EFNIR: Private Reserve Infinity Black

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Private Reserve Infinity Black

This is review #182 in my series.  Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Cleaning was quick and easy. Forgot to mention in the video - it dried in just over 30 seconds in pre-video testing (on Rhodia dot pad paper!). It's as if the lights keep the ink wet... Some images make it look like there's shading, but your eyes won't see it unless you put your nose on the paper.

This is a strange ink. I would not think so but for the microscopy. The makeup of the ink isn't interesting, but under the microscope, it is blood red! Perfect for Halloween. I did a chromatogram, and see no red at all. At the edges of the cover slip, however, just before I dunked it to soak before cleaning, I spotted what looked like red sheen. So, perhaps in a big fat, wet nib, it would sheen red? In the chromatogram, it's like there's a black line that stays (perhaps some water resistance?) and a greenish goldish grey above that, and a blurple-black that gets pushed the farthest.

The line width measurement is one of the lines used for dry time. Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. The line width for this ink is roughly 320µm. (For the curious, with 182 inks measured, the average line width is 293µm.)

I tried to correct the colors on the microscope smears, one to show the blood red color (still too pinkish or magenta) and the other, at the edge of the cover slip, was sort of brownish red. They're not quite accurate, but they give an idea.

And here is a screen of the final result, for those not interested in the video:

Scan of Completed Review:

Zoomed in photo:

Absorbent Paper Closeup (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper):

Line width measured via microscope at 100x:

Microscope Slide at 100x (blood red):

Microscope Slide at 100x (edge of cover slip):

Chromatogram:

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

Previous Review: Gutenberg Urkundentinte G10.

Want to influence the inky sequence?  Take the "next ink" poll.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh?  Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy.  Comments appreciated!

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

What. That microscope slide sure is funky. Another great review.

[LizEF]

8 minutes ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

That microscope slide sure is funky.

  Yep.  Some inks are quite surprising.

 

8 minutes ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

Another great review.

Thanks!

[yazeh]

Great job @LizEF The ink leaves me un-thympepthetic

 

 

So what is Essri a xhuck, sneck or a combination of both, which reminds me of another word.... 

 

[LizEF]

5 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Great job @LizEF 

  Thanks!

 

6 minutes ago, yazeh said:

The ink leaves me un-thympepthetic

 

6 minutes ago, yazeh said:

So what is Essri a xhuck, sneck or a combination of both, which reminds me of another word.... 

🤨 He's a snek, (smaller and cuter than a snake, and with magic; and much nicer than a serpent).

[mizgeorge]

Another excellent review - thank you @LizEF

 

I have this ink, but have never tried it as I've never managed to open it. Even my cleverest tools, including my special boa grip (which of course is a very big schnake) has failed me.

 

So I'm going to take your word for it, and probably not bother now. Or I could take a drill to it, I suppose...

[LizEF]

11 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Another excellent review

Thanks!

 

11 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

thank you @LizEF

You're very welcome.

 

12 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

I have this ink, but have never tried it as I've never managed to open it. Even my cleverest tools, including my special boa grip (which of course is a very big schnake) has failed me.

Wow.  That's unusual.  I suppose you've tried holding it upside down and letting warm water run into the threads a bit?  (And now, we need to let the back of our brain come up with a big bad schnake at some point.   )

 

13 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

So I'm going to take your word for it, and probably not bother now. Or I could take a drill to it, I suppose...

  Maybe you should write to Private Reserve to see what magic words are required to open their bottles....

[InesF]

Have I already told you, @LizEF, I like Essri the thnek!

As far as I know thneks from real life, they are a bit thenthitive when it cometh to making joketh at their cotht! I'm really looking forward to how long Essri's patience will laths! 🤔

 

Another story is the microscope image. From the distance I would guess that next to no light had passed through the ink film and that the red is an artefact from the upregulated camera gain. Can that be?

You may dilute the ink with water, make another film with less dye and compare.

 

Finally, there are so many well behaving black inks out there to which the Infinity Black can not compete.

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, InesF said:

I like Essri the thnek!

Me too.  He's awfully cute.  I predict he'll be around quite a while.  Some piece of my brain says even when our current mission is done, he at least deserves a parallel off-shoot series...

 

2 hours ago, InesF said:

Another story is the microscope image. From the distance I would guess that next to no light had passed through the ink film and that the red is an artefact from the upregulated camera gain. Can that be?

I suppose it could be.  The same thing has happened in three black inks.  But my eyes do see light coming through the slide at least in some places.  I'll have to double check the thinner areas next time I do a black that looks red.  I can enable camera gain in the software, but don't - what I'm not sure is if it's on "auto" mode when I don't enable adjustments.  (The software documentation isn't very helpful.)

 

2 hours ago, InesF said:

You may dilute the ink with water, make another film with less dye and compare.

There's usually part of the slide where the ink is thinner.  I'll ponder this, though - for most inks, I have 2mL or less to work with, so I'd have to be careful with my diluting and do it just for the slide sample...  (I've avoided this in part because then I wouldn't know whether interesting things I see came out of my tap or the ink - I'm not even sure if distilled water is free of interesting stuff...)

 

2 hours ago, InesF said:

Finally, there are so many well behaving black inks out there to which the Infinity Black can not compete.

  Yes, the only reason to use this would be for the extended cap off time.  (Of course, I'm not sure why people use black ink at all, but that's another story.)

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

(Of course, I'm not sure why people use black ink at all, but that's another story.)

Hey! I use Perle Noire for pleasurable writing! 😅

[LizEF]

11 minutes ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

Hey! I use Perle Noire for pleasurable writing! 😅

More power to you!  You can have my share.  Perle Noire's review will post next Tuesday.

 

ETA: Not that there's anything wrong with Perle Noire!  It's just black and I don't use black inks, so...

[Sailor Kenshin]

Holy feathers, Batman!  😱

 

If I was still on my black ink kick, I might try a sample.  Must resist.

 

Thanks for another review and thtory.  I uthed to own pet snekth.

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

50 minutes ago, LizEF said:

More power to you!  You can have my share.  Perle Noire's review will post next Tuesday.

 

ETA: Not that there's anything wrong with Perle Noire!  It's just black and I don't use black inks, so...

I was just joking, but you probably will figure out why I like Perle Noire if you use it. Extremely smooth and wet, and dark. Sometimes you need a touch  of black as a palate cleanser after wading through a sea of blue.

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Holy feathers, Batman!  😱

  It was having a bad hair day.

 

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Thanks for another review and thtory.  I uthed to own pet snekth.

You're motht welcome!  Who knows, maybe Essri is their cousin!

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

I was just joking, but you probably will figure out why I like Perle Noire if you use it. Extremely smooth and wet, and dark. Sometimes you need a touch  of black as a palate cleanser after wading through a sea of blue.

All good - teasing on my part, too.  I've already used Perle Noire - probably 2-3 weeks ago (reviews are published well after recording so that I have a backlog, just in case I can't keep up for some reason).

[arcfide]

I current tastes are trending to more and more "subtle" blacks, such as those that have a softer hue or which exhibit something other than "black hole" black. I'm finding that when I get tired of a lighter color, such as a blue black (usually Platinum's) or some other brighter color, I find myself longing for the solemnity and solidity that is a black ink, as well as the sense of gravitas and anchorage that comes with the readability and clarity of a black ink. The problem I find is that if you get things too black and too uniform, you start to feel a little soulless. I've already figured out that a good broad edged pen helps with the character of the inks, but I'm also finding that if the black ink has a little something extra, particularly if it is a softer hue that lends itself a little more to a dark grey type of shading, I find that I can tolerate it better for longer. At that point, it seems to have all of the benefits of black, but I also get some of that character that comes from a shading colored ink. 

 

Of course, after a while, I find myself wishing I were using one of my colored inks, only to use it and then find myself wishing I were using a black ink, and around and around we go! 

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

1 hour ago, arcfide said:

I current tastes are trending to more and more "subtle" blacks, such as those that have a softer hue or which exhibit something other than "black hole" black. I'm finding that when I get tired of a lighter color, such as a blue black (usually Platinum's) or some other brighter color, I find myself longing for the solemnity and solidity that is a black ink, as well as the sense of gravitas and anchorage that comes with the readability and clarity of a black ink. The problem I find is that if you get things too black and too uniform, you start to feel a little soulless. I've already figured out that a good broad edged pen helps with the character of the inks, but I'm also finding that if the black ink has a little something extra, particularly if it is a softer hue that lends itself a little more to a dark grey type of shading, I find that I can tolerate it better for longer. At that point, it seems to have all of the benefits of black, but I also get some of that character that comes from a shading colored ink. 

 

Of course, after a while, I find myself wishing I were using one of my colored inks, only to use it and then find myself wishing I were using a black ink, and around and around we go! 

Whew, that sounds a lot like what I do! I need to have a fill of Perle noire soon..

[LizEF]

Don't make yourselves dizzy, you two! ( @arcfide & @IlikeInksandIcannotlie)

[LizEF]

On 5/19/2022 at 5:58 AM, InesF said:

From the distance I would guess that next to no light had passed through the ink film and that the red is an artefact from the upregulated camera gain. Can that be?

I don't know what I was thinking when I answered this the first time, but, my eyes saw the red color through the eyepiece, which I don't believe (can't be certain) involves the camera (and certainly doesn't involve the software).

[InesF]

On 5/20/2022 at 3:07 PM, LizEF said:

I don't know what I was thinking when I answered this the first time, but, my eyes saw the red color through the eyepiece, which I don't believe (can't be certain) involves the camera (and certainly doesn't involve the software).

Hi @LizEF, all good, don't worry.

It may be a residual red light passing in between the absorption peaks of the (non red) dyes.

But if the photo chip is involved, it may be anything.

 

If you are brave and not afraid of becoming blind, you may look directly at the sun through the ink film ... 🤭. But take care, I like to read more of your stories in the future!