The Fight For The Nicest Black Ink.

[RyanM]

Obviously most ink companies make Black ink. But there are so many different shades, and specifically for fountain pens, different drying times, and how smooth the ink is. I always carry at least two pens with me with Black ink in them, and I have recently been on the search for the best Black ink.

 

My first bottle of black inks were a bottle of Lamy Black, and Parker Quink Black. I instantly noticed the differences in the colour, as well as the writing experience between these two inks. I liked the Parker Ink considerably better. My next purchase came as a Bottle of Caran d'Ache Chromatics Cosmic Black. Wow. This ink stood was so much better than the Lamy and the Parker ink. Why? The Ink was a serious black. It dried quickly, and did not bleed. This ink seemed to flow from the nib of my pen so much smoother than the other bottles of ink. But at $50 as opposed to $9 for the other two. Was it worth the extra money?

 

Very soon the Caran d'Ache bottle began to run out. It was a 50ml bottle, but I had filled at least 4 or 5 of my pens with it, and was always writing. My next bottle of ink was a Waterman Black. This ink was so similar to the Parker ink it was scary. I realised that it really was worth spending the extra money on a better bottle of ink, and having a considerably pleasurable writing experience.

 

I then moved away from Black ink, and started looking at coloured ink. After a bit of testing with a few different brands, I found that I really liked De Atramentis ink. It was rich in colour, and left a relatively dry line. I then began to mix these inks, and had really great fun.

 

 

But eventually I decided that Black inks are more useful for situations in which coloured inks just arent. I was planning to purchase another bottle of the Caran d'Ache Black, but after trawling through FPN, I found that Aurora Black was another very nice black ink. So I went out and bought this ink instead.

 

And wow. It writes very much like the Caran d'Ache, but for $23 a bottle opposed to $50? I was very impressed. The drying time was a bit slow, but the ink did not bleed, and was a nice rich black colour. I was very impressed.

 

I have included down the bottom a writing sample of a couple of the inks mentioned in this post. I hoped you enjoyed.

 

 

[dan in montreal]

If and when you want to go out and get yet another black, I really suggest you try J. Herbin's Perle noire and Noodler's Black. Both compare favorably with Aurora Black.

[RyanM]

If and when you want to go out and get yet another black, I really suggest you try J. Herbin's Perle noire and Noodler's Black. Both compare favorably with Aurora Black.

Thank you! Another ink to try!

 

Delete post

I'm sorry?

[inkstainedruth]

Other ones to look at:

Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black. Not the darkest out there, but well behaved, inexpensive, and has more water resistance than I was expecting.

Iroshihzuku Take-sumi. Pricy (although not as bad as the Caran d'Ache ink). Again, not super super blackhole black, but there's just something about it: it went down looking almost velvety in texture, and seemed to get darker as time went on. Still trying to decide whether I want to spring for a full bottle, though, since I'm not really a black ink person at heart.

Noodler's Old Manhattan. Exclusive to Fountain Pen Hospital in NYC. Pretty black, and also is one of the "eternal" inks, which IIRC means it's, IIRC, UV and fade resistant.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[The Good Captain]

The current Sheaffer Skrip Black is pleasant and also surprisingly water-resistant.

[blazingthrough]

Noodler's Heart of Darkness is very water resistant for me.

[graystranger]

Noodler's Heart of Darkness flows well in a dry pen and dries very fast. It is a bulletproof ink (resistant to water, bleach, and solvents.

 

I have and use Noodler's Black, Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin, and HOD. I love them all and use HOD when I want a fast drying ink, like in my Midori Passport Traveler's Notebook or signing a check away from home.

[RyanM]

I have heard that some of the Noodler's inks can stain your pen, and even clog it up due to pigment levels? Is this true? I have always wanted to try some of the Noodler's inks, but have avoided them due to these reasons.

[Manalto]

Ryan,

I was warned by people here about using Noodler's 'Golden Brown' in my Pelikan because of the transparency of the barrel and the possibility of staining. I don't know, but I suspect because some of the Noodler's inks stain, people avoid all of them. Surely there is someone here who has had long-term experience with Noodler's blacks that you're interested in.

 

James

Edited April 8, 2015 by Manalto

[RyanM]

Ryan,

I was warned by people here about using Noodler's 'Golden Brown' in my Pelikan because of the transparency of the barrel and the possibility of staining. I don't know, but I suspect because some of the Noodler's inks stain, people avoid all of them. Surely there are people here who have had long-term experience with Noodler's blacks that you're interested in.

 

James

So did you use this ink in your Pelican? If so, what happened?

[Manalto]

It was probably in the pen for less than 24 hours before I got the warning about staining, so I flushed it out. I didn't see any evidence of staining (Golden Brown is very yellow, so it would show) in that amount of time. It's my only pen with transparency in the barrel; the others I don't worry about.

[RyanM]

It was probably in the pen for less than 24 hours before I got the warning about staining, so I flushed it out. I didn't see any evidence of staining (Golden Brown is very yellow, so it would show) in that amount of time. It's my only pen with transparency in the barrel; the others I don't worry about.

If the ink did stain, wouldn't all inks you put in that pen afterwards have a slight Golden Brown tinge?

[Manalto]

There are too many variables and I know way too little about ink chemistry to even begin to answer that, but I see your point. I hope I don't wind up with Noodler's ink stains discoloring subsequent inks I put in my opaque-barrel pens, but I'm not going to sweat it.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Manalto

[Fabienne]

I like Noodler's Black which is the most profound black I can use. No shading, very modern, smooth as silk, dark as the night. You will have a hard time finding Old Manhattan now but Black is good. Very very good.

 

I also like Waterman Black. It is a slightly shading black which looks pretty and old fashioned. Not as harsh as Noodler's Easy to clean out of your pen, too. Very worth having.

[Jamerelbe]

If the ink did stain, wouldn't all inks you put in that pen afterwards have a slight Golden Brown tinge?

Not necessarily: a permanent stain in the reservoir or converter means that the ink has leached into, or somehow chemically bonded to, the material. Unless the next ink contains a solvent that draws the pigment back out, future inks are unlikely to be affected. Unless your 'stain' is simply the result of poor cleaning...

[Manalto]

I like Noodler's Black which is the most profound black I can use. No shading, very modern, smooth as silk, dark as the night. You will have a hard time finding Old Manhattan now but Black is good. Very very good.

 

I also like Waterman Black. It is a slightly shading black which looks pretty and old fashioned. Not as harsh as Noodler's Easy to clean out of your pen, too. Very worth having.

 

+1 for Waterman Black. I have it in a 14K broad-tipped Targa and it's great.

[Frank C]

I use Pilot Black, Sailor Black and Aurora Black frequently. They are all well-behaved black inks. I don't test them with water, but I'm sure that someone else or two on FPN has.

[RyanM]

I use Pilot Black, Sailor Black and Aurora Black frequently. They are all well-behaved black inks. I don't test them with water, but I'm sure that someone else or two on FPN has.

Out of these three, which would you consider to be your favourite?

[Frank C]

Out of these three, which would you consider to be your favourite?

 

My three daily user pens are a Pilot Custom 823, a Sailor Realo, and an Aurora 88. I tend to use a given manufacturer's ink in that manufacturer's pen; I know I don't have to do this, but I do anyway. All three of these inks work well and are indistinguishable. As I said above, I haven't run any tests on water-resistance; my writings usually do not get wet.

 

A few years ago, I bought every Noodler's black ink formula and a few Pilot Custom 74s to test them. None of the Noodler's really impressed me, so I went back to the standard three.

 

Earlier this year, I filled two pens with Sailor Kiwa-Guro Nano Black and Platinum Carbon Ink. While I liked the dark black results, I found the pens were hard-starting and tended to skip. Those pens were rinsed and I went back to the regular rotation.

[JazzDoc]

I've gone throughout a pretty fair gamut of blacks and keep returning to Parker Quink Black. I like J.Herbin's Perle Noir just as much. I love to see shadowing in all my inks.