I tried to resist yet another facet of b&b that was going to lure me in and have its way with my wallet.. I really did. But, while commenting about the "enabling" powers of b&b in the Brown Leaf forum, a member tempted me with a, "we have pens, too" comment. I remembered I had a 25yo Senator pen somewhere, then found it.. full of dried opaque ink.. then the cap cracked while trying to clean it.. OK, done with that. Then, while enjoying a late-night bowl of a mellow Virginia tobacco blend and a sip o' whiskey, I thought to myself, "hey, why not buy one of the Chinese pens he mentioned.." ..So, I placed an order. Dang it! ...errrr, right on! Actually, I'm pretty stoked to give it a go and improve my handwriting and do some sketching again. I bought 3 Hero 329's (Star Trek model), one in each color. And, while I was already there, I decided to try a Noodler's Konrad in Roaring 20's Brown Tortoise. Also bought some Noodler's Polar brown, Red Black and Zhivago, for the brown Konrad, the red 329 and the green 329.. now I just need to get a black for the black 329. ...so, what would be a good recommendation for a hard-workin' black that would work well in the 329? Is Heart of Darkness a good choice? I'd probably use the black on many types of paper, for taking notes and quick sketches. Man, pens are already messing with my addictive nature! ..sweet!
I tried.
- Thread starter jiminyshiznit
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I was going to post this in the handwritten thread, but it didn't feel right.. too early to taint such a cool thread with lead. Since I don't wanna waste it, here it shall go. Obviously excited about my new pens!
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Welcome to the nib.. sorry about what's about to happen to you in here lol
Btw what am I looking at in the photo, is that a cg photo... a painting.... old printing press letters
Please to explain please
Btw what am I looking at in the photo, is that a cg photo... a painting.... old printing press letters
Please to explain please
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Yep, old lead letterpress type that I photographed. I have a coupe of boxes of it that I play with when I feel my lead levels gettin' low.
I'm a little afraid of what may happen, but straight razors kinda wiped me out.. I can spend a bit to play, but I killed my little bit of expendable cash on a straight razor frenzy, and I still need a thing or two in that department.. mainly a bevel setter. I'm doing my best to avoid looking at too many sweet old pens, so I don't get tempted to start charging things! NO, I won't do it! I think I'll have fun with the cheapies I ordered, and it sounds like the Konrad could keep me busy trying to get it dialed in. I would like to get a 616 Doctor and a Pilot 78G, just to see what they're like.. I'll keep myself busy with the cheapies while I'm getting acquainted with fountain pens.
Since my question was kinda buried in all that rambling in my first post, I'll ask it again.. Is Heart of Darkness a good choice for a versatile black ink?
I'm a little afraid of what may happen, but straight razors kinda wiped me out.. I can spend a bit to play, but I killed my little bit of expendable cash on a straight razor frenzy, and I still need a thing or two in that department.. mainly a bevel setter. I'm doing my best to avoid looking at too many sweet old pens, so I don't get tempted to start charging things! NO, I won't do it! I think I'll have fun with the cheapies I ordered, and it sounds like the Konrad could keep me busy trying to get it dialed in. I would like to get a 616 Doctor and a Pilot 78G, just to see what they're like.. I'll keep myself busy with the cheapies while I'm getting acquainted with fountain pens.
Since my question was kinda buried in all that rambling in my first post, I'll ask it again.. Is Heart of Darkness a good choice for a versatile black ink?
I seen the question, I know there's a few guys who love it, but I've never used it myself so I can't really give you a good opinion on the stuff but someone will be along and asnwer that for you shortly
Sorry I should have said that in the last post
Sorry I should have said that in the last post
Other than maintaining appropriate lead levels, I'm curious as to what else you do with the letterpress type. That looks pretty cool. Do you do art type stuff, strictly photography, just out of boredom?
Some of the guys at our DFW get-togethers have been encouraging me towards pens, and I think I'm about to take them up on their offer after trying to resist. Nice to see I'm not the only one failing in my effort to resist the lure of pens.
Oh Jody, if your thinking that way, you've already lost the battle. Just go ahead and have some fun and try it out
you know you wanna !
you know you wanna !
Welcome! I don't have experience with HOD. Nib creap seems to be a complaint with most Noodler's inks, but it has good reviews at Goulet Pens. Diamine Registers Ink has good reviews for a black. Noodler's 5 O'Clock Shadow is probably my favorite. Black with green in it.
Welcome to yet another thing to spend your money on.
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I have done some letterpress printing, long ago, but not with this type. Over the years, I've bought a few small boxes of type to photograph. I've made a few wedding gifts, invitations, postcards, etc.. I'm a graphic designer, and occasionally moonlight as a photographer. I do most of my own shooting anymore, mostly due to budgets these days. I miss the old days when there was budget to hire a photographer and focus only on art direction.
There are many things here that lure me in.. it was only a matter of time for pens. I'm kinda stoked that so many are having fun with some very affordable pens!
Thanks for the tip, I'll look into the ink you mentioned. I just bought Zhivago, which looks like a slightly lighter version of the 5 O'Clock shadow.. wish I'd waited, but oh well. I may end up with that one, too, if they're not so similar. Hard to tell in photos.
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Noodler's Heart of Darkness is pretty well behaved for a Noodler's ink.
That said, I keep it in the Eyedropper Preppy that came with it.
That said, I keep it in the Eyedropper Preppy that came with it.
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Thanks for the welcome, guys! Now I just have to keep this one under control... 
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I wouldn't mind trying something other than Noodler's.. I just kinda got locked into that page o the site I bought from.. so many choices. What black inks do you like better than the HoD?
Montblanc's Mystery Black is a solid performing black ink and it has a great bottle (if you care about that type of thing).
Waterman inks are great, as well. They're one of the best inks around in terms of how well behaved they are. That said... they're not waterproof.
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Diamine Eclipse, maybe give Private reserve velvet black a try
Edelstein Onyx was a good one for me, but the fancy bottle adds to the price a bit, but they sure look nice on the desk
Edelstein Onyx was a good one for me, but the fancy bottle adds to the price a bit, but they sure look nice on the desk
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I like nice packaging! Thanks for the recommendation, guys.. I do like that Montblanc bottle a lot, as well as the Edelstein bottle.. opposite ends of the spectrum, both cool.
Oh in that case check out Iroshizoku from Pilot/Namaki them and Montblanc make two of the nicest bottles in mordern mass production, but Iro is fantastic Ink to write with they are of my top rated Inks
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I was just looking at the Iroshizoku bottle on Amazon.. beautiful. That's a spendy one, but boy is that packaging nice. I'll probably save that purchase for the day I step up and buy a nice pen to put it in.
I've been reading lots of "Best Black" threads over the past hour, and man is it overwhelming. It seems there's more love for Noodler's standard (Bulletproof) Black than for Heart of Darkness, especially when it comes to general purpose. I'll probably just use the inks I've ordered, and skip black for awhile.. all of my regular pens are black, so it'll be nice to mix it up. Thanks for all the input, guys.. back to reading old threads!
I've been reading lots of "Best Black" threads over the past hour, and man is it overwhelming. It seems there's more love for Noodler's standard (Bulletproof) Black than for Heart of Darkness, especially when it comes to general purpose. I'll probably just use the inks I've ordered, and skip black for awhile.. all of my regular pens are black, so it'll be nice to mix it up. Thanks for all the input, guys.. back to reading old threads!
You could also look at gouletpens ink sample packs... pick up a bunch of black inks to find out which works best for you
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Excellent.. that's exactly what I need to do. I should have done that before ordering the bottles I ordered, but I was workin' on that free shipping! Come to find out, they sell samples, too! Oh well.. smarter for next time.
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