Sailor Kiraguro Nano Carbon Black Ink

[Neill78]

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.

 

VERY strange, unless the ink has been diluted, mislabeled or is just faulty. The ink is full of carbon particles, so it's just impossible that it doesn't look black unless there is something completely wrong with it. Maybe you should see if the seller would send you another cartridge or two to see if you got a bad batch?

 

Neill

[ksskss]

I'm really enjoying this ink. I had just composed a large table on chart paper using this ink and unfortunately I dropped a big drop of undiluted Waterman blueblack ink on the table! EEK! So I took some napkins with water and dabbed the paper and removed the Waterman ink, leaving the 'Nano' ink intact and just let it dry in the sun for a bit. Saved a few hours of work. Looks as good as new.

 

I'll bump this question back up. Has anyone tried mixing this ink with other colors? Any suggestions what might be a good mix? I'm contemplating some Diamine Presidential blue and a bit of Sailor Kiraguro. I'm hoping the particles will be relatively inert. I'm open to other suggestions too, especially Noodler's blends.

 

---

Ken

[ksskss]

I'm really enjoying this ink. I had just composed a large table on chart paper using this ink and unfortunately I dropped a big drop of undiluted Waterman blueblack ink on the table! EEK! So I took some napkins with water and dabbed the paper and removed the Waterman ink, leaving the 'Nano' ink intact and just let it dry in the sun for a bit. Saved a few hours of work. Looks as good as new.

 

I'll bump this question back up. Has anyone tried mixing this ink with other colors? Any suggestions what might be a good mix? I'm contemplating some Diamine Presidential blue and a bit of Sailor Kiraguro. I'm hoping the particles will be relatively inert. I'm open to other suggestions too, especially Noodler's blends.

 

---

Ken

 

 

I just received a bottle of Diamine Kelly Green today. Lovely color. I also mixed 5 drops of it with two drops of the Sailor Black 'Nano' permanent ink and wrote with the mix on clairfontaine. It mixes to a lovely olive color. I like both. I did try the water testing and the Black Nano stays while the Kelly Green goes, so that, should it get wet at least the information content will remain. I feel like I just got two inks to make me very happy.

 

I'll have to reshoot the pics as they were all so blurry, but this pic does at least give some idea of the color mix.

 

http://www.kenss.com/pens/kellynanobefore.jpg

 

 

After being run through water and dried a bit.

 

 

http://www.kenss.com/pens/kellynanoafter.jpg

 

 

---

Ken

[katfisch]

Just curious where people are buying this from?

 

thanks!

m

 

Got mine from PenGallery in Malaysia -- $27 -- but shipping was "free" since I was buying a pen from them anyway. Great service, great packaging -- shipping to USA is faster than many domestic sources.

 

[sharpclaw]

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

I am really surprised, since I had cartridges of Sailor Kiwaguro ink and found it to be a very deep matte black. I loved this ink in my brush pens, but found it too thick for comfortable use in fountain pens.

[Dave Johannsen]

Thanks a lot for the review. I would really love to try this ink, but after scouring the web it seems like I can't get my hands on a bottle for less than about $30 (by the time you add shipping). Now, I don't sweat the price difference between, say, Waterman's and Noodler's, but I don't think that I can bring myself to pay $30 for a single bottle. I guess that I have to hope that someone in the US will eventually stock this ink. Anyway, a great review of an interesting looking ink (it's a shame that it will be out of reach for the foreseeable future ).

 

 

Dave

[PaulT00]

Thanks a lot for the review. I would really love to try this ink, but after scouring the web it seems like I can't get my hands on a bottle for less than about $30 (by the time you add shipping). Now, I don't sweat the price difference between, say, Waterman's and Noodler's, but I don't think that I can bring myself to pay $30 for a single bottle. I guess that I have to hope that someone in the US will eventually stock this ink. Anyway, a great review of an interesting looking ink (it's a shame that it will be out of reach for the foreseeable future ).

 

 

Dave

 

Have you tried what I did - emailing a local supplier who already stocks the standard Sailor 'Jentle' inks and asking them if they could get hold of Kiwaguro? I emailed thewritingdesk.co.uk (twdpens on this board I think) and they just added some to their Sailor stock order - no problems getting hold of it at all, it arrived with the rest of the stock a week later. They are now stocking it at £12.45 per bottle on their website, which works out at about $20 at the current XR - it's still more than twice the price of the standard Sailor inks, but cheaper than ordering online direct from Japan and paying shipping costs for a single bottle.

 

Give it a try - you might be surprised!

 

 

[Neill78]

Have you tried what I did - emailing a local supplier who already stocks the standard Sailor 'Jentle' inks and asking them if they could get hold of Kiwaguro? I emailed thewritingdesk.co.uk (twdpens on this board I think) and they just added some to their Sailor stock order - no problems getting hold of it at all, it arrived with the rest of the stock a week later. They are now stocking it at £12.45 per bottle on their website, which works out at about $20 at the current XR - it's still more than twice the price of the standard Sailor inks, but cheaper than ordering online direct from Japan and paying shipping costs for a single bottle.

 

Give it a try - you might be surprised!

 

It's basically twice the price of regular Jentle inks even in Japan, so although $20 is still expensive, it's not obscene...

 

Neill

[Dave Johannsen]

Have you tried what I did - emailing a local supplier who already stocks the standard Sailor 'Jentle' inks and asking them if they could get hold of Kiwaguro?

 

I did think about emailing Sam at Pendemonium - she's always been extremely helpful in the past. Perhpas she could bring some to the DC Show next year (I've gotten so that I purchase all my inks at penshows, as shipping on even a single bottle hits something like $7 at today's postal rates).

 

I emailed thewritingdesk.co.uk (twdpens on this board I think) and they just added some to their Sailor stock order - no problems getting hold of it at all, it arrived with the rest of the stock a week later. They are now stocking it at £12.45 per bottle on their website, which works out at about $20 at the current XR - it's still more than twice the price of the standard Sailor inks, but cheaper than ordering online direct from Japan and paying shipping costs for a single bottle.

 

I did look at the prices at thewritingdesk.co.uk, and even with the international shipping they were the low price winner (coming in around $28 with shipping). Toss on a fee from the credit card for conversion, and that's where I got the $30 figure. I think even if someone in the US were to carry this ink, unless I could pick it up in person, I would still be bumping against the $30 a bottle pricetag. So, I think that you have a good idea. Sam brings lots of inks to the DC Show every year (I don't know how she drags all that inventory half way across the country). If I were to slip in a bottle of this with a couple of other inks, I wouldn't even notice the price. :roflmho:

 

 

Dave

 

[thibaulthalpern]

See this thread https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=82009 for what Michael Masuyama, former nibmeister at Sailor, has to say about this ink. He gave me permission to post his email on the forum.

[Rob G]

 

Platinum also has carbon ink. I've never tried it, but it's out there, for anyone interested.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Platinum-BLACK-Carbon-...A1%7C240%3A1318

 

[Neill78]

Platinum also has carbon ink. I've never tried it, but it's out there, for anyone interested.

 

I've been looking at threads about it here as well as looking at comments on the web for the Platinum ink. The general consensus is that it's a fine ink but higher maintenance than others and really requires regular flushing to prevent clogging.

 

Although Sailor suggests the same (most regular ink companies do too, really), I haven't heard of anybody getting a clogged pen from Kiwaguro. I personally have had it in my Lamy 2000 since May, and though I have gone through at least 3 or 4 refills I haven't actually flushed it out, and I haven't had any problems.

 

Neill

[tankahn]

For anyone in Singapore, if you are curious about this ink you can find the last bottle at Kinokuniya, Ngee Ann City. Its S$25.20 or equivalent of US16.60. The packaging is all in Japanese, buying it was a leap of faith, but the description matches what forum members described. My experience with Platinum carbon ink was very satisfactory. Can't wait to try this one.

 

[Lehnsherr]

For anyone in Singapore, if you are curious about this ink you can find the last bottle at Kinokuniya, Ngee Ann City. Its S$25.20 or equivalent of US16.60. The packaging is all in Japanese, buying it was a leap of faith, but the description matches what forum members described. My experience with Platinum carbon ink was very satisfactory. Can't wait to try this one.

 

since its almost the same price as noodler's in singapore, I guess its alright to try it out. I saw 2 bottles at NBC bookstore in bugis as well

 

[misterh]

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...

 

Thanks for the information. I really want to get hold of a bottle of this. It is now listed on The Writing Desk's site, although it is temporarily out of stock.

[PaulT00]

I have my Kiwaguro in a PFM with a fine nib, and it's definitely my current favourite ink. Notwithstanding the fact that it's a carbon pigment ink, it seems to flow exceptionally well. It does dry quickly - you have to keep the pen capped, if you leave the cap off for even a minute the next start will be hard - but the line is extremely smooth, possibly due to the lubricating effects of the carbon. As long as you keep the pen capped it starts first time every time.

 

Highly recommended!

 

[Shinchan]

For anyone in Singapore, if you are curious about this ink you can find the last bottle at Kinokuniya, Ngee Ann City. Its S$25.20 or equivalent of US16.60. The packaging is all in Japanese, buying it was a leap of faith, but the description matches what forum members described. My experience with Platinum carbon ink was very satisfactory. Can't wait to try this one.

 

since its almost the same price as noodler's in singapore, I guess its alright to try it out. I saw 2 bottles at NBC bookstore in bugis as well

 

Thanks for the directions....Picked up one bottle out of the 2 available from NBC bookstore in Bugis today...Hoarding it up since it costs so much more to buy online and ship to SG....

[GladWriter]

This is a wonderful review.

 

Thank you so very much. I love the Chromatography.

[nofa]

Does anyone know the pH of this ink?

 

Also, has anyone performed the "bulletproof" tests on it?

[publius]

Does anyone know the pH of this ink?

 

Also, has anyone performed the "bulletproof" tests on it?

A. Haven't tested it, but almost certainly neutral, since it's a suspension rather than a solution.

 

B. Not formally, but I have not discovered any method of lifting more than a trace of pigment from most papers which doesn't also tear up the paper. A priori, one can say that there is no way of making carbon particles vanish or change colour which would not affect the paper first, e.g., setting it on fire.