Some Ink Tests

[USG]

2nd update:

 

I've taken more photos and will  post them later.  I also have more information on Bungubox "First Love" ink.  There are 2 versions.  A dye based version and a pigment version.  Atm I have the pigment ink and I have the dye ink on order.  The color of Both "First Love" inks was developed to replicate the color of Parker Penman Sapphire. 😁

[USG]

3rd Update:

 

Unprocessed pic (except for cropping),  LED light, Canopus paper.

 

This is about as close as I can get to the actual colors.... The Hawaii ink is also interesting.  It goes down as a thin pale ink that you can barely see and darkens into this lavender color.

 

Bungubox pigment ink in a converter

 

 

Waterman Inspired Blue in a converter

 

Iroshizuku Ama-Iro in a converter

[Penguincollector]

23 minutes ago, USG said:

2nd update:

 

I've taken more photos and will  post them later.  I also have more information on Bungubox "First Love" ink.  There are 2 versions.  A dye based version and a pigment version.  Atm I have the pigment ink and I have the dye ink on order.  The color of Both "First Love" inks was developed to replicate the color of Parker Penman Sapphire. 😁

  That explains why it looks so thick. I think I might have to try them both. 

[USG]

1 minute ago, Penguincollector said:

  That explains why it looks so thick. I think I might have to try them both. 

 

Exactly my thoughts. 👍😀  I'm getting some pretty interesting results today and I'll post some pics later.

[Mechanical]

3 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

That explains why it looks so thick. I think I might have to try them both. 

 

My wallet is feeling nervous about this. 

[USG]

1 hour ago, Mechanical said:

 

My wallet is feeling nervous about this. 

 

It's only ink....😀

[Penguincollector]

5 hours ago, Mechanical said:

 

My wallet is feeling nervous about this. 

 The holidays are coming, I am starting a list. Have you seen their 4B Blue-Black? 

[Lithium466]

14 hours ago, USG said:

2nd update:

 

I've taken more photos and will  post them later.  I also have more information on Bungubox "First Love" ink.  There are 2 versions.  A dye based version and a pigment version.  Atm I have the pigment ink and I have the dye ink on order.  The color of Both "First Love" inks was developed to replicate the color of Parker Penman Sapphire. 😁

I'm always mesmerised by how cool pigment inks look...in their bottle or in converters. Looking forward to your opinion on paper!

Where did you buy it? I had seen the die version but for some reason gave up getting some to try, don't remember why.

[Lithium466]

On 9/27/2025 at 4:00 AM, Mechanical said:

I also like Lamy black; it puts down a very restrained line with every pen I've used it with.  

 

Also, all of your ink samples on this Canopus paper are very crisp. Nice!  And no problem with your photos -- it's just hard to get lighting, angle, and exposure just right.  My phone camera rarely gives me what my eyes see.  

Do you have other inks that give restrained lines like Lamy black?

@InesF mentioned surface tension and perhaps viscosity, I guess both are a factor...high surface tension, high viscosity, low absorption paper, and dry climate so the inks evaporates before it has time to spread?

Tipping shape too, these "goccia" grinds that I'm trying to make would probably lead to wetter lines (so the ink shows better) while maintaining thin lines, vs the "almost no tipping" Japanese EF.

Getting off topic there, sorry 😔 albeit I'm looking at some Sailor chromo shading inks that seem to have a spreading tendency (so the different dies separate?).

[USG]

On 9/26/2025 at 10:00 PM, Mechanical said:

My phone camera rarely gives me what my eyes see.

Amen brother!👍😀

 

On 10/4/2025 at 2:03 AM, Penguincollector said:

 The holidays are coming, I am starting a list. Have you seen their 4B Blue-Black? 

I saw it on Jetpens but haven’t seen a writing sample yet.  Is it anything special?

Btw, I was just going back over your writing sample submissions.  There’s so much there.  Good job.👍😀

 

On 10/3/2025 at 11:18 AM, inkstainedruth said:

Usually when I'm taking photos of pens I'm doing it outside on my front porch in ambient (and generally bright) sunlight.  I have big trees in my yard (especially in the front) and don't get a lot of light coming in from the west, even in the late afternoon.  

The irony, of course, being that several of the trees are ones WE planted.  Honestly, they were all small when we got them (the three magnolia trees came from various years of "Great Plant Auction" events that were fundraisers for Phipps Conservatory -- and the first one is now almost above the roof of our house (and we have an old house with high ceilings -- even in the attic).

But it's interesting that you say that Robert Oster has "batch variations".  I would expect that from Noodler's -- Nathan Tardif calls it a "feature" -- but had been under the impression that RO was a big enough company to have more QC.  And I seem to have ended up with three different bottles of Bishop to King: misplaced the first one, so ordered a second one; then found a partial bottle in the "freebie" basket at a pen club meeting a while back and thought it was the missing one, so grabbed it.  Then the first bottle turned up.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

It’s hard to beat outside ambient light.  You’re going to have the best pics yet.😀👍

 

On 10/4/2025 at 6:50 AM, Lithium466 said:

I'm always mesmerised by how cool pigment inks look...in their bottle or in converters. Looking forward to your opinion on paper!

Where did you buy it? I had seen the die version but for some reason gave up getting some to try, don't remember why.

I got the pigment ink from Vanness and the dye ink from Jetpens (not delivered yet)

 

Speaking about paper, the more I use the Canopus paper the more I find it non-objectionable.  As @Mechanical said, it doesn’t have the electric nuance level of Cosmo Snow or Iroful, but it’s such a nice non-offensive paper (color is OK, doesn’t feather, pleasant writing surface, not slippery or rough, doesn’t skip with some pen/ink combos, has 2 useable sides, only minor spreading (that’s right, I’m talkin’ about you b7, you could have been a contender), and it’s not as fingerprint touchy as Cosmo) it’s like a very heavy grade of Tomoe River-S.   

 

On 10/2/2025 at 3:04 PM, Mechanical said:

 

Well, this is going to be a very blue ink, USG.  Will you load it into a fountain pen?  It does make me a little nervous.

According to Bungubox, it was designed to be a replica of Parker Penman Sapphire.

 

I’m only going to put the pigment version in inexpensive pens which is fine because some of them write beautifully, like the Asvine C80 which has a fabulous in the hand feel (for me) and a fantastic #8 nib.  It can’t compete with the X159s on price though. 🤷‍♂️

 

i’m hoping the dye version is “non-toxic” because if it’s the same color as the pigment version is, I think I’m going to put it in my 823.
 

On 10/4/2025 at 6:56 AM, Lithium466 said:

Do you have other inks that give restrained lines like Lamy black?

@InesF mentioned surface tension and perhaps viscosity, I guess both are a factor...high surface tension, high viscosity, low absorption paper, and dry climate so the inks evaporates before it has time to spread?

Tipping shape too, these "goccia" grinds that I'm trying to make would probably lead to wetter lines (so the ink shows better) while maintaining thin lines, vs the "almost no tipping" Japanese EF.

Getting off topic there, sorry 😔 albeit I'm looking at some Sailor chromo shading inks that seem to have a spreading tendency (so the different dies separate?).

"goccia" grinds ?  What’s up with that?  What are you doing?

 

So what are you looking for?  Inks that give the finest lines?  Would those be the “Low delivery inks” on IneFs’ ink chart?

 

Sailor Chromo Shading Inks….  I have Fuji, that’s supposed to be a dual shader.  I can see the green in it if it gets wet but otherwise I can’t get it to dual shade regardless of pen or paper.  Nekoyanagi doesn’t dual shade for me either.  It looks like it should, but nada.  🤷‍♂️

[Penguincollector]

4 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

I'm always mesmerised by how cool pigment inks look...in their bottle or in converters. Looking forward to your opinion on paper!

Where did you buy it? I had seen the die version but for some reason gave up getting some to try, don't remember why.

 

  I feel the same way about pigment inks, I get excited when I see the vibrancy in the container, but many dry kind of chalky or dull.  I was actually surprised by the vibrancy of this particular ink on the page in USG’s pictures. 
 

 

[Penguincollector]

45 minutes ago, USG said:

Speaking about paper, the more I use the Canopus paper the more I find it non-objectionable.  As @Mechanical said, it doesn’t have the electric nuance level of Cosmo Snow or Iroful, but it’s such a nice non-offensive paper (color is OK, doesn’t feather, pleasant writing surface, not slippery or rough, doesn’t skip with some pen/ink combos, has 2 useable sides, only minor spreading (that’s right, I’m talkin’ about you b7, you could have been a contender), and it’s not as fingerprint touchy as Cosmo) it’s like a very heavy grade of Tomoe River-S.   

   I like it so far, and now that you mention it, Canopus is reminiscent of TR 68, which I prefer. 

 

51 minutes ago, USG said:

"goccia" grinds ?  What’s up with that?  What are you doing?

 

  Yes, @Lithium466, I would also like to know more. Also, have you tried Pelikan Edelstein Onyx?
 

52 minutes ago, USG said:

Sailor Chromo Shading Inks….  I have Fugi, that’s supposed to be a dual shader.  I can see the green in it if it gets wet but otherwise I can’t get it to dual shade regardless of pen or paper.  Nekoyanagi doesn’t dual shade for me either.  It looks like it should, but nada.  🤷‍♂️

 

  I get the most dual shading results from the Sailor Yurameku line, and the Troublemaker inks like Abalone and Milky Ocean. Koke from Manyo is pretty good. All of these are pretty dry. 

[Mechanical]

12 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

 The holidays are coming, I am starting a list. Have you seen their 4B Blue-Black? 

Yes, that 4B looks like it is right on my wavelength.  Since these are expensive bottles, I'm thinking of doing samples for 4B, First Love, and Ruri Sea.  I'm counting on USG to do the hard work of comparing First Love Dyestuff versus Pigment.

[Penguincollector]

21 minutes ago, Mechanical said:

Yes, that 4B looks like it is right on my wavelength.  Since these are expensive bottles, I'm thinking of doing samples for 4B, First Love, and Ruri Sea.  I'm counting on USG to do the hard work of comparing First Love Dyestuff versus Pigment.

  That Ruri Sea is lovely! I also like their Silent Night. 

[Mechanical]

8 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Do you have other inks that give restrained lines like Lamy black?

@InesF mentioned surface tension and perhaps viscosity, I guess both are a factor...high surface tension, high viscosity, low absorption paper, and dry climate so the inks evaporates before it has time to spread?

Tipping shape too, these "goccia" grinds that I'm trying to make would probably lead to wetter lines (so the ink shows better) while maintaining thin lines, vs the "almost no tipping" Japanese EF.

Getting off topic there, sorry 😔 albeit I'm looking at some Sailor chromo shading inks that seem to have a spreading tendency (so the different dies separate?).

 

That's my experience too -- line width really does depend on all these factors of nib, paper, and ink. For example, I'm using a Daiso memo pad, with paper from an unnamed Chinese manufacturer and it just gives me the best results for line width. Something about the surface finish, I guess?

 

Apart from these variables, I tend to have good luck with Blue Blacks: R&K Salix, Waterman Mysterious Blue, and Iroshizuku Shinkai.   

[Mechanical]

1 hour ago, Penguincollector said:

  That Ruri Sea is lovely! I also like their Silent Night. 

Oof, yes.  Also June Bride Something Blue!  And Tears of Alice!  BunguBox has some good names and good colors.

[Mercian]

12 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Do you have other inks that give restrained lines like Lamy black?

 

Most iron-gall inks give very tight lines, and resist feathering, as well as having good water resistance. 
But they are of course famously 'dry'-writing in terms of feel, and can corrode nibs (and other pen components) that aren't made of gold.

 

I have found that Sailor's pigment/carbon ink Kiwa Guro gives very tight lines too - but ASD reported that it can stain/damage the plating on plated nibs.

 

I also have Sailor's Sou Boku pigment blue/black, but I haven't had it for long enough, or tried it in enough pens, or on enough papers, to know whether or not it resists spreading as well as Kiwa Guro does. Perhaps one of the reviews of it on here might reveal that?
I expect that it, too, might be risky for long-term use in plated nibs, but it is a very nice ink 

[Lithium466]

20 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

   I like it so far, and now that you mention it, Canopus is reminiscent of TR 68, which I prefer. 
 

  Yes, @Lithium466, I would also like to know more. Also, have you tried Pelikan Edelstein Onyx?
 

  I get the most dual shading results from the Sailor Yurameku line, and the Troublemaker inks like Abalone and Milky Ocean. Koke from Manyo is pretty good. All of these are pretty dry. 

 

Interesting that you are mentioning TR68, I was thinking about this one and about how I miss it. Is there a way to get some bulk/loose leaf packaging somewhere? TR52 is pretty much all over the place but I can't find TR68 except in notebooks.

I haven't tried Edelstein Onix, it doesn't seem very black, more like a black version of Edelstein Sapphire (an ink that's buried deep in the closet of ink shame). Do you deem it work trying?

 

21 hours ago, USG said:

I got the pigment ink from Vanness and the dye ink from Jetpens (not delivered yet)

 

Speaking about paper, the more I use the Canopus paper the more I find it non-objectionable.  As @Mechanical said, it doesn’t have the electric nuance level of Cosmo Snow or Iroful, but it’s such a nice non-offensive paper (color is OK, doesn’t feather, pleasant writing surface, not slippery or rough, doesn’t skip with some pen/ink combos, has 2 useable sides, only minor spreading (that’s right, I’m talkin’ about you b7, you could have been a contender), and it’s not as fingerprint touchy as Cosmo) it’s like a very heavy grade of Tomoe River-S.   

"goccia" grinds ?  What’s up with that?  What are you doing?

 

So what are you looking for?  Inks that give the finest lines?  Would those be the “Low delivery inks” on IneFs’ ink chart?

 

Sailor Chromo Shading Inks….  I have Fugi, that’s supposed to be a dual shader.  I can see the green in it if it gets wet but otherwise I can’t get it to dual shade regardless of pen or paper.  Nekoyanagi doesn’t dual shade for me either.  It looks like it should, but nada.  🤷‍♂️

 

That would be my poor understanding of the Aurora "goccia" nibs (which are probably very akin to the Sailor Zoom nibs?), just (much) finer, with less variation on the low angle/centre point. Again, lack of experience there but in my limited testing, it does seem to work well to get a wet fine line while keeping a smooth writing experience compared to something closer to a needlepoint, when the paper or my shaky hand aren't cooperating.

Low delivery inks (or nibs) are the way, and I'm still comparing with @LizEF line width results. That's probably me being too picky or dreaming of some unreasonable pairings there  

 

16 hours ago, Mechanical said:

 

That's my experience too -- line width really does depend on all these factors of nib, paper, and ink. For example, I'm using a Daiso memo pad, with paper from an unnamed Chinese manufacturer and it just gives me the best results for line width. Something about the surface finish, I guess?

 

Apart from these variables, I tend to have good luck with Blue Blacks: R&K Salix, Waterman Mysterious Blue, and Iroshizuku Shinkai.   

 

12 hours ago, Mercian said:

 

Most iron-gall inks give very tight lines, and resist feathering, as well as having good water resistance. 
But they are of course famously 'dry'-writing in terms of feel, and can corrode nibs (and other pen components) that aren't made of gold.

 

I have found that Sailor's pigment/carbon ink Kiwa Guro gives very tight lines too - but ASD reported that it can stain/damage the plating on plated nibs.

 

I also have Sailor's Sou Boku pigment blue/black, but I haven't had it for long enough, or tried it in enough pens, or on enough papers, to know whether or not it resists spreading as well as Kiwa Guro does. Perhaps one of the reviews of it on here might reveal that?
I expect that it, too, might be risky for long-term use in plated nibs, but it is a very nice ink 

 

Thank you both for the suggestions  
Would I be sent to inky jail if I were to say that I find BB inks too serious? Platinum BB for sure provides excellent lubrication and thin lines...R&K Ebony and KWZ Gummiberry IG are both somewhat lacking in these categories, surprisingly, or maybe I haven't found the right pen for them yet.

 

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Lithium466 said:

Is there a way to get some bulk/loose leaf packaging somewhere? TR52 is pretty much all over the place but I can't find TR68 except in notebooks.

I know JetPens sells it, but they're the only source I know.

 

1 hour ago, Lithium466 said:

Low delivery inks (or nibs) are the way, and I'm still comparing with @LizEF line width results. That's probably me being too picky or dreaming of some unreasonable pairings there  

 

1 hour ago, Lithium466 said:

Would I be sent to inky jail if I were to say that I find BB inks too serious?

We will forgive you, but only if you really, really enjoy whatever other inks you're using!  

[Mercian]

7 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Would I be sent to inky jail if I were to say that I find BB inks too serious?

 

To be fair, they are conventionally-sober, and business-appropriate.

But have you seen the delightful, rippling, almost-3d, effect of the shading that i-g blue-blacks give? 

(See also Rohrer & Klingner 'Scabiosa', which is an i-g ink whose colour is a sui generis dusky purple.)

We loves it we does! Yes, Precious....