What Is The Blackest, Black Ink

[bernardo]

I've tried them all, and still don't have my baby back.

 

Me neither. I've tried Aurora, Noodler's, and the traditional Quink, Skrip, MB and Lamy. None of them has fulfilled my expectations. I'd probably give PR a try...

Edited December 16, 2013 by bernardo

[mhosea]

PR Velvet Black is nicer than I expected. Turns out that I'm not a huge fan of PR inks, though in all fairness I'm learning that they work dramatically better in some pens than in others, and in the past I may not have taken the time to find which pens of mine like them. Anyway, it is not blacker than my 2:1 ink-to-water Noodler's Heart of Darkness mix, which is more or less as black as the regular Noodler's Black. I might try Noodler's Old Manhattan someday, but instead I think I have just moved on from the idea of a hole-in-the-paper black. I use my diluted HOD or Sailor Kiwa Guro, which is a non-contender for blackest black because of its graphite sheen. OTOH, I will say that one day with the sun at my back in the office, Kiwa Guro was pretty much a "hole in the paper" black. Apparently the lighting conditions were ideal for it.

[whoelse]

Hero 234 Black Carbon Ink.

[daoud62]

Noodler's Heart of Darkness

[BMG]

For a deep, rich, black, I like (and probably in this order):

 

1. Aurora Black

2. Pelikan Brillant Black

3. J. Herbin's Perle noire

 

I can't say any of them are the blackest of blacks, but I can say that each one appears at its blackest in my wetter pens (IOW the greater the ink flow, the deeper/darker/richer the hue).

Edited December 18, 2013 by BMG

[vectorbundle]

When you combine the qualities of blackest black and quick-drying, I think Heart of Darkness wins out. Caveat: my evidence comes from (extensive) use of HOD on Clairefontaine and Rhodia paper.

[SharkOnWheels456]

For the record, I own both PR Velvet Black and Noodler's Old Manhattan Black, and I find the Velvet Black to be a bit darker. While OMB is certainly more saturated and is bulletproof (though it is only marketed as "eternal"), the PR offers a nicer shade of black that isn't as thick and grey. It's hard to describe without seeing it in person, but the PR is ultimately a deeper color.

[SeeksAdvice]

The black inks I own in descending order of "blackness," not counting sheen:

Platinum Carbon Black

Sailor Kiwa-Guro

Noodler's X-feather

Noodler's Old Manhattan Blackest Black

Noodler's Borealis Black - looks really, really terrible out of a chisel tip Preppy highlighter for document redacting.

Iroshizuku Take-Sumi - not an all that "black" black. Perhaps my most disappointing ink buy in a while, and I generally like the Iroshizuku line.

Of course, these are subjective. Carbon Black and Kiwa-Guro may have a silvery sheen depending on the amount of ink being laid down on the page.

Old Manhattan Blackest Black will run a dark green color when wet.

Kiwa-Guro and Carbon Black are waterproof when dry.

Take-Sumi can run both a dark blue and a darker green when wet.

[haziz]

1. Aurora Black.

2. Pelikan Brilliant Black comes close.

[Lou Erickson]

Interesting thread! I've been considering a black - I usually prefer blue, but black has a place - and want one that won't make a mess of a pen. Sounds like Aurora Black works well for that. Thanks!

[bone215]

My experience includes Mont Blanc, Pilot Namiki, and Aurora.

In terms of black darkness ranking is 1 Aurora, 2 Pilot, 3 MB.

Smoothness ranking is same.

All have been flawless performers for me in my pens and papers.

Regards,

[amberleadavis]

I really like Polar Black, I think ethernautrix did a comparison of blacks and she liked Manhatann Blackest Blackity Black or something like that.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Colors/Black/slides/2012_02_25_16_03_54.jpg

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Colors/Black/slides/2013-Ink_786.jpg

[Number3124]

Noodler's Old Manhattan Black all the way. It is, to my eyes, it is the blackest ink available tied with Noodler's Heart of Darkness. There are tone differences. The former is somewhat... warmer while the later is colder, but they're negligible. The big difference is that OMB is absolutely INDESTRUCTIBLE. I once had the idea to see how indestructible it was and threw a writing sample in a cup of pure bleach. Came back two hours later, and, while it had taken on quite the yellow tone, it was still black and everything was clearly legible. Now, the paper was about the fall apart, but that's another story.

 

Unfortunately, that quality extends to clothing. I had a cheep Hero pen once. I took it apart to reseat the nib and must have cracked the section putting it back together. Later that day I reached into my pocket for my wallet and pulled out a hand covered in ink. Those pants now have a permanent black spot on the pocket.

 

On the other hand HOD is a bit more lubricating than OMB which to me, while still wet as you'd expect a Noodler's to be, is on the dryer side of that scale.

[mhosea]

I finally broke down and bought a bottle of Aurora Black a few days ago. I'm not a black ink fan, generally, but I like Aurora Black quite a lot--lubricious, good flow, very dark. Since I don't care for the residue or nib creep that the Noodler's cellulose-reactive blacks are prone to, I think I'll stick to Sailor Kiwa Guro for permanence and Aurora Black for blackety-blackness. Those two bottles will probably last me a decade.

[RJR]

Sailor Kiwa-guro; I stopped looking after I found this black.

 

My pens glide on the paper like a skate on ice. It's very black, but not dead, tilt the paper in the light and you get a nice graphite sheen that gives this black some personality.

Oh yes, it is a Nano Black or pigmented ink, it is also smudge resistant, waterproof and it dries fairly fast... which is a plus if you are a lefty.

 

I use Sailor Kiwa-guro when signing checks and documents.

[KBeezie]

I've found Noodler's Black Eel to be pretty black for me, though Waterman's Intense Black is pretty close (but not quite as water resistant, nor seems to flow quite as smoothly thru an extra fine nib, flows GREAT thru a stub nib though.)

http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/batch_03152014/write.jpg

I noticed that both Waterman's Intense Black and Noodler's Black Eel are darker than Platinum's Carbon Black. (Supposedly Noodler's Black [without the lubrication] is darker than the eel version).

 

The only so-so problem I have with Waterman's Intense black, is that if it get's wet, it does bleed a little, and once dried it has like a yellow halo around where the black was, where as if you soaked the noodler's black eel, it ain't going anywhere.

[JonSzanto]

Boy, this is a zombie thread if ever there was one...

 

I've tried a bunch, and it ended up down to:

1. Aurora Black
2. J. Herbin Perle Noire

That is based on both performance and blackness. Hell, if I want the inks any blacker than that I just turn out the lights.

[KBeezie]

 

That is based on both performance and blackness. Hell, if I want the inks any blacker than that I just turn out the lights.

 

Speaking of turning out the lights, imagine if they ever managed to make a pitch-black ink that was also UV reactive.

[beak]

For what it's worth, I asked the calligrapher in my local pen shop this question, and his immediate answer was AURORA. He said it's the one he uses for all of his handwritten tickets and price labels, for that very reason.

[PrestoTenebroso]

Another Sailor Kiwa-guro vote. However, the blackest ink isn't black enough. Never will be. Nasa's got us beat:http://gizmodo.com/5706700/why-did-nasa-create-a-material-ten-times-blacker-than-the-blackest-black-paint

That's amazing. Thanks for letting us know about NASA's new thing!