The Best Black Ink!

[Lovesink]

www.stylos.se is an excellent place to get Aurora ink. FREE shipping.

 

Bookmarked this site. Tx!

[Jared C]

My vote goes for Aurora as well.

 

I do most of my shopping (unless it's something Todd doesn't have) at http://www.isellpens.com/ink.htm l NEVER EVER have i had any kind of problem with him. He's definitely as reliable as Goulet.

 

Don't let the vendors keep you from getting this ink, it's a must try, even though it is expensive. Other than that, try some Noodlers Black (or any variety really), but diluted to 60% with distilled water.

[torstar]

You know, I'm actually not a big fan of Aurora black. It is truly one of the deepest blacks I've ever seen/used, but it feathers like crazy and flows far too wet. If I'm not using it in a F or XF pen it just gushes out of the nib and ruins any natural line variation there might have been. Plus, it's one of the most expensive inks per volume. Too bad Aurora has such a lovely bottle and J. Herbin has such a difficult one, otherwise I'd be more tempted to get Perle Noir!

 

 

The Aurora bottle is poor for filling pens, you need a syringe or better bottle after 1/3 is used up.

 

No other hassles with this ink.

[The Good Captain]

I am using Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black as my choice in that colour. It's doing OK so far and has good price and availability her in the UK. I see no reason to change at the moment.

[UltraMagnus]

Sailor Kiwa-Guro, the blackest, darkest, ink the is; ultra smooth writing as well, which is to be expected considering graphite is a lubricant.

[Safari_Camo]

Noodler's - X-Feather (Blackest ink I ever tested, seems like indian ink)

Noodlers - Black Bullet proof (not bad)

J. Herbin - Perle Noire (very similar than BBP)

 

 

Need some sample of Aurora Black and Pelikan bright black to have my final veredict, but so far.... next purchase will be Noodler's - X-Feather

[andru]

Aurora Black if waterproof is not important; Heart of Darkness otherwise. People experiencing lack of lubrication or greyness with the latter have probably failed to agitate the bottle before filling. As for Sailor Kiwaguro, this ink looks like graphite once dry -- that is, dark from above, but grey or silvery from an angle. This has included normal writing angle for me, but depends on the light source.

[Pulse]

+1 for Noodler's Heart of Darkness.

[scottdp]

I haven't tried nearly all the blacks mentioned in this topic. But I am a little surprised to see Noodler's HOD mentioned so many times compared to Private Reserve Velvet Black. These are the two bottles of black I have open right now, and I must say, I prefer the PR Velvet Black for pure blackness. I don't know if it's waterproof in all circumstances, but it is definitely pants-proof (sadly). I have appreciated various Noodler's inks and thought I would trust the concept of the Heart of Darkness as the ultimate black, but I really think PR Velvet Black is blacker. HOD has much cooler bottle art, though.

 

I've used both of these with mostly Esterbrook J and Dollar pens and can't speak to lubrication, etc. in a whole variety of pens.

[TSWard]

I still haven't found a black that is as infinitely black as I want. HoD isn't dark enough for me (I know). Velvet Black was pretty good. Old Manhattan Black is cool, but I use PR Invincible Black most often.

[JonDoh]

I like Aurora black and Private Reserve Velvet Black. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Waterman's black. Although I haven't tried it, every other ink they make has been excellent.

[ethernautrix]

Black inks I have used and enjoyed:

 

Waterman Black, Parker Quink Black, Aurora Black (not really enjoyed it, although it's a lovely black), J. Herbin Perle Noir, Pelikan Black, Sheaffer Skrip Jet Black (not my favorite, ever), Sailor Black, Platinum Black, Platinum Carbon Black (love this, but it's high maintenance, so I use it in particular pens, not all), Noodler's Old Manhattan Blackety-Black Black, Noodler's Heart of Darkness (feathery), Pilot Black, Lamy Black, Montblanc Black, Visconti Black, Namiki Black, Private Reserve Fast-Dry Black (not like), Noodler's Black, and... is that it? Noodler's old formula black (can't remember the name offhand, "Nuke" is stamped on the box).

 

My favorite black ink of all time is Noodler's Black.

 

I'm not saying other black inks aren't good; I'm saying that of all the black inks I've tried, I prefer Noodler's Black.

[Soot]

The best black ink I've used so far.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/364681161_90951efb19.jpg

NAGASAWA Penstyle Sumi ink -- made by Sailor

[Chris H]

My best black is Sailor Kiwaguro. Even toothy nibs write smoothly with this ink. It works on any paper. Simply fantastic.

 

My second choice is Sheaffer Skrip Black. Versatile old standby.

 

Chris

[Ink Stained Wretch]

Hi guys, im amassing a few bottles of lues, blacks and blue black inks before i get onto colours, and i dont have any blacks, so what the best black ink

+ whatever the number is up to for Noodler's Black, the original bulletproof black. I've been using it for just about seven years now.

 

The only ink of all these that disappointed me was the Heart of Darkness. I'd seen many opinions praising it's darkness and performance and was quite excited to try it out but in my experience it was neither the darkest (on any paper) nor the best performing. In fact, it was the only ink of these 6 I considered to be dry and non-lubricating to the point of scratchiness with what is usually a quite smooth nib.

Did you shake the bottle before you put the ink in the fountain pen? If not that may be why you're having an anomalous experience with Heart of Darkness. The very saturated inks need to have their bottle shaken up before you load up the ink. This is usually only really necessary every once in a while. IME it takes weeks or months for the contents to start gravitating towards the bottom of the bottle, but I shake those inks up every time just to make sure.

 

Try vigorously shaking up the bottle of Heart of Darkness and try writing with it again. You might have a different, and better, experience with it .

[inksmears]

I'm still on the quest for a good black. But, PR Velvet Black is the one I keep coming back to. It behaves well in my pens and behaves on all but the cheapest paper. I haven't had a problem with drying as others have said.

 

Summary:

 

Noodler's Polar Black - garbage. Damn near gushed out of my Lamy Safari (I've never had the ENTIRE nib covered in ink overnight). Ironically, it felt like tar in some of my pens.

 

Noodler's 'basic' Bulletproof Black. Kind of dry (but my XF Hero 616 loves it and it's great for crosswords on newsprint). It just isn't black enough for me. YMMV...

 

Aurora Black - had this in cart form in a Parker Vector (fine). Too wet and too feathery. Nice and dark though. I'd like to try it from the bottle in an XF nibbed pen.

 

Namiki Black - mine looked dark grey. May have to try it again. LOVE Namiki Blue...

 

Sheaffer Black - NOS, Ft Madison. Well behaved. A little too light for me. Just doesn't "do it" for me anymore. Used it a lot in cartridges in college

 

Waterman black - Well behaved for sure, smooth writing. It's grey, not black. There's a reason I don't use it.

 

Private Reserve Fast Dry Black - Flows like a cattle stampede. WAY too fast. I'll try it in a dry-writer sometime.

 

Private Reserve Velvet Black - kind of a yellow component, but it is the darkest I have and writes really really well. Behaves in the pens better than most PR inks I have. Still my go-to black, when I even use black.

 

Noodler's Dark Matter - Half of that title is wrong. Really, no different in color than Basic Black. Still trying to see the difference. Cool story, I guess. Same ink to me.

 

On deck via samples: J. Herbin Perle Noire, Noodler's Black Eel (love, love, LOVE the blue), Sailor Nano Carbon.

Edited June 1, 2011 by inksmears

[sidewinderwcc]

I have been partial to noodlers heart of darkness for awhile, but recently picked up a bottle of sailor nano carbon and I love it! Very dark and great archival qualities.

[adam11]

Well, there is a few blacks and any of them works flawlessly with different kind of nibs; Dupont Noir and Caran d'Ache are very thick and very dark black inks. Dupont is very smooth and pretty quick drying and one of the best black I have (not cheap, tough). Herbin Perle noire is in some pens absolutely wonderful, and so they are Waterman Black or much praised Aurora black.

[johniem]

Noodler's Black. A very nice contrasty black.

 

If I live long enough to use this bottle up, I'll replace it with Noodler's Heart of Darkness.

Not likely to happen. Right now I'm off black, and I don't want to get into ink collecting. Not enough

storage space!

Edited June 4, 2011 by johniem

[pelman]

aurora black

 

 

sheaffer skrip black