine inks as I'm particularly concerned that I not get clogging on my fine nibs, but could stand a bit of color PLUS waterproofness. Any suggestions

or better yet experience blending this ink would be appreciated.

 

This could well become my favorite ink.

 

---

Ken

Edited October 18, 2008 by ksskss

[Rob G]

I bought a 12-pack of cartridges to try, and, using a syringe, transferred half of them to one of Pear Tree's small sample bottles. Then I filled a Reform 1745 and a Pilot 78G (F) with it.

 

The verdict? Disappointing. Not nearly as black as I had expected, especially with the 78. More like a dark gray, at best.

 

For comparison, I pulled out a Parker Sonnet with a x-fine italic point and popped in a black Quink cartridge. The Quink is darker.

 

[Neill78]

I bought a 12-pack of cartridges to try, and, using a syringe, transferred half of them to one of Pear Tree's small sample bottles. Then I filled a Reform 1745 and a Pilot 78G (F) with it.

 

The verdict? Disappointing. Not nearly as black as I had expected, especially with the 78. More like a dark gray, at best.

 

For comparison, I pulled out a Parker Sonnet with a x-fine italic point and popped in a black Quink cartridge. The Quink is darker.

 

This ink is a very matte black, like Chinese/Japanese writing ink, and like those inks it is absorbed by the paper whereas other inks sit on top. Depending on the paper and the light source/light angle you may be seeing reflection from the paper, making it appear grey.

 

Neill

 

[PaulT00]

Readers in the UK might be interested to know that I emailed The Writing Desk (www.thewritingdesk.co.uk) a week or so ago and, as a result, they ordered some Kiwa-guro ink in from Sailor. They emailed me this afternoon to say it's arrived - it's not up on their website yet but I would assume it will be available online sometime in the next few days. No idea how much they have in stock though. I have ordered a bottle from them today, at a cost of £12.45 plus £2 postage and packing, which will hopefully be with me in a couple of days. Beats ordering from Japan off eBay, anyway...

[Rob G]

This ink is a very matte black, like Chinese/Japanese writing ink, and like those inks it is absorbed by the paper whereas other inks sit on top. Depending on the paper and the light source/light angle you may be seeing reflection from the paper, making it appear grey.

 

Neill

 

Well, I tried it on five different grades of paper, from Clairefontaine to a cheap school-type composition notebook, and under both electric light and daylight. Same results, every time.

 

[Neill78]

Well, I tried it on five different grades of paper, from Clairefontaine to a cheap school-type composition notebook, and under both electric light and daylight. Same results, every time.

 

That's strange. Sounds like you got a bad batch or something. Too bad it didn't work out for you.

 

Neill

[thibaulthalpern]

This ink is a very matte black, like Chinese/Japanese writing ink, and like those inks it is absorbed by the paper whereas other inks sit on top. Depending on the paper and the light source/light angle you may be seeing reflection from the paper, making it appear grey.

 

Neill

 

Well, I tried it on five different grades of paper, from Clairefontaine to a cheap school-type composition notebook, and under both electric light and daylight. Same results, every time.

 

Are you sure you're not using the Sailor Genteel black instead of the Kiraguro carbon black ink?

[Rob G]

That's strange. Sounds like you got a bad batch or something. Too bad it didn't work out for you.

 

Neill

Yes, I feel the same way. I had high hopes.

 

 

Are you sure you're not using the Sailor Genteel black instead of the Kiraguro carbon black ink?

I was wondering the very same thing.

 

The vendor (engeika_finest_japanese_pen) has a good reputation, and describes it as "Sailor’s Special Nano-Ink Pigment cartridge Special Deep real Black" and "The Black color of this ink is also deep and shiny". (It is neither.) Since I do not read Japanese, I cannot absolutely confirm whether or not it is the correct ink. (The only words that I can read are "Sailor", "Black", and "Made in Japan".)

 

Mistakes can happen, I suppose. The good thing is that I'm only out eight bucks. No harm, no foul.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=120308718770

 

 

[Neill78]

The vendor (engeika_finest_japanese_pen) has a good reputation, and describes it as "Sailor’s Special Nano-Ink Pigment cartridge Special Deep real Black" and "The Black color of this ink is also deep and shiny". (It is neither.) Since I do not read Japanese, I cannot absolutely confirm whether or not it is the correct ink. (The only words that I can read are "Sailor", "Black", and "Made in Japan".)

 

Mistakes can happen, I suppose. The good thing is that I'm only out eight bucks. No harm, no foul.

 

If the two BIG Chinese characters on the bottle of ink below are also stamped on the sides of your cartridges, then it should be the same ink. They will be the same characters in exactly the same order. If only one of them appears on the cartridges, you probably have the wrong ink. The character on the left is KIWA "extreme" and the second is KURO "black." Put together they read KIWA GURO (the name is misspelled "Kiraguro elsewhere in this thread).

 

http://img.shop-pro.jp/PA01000/164/product/1813964.JPG

 

Neill

[Rob G]

If the two BIG Chinese characters on the bottle of ink below are also stamped on the sides of your cartridges, then it should be the same ink.

 

Neill

Yep, they're the same.