EFNIR: Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black

[LizEF]

9 minutes ago, Licue said:

My first thought was the little winged cats from Escher's Magic Mirror.

But they don't really have humanoid faces.

  Works for me!  His face can be however feline or humanoid the reader imagines it to be.

[inkstainedruth]

5 hours ago, yazeh said:

Great job, Liz

This is a really nice shiny black, I'm glad that the water resistance is so, so.

I had a nice laugh, trying to imagine a winged Makhabesh trotting on two hind legs/ paws. Does he have 2 legs and wings, like a bird or is he more like a Pegasus?

Sounds kinda like the character a friend ran years ago in a D&D campaign my husband was the DM for.  The guy was running a wizard, and early on he ran across a magic scroll that turned him into a centaur -- and decided to STAY that way because it improved his armor class!  

His then girlfriend was a dwarf cleric/magic user in a world where dwarves were sort of anti-magic, so as her level went up her ability to cast magic spells DECREASED....  But she had a familiar that was a baby Zorn (no jokes -- this was a couple of decades before I got into pens and met FPN's own RonZ) which we nicknamed "Fluffy" (basically a metallic critter sort of shaped like a trash can) as a joke and the name stuck; she'd send Fluffy into caverns to reconnoiter and Fluffy would come back going "There's 3458 pieces of gold in a casket.... Burp...."  But she went to the local game shop trying to find a Zorn figure, and was freaked out when the guy at the counter said "A baby Zorn?  You must be in Steve's campaign!" (She didn't realize that the guy was a friend of my husband's from college, and was actually in the campaign very early on...).

@LizEF -- Thanks for the review.  While not as water resistant as Noodler's Heart of Darkness, 4001 Brilliant Black is a good ink in other respects.  And the only ink that tamed the M200 with the firehose of an IM nib.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[inkstainedruth]

37 minutes ago, Licue said:

But shouldn't it be the other way around? 🤔 

Black is the color that absorbs all light and reflects none (ideally). And matte is less reflective than shiny.

So shouldn't the blackest black be a matte black?

The blackest ink I've found is Noodler's Old Manhattan (exclusive to Fountain Pen Hospital in NYC, IIRC) -- but part of the reason for it being so black seeming is that it spreads.  A lot....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

6 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

@LizEF -- Thanks for the review.

Gladly!

 

6 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

While not as water resistant as Noodler's Heart of Darkness, 4001 Brilliant Black is a good ink in other respects.  And the only ink that tamed the M200 with the firehose of an IM nib.

Don't tell my brother (HoD is his only ink), but I prefer the Pelikan - it's more tame itself.

[inkstainedruth]

Just now, LizEF said:

Gladly!

 

Don't tell my brother (HoD is his only ink), but I prefer the Pelikan - it's more tame itself.

Oh, if I only had to use one black ever, it would be HoD, because it's faster drying than the regular Noodler's Black, and so not smudgy.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

Just now, inkstainedruth said:

Oh, if I only had to use one black ever, it would be HoD, because it's faster drying than the regular Noodler's Black, and so not smudgy.

  If I could only use black ink, I might just stop writing...  If I could use whatever inks I wanted, but could only have one black ink, I wouldn't care which one it was, because I'd never use it!

[inkstainedruth]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

  If I could only use black ink, I might just stop writing...  If I could use whatever inks I wanted, but could only have one black ink, I wouldn't care which one it was, because I'd never use it!

I'm almost to that level too.  But I do really like Heart of Darkness and 4001 Brilliant Black.  And, while it's not *as* black (and certainly not nearly as waterproof), Iroshizuku Take-sumi which has this sort of tactile look to it, and has really nice flow.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[axialix]

Thank you for another great review. I love black inks but am hesitant to try this one as I've heard it's very dry and wouldn't be so good in a flex nib.

 

I'm intrigued by the microscope shot at 100x. Is that the highest magnification for your scope? I'd love to see some dried ink by itself on a slide (no paper) at a very high magnification. 

[bunnspecial]

5 hours ago, LizEF said:

  Thanks for sharing the longer experience.  Since I don't use black ink, it's nice to have someone who's at least used it more than me, and tried a variety and returned to this one.

 

Like I said, I don't really use blacks either.

 

I think I'm at somewhere close to 200 different inks, and I'd not be surprised if 1/4 of them were blues. I maybe have dozen different blacks in there.

 

For a deep, rich, and cantankerous black I have Penman Ebony, which every time I use it almost sways me back to using blacks regularly.

 

Still, though, at the end of the day when I need a no-fuss black, I really don't need anything other than this.

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, axialix said:

Thank you for another great review.

You're most welcome!!

 

1 hour ago, axialix said:

I love black inks but am hesitant to try this one as I've heard it's very dry and wouldn't be so good in a flex nib.

Alas, I haven't tried it in a flex pen.  It's not the driest ink on the planet, but it is drier than average.

 

1 hour ago, axialix said:

I'm intrigued by the microscope shot at 100x. Is that the highest magnification for your scope?

No, but I couldn't get it to focus at 400x (not entirely sure why, maybe I need to put the paper on top of a slide, or something)...  And it will only focus at 1000x with oil added to the slide, but I don't think that would work with paper...   (And now I'm realizing you may be referring to the image of the ink smeared on a slide rather than the paper....)

 

1 hour ago, axialix said:

I'd love to see some dried ink by itself on a slide (no paper) at a very high magnification. 

That might be possible.  I've never used the oil and I'm reluctant to try it, never having had training or anything - I have a scientist friend who might be able to teach me if she ever gets free time - I'll ask, but we could have a long wait, she works really long hours.  But I ought to be able to get the 400x to work.  Given how boring this ink is at 100x, I doubt it would be interesting at 400x - it seems some inks are really homogeneous.  Do you want to see this ink at higher magnification, or just some ink?

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, bunnspecial said:

Like I said, I don't really use blacks either.

 

I think I'm at somewhere close to 200 different inks, and I'd not be surprised if 1/4 of them were blues. I maybe have dozen different blacks in there.

Yes, but I only have samples and cartridges that came with pens.  And the samples are other people's ideas, not for me.

[axialix]

9 hours ago, LizEF said:

..Do you want to see this ink at higher magnification, or just some ink?...

 

Using oil reduces the amount of light refraction. That means more light passing through the microscope slide will be directed through the very narrow diameter of a higher power objective lens. In microscopy, more light = clear and crisp images.

 

You basically make a sandwich using the ink sample as the "meat" and the bottom slide and cover slip as the "bread". You would put a small drop of oil on top of the sandwich (cover slip) and slowly raise the platform until the scope touches the oil and you can see the light scattering effect. Here is a good video showing how to do this if you are interested. I just thought since you have a really good scope it would be interesting to see what ink really looks like at a high magnification. However I do not want to put any undue or unnecessary work on you or burden you in any way. It would just be to satisfy my curiosity and perhaps make for some cool and interesting pictures.

[InesF]

Thank you @LizEF for the review and for another paragraph of the story!

 

While the story develops into some sort of riddle - I can't predict the next action any more - the Pelikan 4001 Black is everything else than a riddle.

I used it for drawing before discovering the R&K Sketchink series and for intensifying other inks. However, it's neutral pH-value and the red leaning undertone doesn't mix well with all those acidic and also not with all those non-red inks.

 

Why use black, when the World is full of colours?

(citating @LizEF, modified) 

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, axialix said:

Using oil reduces the amount of light refraction. ...

Thanks!   That helps.  I also have instructions (and oil) that came with the scope, so I'll dig those out and review the process.  I'll check out the link - probably next week - I have a lot to do through Sunday this week.  (When doing something new, especially with something as expensive as the scope, I like to study it out first and leave plenty of time so frustration won't get in the way.)

 

2 hours ago, axialix said:

I do not want to put any undue or unnecessary work on you or burden you in any way. It would just be to satisfy my curiosity and perhaps make for some cool and interesting pictures.

It's no problem to put ink on a slide and take a picture up to 400x (if I can manage to focus it).  I do this already every time I record a review, so adding another slide is no problem.  I just wasn't sure whether you wanted this ink (which doesn't seem terribly interesting) or an ink like Organics Studio Walt Whitman or Robert Oster Bass Straight (review yet to post), both of which had crystal structures; or KWZ Aztec Gold, which seemed to be showing the iron gall particles (maybe - it was showing something).

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you @LizEF for the review and for another paragraph of the story!

You're very welcome!

 

2 hours ago, InesF said:

Why use black, when the World is full of colours?

(citating @LizEF, modified) 

Amen!

[axialix]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

...I just wasn't sure whether you wanted this ink (which doesn't seem terribly interesting) or an ink like Organics Studio Walt Whitman or Robert Oster Bass Straight (review yet to post), both of which had crystal structures; or KWZ Aztec Gold, which seemed to be showing the iron gall particles (maybe - it was showing something)....

 

A nice sheening ink from Organics Studios or any other manufacturer would be great, it doesn't have to be this one. Thanks in advance for your efforts. No rush, but I'm looking forward to seeing them.

[LizEF]

28 minutes ago, axialix said:

A nice sheening ink from Organics Studios or any other manufacturer would be great, it doesn't have to be this one. Thanks in advance for your efforts. No rush, but I'm looking forward to seeing them.

Gotcha!  I'll try OS Ralph Waldo Emerson Twilight Blue - it sheens like crazy and I haven't done a slide of it yet - good call!  Will let you know when I add any images - will add them to the thread for that review.

[miwishi63]

Great review! I purchased a bottle of this ink more years ago when I first got back into fountain pens. I bought it to go with the inexpensive Pelikan's I acquired. Then pens are long gone, but the ink remains. I recently rediscovered it while searching for a blank ink that would tame a wet pen and it works great!

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, miwishi63 said:

Great review!

Thank you!

 

1 hour ago, miwishi63 said:

I purchased a bottle of this ink more years ago when I first got back into fountain pens. I bought it to go with the inexpensive Pelikan's I acquired. Then pens are long gone, but the ink remains. I recently rediscovered it while searching for a blank ink that would tame a wet pen and it works great!

This seems to be everyone's default purpose for the ink.   I guess the shoe fits.

[miwishi63]

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

Thank you!

 

This seems to be everyone's default purpose for the ink.   I guess the shoe fits.

It does seem to be the most well-behaved ink in my arsenal.