So far I've reviewed Nioi-Sumire, Miruai, Yama-Dori, Souten, and now Shigure.  I currently also have Oku-Yama, and am thinking about picking up Tokiwa Matsu and Doyou just so I can say I've reviewed the entire line, although those colors intere… — So far I've reviewed Nioi-Sumire, Miruai, Yama-Dori, Souten, and now Shigure. I currently also have Oku-Yama, and am thinking about picking up Tokiwa Matsu and Doyou just so I can say I've reviewed the entire line, although those colors interest me less (at least, without seeing them in person, that is).

Ink Review: Sailor Shigure

September 3, 2014

This shot gives you a pretty good idea of the deep purple color.

For some reason, this ink was incredibly difficult to photograph and get accurate color reproduction. Some of these pictures make the ink look purplish blue-black, but it's really just a very deep purple, which shows more if you are using a broader nib. Of course, here I'm using a Japanese XF, so I've probably caused the issue myself, but oh well.

Sailor apparently has replaced the old Jentle Ultramarine with two purple options: Nioi-Sumire, which is a personal favorite of mine and leans heavily to the blue end of the spectrum with purple undertones, and Shigure, which is a deep purple. I'm not going to bore you with a discussion of the ink properties other than to say that I've found all of these new Sailor inks to be nearly identical in that regard (read: quick drying, no-bleeding, no-feathering, and overall excellent). Next up will be Oku-Yama (the "new" Grenade).

Again the writing here, other than the "swab", appears somewhat more black than it does in real life, at least on my computer screen.  The pictures below are better, IMHO. — Again the writing here, other than the "swab", appears somewhat more black than it does in real life, at least on my computer screen. The pictures below are better, IMHO.

Complementary Bottle of Delta Black Ink, courtesy of 2014 D.C. Pen Show.  I believe this is the same smaller bottle that you receive with certain Delta pens, such as the Journal. — Complementary Bottle of Delta Black Ink, courtesy of 2014 D.C. Pen Show. I believe this is the same smaller bottle that you receive with certain Delta pens, such as the Journal.

Ink Review: Delta Black

September 1, 2014

This bottle of Delta black ink was provided to the first 200 D.C. Pen Show attendees on Saturday and Sunday. I had never tried Delta Ink before, and I've been pleasantly surprised by its performance. I would compare the Delta to Aurora in terms of smoothness and flow, but it doesn't have the deep black color that the Aurora does. In terms of color, I would compare this ink to Lamy black, in the sense that it has almost purplish undertones. It's a pretty ink, with some character. It dries very quickly and I found that it works well on my cheap work paper. I'm not sure that I would buy another bottle after I use this one up but I'm definitely going to continue with this ink in the rotation from time to time. The small bottle is approximately 30ml and fits nicely in my briefcase, so it's a good fallback to have if I'm on the road and need to refill.

Delta Black Ink reviewed on Exacompta card stock with a Delta Fusion 82 (medium nib).

That's all from me today. Since it's Labor Day, I'm off work so I'm going to take advantage with a short post. See everyone Wednesday!

A Great Pen Store and a Vintage Find...

August 27, 2014

I won't rehash a review of Joe Rodgers' Office Supply in Cleveland, Tennessee (outside of Chattanooga), but if you're ever in the area, it's every bit as good as Bob from My Pen Needs Ink makes it out to be. (Link Here to his Review). They have a large fountain pen section at the front of the store that features Conklin, Delta, Visconti, Waterman, Parker, Sheaffer, Lamy, and well, lots of other brands. They also have a floor to ceiling ink cabinet that is packed full of ink, including THIS:

J.B.'s "in the wild" Montblanc Bordeaux find.

Don't go inundating them with phone calls, now, because I got the last bottle. However, they did have some late-1990's vintage bottles of Montblanc Black, Emerald Green, and Ruby Red. I picked up a bottle of Ruby Red as well but have not tried it out yet. The best part? This:

Apparently the owners became Montblanc dealers in the late 1990s, but are in the process of liquidating their stock because the pens did not sell well.  They had a few smaller pens remaining, priced very well, but nothing screamed at me and I w… — Apparently the owners became Montblanc dealers in the late 1990s, but are in the process of liquidating their stock because the pens did not sell well. They had a few smaller pens remaining, priced very well, but nothing screamed at me and I was saving my money for D.C.

Apologies for the blurry pic, but yes, they honored that price. $8.25 for a bottle of discontinued Montblanc Bordeaux, which I might add, is probably the best burgundy ink I have ever used. I compared it to the new Burgundy color at the DC Pen Show Ink testing station and the new ink is much lighter.

Unfortunately, I stopped by Joe Rodgers on a brief detour from a work trip, so I did not have time to seriously root around. Who knows what else you might find?

Ink Review: Sailor Souten

August 25, 2014

Thanks again to Ron and the folks at Pen Chalet for sending this bottle of Sailor Souten over for review. Souten is the "replacement" for the now-discontinued Sailor Sky High, the light blue ink that everybody loved and now mourns. Well, I'm here to tell you that for most people, Souten will be a perfectly satisfactory replacement, but those who loved Sky High for the "red sheen" it left as it dried might be disappointed. Some of the sheen remains with Souten, but it's more subtle. Personally, I'm agnostic on this issue.

What you have with Souten is a very well-behaved, bright mid-range blue. I've seen some reviewers describe this ink as too light for daily use, and even washed-out. I did not find this to be the case in any way whatsoever. It's similar to Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, but cheaper (even with the new pricing from Sailor) and doesn't feather and bleed as much. You can see from the writing sample below that I really layered the ink down on Rhodia (which is high quality, but will feather and bleed in extreme cases), and did not see a bit of bleed-through.

A comparison with Miruai and Yama-Dori, great colors all around.

This scan is a pretty faithful reproduction of the colors shown above, but as with most scans, the colors probably "pop" more in real life.  The photos below capture that. — This scan is a pretty faithful reproduction of the colors shown above, but as with most scans, the colors probably "pop" more in real life. The photos below capture that.

Pen Chalet carries the full line of Sailor Ink and Pens. In the interest of full disclosure, I received this ink free of charge for review purposes.

Ink Review: Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa

August 22, 2014

The blog's been a bit heavy on ink reviews this week, but I'm still churning my way through the load of inks I trucked home from the D.C. Pen Show two weeks ago, and I'm writing reviews as I use them up (which I need to do, seeing that I have over a dozen pens inked right now). Hopefully I will get some pen reviews photographed and finalized this weekend. But in the meantime, here's today's review:

Rohrer & Klingner inks come in a 50ml glass bottle, which is tall and works well for filling pens that have a larger nib.

I held off buying this ink because I had a bottle of Pharmacist's Purpura Imperialis, which was a nice enough color but ended up being a bit too dry for me. (My review of that ink, from a long, long time ago, can be found here.) The Scabiosa is similar in that it initially writes in a purple tone but dries to a purple-black. I find, however, that the Scabiosa has slightly better flow and behaves more like Montblanc Midnight Blue (iron gall version). This is probably because those inks have less iron-gall content than the Pharmacist inks.

This ink also has been reviewed a lot, and is very popular, so I won't bore everyone with another lengthy discussion of its properties, but it does work well on cheap paper (most iron gall inks do) and dries fairly quickly. The ink also offers some nice shading, which I've attempted to capture in the photo gallery below, along with the color shift as the ink dries. You may notice that the "fresh" writing at the bottom of the handwritten sample is notably lighter than the writing at the top.

I should emphasize that you need to clean your pen out every two weeks or so while using this ink, especially if you use steel nibs and/or pens with metal parts that come into contact with the ink. Iron Gall can react with and corrode steel and some steel alloys over time, and if you leave a pen inked up for months on end and don't practice good pen hygiene, bad things can happen. Otherwise, it's perfectly safe to use and enjoy. I've been using iron gall inks for years without any ill effects.