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I am looking for a dark blue/ black ink. Reasonably quick drying as I am left handed. And waterproof. And cheapish. To be used in a Jinhao. Various paper types.

I am in the UK.

Considering Diamine Registrars ink or maybe KWZ iron gall turquoise. Both go on light and turn dark which I like.

Which ink is best? Any others to consider.

My debt he paid, my death he died, that I might live.

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KWZ iron galls are not super well behaved on cheap paper. They're nice inks, but not really "everyday" performance. Also be aware they smell very strongly, to me they smell like cream soda, but it's a blast of that smell whenever you uncap them.

 

Registrars will eventually damage the jinhao since it is a decently aggressive iron gall, but its performance will be superb on any paper. It will change color from fairly pale blue to pretty much completely black and will be decently water resistant. And the damage will occur probably much more slowly than that jinhao will naturally just kinda fall apart to.

 

If you want something that will be completely safe in a steel nib pen, consider sailor pigment blue-black or something like noodlers warden bad blue heron.

 

But that being said, I am a staunch lover of registrars and use it in a dedicated platinum 3776 at all times. It does require much more thorough cleaning every 2-3 months though. But its performance on the absolute worst paper imaginable literally can't be touched.

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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Noodler's bulletproof formulations are at least partially cellulose reactive and can't be removed from paper. You may give them a shot. Some inks from top of my head:

  • Bulletproof Black (pH neutral).
  • X-Feather Black (non feathering black ink, bulletproof).
  • Standard blue/black (pH neutral, blue washes away on contact with water, black remains).
  • Bad Black Moccasin (it's a warden ink, even can't be removed by lasers).
  • Bad Belted Kingfisher (Dark blue cousin of Bad Black Moccasin, warden series).
  • 54th Massachusetts (Blue black, bulletproof)
  • Legal Blue (Blue black)
  • Eternal Polar Blue/Black (cannot be frozen, bulletproof, archival)

Noodler's inks are plenty for the money. Available 90/130ml bottles, filled to the brim literally. Most of the formulations are also pH neutral. They don't react with the pen and can be just washed away from plastics. pH neutrality is noted on the bottle. See noodlersink.com for details.

Edited by bayindirh
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Pilot Blue Black is nice, works well and is generally cheap. I think I read somewhere that you might have trouble finding it bottled in the UK. I've only gotten bottles from Japan via Amazon here in the US and they were very well priced.

 

I'd also suggest Sailor Seiboku or Souboku but they are not inexpensive.

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In the UK, ESSRI is very economical. Like DRI it is an old school iron gall.

 

Hero 232 is a milder ig and performs well. And it is ridiculously cheap.

Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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Pilot Blue Black is nice, works well and is generally cheap. I think I read somewhere that you might have trouble finding it bottled in the UK. I've only gotten bottles from Japan via Amazon here in the US and they were very well priced.

 

I'd also suggest Sailor Seiboku or Souboku but they are not inexpensive.

Wish it was available here. Iroshizuku line is available but, the prices are exorbitant.

Edited by bayindirh
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Which model of Jinhao is it? I ask because how good the cap seal is could rule some inks out, due to nib dryout and then clogging. Some Jinhaos have much better seals than others.

 

I'm a fan of the De Atramentis document inks, though they're more mid priced than inexpensive.

Edited by ScarletWoodland
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Pilot Blue Black certainly wins the price contest - at least if you buy the ginormous bottles of it - but it isn't really waterproof. Three other good IG inks are: R&K Salix, Platinum Blue Black, and Pelikan 4001 Blue Black.

 

I'm not sure how the prices stack up in the UK, but here in the US Salix is the cheapest, Platinum Blue Black is the most expensive, and Pelikan 4001 Blue Black is my favorite. :)

 

- N

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Platinum Blue Black Ink :thumbup:

 

Yeah! One of my favorites! Can be hard to find here in the U.S., though, and is somewhat expensive too. (For example, Goulet is out of stock, Jetpens has only 4 bottles left, and they're $20 + shipping. It's only available in cartridges on Amazon, that I can find. You can get it on eBay for $15... if you're willing to pay $20 to have it shipped directly from Japan!)

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As far as I'm concerned, the best ones by far are the Sailor nano-pigment inks: Seiboku (blue-black) and Souboku (a different blue-black). I always have pens inked up with these. Seiboku is probably my favourite ink.

 

I haven't tried their permanent black ink but I bet it's good, too.

 

KWZ inks are OK, nice colours (I like the IG Blue #6) but too wet from some pens. They'd probably gush from a Jinhao nib. And they're only partially waterproof – water will leave some kind of line behind but wash away most of the colour. (The one I've had the best luck with is the IG Green #3.)

 

Rohrer & Klingner Salix is my favourite blue-black iron-gall ink.

 

Noodler's inks I find gloopy and badly behaved. Apart from anything else, the best colours seem to take forever to dry. They're also hard to source in the UK, though as you're in Wales, you can get some of them at Pure Pens in Newport.

 

De Atramentis document inks are good – well-behaved, fast-drying. I personally don't like any of the blues but that's just me. They're worth looking at.

 

But all these are quite expensive, apart from the Salix. The Rohrer & Klingner document inks are fine but pricier. Koh-i-Noor do a similar, not-so-expensive Document Blue.

 

And ESSRI (Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrar's Ink) is great for its dramatic light to dark transition, and comes in big bottles for just over a tenner, including UK delivery.

Lined paper makes a prison of the page.

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Noodler's bulletproof formulations are at least partially cellulose reactive and can't be removed from paper. You may give them a shot. Some inks from top of my head:

  • Bulletproof Black (pH neutral).
  • X-Feather Black (non feathering black ink, bulletproof).
  • Standard blue/black (pH neutral, blue washes away on contact with water, black remains).
  • Bad Black Moccasin (it's a warden ink, even can't be removed by lasers).
  • Bad Belted Kingfisher (Dark blue cousin of Bad Black Moccasin, warden series).
  • 54th Massachusetts (Blue black, bulletproof)
  • Legal Blue (Blue black)
  • Eternal Polar Blue/Black (cannot be frozen, bulletproof, archival)

Noodler's inks are plenty for the money. Available 90/130ml bottles, filled to the brim literally. Most of the formulations are also pH neutral. They don't react with the pen and can be just washed away from plastics. pH neutrality is noted on the bottle. See noodlersink.com for details.

 

 

All Noodlers inks apart from baystate concord grape and baystate blue (and that pink one) are pH neutral.

 

Polar blue/black are odd ducks I wouldn't recommend, as they feather monstrously. They're an extremely specialty ink.

 

Here's a link to a chart with their properties. X feather is VERY good on uncoated paper but its properties are made to soak into paper fibers IMMEDIATELY so it doesn't feather, and as such, it really is nasty about smearing on good, coated paper. I don't love that situational-ity of it.

 

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2603/2528/files/noodlers-ink-properties.pdf

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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All Noodlers inks apart from baystate concord grape and baystate blue (and that pink one) are pH neutral.

 

Polar blue/black are odd ducks I wouldn't recommend, as they feather monstrously. They're an extremely specialty ink.

 

Here's a link to a chart with their properties. X feather is VERY good on uncoated paper but its properties are made to soak into paper fibers IMMEDIATELY so it doesn't feather, and as such, it really is nasty about smearing on good, coated paper. I don't love that situational-ity of it.

 

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2603/2528/files/noodlers-ink-properties.pdf

 

Yes, Polar ones are not for everyday use. They behave differently.

 

Since I tend to use my fountain pens with every paper and don't own many premium papers, Bulletproof Black and X-Feather fits my bill. Noodler's Black lives to its fame in my opinion. When in rotation, it wrote with an unbelievable consistency from dollar store pads to post-it notes and to some better papers I have without smearing or feathering. This is why I ordered another bottle of it recently.

 

The PDF file is over five years old I think and missing some of the newer color like Russia series.

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Yes, Polar ones are not for everyday use. They behave differently.

 

Since I tend to use my fountain pens with every paper and don't own many premium papers, Bulletproof Black and X-Feather fits my bill. Noodler's Black lives to its fame in my opinion. When in rotation, it wrote with an unbelievable consistency from dollar store pads to post-it notes and to some better papers I have without smearing or feathering. This is why I ordered another bottle of it recently.

 

The PDF file is over five years old I think and missing some of the newer color like Russia series.

 

I pretty exclusively use pelikan 4001 as my everyday black but noodlers heart of darkness is permanently inked in my desk pen, and black swan in australian roses is my favorite ink of all time.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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De Atramentis Document Blue or Blue Black are excellent with regards to drying fast and being water proof. They don't smear or smudge. Pretty amazing actually.

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Thanks everyone. Its given me something to think about.

De Atamentis Archive black looks good but expensive.

I did a stock take of my ink this morning. I have a full bottle of Quink Blue and a nearly full bottle of Diamine Eau de Nil. I think I will need to use them up first and control my urge to get more blue/black.

I have no black at all though so maybe will splurge on the De atamentis.

My debt he paid, my death he died, that I might live.

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I am looking for a dark blue/ black ink. Reasonably quick drying as I am left handed. And waterproof. And cheapish. To be used in a Jinhao. Various paper types.

I am in the UK.

Considering Diamine Registrars ink or maybe KWZ iron gall turquoise. Both go on light and turn dark which I like.

Which ink is best? Any others to consider.

 

One thing: decide just how waterproof you need the ink to be. I have seen:

 

- 1950's - 1960's, traditional (AKA "vintage") permanent ink. Tough, hard to get off hands, even harder to get out of clothing. Inks that my parents grew up with in the 1930's and '40's, causing them to insist that I, like other kids, use "washable" inks. (Sheaffer Blue-Black was my choice) Sheaffer Permanent Blue-Black (#22) is available on EBay.

 

- Pilot inks (not Iroshizuku) seem close to the vintage permanent inks.

 

- Inks that bond with the fibers in paper, causing them to outlast the paper itself, most likely. Various Noodlers inks do this, as mentioned above. Many Noodlers inks are heavily saturated, but can wash off with determined scrubbing. I found Noodler's (plain) Blue a "tough but scrubbable" ink.

 

- Iron Gall inks, which use a very old ingredient. Goes down blue but turns black over time. Eighty years ago, people avoided using IG inks in a pen with a steel nib. Now, steel nibs probably handle IG inks without damage.

Washington Nationals 2019: the fight for .500; "stay in the fight"; WON the fight

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- Iron Gall inks, which use a very old ingredient. Goes down blue but turns black over time. Eighty years ago, people avoided using IG inks in a pen with a steel nib. Now, steel nibs probably handle IG inks without damage.

Yep. Not only have IG inks gotten milder than they used to be, but stainless steel has also gotten a lot better. And the IG component turns clear with sodium hypochlorite (bleach).

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Thanks everyone. Its given me something to think about.

De Atamentis Archive black looks good but expensive.

I did a stock take of my ink this morning. I have a full bottle of Quink Blue and a nearly full bottle of Diamine Eau de Nil. I think I will need to use them up first and control my urge to get more blue/black.

I have no black at all though so maybe will splurge on the De atamentis.

 

I have only limited experience with De Atramentis document (fog grey) and I found it to be horrendously prone to feathering and spreading an F nib to nearly a B.

 

If you can only have one black ink. Pelikan 4001 black or noodlers black. Pelikan 4001 is a bit better behaved, noodlers is more water resistant.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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Yep. Not only have IG inks gotten milder than they used to be, but stainless steel has also gotten a lot better. And the IG component turns clear with sodium hypochlorite (bleach).

 

I've seen modern stainless nibs subjected to intense iron gall lose gold plating and start to pit with time. I wouldn't use it in a steel nib pen I loved or couldn't easily replace the nib on.

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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