What do you suggest? Blue-Black and Red-Black?

[afishhunter]

I'm looking for a Blue-Black and Red-Black that at first and maybe second glance look black.

Also, what is the darkest/"richest" black?

I'd prefer something that is relatively waterproof. If used on an envelope or address label, the name and address will still be legible if it gets rained on, for example, or someone at Postal/UPS/FED-X spills something on it.

What do you suggest?

 

[A Smug Dill]

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/359094-not-quite-black-please/

 

2 minutes ago, afishhunter said:

I'd prefer something that is relatively waterproof.

 

Any ‘heavy’ iron-gall blue-black ink will do, then.

[lapis]

As re blue-black, I'd say Diamine's Eclipse (maybe more purple than blue but I love it) and/or Noodler's Dark Matter (never was sure what the non-black stuff is).

[bunnspecial]

Lately my "red black" has been Bungubox Clown Tears.

 

With that said, Noodlers makes an ink called Red-Black. For a broader range of shading, I recommend Black Swan in English Roses. it shades from a true black to a nice ruby red color.

[WalterC]

Two possibilities for red to black are Platinum classic cassis black and Taccia Ebi. The Platinum cassis black quickly turns from red to almost black as it dries. This thread has videos of the two inks that show red to black shading: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/346013-red-to-black-shading/#comments

[Arkanabar]

The heaviest iron gall (IG) blue-blacks are likely to be Diamine Registrar's Ink and Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies' Registrar's Ink (made to English regulatory standards), or Gutenberg Urkendentinte (made to a German regulatory standard).

 

Iron gall inks are different from dye inks.  They are a solution of tannogalloferric acid, which is actually colorless.  When exposed to air, it forms an insoluble dark grey solid precipitate.  The blue-black IG inks have a blue colorant in them so you can see what you're writing.  Other IG inks use other dyes.  If not left to dry out in a pen, many IG inks are very benign, in spite of their acidic pH.  (Coca-Cola has a pH of under 2.5.  Lemon juice has a pH of 2.25.)  You just have to make sure the pen gets enough use not to dry out.  That will vary with the pen.

[bunnspecial]

43 minutes ago, Arkanabar said:

If not left to dry out in a pen, many IG inks are very benign, in spite of their acidic pH.  (Coca-Cola has a pH of under 2.5.  Lemon juice has a pH of 2.25.)  You just have to make sure the pen gets enough use not to dry out.  That will vary with the pen.

 

It's worth remembering as well that many classic "safe" inks, in particular washable/royal blue inks(Waterman, Pelikan, Quink, Lamy, Montblanc, etc) are fairly acidic and have pHs in the 2-2.5 range. Typically these inks are a single dye-Acid Blue #93(Methyl blue and a few other names)-that needs a fairly acidic solution to hold its color. I have photos kicking around somewhere of raising the pH of a very dilute solution of Waterman Blue to have it go nearly colorless around pH 8, and then restoring the color when I lowered the pH again.

[Mayo]

Platinum Cassis Black looks great if it's red enough for you. I also like Noodler's Red-Black a lot, it looks great on the page and shades very good, but has a tendency to have it's components separated after some time resting so a little shaking is required to have it writing as intended. Very safe and easy to clean for the pen and permanent on the paper.

[A Smug Dill]

I see Pennonia Draculea ink is available again. That should be a another good candidate for a water-resistant red-black.

[Uncial]

17 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

I see Pennonia Draculea ink is available again. That should be a another good candidate for a water-resistant red-black.

I was a bit disappointed with this ink in terms of the colour when dry. It's very brown. It's very dry too.

[essayfaire]

I happen to just have written this up with a blue/black that looks more black: