EFNIR: Pilot Mixable Colour Sepia

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Pilot Mixable Colour Sepia

This is review #222 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Cleaning was quite simple, but required an extra flush or two - lots of dye in there.  I have no other brown this dark.  In some lights, it seems almost to have a purple undertone, in other light, it's more a red-brown, and at other times, it just looks brown.  It's quite the chameleon.  It's also poorly-behaved - it even fuzzed a tiny bit on Rhodia - but it never bled.

I didn't notice it until after I'd recorded the review, but there is significant green sheen on Tomoe River paper - it's just that you have to hold it at an angle to the light to see it - perhaps because of how dark the ink is.

I plan to dilute the rest of the cartridge and install it in a Prera with a CM (stub) nib. If it's interesting, I'll add a photo for what it looks like, and perhaps more comments.  (Green sheen is still there after diluting.)

Zoomed in photo (Too dark by a little, but mostly just not showing brown.)

Screenshot (Text a little too dark)

Scan of Completed Review (I can't decide whether the text is too dark or not - it seems awfully close.)

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (AP: Color is quite close, and the best idea of the actual color of all the images; CP: text a little too dark)

Line width (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 312µm. With 222 inks measured, the average line width is 295µm.)

Microscope image (The edges (and sometimes all) of the white areas inside the ink should be pink, but I couldn't get the picture to show that without making the rest too dark.  Otherwise, color is quite accurate.)

Other (Scan of the diluted ink. Color matches what my eyes see.)

Previous Review: Karas Pen Co. Desert Varnish.

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

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View a list of my inks, complete with review results in a google sheet.

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

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[Sailor Kenshin]

'And how do you like this flooring sample, Mrs. Hilton?'

 

@LizEF….I have Mixable feelings about this ink.  Color?  Yup, right up my alley.  Feathers?  Mmmmmnot so much.  Eternity dry time?  Fuggedabout it.  
 

Darn…

Brute force?  Have you been spying on me?  😜

 

Thanks as always for the review, and the story.  Yay Quin!  

[LizEF]

4 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

@LizEF….I have Mixable feelings about this ink.

 

5 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 Color?  Yup, right up my alley.  Feathers?  Mmmmmnot so much.  Eternity dry time?  Fuggedabout it.  
 

Darn…

Ah, but once you dilute it with water, it behaves better, dries faster, the color isn't that much lighter, but I like it better because it's easier to tell there is color...  So, don't rule it out, dilute it!

 

6 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Brute force?  Have you been spying on me?  😜

 

6 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Thanks as always for the review, and the story.  Yay Quin!  

You're very welcome!

[yazeh]

Great job and excellent review @LizEF 

The colour seems interesting but the behaviour makes it great for the drain

I'm still trying to figure how out how the Goat raced slowly away.  It must be a magical goatee thingy! 🤣

[LizEF]

6 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Great job and excellent review @LizEF 

Thanks!

 

6 minutes ago, yazeh said:

The colour seems interesting but the behaviour makes it great for the drain

Yes.  Honestly, this is one where unless you're using it in a Parallel pen, you have to dilute it.

 

7 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I'm still trying to figure how out how the Goat raced slowly away.  It must be a magical goatee thingy! 🤣

  Well, to the goat, she was racing, to Quin, she was doing it slowly.  These are the things that happen when one of you is in normal time and the other is in hyperspeed!

[InesF]

Thank you @LizEF for this inktroduction and for the story part.

Inks with low surface tension need to be tamed for daily routine use. In this case, goats seem to require similar treatment.

 

The high saturation of the mixable ink is a curse and a chance. You may need precise volume measurement to get reproducible mixing results, but you may need only small amounts. But then, the sheen of such an ink will be lost ... 🥲

[LizEF]

5 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you @LizEF for this inktroduction and for the story part.

You're very welcome!

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

Inks with low surface tension need to be tamed for daily routine use. In this case, goats seem to require similar treatment.

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

The high saturation of the mixable ink is a curse and a chance. You may need precise volume measurement to get reproducible mixing results, but you may need only small amounts. But then, the sheen of such an ink will be lost ... 🥲

Sheen is something I'm willing to lose if it means a more useful ink.  (Speaking for myself.)

[RJS]

Lovely review, Liz! Thanks for sharing

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, RJS said:

Lovely review, Liz! Thanks for sharing

Thank you, RJS!  You're most welcome.

[Penguincollector]

Thanks for the review, Liz! If you were going to syringe fill an empty Pilot cartridge with this ink and wanted to dilute it, how much water would you use? It would be for a Plumix (or Pluminix, whichever is the one that comes with proprietary cartridges).

[LizEF]

7 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

Thanks for the review, Liz!

You're very welcome!

 

7 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

If you were going to syringe fill an empty Pilot cartridge with this ink and wanted to dilute it, how much water would you use?

I would start with 1 part water and 3 parts ink and go from there (so leave the cartridge 3/4 full and top off with water - to my knowledge, this ink only comes in cartridges).  I think I might have 1 part water and 2 parts ink in my cartridge, but I'm really not sure as I didn't bother to do any measuring.  But I like it a lot better diluted.

 

7 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

It would be for a Plumix (or Pluminix, whichever is the one that comes with proprietary cartridges).

My diluted ink is in a Prera with a CM nib, so pretty much the same.  Good luck!

[Penguincollector]

Thank you! Have you tried the other inks in the package yet? I’m guessing they need similar treatment.

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Penguincollector said:

Thank you! Have you tried the other inks in the package yet? I’m guessing they need similar treatment.

 

You're welcome!  I have reviewed a few of them: Blue-Black, Pink, and Yellow.  All behave such that I'm convinced dilution is the answer for all of them.   After reviewing, I diluted Blue-Black 1:1 with water and it was much better behaved, but my notes suggest that this was too much water for good lubrication.  The result was a very dark grey.

[Penguincollector]

@LizEF, I tried the 3:1 ink to water ratio dilute mix with the Orange cartridge, and that works perfectly in the Pluminix. I used a syringe to draw the ink from the cartridge and put the ink in a Con-B converter with the water following. It works well and doesn’t run. I resealed the mixable cartridge with the little orange disc and have it stored upright just in case. 

Edited April 10, 2023 by Penguincollector
Transposed numbers

[LizEF]

9 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

@LizEF, I tried the 3:1 ink to water ratio dilute mix with the Orange cartridge, and that works perfectly in the Pluminix. I used a syringe to draw the ink from the cartridge and put the ink in a Con-B converter with the water following. It works well and doesn’t run. I resealed the mixable cartridge with the little orange disc and have it stored upright just in case. 

Nice!  I haven't done the orange yet, so good to know the theory holds.  Hope you enjoy it.

[Penguincollector]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Nice!  I haven't done the orange yet, so good to know the theory holds.  Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing what the gang is up to when you do!