Blue-Blacks: In Which Dr. Inkenstein Ponders A New Obssession

Lately, Dr. Inkenstein has been, well, let's say highly INTERESTED in blue-black inks.  After all, they are our favorite colors, if you include those inks that lean teal, like Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku and Chesterfield Teal.

So based on various online reviews and scans, I tested a bunch of new inks (all except the Everflo, which is not at all new and has been on my ink hutch for years, and is not a true blue-black but it's here for comparison purposes).

Part of the 'fun'of testing inks is finding a perfect ink/pen combo.  The Nemos write dry.  The Hero and Lamys write wet.  The dip pen dips.  So many different factors, including paper!

The paper here was, uhh, an Office Depot composition notebook with Brazilian paper.  The scan looks different from the photo.  The differences are interesting.  The ink colors in real life are also different.  On to the particulars.


 Brand(s):  Everflo, Diamine, OrGaNicS Studios (sample courtesty of a pen pal), Private Reserve

Color(s): True Blue, Eau De Nil, BlakWa, Ebony Blue

Intensity:  Ebony Blue the highest and most saturated; the Diamine and OS less saturated.  Everflo was tough to place.  It's semi-saturated, and not a real BB, but whatever.  ;p

Flow:  All except the OS had decent flow, that is, until the PR EB had been in the pen for a couple of weeks, and then it needed multiple water-dips to start.  It also began smearing badly.  FPG had a discussion on similar problems with intensely saturated inks; it appears that it's just part of the breed.  Dilute or suffer.

The reluctant nature of the OS was not due to the pen (A Hero Summer Colors), because with its provided cart of Hero ink, that pen is an absolute gusher.  I believe the Diamine would have good flow but the Nemo pens are dry writers.

Shading:  None whatever in the Everflo.  All others had varying good degrees of shading, and the PR had SHEEN!

Summary:  While OS and Diamine Eau De Nil look almost identical on paper, in the scans and photos they look quite different, with the OS Blakwa appearing far more green.  Possibly the BlakWa shades a bit better than Eau De Nil.


What follows is the scan AND the photo of the four inks.

We have further blue-blacks to test: Noodler's Blue-Black, a sample of Chesterfield Night Sapphire, which I like a lot, and the cart that arrived with the Hero Summer Colors.  Until next year!

Knockaround! In Which Dr. Inkenstein Writes Blue-Black

Sometimes, you can’t manage a Big, Important Involved Post, like Superhero Pens, but you want to post something because you got some new inks to test.
　
Also sometimes, you just want a knockaround ink, you know? An ink that doesn’t come in a ‘collectible’ bottle, an ink that doesn’t cost a fortune, an ink that is easy to open and isn’t overfilled and doesn’t tip too easily and you don’t have to approach with fear, awe, and trembling.
　
You inks out there know who you are.
　
　
To this end, Dr. Inkenstein sent for a bottle of New Formula Skrip Blue-Black ink, as opposed to the vintage formula that came in the inkwell bottle and was impossible for me to open. This came to about ten bucks…could have found it for less money in Real Life, but was impatient. Will never again order from this particular vendor; the tiny box was un-padded and bulging, but the ink miraculously arrived intact. And NO. The dealer was not isellpens, Jetpens or Goulet Pens. Rest assured of that.
　
　
Also ordered a bottle of Hero Blue-Black ink from fleabay. At about five bucks shipped, this is the Bargain of the Bunch.
　
Why is Diamine Denim included? Because it’s in a Knockaround Pen, one of my trusty and well-loved Platinum Preppys. And because I had a test bottle of Denim on hand, bigger than a sample, far less than a full bottle. We hates these small bottles. Hard to squeeze a nib into, all too easy to tip over. Diamine isn’t exactly Knockaround Ink, but the full-sized bottles are at least stable, easy to open, and difficult to tip.
　
I dip-tested the Skrip and the Hero inks using different pens, shown here on a Clairefontaine Grid Pad and shot with a very bad digital camera of sorts with no close-up feature:
　

　
　
Then I further disgraced myself by dip-testing all the inks with a horrible, no-name glass pen. This pen would make a professional calligrapher write like a cross-eyed monkey tanked up on espresso, so it had no difficulty whatsoever in making Dr. Inkenstein’s southpaw scribble resemble blue worms on a plate.
　

　
　
I also tried diluting each ink with first a water-dip, then a cotton swab smear. The Diamine Denim seems to have the least green undertones of the three tested inks, and may be the ‘truest’ blue of the bunch. But I kind of favor the Hero ink at this point, for a combination of price, bottle, and just because.
　
　
As for each ink’s shading properties, it’s too early to tell, and besides, it’s snowing. And there’s a loose chicken in my yard.

Four pens: In Which Dr. Inkenstein Scribbles Notes

Long time no blog: plenty of ideas and pens and inks in the hopper, though.

Today Dr. Inkenstein scribbles with four new fountain pens and two new inks.  And could not be happier.

The first, a Hero, is utterly gorgeous, copper colored with a raised fleur-de-lys design and pewter-looking clip.  For some odd reason the shape reminds me of an ST. Dupont build.  The nib is said to be flexible.  If Todd still has these, he's got better pix than I can take.  Please have a look at this pen's gorgeousness.

Isellpens...Hero page 3

The second may well be my fave of the batch: a shiny gray Nemosine Singularity from xfountainpens (and much more on them in a later post).  It's a substantial, smooth, well-steering model with a rounded stubbish calligraphy nib that, on a single dip in Noodler's Rome Burning,  laid down at least three slinky paragraphs.  

 Dr. I also wonders why so many people dislike RB ink.  It's nearly a dead ringer for Pelikan Khaki, which I love and which is 'out of print.'

Pen Number Three is a monster.  Seriously.  It could star in its own movie: Pen Nine From Outer Space.  Heavy, mirror-finish, fat silver torpedo.  Another from xfountainpens.  

 These are probably rebranded Jinhaos, and the M nib here is smooth enough.  I just. Didn't. Expect. Such.  Huge.  Shininess.

Last,  an amazing piece of work  is the Duke 'Chinese calligraphy' nib, and just one more in my growing fude collections (see Nose In The Air for further examples).  It, too, is massive, heavy, and comes in a presentation box with ink and a cart AND a booklet.  In Chinese.  Which Dr.Inkenstein cannot read.  

Its nib is somewhat different from most of my fude, being bent at a more severe angle and having two nib slits.   Another one from isellpens; pics on that website.

These will be reviewed in more detail at a later date.   For now please enjoy the random scribbles.