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Inky T O D - Black Inks - Which Ones Do You Own And Which Are Your Favorites?


amberleadavis

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So, I confess, I don't usually use black inks, but when I do, I want them to be something special. Now, some of my FPN friends (Colrehogan) have collections of black inks that are impressive and prove that BLACK inks are special.

 

So, what black inks do you own and which are your favorites?

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Iroshizuku Take-sumi

Noodler's Black American Eel

 

I like the Iroshizuku but I'm not precisely sure why, so I'm not convinced the extra cost is worth it for this color. I should do a side by side test with the same pen to determine why the take-sumi looks better to my eye or if the difference is minuscule.

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Diamine Onyx Black - a very deep black (more so than Diamine Jet Black). It's a fairly well behaved dye ink. This is my "go to" black ink if I want to put black ink in an expensive pen.

 

De Atramentis Document Ink Black - a pigment black that I usually keep in a Lamy Accent. It spreads badly on some cheaper papers (like the form I landed up filling in with a gel pen earlier today), but it's used most of the time I want to write in black. It's not quite as dark a black as the Diamine Onyx Black.

 

I've also got a part bottle of approximately 25 year old Parker Quink Permanent Black with Solv-X. This is a hang over from school. I find it awfully grey at the side of the other two black inks, also I'm amongst those who find Quink Black clogs sometimes. The two other black inks cover all my needs, so I'm unlikely to use this ink. I find having the bottle a comforting link to the past.

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I only have Noodlers Heart of Darkness and Aurora black (which I just received).

 

I am not a huge user of black but both are fantastic when compared to some of the no-name black cartridges I have. It is hard to believe that they can even be called the same color. Though the Pilot black cartridges seem to do just fine.

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I've tried Platinum, Pilot and Manuscript blacks. Of those, my favorite is the Pilot, though it tends to bleed and feather on cheaper papers.

 

In the future I plan to try some of Diamine's blacks and maybe Perle Noire or X-Feather.

Edited by tendollarword

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

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One of the first ink bottles I purchased was Noodler's Bulletproof Black. Since then I've sampled quite a few different black inks: Parker Quink, Iroshizuku Take-Sume, Pilot, and I'm sure a few others. That said, for my needs, the Noodler's ink is really the best. It is very black and extremely permanent which makes it useful in a lot of situations. However, the most amazing thing about the ink is that I have not experienced any significant flow or cleaning issues with it. Apart from one or two really cheap pens the ink has always flowed beautifully without hard starts or skips and the cleaning process is only slightly more involved than with non "bulletproof" inks. I really couldn't recommend an ink any more highly than Bulletproof Black. While it might not be the most satisfying color I have in my collection it does what it is supposed to do and it does it consistently.

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I have Noodler's Black and Iroshizuku Take-sumi. Both are good, but I prefer Take-sumi just for the ink's properties, such as smooth flowing and easier to clean.

Pelikan 140 EF | Pelikan 140 OBB | Pelikan M205 0.4mm stub | Pilot Custom Heritage 912 PO | Pilot Metropolitan M | TWSBI 580 EF | Waterman 52 1/2v

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I have Noodlers Heart of Darkness and Polar Black, and Diamine's Jet Black and Onyx,

 

My go to is Heart of Darkness, which looks great paired with C d'Ache Saffron as Halloween inks.

 

:thumbup:

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I like Aurora black but can't afford it. I got a converter full of it once as a courtesy from a friend and liked it. But J. Herbin Perle Noire is much cheaper so I use that. I have LAMY black as well, which is 'meh' and old Faber-Castell black (not the new fancy Carbon Black but their regular green label black ink) and that is surprisingly good about as black as the Perle Noire and better than the LAMY black. Wet and Dark. Very surprised. But my go to black is Perle Noire

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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I have Parker Quink Black (an old bottle, at least 20 years old), Noodler's Bulletproof Black and Herbin Perle Noire.

 

I preferred the Quink to the Herbin as it appeared "blacker" though I suspect that the latter may still be appearing a little washed-out due to me flushing the pen before use. I've been using the Quink in artwork as it is water-soluble and runs nicely when used with watercolour washes, and the Perle Noire is being used in a calligraphy pen. I only started using the Noodler's today but it seems wonderfully black and I'll be using it to address envelopes/whenever I need to make sure the ink doesn't run :)

UK-based pen fan. I love beautiful ink bottles, sealing wax, scented inks, and sending mail art. Also, thanks to a wonderful custom-ground nib by forum member Bardiir, I'm currently attempting calligraphy after years of not being able to do so due to having an odd pen-grip :D

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I also am not much for black inks. I have a bunch of samples for a multi-year project, but this summer it didn't happen (previous contenders were Noodler's Black; PR Invincible Black (which stained the barrel of a Preppy fairly badly); Sailor Kura-gawa Nano Black (which did not do well in a rollerball head at ALL); Aurora Black; and Noodler's Old Manhattan Blackest Black (that one I actually have a full bottle of; it's exclusive to Fountain Pen Hospital in NYC).

I do have a few in bottles though, that get occasional use: Quink Black, which is one of my go-to testing inks for vintage pens; the aforementioned Old Manhattan; and a cheap Chinese brand called Pen & Ink (which is supposed to be a non-shellac formula India ink -- it's not very black but is nice for drawing with). Plus I have a few bottles I've acquired here and there that I haven't actually opened: Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black and Fount India; Conklin Endura (swag from last year's DCSS); and Delta Skeleton (swag from this year's DCSS).

If I need a blackish ink that's fairly permanent, I'm MUCH more likely to use Noodler's El Lawrence -- dark enough to almost pass for black, but more interesting and subtle a color.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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These are a few of my Black Inks that I especially like ...

 

Aurora Black ( Definitely Black )

Visconti Black ( Great flow and great color )

Hero Black ( Really Black )

Noodler Brahman Black ( Just got this and love it but it is a limited edition to be used sparingly )

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Cross/Pelikan, Waterman, Aurora (not used yet), Sheaffer.

I like Cross but...

I use Cross/Pelikan in my wet pens, and Waterman in my dry pens.

Sheaffer is used in my calligraphy pens.

 

Then for the non FP inks for dip pens; Higgins Eternal, Speedball acrylic

Higgins Eternal works better for me than the Speedball acyrlic ink.

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

www.SFPenShow.com

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In bottles I have:

 

J. Herbin Perle Noire
Lamy Black
Noodler's Black
Noodler's Borealis Black
Noodler's Five O'Clock Shadow
Noodler's Heart of Darkness
Parker Quink Black
Pelikan 4001 Brillant Black
Pilot Namiki Black
Private Reserve Velvet Black
Sheaffer Black
Stipula Ebony Black
Visconti Black
Waterman Intense Black

 

Additionally, I have black ink cartridges from Kaweco, Platinum, Aurora, Zebra, and Ohto.

 

I like them all, but I probably use Noodler's Black the most, followed by Pilot Namiki Black and Lamy.

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I generally keep one brand of ink of a colour at a time. Former black inks I can recall offhand using are Herbin, Aurora, Parker, Waterman, Dupont and Sheaffer. I didn't feel strongly about any of them one way or the other but now I have MB Mystery Black and it's love. This black ink is dark yet has nuance or shading and it responds to nib movement like perfect steering in a car responds to the driver's touch. It has easy flow with exactitude of line. Very happy with this ink.

Happiness is a real Montblanc...

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Perle Noire, Noodler's Black, and Aurora Black. My favorite depends on the pen I am using at the time. My vintage Conklin Halloween and Moore Safety pens both perform best with the Aurora, my few modern pens seem to do their best with Noodler's. Most of my other vintage pens get Perle Noire because it is a good, dark black that is easy to clean out of the pen and performs well with those nibs/feeds. For some reason I don't use as much black ink as I used to but those three are my favorites.

Dave Campbell
Retired Science Teacher and Active Pen Addict
Every day is a chance to reduce my level of ignorance.

fpn_1425200643__fpn_1425160066__super_pi

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I have Aurora Black, Noodler's Black and Diamine Onyx Black.

 

Aurora is my favourite, followed by Diamine Onyx; it is very saturated and dark, albeit more expensive. I do not use black ink often, as I much prefer the various shades of blue, thus I don't mind paying a higher price as I know it will last for a while.

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The bottles of black ink that I have:

 

Aurora

Herbin Perle Noire

Lamy

Montblanc (regular and permanent)

Noodlers bulletproof

Parker Penman

Pelikan 4001

Sheaffer Skrip

 

My favorites (depending on the pen) are: Aurora, Herbin, MB permanent, Noodlers and 4001.

Edited by carlos.q
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