I have heard that the smoothness of a pen is not 100% depends on the nib itself. Sometime our ink also plays a part to it. Does anyone knows which ink is the smoothest?

hmm... one of the most well-behaving inks (in allmost every pen) would be Waterman (Blue)!

Waterman Florida Blue is probably the most universally well behaved. Visconti Red is well behaved in most pens from my experience. Mont Blanc Racing Green is the best green that I have found. Most Noodler's colors work well also. As for black, Aurora seems to work in almost everything.

Just my experiences, yours may be difference.

Yep - Aurora, Aurora or Aurora.

I'd go with Waterman Florida Blue or Aurora Black. Aurora Blue isn't as well-lubricating as Waterman Florida Blue. WFB is the best-feeling ink I've used.

Agreed. Of all the inks I have, Aurora is indeed the "smoothest". Kinda like writing with colored oil with the way it flows and "glides" onto the paper. The trade-off is that it isn't bulletproof.

I would say Pilot Kiwaguro Nano Carbon ink. It makes every pen I've tried it in feel much smoother. Carbon, in the form of graphite powder, is a lubricant, and I think that has something to do with it, though I have no idea what form of carbon they actually use in the ink. Unfortunately it's an uncommon ink and fairly expensive.

I don't think your question is easy to answer with regards to regular inks, though, because I've found that certain inks work better with certain pens, and on certain papers. It's a 3-way relationship.

Neill

Aurora black, Sheaffer red, and Noodler's Ellis Island blue-black

Most Private Reserve inks are quite lubricating. (Except for the reds)

But if we are given the same pen and same paper, I think we should be able to tell the difference right?

PR DC Blue. And several of the other PR blues are almost indistinguishable from DC blue in that regard (Naples, Black Magic)

Several Diamine inks easily compete with PR but I've yet to find any currently manufactured ink that really matches DC Blue for smoothness. Aurora is good. I'm less impressed than others with WM inks. Good, but not amazing, lubrication.

Penman Emerald is ultra smooth, as smooth as DC blue, but no longer produced.

But some inks just won't work well in certain pens. I have Noodler's Singapore Honourable Blue, and in a Parker Vector its a dry, skippy ink. But in a Camlin 47 its smooth and free-flowing; a perfect joy to write with.

I'll second the recommendations for Waterman Florida Blue and Aurora Black, and add one for Visconti Blue.

And I'll also add a sort of half-recommendation for Caran d'Ache Carbon Black. It isn't a particularly well-behaved ink. It takes forever to dry, and it had some issues with skipping in my pen, but it's so viscous that when it writes, it writes smoothly. It seems as if it forms a tiny bead of this thick, oily ink under the nib, and the nib floats on this cushion as you write. Until, of course, this same property causes the pen to begin skipping. So it's very, very smooth, but it can also be rather annoying.

Florida blue is, for me too, pretty "universally" smooth.
Other "nice" inks which are however less smooth include CdAs, Skrips amf MBs.
Pelikan inks are pretty dry.

Buy a dozen and test them all, each in each pen!!!

Mike

Sure, if you keep the pen and paper the same every time, then only the ink will make the difference, for testing purposes. But the same ink may work on the same paper with a different pen, or on different paper with the same pen.

And if the pen doesn't like the paper, then no ink will make any difference. I have a Visconti that absolutely hates HP 32# paper, a favorite of the forum, no matter what ink I try it with. So first you have to make sure the paper and pen work together by testing a few different inks.

The only ink I've tried that seems to make every pen smoother on every paper I try is Sailor Kiwaguro.

Neill