Swisher Midnight Black

[OldGriz]

I am not posting an example of the color... let's face it black is black...

However, I will say that this is the blackest black I have used to date...

So far I have tested Aurora, Pelikan and Quink....

Aurora is said to be the ultimate black... I have a test vial and think that the Swisher Midnight Black is a deeper richer looking black... but of course that is just my opinion based on my personal observations and my fading ancient eyesight.

 

I tested this ink in 6 different pens.

Sheaffer Balance ~ fine nib

Parker 51 ~ fine nib

Parker 21 ~ fine/medium nib

Sheaffer Snorkel ~ fine nib

Sheaffer 1949 TD ~ fine/medium nib

Sheaffer Imperial ~ x-fine nib

 

I think the ink improved the performance of all the nibs it was tested in.

I was especially impressed with the Parker 51 and the Sheaffer Imperial.

Both of these pens were real touchy with Quink and Pelikan... writing definately on the dry side and the Imperial was definately a scratchy feel, while the Parker had a real toothy feel.

The improvement in the Imperial was like night and day. The pen went from a dry scratchy x-fine writing pen, to a smoother (just a touch of tooth) damp writing pen in the matter of maybe 5 lines. I let it sit overnight and it wrote the same way this morning.... This pen has definately found a new ink...

The Parker 51 gave me problems with Quink Black from the get go and did not like Pelikan all that much either. Richard Binder and Jim Strutton both suggested I get rid of the Quink Black. I completely flushed out the 51 and UC cleaned it to remove all traces of the old ink. I then filled with the Swisher and it started to write nice and wet and smooth as silk from the first stroke. This is very much unlike the other 51s I have that needed a while for the collector to really get ink soaked. I set it down overnight also and today it is writing even nicer...

The other pens tested definately showed an improvement in smoothness and wetness with this ink.

The Triumph nibbed Snorkel and TD, normally sweet to begin with, felt even smoother.

 

Now, for the bad news.... I did my initial testing on Clairefontaine and Rhodia pads. No feathering and the ink dried quickly.

I then tested it on some laser paper and a pad of 4x4 graph paper and there was definately feathering and bleedthrough ... this is not an ink for cheap papers...

HOWEVER, I picked up some real cheap lined pads at my local supermarket ($1.25 ea.) that are made in China. The company is Notebound. The paper is surprisingly very FP friendly, ON ONE SIDE only. If you write on the opposite side of the paper it feathers.... Not a biggie for me since I normally only write on one side of the paper anyway...

 

So, basically, if you generally use good paper, and are looking for a real deep rich black, I definately recommend Swisher Midnight Black. This ink is not bulletproof, but Swisher Nile Ebony is. And I believe it is every bit as black as the Midnight Black. Swisher claims this ink to be blacker than Noodler's Black and it is made exclusively for Swisher by Noodler. I have been told that mixing some Noodler Bulletproof Black with this or the Nile Ebony will eliminate a lot of the feathering and bleedthrough.... I have not tested this as I don't have any Noodler Black.

[fjf]

I use noodlers regular black, and it is VERY black too. No feathering on any paper I've tested. I like it a lot.

[Goodwhiskers]

Thanks, Tom! Great review, and with a variety of pens and papers too! Very cool .

 

For 'fjf':

Swisher Midnight Black is supposed to be blacker than Noodler's Black from dry-writing and non-fine-point pens. Swisher Midnight Black is also super-fast-drying, while Noodler's Black is merely medium-to-fast-drying.

Noodler's Black behaves better than Swisher Midnight Black on a wider variety of paper. When you don't have a choice of paper for a situation, you can always count on Noodler's Black to perform well (exception: thermal-print paper, which is too glossy for any fountain-pen ink).

[RLTodd]

I am guessing that SMBlack has more wetting agent than normal in it. Hence it soaks into the paper giving the dry surface effect. The part you can then touch is dry because most of the ink has dove below the surface. This is a tricky solution to the desire for quick drying ink (usually for left hand writers) because the increased wetness also gives it the attribute of pipping along the paper fibers. So I would guess (had the same experience with early inkjets) you are looking for short fiber paper rather than long fiber paper which allows the piping we see as feathering. I think the amount of sizing the manufacture applies may also have some effect. Cost of the paper will not be a determining factor, it is how they decided to make it.

 

Mixing the SMBlack with the NBlack. I am guessing that your just reducing the amount of wetting agent in the resulting mix. The ink is less "wet" and hence will have less of the quick penetrating attribute therefore it will not submerge on the surface as fast and leave more there to dry and not feather.

 

I don't think your going to get much help from the paper makers as they key on their supportable markets. However, I find that some of the 'multipurpose' papers which are formulated with inkjets in mind, tend to be short fiber with little sizing and also little feathering.

 

I think that anyone who wants to use the "quick drying" inks and can't stick to the tested and recommended papers will have to go on a paper hunt. I am in that situations with the same line's North Sea Blue. It doesn't work on the papers that I have and I have not yet found anything I normally use that will take it as it is supposed to function.

[RLTodd]

I looked a little more into the issue of sizing. I now think that sizing delays the penetration of the ink into the fiber and would remove the "quick drying" attribute from those inks formulated so.

 

I am also beginning to think the feathering resistance of Noodlers Black may be due to the affinity of the dye used in that mixture for the cellulose. It might be binding to the fibers before it has a chance to creep along the fiber strand and show as feathering.

[Roger]

I am also beginning to think the feathering resistance of Noodlers Black may be due to the affinity of the dye used in that mixture for the cellulose.  It might be binding to the fibers before it has a chance to creep along the fiber strand and show as feathering.

Hmm, then shouldn't Nathan's Luxury Blue, Hunter Green, Fox Red and Lexington Grey be similarly well behaved as the Black? Anyone know?

 

I own Luxury Blue, but haven't cracked the lid open as yet. So much ink, so little time!

Edited June 25, 2006 by Roger

[Inkanthropist]

Hmm, then shouldn't Nathan's Luxury Blue, Hunter Green, Foxfire and Lexington Grey be similarly well behaved as the Black? Anyone know?

I haven't had any problems with the Lexington Gray feathering.

 

Neil

[Stephen-I-am]

I find luxury blue to have impeccable manners. I can write with nice sharp lines on a wide variety of papers.

 

Stephen

[Gran]

Very interesting review. Thanks much for doing this.

 

Old Griz, Would you recommend the Swisher Black for your 51 and Imperial over other inks in those pens?

[pmsalty]

Nice review Old Griz! However this ink seems to be a bit drier in my pens. I had feed problems in my Parker 51, the pen would skip and write rather dry (it had been refurbished by Richard Binder) I now use Aurora black in it and no problems. But I do like this ink and it is my preferred drawing ink.

PMS