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Just The Black's


jde

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No claims of scientific measurements...

 

I'm a long time lover of J. Herbin Perle Noire. However, ever since I saw Platinum Carbon Black survive a water test with remarkable clarity, I've been trying to decide which waterproof or bulletproof ink to obtain or if I can live with "still kinda legible" after the water spill.

 

Recently I obtained (in a trade thank you very much!) a bottle of Noodler's Old Manhattan Black which seems to be waterproof as opposed to bulletproof. I got some ink samples: Noodler's Black, Platinum Black, Platinum Carbon Black (PCB), Sailor Jentle Black, Sailor Kiwa-Guro Nano Black. Among my inks I also have some pre-Slovenia Sheaffer Skrip Black.

 

First photo is of the inks with coffee-cup coffee stains. Second photo is after a 1-hour water soaking.

 

If not going with a waterproof ink, I guess the question is how much ink spreading one is willing to live with should an accident occur.

 

It seems to me that Noodler's Black holds up as well as PCB and Sailor Kiwa-Guro. I'm going to see how my pen that loves PCB loves Noodler's Black. If it does, the latter is a better economical choice for me.

 

http://i952.photobucket.com/albums/ae9/jdejh/Examples/blacks2.jpg

http://i952.photobucket.com/albums/ae9/jdejh/Examples/blacks.jpg

 

I also obsessively gathered up links to other scans of black inks and water testing. I share these with you—one obsessive pen person to another. happyberet.gif Please, if you have other links to add, I hope you will list them in this thread! Edited to add: The list below is not all black ink links. The links reflect my own interests.

Water tests of Black inks

  • Caran d'Ache Carbon Black
  • Diamine Jet Black, J. Herbin Perle Noire, Platinum Carbon Black, Private Reserve Velvet Black: here
  • Levenger Raven Black, Noodler's Black: a fading test (deep in the thread)
  • Noodler's Black, Pelikan Black, Montblanc Black, Noodler's Heart of Darkness: here
  • Noodler's Dark Matter & Heart of Darkness
  • Noodler's Old Manhattan Black - paper towel test
  • Noodler's Polar Black vs Pelikan Blue-Black
  • Parker Quink Black
  • Pilot/Namiki Black and Noodler's Black: here
  • Sheaffer Skrip Black - pre-Slovenia
  • Visconti, Aurora and Omas Blacks: here
  • Waterman Black, Viva Black, Noodler's Black, Sailor Kiwa-Guro Nano Black: here

Individual Black Inks Reviewed - just a sampling of reviews

Edited by jde

...writing only requires focus, and something to write on. —John August

...and a pen that's comfortable in the hand.—moi

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I used Herbin's Perle Noir exclusively for a couple years. I'm also a fan of Aurora and Pelikan 4001 blacks. All great inks with better than decent resistance to the odd spill. But I've returned to Noodlers basic Bulletproof ink as my main working ink. I find it well behaved and pretty hassle free. I misplaced a Lamy Safari inked up with BB, and it wrote immediately despite being neglacted for at least 2 months. I tried the Sailor nano-carbon ink but found the black a bit smude-prone. The Sailor non blue-black, on the other hand has become my favorite signature ink in a plain old Mabie-Rodd Swan LF with a .8mm CI nib ground by Dillon Ang.

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Julie! Wow, that's so good of you! Thank you for showing the waterproof variations of these black inks!

 

What a great resource.This topic should be pinned.

_________________

etherX in To Miasto

Fleekair <--French accent.

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jde, I hope many other users see this post. Not only did you do an extremely thorough job at capturing a great variety of blacks, but the practical cup ring water effect and longer soaking are perfect. Then your compilation of links makes this an extremely valuable resource. I have put it on my bookmark list.

 

Thank you ! :notworthy1:

With the new FPN rules, now I REALLY don't know what to put in my signature.

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jde, I hope many other users see this post. Not only did you do an extremely thorough job at capturing a great variety of blacks, but the practical cup ring water effect and longer soaking are perfect. Then your compilation of links makes this an extremely valuable resource. I have put it on my bookmark list.

 

Thank you ! :notworthy1:

 

+1 - I just linked this thread to a newbie's inquiry for a black ink suitable for school. You did a lot of work putting this together, and I agree it should be added to the pinned topics.

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Thank You.

Currently Inked;

MB 149 w/ MB Toffee Brown

Pilot Custom 823 w/ Perle Noire

Noodler's Aerometric w/ Noodler's X-Feather

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Woah, am I impressed! The photo of the page with the coffee cup stains is very helpful (not to mention all those links). Thanks for taking the time to do this!

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:happyberet: Bump because I just recommended another member to look at this thread, and I want them to find it.
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Thanks, my pals. Hope it's useful to some!

...writing only requires focus, and something to write on. —John August

...and a pen that's comfortable in the hand.—moi

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Wow that's amazing...scientific research. :notworthy1:

 

I've found it useful to pull out notes written years before and see which ink's still legible! :yikes:

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  • 3 years later...

jde, I realize you started this thread in 2011, but I would love to see your images. Would you consider reposting them? Thanks!

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