Noodler's Red-Black and Diamine Oxblood

[Mayo]

I recently got a couple of inks from PurePens, Noodler's Red-Black and J. Herbin Vert de Gris. Also a random ink sample which turned out to be Dominant Industry Royal Azalea (cute pink on it's lighter shades, a bit too much for me on the darker ones). One of the main reasons I had for getting Red-Black was my liking for Oxblood, but wishing it didn't get destroyed by any water droplets (as it already did a few times on my work notes). Here's a slightly not scientific comparison between the two. I'm still experimenting on which types of nibs I like Red-Black the best, but I love it already.

 

The bottles:

 

Comparison sheet (Rhodia 80 g/m²):

 

Red black shows some good resistance to water and bleach since it's at least partially bulletproof. The dry times are long, but that might be because of the nibs I used. The Ahab is very wet even when not flexing, and the Kaweco Sport used is a broad nib. I've seen reviews with lower drying times, so I'll keep an eye out for that as I use this ink more. Both inks look great, but Red-Black has more tone variation and shading, while Oxblood is more homogeneous.

 

Chromatographies:

 

Both inks seem to be formulated in a similar way, having a darker component, a red component, and a yellow. Noodler's red black also has a pink-ish side that shows up along with the red component. When I first inked up a pen with Red-Black, it came out as a bright red, since I had not shaken the bottle and I assume the dark and yellow tones had separated.

[txomsy]

Most interesting, that shade of red is the one I prefer, but -for the same reason- I already have several bottles of that hue, so I am not in immediate need, but as I do also prefer permanent inks, I'm gonna keep it on my wish list. Thanks for the report and heads up.

[Recursion]

Thank you for sharing! 👍

[yazeh]

Thanks for the comparison. I believe Red black's dry time can be reduced with a bit of dilution. Incidentally my avatar is written with Red black

[dragondazd]

Thanks. 

 

i don't like oxblood because of how blue it is. I probably won't like red-black either.

 

 

 

[LizEF]

Great comparison, @Mayo!  Thanks for taking the time to share it with us. I'm rather ambivalent about the color, but it's good info.  I agree with @yazeh about the dilution - a lot of Noodler's inks will take some dilution without altering the color - you might give it a go in a sample vial.

[Licue]

Thanks for the comparison 🙂

 

Judging from your pic, I like Noodler's Red Black better - especially in the broad Kaweco nib.

[Mayo]

Thanks for the responses! @LizEF I just got a hold of some distilled water so I might do some experiments with Noodler's black and this ink to see how it affects performance, I'm probably ok with the drying times on this but my bottle of Black in particular is super saturated and I can smudge it even after completely drying.

[miwishi63]

Thank you for the comparison! I have a pen inked with Red-Black in constant rotation. My preference is an F or EF nib, but I like the way it looks with the broad nib!

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Mayo said:

@LizEF I just got a hold of some distilled water so I might do some experiments with Noodler's black and this ink to see how it affects performance, I'm probably ok with the drying times on this but my bottle of Black in particular is super saturated and I can smudge it even after completely drying.

It'll be interesting to hear how it goes.  I've never done this, only heard about others' experiences.  It seems sound reasoning, though.  (And the smudging problem is why some dilute Platinum Carbon Black - apparently it works like a charm.)

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for the comparision. I use my Noodler's but I don't often use the Oxblood, and I don't know why.

[lapis]

Thanks too from me. I love comparisons but frankly never thought of these two "together". Have both, use both, but use both so infrequently. Just 'cuz I'm not so hot about that flavor, although come to think of it, it does now remind me of Tabasco, which I do love....

[frolic838]

Red-Black has been my go to ink for literally years.  In fact, it was my *only* ink for more than a decade.  Neat to see how it stacks up against another heavy hitter in the field.

[Mayo]

On 5/26/2022 at 8:09 PM, frolic838 said:

Red-Black has been my go to ink for literally years.  In fact, it was my *only* ink for more than a decade.  Neat to see how it stacks up against another heavy hitter in the field.

 

That's cool to hear! I've had it on my broad kaweco sport since I made this post, using it sparingly. Do you have any issues with the ink black part separating while in the pen, long-term?

[frolic838]

14 hours ago, Mayo said:

 

That's cool to hear! I've had it on my broad kaweco sport since I made this post, using it sparingly. Do you have any issues with the ink black part separating while in the pen, long-term?

Not at all.  I've actually forgotten it in my pen for months (and at one point I think somewhere around a year) and it cleaned up fine.  I shook the bottle gently, reinked the pen, and it was perfect.  I've had the same bottle for almost 15 years now with no noticeable change.