Inky T O D - Black

[inkstainedruth]

The blackest ink I ever ran across was Organics Studio Charles Darwin (and it dried super fast, too). Unfortunately, it also had spread and bleedthrough problems like nobody's business. Next blackest would be Noodler's Old Manhattan, which also has some spreading issues -- not as badly as OSCD did, but then NOTHING could be that bad. I have a bottle but almost never use the ink. I much prefer Noodler's Heart of Darkness, which is better behaved and black "enough".

My only experience with Sailor Nano Black was in a Platinum Preppy set up with the rollerball head. It was not a successful experiment, because (I think) the particles couldn't get through the fibrous part of the tip.

I have some vintage Quink Microfilm Black. One bottle had a brown undertone to the ink; another had a blue-black component to it. Very strange -- I thought the whole point of the ink was to be easy to photograph onto microfilm to save space when sending mail to the troops.... OTOH, the ink is well behaved and pretty waterproof (I have it in a Parker 51 Vac with an EF nib at the moment).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Arkanabar]

IMX, the featherocious Noodler's Borealis Black is the Blackest Black Evar! I dilute it at 2:1, and will probably up that to either 3:2 or 1:1 in the near future, which leaves it merely "quite a bit darker than a black Bic," my current requirement for blackness.

If I ever find myself buying another bottle of black ink, it will most likely be Heart of Darkness, for its superior performance wrt feathering (cf Borealis and Bad Black Moccasin) and smudging (cf original Black). Not to mention it's essentially everything-proof, and one is more likely to dissolve the paper than find a solvent that will lift the ink.

[dcwaites]

I find that HOD and Noodler's Black are a matched pair. NB is useful for wetter pens and poorer quality papers, while HOD is better for drier pens and better quality papers.

 

As for the Black, Black, Blacketty Black Black Blackest Black, the black that makes a Black Hole look wan and grey, it really does depend on the pen and paper. At times I have NB looking blacker than HOD, and other times, the other way around.

 

Even Parker Quink Black used with a dip pen on good paper can look Black Hole Black.

 

I have just received samples of Borealis Black and Dark Matter Black. The latter looks, as it should, like a vintage black ink with mild pretensions of grey, but with the nib/pen I used, the Borealis Black did not impress. More testing to come.

[ErrantSmudge]

I find that HOD and Noodler's Black are a matched pair. NB is useful for wetter pens and poorer quality papers, while HOD is better for drier pens and better quality papers.

 

As for the Black, Black, Blacketty Black Black Blackest Black, the black that makes a Black Hole look wan and grey, it really does depend on the pen and paper. At times I have NB looking blacker than HOD, and other times, the other way around.

 

Even Parker Quink Black used with a dip pen on good paper can look Black Hole Black.

 

I concur completely with all of this.

 

I got some samples from Goulet, and did a bakeoff of four Noodler's blacks. Noodler's Standard Black is better behaved on cheap paper, Heart of Darkness works better on quality paper and dries faster. X-Feather wasn't really different enough from Noodler's Standard Black to warrant further consideration, and Bernanke Black has feathering problems and is not all that dark.

 

I have also noticed that NB can look darker than HOD, and vice-versa, depending on the paper in use. And I have a few drops left of Quink Black (with Solv-X) that at times can look extremely dark.

 

I have a great big bottle of HOD which I really like. If I were to buy more blacks, it would probably be Noodler's Standard Black, followed by Aurora Black (running low) and Lamy Black. Lamy Black is a "soft" black, but it is a very well-behaved ink and is good to have on hand for vintage pens and problematic pens.

Edited May 19, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[FLZapped]

Borealis black is about the blackest ink I've used, but it has negative water resistance....

[Kelly G]

Dark Matter is my standard black ink. Not because it is the blackest but because it is the most well behaved over a range of pens and papers. I've always liked vintage inks, particularly Quink Blue Black. Dark Matter reminds me of the qualities of that ink; dries fast, doesn't bleed through or feather with even halfway decent paper, flows well, and doesn't stain my pens. I use a fair amount of black ink and Dark Matter is affordable for my every day use. Now if I could just buy it in a quart bottle...

[PS104]

Lamy Black is a "soft" black.

What is a "soft" ink ?

Thanks

[UDog]

Dark Matter is my standard black ink. Not because it is the blackest but because it is the most well behaved over a range of pens and papers. I've always liked vintage inks, particularly Quink Blue Black. Dark Matter reminds me of the qualities of that ink; dries fast, doesn't bleed through or feather with even halfway decent paper, flows well, and doesn't stain my pens. I use a fair amount of black ink and Dark Matter is affordable for my every day use. Now if I could just buy it in a quart bottle...

+1 Shades nice too.

[ErrantSmudge]

What is a "soft" ink ?

Thanks

 

All I meant by that was a black ink that is not a very dark black.

 

I got that term from this Jetpens survey of black inks:

 

https://www.jetpens.com/blog/black-fountain-pen-ink/pt/20

[Ememel]

Here's Pilot Iroshizuku Take-Sumi. It's soooooo smooth to write with, don't know if it's the ink itself or the pen&ink combo, since both are new to me and I don't plan to ink other pens I own with black. But at some point I will fill the same pen with Pilot Black and Diamine Onyx Black and then I'll get back to this topic with some thoughts on how the inks compare to each other.

[silverlifter]

Aurora Black is the perfect black for me. A black black that is wet and well behaved. I just wish it was available locally...

[ErrantSmudge]

After using deep and vivid colors so often, when I load a pen with black it has an excitement of its own, just because it is so different than the inks I usually use. And it feels very utilitarian. So I have come to embrace black ink.

[nibtip]

I don't know which is the best blackest black ever etc... But here are my impressions.

Same pen, same paper (Midori MD) and within minutes so i remember what preceded.

The first four on the list are very close.

Sailor being slightly wetter (wet ≠ lubricated) not necessarily the smoothest, of the FIRST FOUR.

Take sumi has a nice red sheen, Sailor is really close,

Perle noire leans towards the brown side,

Aurora is the most plebicited, if i may a neologism,

Kiwa guro has a massive silver sheen (not visible in my pictures) that mutes blackness to the eye.

The unnamed one (and blackest on my short list of blacks ) is the Platinum carbon.

All those inks behave fantastically well on good paper. I never write on (c r a p) paper, so i cannot say anything about that.

Sailor doyou is very dark brown. It is the wettest (≠ not the smoothest). Too wet even for a Sailor?

Kobe #31 is gray. Not black.

I apprehend Nano carbon inks. Maybe i should not and just be cautious.

I have tried samples of Kaweco and Caran d'Ache ( not here) a month or two ago. I remember they looked like stunning charcoal. Very matte no sheen. Kaweco seemed on the dry side. I am pretty sure they have the same german manufacturer.

My preference goes to Perle noire or Aurora, for no reason at all.

 

FIRST PICTURE: silicon brush.

SECOND PICTURE: cotton swab.

Edited September 27, 2019 by nibtip

[Just J]

 

I've seen it all over the place, have searched here & intarwebz,

I've looked - honest! - with no degree of determinable success. 

So okay, gonna have to ask -- what does 'T O D' stand for? 

(I'm sure the answer given's gonna knock me to the floor!)

 

 

(And....any likeness to 'Them Damn Blue Collar Tweakers' is likely coincidental!) 

[inkstainedruth]

It stand for "Topic of the Day" I think, or maybe "Thought of the Day".

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ErrantSmudge]

24 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

It stand for "Topic of the Day" I think, or maybe "Thought of the Day".

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

According to Amberlea's signature line, it means "Topic of the Day".  (see screenshot)

 

[Just J]

Makes sense - thanx ES! 

Weird tho, Search here for TOD & T O D (spaced), reveals precious little. And the WEBZ!?!  Hoo boy!  :: 

	Definition
TOD	Transit Oriented Development (land development designed to encourage mass transit use)
TOD	Thought of the Day
TOD	Transfer on Death
TOD	Time Of Day
TOD	The Oil Drum (website)
TOD	Tree of Death
TOD	Touch of Death (gaming)
TOD	Trail of Dead (band)
TOD	The Other Day
TOD	Topic of Discussion
TOD	Truth Or Dare
TOD	Tour Of Duty
TOD	Test of Details (accountings)
TOD	Tales of Destiny (video game)
TOD	The Open Door (band)
TOD	Talent on Demand
TOD	Tickets on Departure
TOD	Time Out Detection
TOD	Torque on Demand
TOD	Terms of Delivery
TOD	Time Of Death
TOD	Temple of Doom (Indiana Jones movie)
TOD	Toyota of Dallas (Dallas, TX)
TOD	Tales of Destiny (game)
TOD	Time Of Delivery
TOD	Time Of Departure
TOD	Triangle Orientation Discrimination
TOD	Torque on Demand (Isuzu)
TOD	Target Organ Damage
TOD	Technical Operations Department (various organiations)
TOD	Total Oxygen Demand (environmental analysis)
TOD	Top of Descent
TOD	Transparency Obligations Directive (EU)
TOD	Television on Demand (Broadbus)
TOD	Train Operator Display
TOD	Turnover Discount (various companies)
TOD	Team of Destiny
TOD	Third Order Dispersion
TOD	Theoretical Oxygen Demand
TOD	Take-Off Distance
TOD	Tactical Ocean Data
TOD	Teacher of Deaf (education qualification)
TOD	Temporary Overdraft (banking)
TOD	Theatre of the Deaf
TOD	Time Of Dispatch
TOD	Tail Over Deck (aircraft)
TOD	Teen Open Diary
TOD	Test of Design (various organizations)
TOD	Tool on Demand (AOL software update)
TOD	Telecommunications On Demand Inc (Orwigsburg, PA)
TOD	Technical Order Data
TOD	Time of Detonation
TOD	Technical Objective Document
TOD	Top of Duct
TOD	Task Object Design
TOD	Transfer of Ownership Document (automobiles)
TOD	The Obscure Disaster (Band)
TOD	Touch of Downs
TOD	Target Offset Distance
TOD	Tunable Optical Detector (photonics)
TOD	Tool Operational Definition
TOD	Tradeoff Determination
TOD	Turk Ortodonti Dernegi (Turkish: Turkish Association of Orthodontics)
TOD	Textes de La Décentralisation (French: Decentralization Law)
TOD	Target Object Descriptor   It apparently means a lot of things!

[JulieParadise]

While we're at it: What does CRV stand for in this forum? (Please, don't beat me, I suspect that C stands for "Crazy" or sth. like that.)

[Just J]

Taking a shot; I'd taken that as for the 'Co-Razy-Views' thread. Not a follower so not much chance to disprove. 

[JulieParadise]

12 hours ago, Just J said:

Taking a shot; I'd taken that as for the 'Co-Razy-Views' thread. Not a follower so not much chance to disprove. 

What does the "Co-" stand for, then? Is it just onomatopoetic to mimic how one says "crazy"? For non-native speakers this might not be as obvious. 😉

 

But thank you!