Blue-Black Ink Suggestions

[FoszFay]

Hey! It has been a LLLOOOOOONNNNNGG time since I posted.

 

I'm looking for a nice blue-black ink, to use for writing essays and such in school. I only own a few bottles of ink, but no blue-blacks.

 

I'm looking for a nice dark colour, probably on the blacker side of the chart, but if you have any suggestions and/or writing samples of any, please post.

 

I like Iroshizuku Shin-Kai, however the dry time of 20+ seconds turned me away on Brian Goulet's review, and the bleed through was also quite a turn-off.

 

Thanks!

[Icywolfe]

Diamine Registrar Ink: Blue-Black

[lehrer07]

Diamine Twilight

De Atramentis Indigo Blue

[georgeb]

Montblanc Midnight Blue

[fljones3]

Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite

[Lou Erickson]

I like the Pilot blue-black. Nice and dark, but still clearly blue, and somewhat water resistant.

[wallylynn]

Diamine Registrar Ink: Blue-Black

Me too. A nice traditional Blue-then-Black. Everything else is merely a dark blue. Alas, they're becoming rarer and rarer. Get one while you can.

[FoszFay]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I think I am leaning towards the Montblanc Midnight Blue, I really do enjoy the colour, and it also seems to dry quick and not bleed on cheap paper (which I'll be using mostly). I have never used an Iron Gall? ink before, but some people seem to stay away, and others say they are all good.

 

I usually flush my pens pretty regularly anyway, usually every month and a half or earlier, so I should be alright.

[SeeksAdvice]

Wow, 20 second dry time on Shin-Kai? And significant bleed through? Hmm ...

Montblanc Midnight Blue is no longer an IG ink.

 

Since it's no longer an IG ink, have no idea what it's behavior is on paper.

 

DRI is a decent choice for recycled post-use Soviet toilet paper.

Only thing about really robust IG inks is that you can start to have oxidation occur in the pen, which leaves some interesting deposits that require some vinegar to get out. Have only had Salix attack one SS nib. Heck, even one of Noodler's inks attacked the metal band on my M1000 nib.

I kind of like Sei-Boku, which is really well behaved on almost all paper, but isn't quite as good on horrible paper as IG's are. Sei-Boku requires pretty good pen maintenance.

[SallyLyn]

I find Waterman Blue/Black a serious, well behaved ink. Only ink I use in my 1943 gray Parker '51' Vac.

 

Also like a couple Noodler's inks but you may not have easy access. There is Blue/Black but I like Navy and Air Corps better. Navy has a hidden green and Air Corps a touch more green but still in the B/B family. Many swear by Zhivago.

[Uncle Red]

Diamine Registrar Ink: Blue-Black

+1 for RI

 

Tyr De Atramentis Atlantic Blue/Ferdinand von Zeppelin.

[inkstainedruth]

Diamine Denim.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[sgage]

I second Diamine Twilight - love that ink!

 

On more average papers, though, I find Parker Permanent Blue Black Quink to be very well behaved.

[carlos.q]

Pelikan 4001 blue-black: Nice, cheap and water resistant!!!

[Lou Erickson]

Pelikan 4001 blue-black: Nice, cheap and water resistant!!!

And sadly hard to get in the USA now. Bummer.

[aardvarkbark]

Noodler's 54th Mass

[UDog]

Noodler's Blue-Black diluted 10 percent. Beautiful....and very water-resistant.

[juliancretin]

I started a similar thread two weeks ago, and I've had the chance to try some of the recommendations.

 

FP: Faber Castell Basic, Fine nib.

 

Kaweco blues, Royal Blue and Blue-Black are not to my liking; they shade a lot. And they are too pale.

 

Waterman Mysterious Blue (blue-black) is on the dry side of the flow. It is paleish, but not as much as Kawecos. It shades moderate to crazy depending on paper. It does not feather much on cheap yellow paper probably as a side effect of its dryness (I'm speculating. I'll be happy to strikethrough this part if an experienced user says it wrong).

 

Lamy Blue-Black. This one is also dry for me. And I know this is very subjective but, I didn't like the color. My view is, neither Kaweco nor Lamy blue-blacks have much presence on paper. Please beware that I'm not after subtelty.

 

I like Montblanc Midnight Blue (blue-black ink). The Ident. Nr. on the cartridge box is 105195, in accordance with Montblanc's actual offering on its page (so it must be non iron-gall). It's a solid dark color, shades a bit but the tone difference between light parts and dark parts is minimal.

Edited September 3, 2014 by juliancretin

[MUKKALA]

I have gone through all topics for a recipe for Blue Black mix but none was satisfactory. This has given me an opportunity to take it up as an assignment to throw more light into this. Previously this combination was available in India, where I reside, but the advent of ball point pens has over grown fountain pen users. Those who use them are treated as vintage. i had tried all avenues but was not successful hence I tried to prepare my owm recipe. I tried this initially with an ink pillar in small quantities and finally arrived at this combination

 

1. 60 ml Royal Blue ink ( Camel make)

2. 60 ml Black Ink (Camel make)

 

Recipe :

Add 10ml to 12ml of Black Ink to 45ml or 48ml of Royal Blue ink.

 

This should serve the purpose.

 

Ananda Rao Mukkala

[Steffen Larsen]

I have for some time been convinced that Diamine's "Blue-Black" is a ink of impressive and ponderous gravitas and conviction. There is no fooling around with THAT ink! The author is immediately identified as someone who's to be taken seriously ...or so I hope. The line comes across as strong and yet somewhat conservative, with no fancy sheen and little annoying shading, perhaps too little depending on the pen employed..