What Is Your Black?

[Emperor]

Is there a true black? I'm not sure I don't think if I recall my ancient elementary school art classes correctly, but I just flushed a pen with Lamy Black, and the black was not really black, but was a deep violet color with a red tint! What is YOUR black (diluted down of course!)?

[CAG_1787]

Noodler's Black, though Heart of Darkness is nice, too.

[andru]

The nano-carbon inks! Also the oldest known ink formula if I remember correctly (using soot).

[linearM]

Aurora black or Noodler's black.

[andru]

Nope, all those other inks are still dye-based; they are mixtures of coloured components....

[effrafax]

Nope, all those other inks are still dye-based; they are mixtures of coloured components....

 

I beg to differ: the Noodler's black inks, when dripped onto kitchen towel, or separated out in a basic chromatograph, show only black. There is no colour separation.

 

Yes, I have done that, as have many others on FPN.

 

Check out Heart of Darkness and BP Black in this post. The other two inks aren't available here in Australia, and definitely aren't as black as BP and HoD.

 

And nano carbon inks can only be black.

[thesunshine]

Noodler's Black, though Heart of Darkness is nice, too.

 

+1 for Noodler's Black. I can't see any hint of a tint in it, it behaves well in my pens, there is beautiful deep saturation, and it's bulletproof to boot!

[JLT]

Noodler's Black. I have no need for another black ink.

[torstar]

Aurora is my first choice, I have never observed another colour in the writing.

 

A few other have given red and grey streaks.

[stuartk]

Is there a true black? I'm not sure I don't think if I recall my ancient elementary school art classes correctly, but I just flushed a pen with Lamy Black, and the black was not really black, but was a deep violet color with a red tint! What is YOUR black (diluted down of course!)?

 

In terms of color, I only care what the ink looks like on the paper. My favorite black ink is Noodler's Black.

 

I've seen a lot of people saying that Aurora Black is also very good. As for the nano-carbon inks, they always seem to have a sheen when on paper that keeps them from looking truly jet black.

[ethernautrix]

Yep. Noodler's Black. Just ran a nib on a paper towel -- nothing but black.

 

It's actually about 6:1 Noodler's Black:Noodler's Old Manhattan Black (a wild guess, cos I put a bit of OMB into a vial of Black to make the Black a bit blacker).

[mhosea]

Nope, all those other inks are still dye-based; they are mixtures of coloured components....

 

I beg to differ: the Noodler's black inks, when dripped onto kitchen towel, or separated out in a basic chromatograph, show only black. There is no colour separation.

 

I also choose Noodler's Black, but could the issue of how it's put together be obfuscated somewhat by the bonding with cellulose? I seem to recall that when cleaning a pen with Noodler's black I caught a greenish tinge in the heavily diluted ink. It's not like I care either way, mind you. I'm not paying 3.4x more per ml for Sailor Kiwaguro just so that the water looks gray instead of dark green as it goes down the sink when I'm washing out a pen!

[tommyss4l]

I really like my Mont Blanc Mystery Black, but I may pick up a bottle of Noodler's black or Heart of Darkness, has anyone tried mixing them? Is there any improvement?

[gks]

I really like Old Manhattan Black.

 

Takes a tad bit to dry but it's a nice dark black.

[nvbrennan]

For Easy use I go with Aurora all the way. Washes out easily, lubricates well. For fun light sucking factor kiwaguro is great, though you do get a slight sheen with it. Reminds me to pick some up in Tokyo this week.

[FPFan]

Noodler's Black or Heart of Darkness are the only two black I have used in the recent past outside of Platinums Carbon Black which is in my mind the very best of blacks. And I never ever dilute. Why anyone would dilute a black ink is beyond my understanding!

 

Somebody tell me why diluting is necessary?

[The Good Captain]

For me, the question is, "Why is your ink black?"

[andru]

Nope, all those other inks are still dye-based; they are mixtures of coloured components....

 

I beg to differ: the Noodler's black inks, when dripped onto kitchen towel, or separated out in a basic chromatograph, show only black. There is no colour separation.

 

Yes, I have done that, as have many others on FPN.

 

Check out Heart of Darkness and BP Black in this post. The other two inks aren't available here in Australia, and definitely aren't as black as BP and HoD.

 

And nano carbon inks can only be black.

Well, first, it was me who mentioned the nano carbon inks, and you are correct, only they can be black.

 

I use HoD daily, but it definitely has a reddish tone; and Aurora for instance has a green tone. But maybe it's plausible that a single dye could be equally absorbant across the entire visible range, I don't see why not.

[Emperor]

Noodler's Black or Heart of Darkness are the only two black I have used in the recent past outside of Platinums Carbon Black which is in my mind the very best of blacks. And I never ever dilute. Why anyone would dilute a black ink is beyond my understanding!

 

Somebody tell me why diluting is necessary?

 

I don't dilute my black ink, but I just thought that it would be an interesting thing to see: if you dilute a black ink (let say while flushing out a pen to change colors or something), you could see that the black ink is not truly black, but another color, just deeply concentrated. For Lamy Black I found that it is a deep deep purple/violet with a red tint.

 

Of course someone else my dilute for another deep purpose but I'm just a layman

[UDog]

Noodler's Dark Matter...just because of the back story.