Even Blacker Than Aurora Black?

[copperx]

Sigh.

 

So I bought a bottle of Aurora black and although it is a deep black, when comparing it to the blackness of a Pilot G2 gel pen, it looks grey by comparison.

 

Is there an ink that is similar to the blackness of the G2? something near India Ink?

 

I might have to give up on FP for black.

[Thornton]

I've tried Aurora Black and I believe that Noodler's Black and Old Manhattan Black are much darker than Aurora. Also, if you're using a dry writing pen, that could make the Aurora look less intense.

[copperx]

Cool, I'll now try the Noodler's.

 

It seems like Noodlers, at least to me, is the best choice.

 

I have went the fountain pen less than a month ago, and I already am disillusioned with other inks.

 

This is my experience so far:

 

My Noodler's Navy is wonderful. Beautiful color, lots of shading, great flow, minimal feathering. A dream.

 

Private Reserve Fiesta Red. No shading whatsoever, even with my broadest nib (Lamy 1.5) nor with the Pelikan medium nib. It's not red, it's brown. Flow is wonderful though. Not buying again.

 

Parker Quink Black. What a piece of garbage. I tried it with several nibs and it was dry. It turned my Safari into a scratchy pen. I didn't dare it to put it into my Pelikan. It's not black, it's a light grey.

 

Aurora Black. Much better flow than the Quink, but still not as good flow as the Noodler's or the PR. It's a kinda-dark black. I expected a deep black from reading this forum. Grey when compared to a gel pen. No shading whatsoever. Lots of feathering.

 

I wish I could return all my inks (except the Noodler's) to my pen store. What a disappointment.

 

I now have two Noodler's on the way.

 

I'm not experimenting anymore.

[ghooks]

I've learned working with fountain pens and their inks can be a labor of love. I too have several bottles that I've bought that aren't quite right (this is the labor part). Good news on that experimentation though you can actually buy small samples at a few places. Sometimes other members here have small vials for sale & the internet sites Goulet Pens & Pear Tree Pens (no affiliations) have sample vials of many inks for sale. Good luck

 

 

Cool, I'll now try the Noodler's.

 

It seems like Noodlers, at least to me, is the best choice.

 

I have went the fountain pen less than a month ago, and I already am disillusioned with other inks.

 

This is my experience so far:

 

My Noodler's Navy is wonderful. Beautiful color, lots of shading, great flow, minimal feathering. A dream.

 

Private Reserve Fiesta Red. No shading whatsoever, even with my broadest nib (Lamy 1.5) nor with the Pelikan medium nib. It's not red, it's brown. Flow is wonderful though. Not buying again.

 

Parker Quink Black. What a piece of garbage. I tried it with several nibs and it was dry. It turned my Safari into a scratchy pen. I didn't dare it to put it into my Pelikan. It's not black, it's a light grey.

 

Aurora Black. Much better flow than the Quink, but still not as good flow as the Noodler's or the PR. It's a kinda-dark black. I expected a deep black from reading this forum. Grey when compared to a gel pen. No shading whatsoever. Lots of feathering.

 

I wish I could return all my inks (except the Noodler's) to my pen store. What a disappointment.

 

I now have two Noodler's on the way.

 

I'm not experimenting anymore.

[andru]

You might find one of the "nano" carbon based inks darker, although I find they have a reflective sheen when viewed at an angle. I can send you a sampler of Sailor Kiwaguro if you'd like to try, just send me a PM.

 

Also, how wide is your fountain pen line, compared to the gel pen? Given two very wet nibs, the finer will usually leave darker lines. I believe this is related to pooling of the ink -- cohesive forces in water-based ink will cause the nib will draw most of the ink towards the last few millimeters of the pen trace, but this is less of a problem with fine points.

[DanielCoffey]

copperx - have a look at the Ink Exchange threads for people in your country who will send samples. Then you will at least have an idea of how an ink will behave in your pen before you buy a bottle.

[mstone]

You might find one of the "nano" carbon based inks darker, although I find they have a reflective sheen when viewed at an angle. I can send you a sampler of Sailor Kiwaguro if you'd like to try, just send me a PM.

 

Also, how wide is your fountain pen line, compared to the gel pen? Given two very wet nibs, the finer will usually leave darker lines. I believe this is related to pooling of the ink -- cohesive forces in water-based ink will cause the nib will draw most of the ink towards the last few millimeters of the pen trace, but this is less of a problem with fine points.

 

The flip side is that the eye will perceive a line of text written with a broader nib as darker than a line of text written by a finer nib, because there's simply more darkness on the page. This also makes comparisons between inks problematic/pointless, as people tend to identify the black in which spreads the most as the darkest. Swab tests get closer to identifying which ink is actually darker, but who writes with a swab?

[andru]

The flip side is that the eye will perceive a line of text written with a broader nib as darker than a line of text written by a finer nib, because there's simply more darkness on the page. This also makes comparisons between inks problematic/pointless, as people tend to identify the black in which spreads the most as the darkest. Swab tests get closer to identifying which ink is actually darker, but who writes with a swab?

Agreed, the page/line will look darker, however, the penstrokes will be perceived as less black. Shading (the translucency of the ink) will pass paper tone, giving grey, or worse on off-white paper like Moleskine. Somehow this is never so unpleasant as with black ink (although there are some who do enjoy grey inks). Actually it seems inks are not generally darker through finer nibs, don't know why I said so as I've just been noticing it this very day trying to find a suitable ink for an XF Sheaffer triumph nib, BUT it does cut down on unwanted shading with black ink.

[JonSzanto]

Another vote for using ink samples before committing to a bottle. As for blacks, I've been really happy with J. Herbin Perle Noir, but as always, YMMV.

[Safari_Camo]

I ordered some ink samples in different colours and brands.

 

I tested three blacks from the samples, here's my choice:

 

1.- Noodler's X-Feather (Love it) perfect black, very smooth in my Lamy Safari and is bulletproof

2.- J. Herbin - Perle Noire, not bad, good flow, very black and little pinch (I think the correct word is tinge) blueish hue to me, nothing bad indeed.

3.- Noodler's BulletProof Black, sure is black, takes a couple of seconds more to dry in my test paper (90 Gr.) but nothing incredible to pick this one.

 

If I have to choose between 3 of the above...

 

Number 1: X - Feather , then Perle Noire.

 

--------

My first black ink I tested was a Lamy, not bad... but as time goes, the black wasn't blackest anymore.

 

 

Hope this analysis helps in your doubts.

Edited June 2, 2011 by Safari_Camo

[Basset]

I think you will find Private Reserve Invincible Black is darker than any of the Noodler's or J. Herbin. Check out swab images out at Goulet Pen Co.'s website. It also glides as nicely as Aurora.

[Groat]

For what it's worth (admittedly, not much), here is the scan of my swabs from the January ink drop. The paper is Rhodia and therefore not particularly absorbent, so the color always comes out lighter in my swabs than it does out of the pen. Still, you can see that the Noodler's X-Feather is the darkest ink there. Though I have only tried a handful of black inks, it's also the darkest one I have used. It is worth noting that I have NOT tried Aurora Black, so I can't give you a comparison. Also of note: the scan hasn't been color corrected in any way. The paper is bright white, but it appears a kind of ivory on my screen. Therefore, only the 'darkness' should be judged by it and not the shade of color themselves.

 

[SamCapote]

I've tried Aurora Black and I believe that Noodler's Black and Old Manhattan Black are much darker than Aurora. Also, if you're using a dry writing pen, that could make the Aurora look less intense.

 

+1

 

IMHO, Noodler's Heart of Darkness & Old Manhattan are the darkest--certainly darker than either Sailor or Platinum's Nano's, and way darker than Aurora. Nothing wrong with any of these, but if you want darkest, those two are your winners.

[SamCapote]

For what it's worth (admittedly, not much), here is the scan of my swabs from the January ink drop.

 

Groat, thanks for your submission. I have used X-Feather, and my guess is that someone didn't shake the HOD, because my bottles of HOD are CLEARLY darker than X-Feather.

[adam11]

Well Dupont Noir, Caran d'Ache Carbon Black and Sailor Kiwa guro seems to me darker than Aurora. And very nice behaved inks as well.