Which inks work best in Sailor?

[1000km]

I've found that Sailor ink works exceptionally well in my Sailor Sapporo. It flows beautifully and adds to the legendary smoothness of the remarkable nib. My experiences with other inks (including Diamine, Noodler's, Pelikan and Visconti) in the Sailor have been less great. What inks have you found work really well in Sailor pens?

 

(Dear moderator: I posted here instead of in 'Inky Thoughts' because this is more about Sailor pens than about ink.)

[Ron Sabbagh]

"never leave fish to find fish"....

 

An old fishing saying that rings true for many situations. If Sailor ink performs exceptionally well in your pen, then why switch? Sailor inks have a top notch reputation and I think you will find them hard to beat. If you are looking for a certain color that is not represented in the Sailor line-up then I'd suggest you check out Private Reserve inks.

 

Ron

[rokurinpapa]

I have used Pilot Iroshiuku Tsukiyo(moon light night) in my Sailor 95th Realo.The ink works very well.

 

rokurinpapa

[nemesiz]

Parker Quink ink has a similar viscosity and performance to Sailor Jentle ink. The Japanese black ink has a silkier texture, and a deeper, darker levels compared to the Parker brand, but overall both are very thin, wet inks. So a Sailor Fine or Extra Fine Fountain Pen usually leaves a line equating to a Extra-Fine western nib. A similar result can be found by using standard Pilot ink. My preference though is the Pelikan (Cross branded ink) as it's a much drier ink, and helps leave a finer line compared to other brands, although it's advisable to increase the regularity of flushing out of Japanese Fountain Pens with dry (Sailor Sapporo) or ultra-fine nibs. Don't forget that sometimes results and performance alter substantially when an ink has been left stored in a fountain pen for a couple of days.

[Joe in Seattle]

My experience with my 3 Sailors has been wonderful with Sailor inks, and just as good with Private Reserve with Chocolat, Midnight Blues, DC Supershow, etc.

[Flourish]

Overall my Sailors have proven that they can take pretty much any ink you can think to load them up with. Your experiences with Noodler's inks are different than mine. I use Noodler's and Platinum Carbon Black to test the workings of all my pens. If a pen won't work with Noodler's BPB or Carbon Black then it's not really up to my standards so I'll move on to another pen. Harsh I know but my tools are very important to me and even a supposedly fragile fountain pen in my hands must be able to stand up to the worst abuses, just in case one day they ever happen for real, which more likely than not they will, I know that they will be able to handle it.

 

However the three inks I like in my Sailer are a 95% Noodler's BulletProof Black/5% Polar Black mix, Platinum Carbon Black and Sailor Kiwa-Guro Black.

[Neill78]

+1 for Parker black. It's a really well-behaved ink.

 

Pilot's Iroshizuku inks work great too. Sheaffer Skrip seems OK as well but not quite as smooth.

 

I like Noodler's Navy for smoothness as well, but I find it tends to make a mess on the nib.

[mazzas]

I have Noodler's La Reine Mauve loaded in my Sailor (medium nib) and it is very wet.

[Dr.Grace]

I have one Sailor 1911 with Concord nib that only likes Sailor ink. I think it's because the other inks don't wet the plastic in the converter very well. That's true only for that one converter, strangely enough. The other ones all do fine with every kind of ink.

[notVirtuThe3rd]

I have been researching the Sailor nibs for a long time.

To tell the conclusion, Pilot Iroshizuku works very well.

 

Sailor ink comes next.

[imahawki]

Posts: 326

Joined: 21-December 12

 

WHOA!

[Tom Aquinas]

I've used Shaeffer Skrip Blue exclusively in my large Sailor 1911 for quite some time. For my taste it is a superb combination. I gave a small yellow, 1911 as a Christmas present two years ago to a mate and he uses it with Parker Quink Blue Black and he rates the performance along with his 51s and Sonnet using the same ink. But if a pen works well with Sailor ink unless there is a supply problem with the ink why change ?

[wieniawski]

I am just hopping in to look for some advice...I have tried J. Herbin in my Pro Gear and the flow isn't bad (of course, the sailor cartridge works better). Out of all the ink I have tried, Pilot/Namiki (not iroshizuku) seem to have the best flow, with any pen I use.

[mongrelnomad]

I have used Pilot Iroshiuku Tsukiyo(moon light night) in my Sailor 95th Realo.The ink works very well.

 

rokurinpapa

 

:notworthy1: :notworthy1:

 

I've long been looking for a Sailor 95th Realo, to no avail. They are rare as hens' teeth!

 

I will concur your findings though from my dozen or so Sailors: inks that replicate Sailor Jentle qualities tend to do best. Can't go wrong with Pilot Iroshizuku...

[Nonsensical]

Today, I inked up my Sailor Procolour with my newly bought Pilot Blue-Black ink. Fabulous performance. Love it!

 

I usually go with Noodlers or Diamine though, which both work well.

[inBOIL]

What, nobody likes Waterman? i've personally found SSB (or whatever it's called now) to have the perfect balance and control for my EF and F nibs.

 

The Sailor Jentle black is certainly great. PI Yama Guri (--is that right? The brown one--) was pretty decent, but maybe a bit thick. Ditto Platinum Silky Purple--tho it IS very smooth, and oddly beautiful.

 

Haven't used Skrip since the late 90's, but i've been thinking about getting a bottle again to try out. (Skrip was my 51 ink for a long time, and i remember it shading really nicely.) Might look very "fountain pen-like" in the wet F nib.

 

Pelikan Violet ... well ... i think i've decided i hate Pelikan inks ... but i guess if you felt your pen was TOO wet, then Pelikan might help. (Help it to feel TOO DRY, tho, perhaps.)

 

Man, Sailor pens are awesome. That's all there is to it.

[AlejoPlay]

My Sapporo has only used Sailor Blue or Blue Black

My ProColor is doing well with Diamine Denim

My Imperial liked Iroshizuku Shin-Ryoku and Diamine Ancient Copper

My Young Profit has only used Blue or Blue Black

[Osquest]

J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage was great in my 1911 medium nib.

J. herbin Perle Noir, AurorA Black and Iroshizuku Fuyu-syohun have all been fine with my Pro Gear fine nib.

[tinta]

All of my pens are currently Sailors, with various italic nibs.

I started out using Sailor Jentle inks with them, but eventually branched out to other makes of inks.

Pilot's Iroshizuku (Tsukushi, Yama-guri, Asa-gao & Yama-budo) inks have performed very well in my pens.

I regularly use iron-gall inks (R&K, Akkerman, Diamine & MB). Though drier than dye-based inks, I've never had flow issues with ferro-gallic inks. You just have to observe a more thorough pen hygiene with them. I love how these inks change their colour, as they oxidize.

My Sailors have not had any major problems with most inks.

That said, I tend to stay away from brands that are known for highly saturated colours or performance issues.

[nicholasyeo]

Having tried quite a number of inks makes me think Japanese inks are simply one of the best for Japanese pens. I ink my Sailor pens with pretty wet inks so I get a nice saturated line. Though the nibs are quite fine, they have great flow and I love the saturated colour!