The Best Black Ink!

[John the Monkey]

I ordered some Herbin Perle Noire on the basis of a recommendation elsewhere on FPN, and so far, I love it.

[bassguy]

I really like Heart of Darkness for blackest black, but my vote is for Sailor Kiwaguru Nano-Carbon Black.

[Dan Solomon]

I have had good luck with: Noodler's Heart of Darkness, Aurora Black and Montegrappa Black. All three are very nice inks!

[LuckyDog10]

I add my vote for Aurora, it is a deep velvety black, but it has the disadvantage of, while not being very water resistant on paper, is incredibly staining on anything else. I still have, after many washings, a gray-blue splotch on a bed sheet (don't ask me how it got there).

 

+1 on both counts. Beautiful ink. Got it on and under my cuticle and nail awhile back. Basically had to grow a new fingernail to get rid of it.

[Silvermink]

I've developed a certain fondness for Noodler's Borealis Black, which looks really nice, especially under natural light. I was using it in my M1050, but it's too wet for that - going to have to try it in a drier pen.

Edited February 21, 2011 by Silvermink

[Bronze]

My favourites as of now:

 

1. Aurora Black

2. Noodler's Borealis Black

3. Noodler's Black

[torstar]

Aurora

[Pengrump]

Aurora, Herbin Perle Noire, if you're not looking for water fastness. Sailor Kiwaguro and Platinum Carbon Black, if you are. NOS Sheaffer Skrip from the Fort Madison days is very black and very free-flowing, but hard to find nowadays.

[thaugen]

I've never tried Aurora, but i might have to after reading this thread...

 

My favorite black inks:

 

1. Herbin Perle Noire

2. Pelikan 4001

[farseer911]

3 blackest blacks.... as per the OP, I will tell you what my black of choice is at the end....

 

Swisher Mix Nile Ebony By Noodlers

 

Fountain Pen Hospital Old Manhattan Black by Noodlers

 

Noodlers Heart Of Darkness

 

Noodlers Dark Matter

 

All read perfect black when scanned by my scanner, all are darker than J Herbin Perl Noir, Pilot black, parker Black, MB black, Pr Black and waterman black on clairefontaine 90g white paper and g. lalo 100g writing paper.

 

My Black of choice is

 

 

 

FPN Old Manhattan Black By Noodlers, closely followed by Heart of Darkness...

Edited February 21, 2011 by farseer911

[MadAmos]

I saw one other mention of my personal favorite black, Namiki black. A nice solid black not a gray black and I have yet to find one of my pens that did not thrive on it. It may not be considered "water proof" but it is very close.

[torstar]

I've never tried Aurora, but i might have to after reading this thread...

 

My favorite black inks:

 

1. Herbin Perle Noire

2. Pelikan 4001

 

 

Please don't assume then that Aurora Blue must be a top blue...

 

Just sayin'...

[uojfe]

1) Noodler's HOD

2) Pelikan 4001

3) Noodler's Black

[Albertine]

is the aurora black waterproof?

[Hellmark]

I've so far not had the best of luck with Blacks. The first bottle of black I got was Higgins brand, and it was horrible. Recently I picked up a bottle of Skrip, and, well, not that impressed. It behaves pretty well for the most part, but the color is often kind of a greyish purple, and it also seems to have the flow stop on me, forcing me to shake the pen or pushing the piston to get it going again, only to repeat a short while later. I've been using it for about a week and a half. Going to give my TWSBI a good flushing tonight.

[Namo]

I've developed a certain fondness for Noodler's Borealis Black, which looks really nice, especially under natural light. I was using it in my M1050, but it's too wet for that - going to have to try it in a drier pen.

 

I don't know about the best black, but I certainly like Noodler's Borealis Black. I wouldn't discount Pelikan, if your pen can handel dry inks. And I would give a shot to Sailor Jentle. Not the blackest black (if that was your question), but certainly one of the best behaved ink I've tried.

Edited February 21, 2011 by Namo

[Joshua Perz]

Levenger black for drying time and color. It's not always the best flowing ink, so I'm always looking for alternatives. Most other black inks I've tried take too long to dry or appear grayish in some pens. Right now I'm mixing the Levenger with some contaminated vintage Parker Quink.

[Blueblack4256]

I'm always going against the grain when it comes to ink, but I really enjoy ink that looks like I've used a fountain pen instead of having trained a lazer printer to imitate my handwriting. Therefore, I'm a big fan of Skrip Jet Black, Waterman black and my new fave - Noodlers Dark Matter. Dark Matter looks REALLY black as you write, but come back to the document several hours later and it looks like my idea of fountain pen ink. I deal with manuscript documents from the "golden age" of fountain pens, so that's where my tastes were formed. I've found that very few of these documents are faded or difficult to read, and I've been unable to see the attraction to "Bulletproof" formulas.

[tonybelding]

I've so far not had the best of luck with Blacks. The first bottle of black I got was Higgins brand, and it was horrible.

 

I didn't think Higgins made ink for fountain pens. Was it calligraphy ink?

 

 

Recently I picked up a bottle of Skrip, and, well, not that impressed. It behaves pretty well for the most part, but the color is often kind of a greyish purple, and it also seems to have the flow stop on me, forcing me to shake the pen or pushing the piston to get it going again, only to repeat a short while later.

 

Could your pen be clogged with residue from calligraphy ink? Once a fountain pen has been filled with that stuff, it's questionable whether it'll ever work right again. Or else, it might be fixable with disassembly and sonic cleaning of the feed.

[WanderingAuthor]

Noodler's Heart of Darkness - just what the name implies, a beautiful, deep black. And it makes my nib practically fly across the paper...