Sammyo
March 5th, 2015, 08:50 PM
I was looking for reviews of this ink, or even just a writing sample, but there was nothing out there. So I decided to buy a bottle and try it... Then it dawned on me, what if someone else was looking... I could do an ink review! This is the first time that I have done this so please, any feedback, advice, comments, etc are all welcome... positive or negative.
Do I like this ink? ... Yes I do.
It is very much like Iroshizuku Asa Gao, but darker. It flows well, looks very nice and is very water resistant from the two tests I did. I tried it on cheap copy paper, Rhodia, Clairefontaine and Tomoe River. The Pilot Parallel feathered terribly on the Rhodia for some reason... not sure why! The sheen on the Tomoe River was amazing, it was visible on nearly all the text, but especially on the Pilot Parallel and flexed writing. It was also visible on the Apica but nowhere near as stunning. I captured it the best I could, but I don't have an expensive camera or set up.
I thought that cleaning this out of a pen was going to be a nightmare after the water test... but I was wrong. I cleaned out my Speedball auto-feed, which has a lever filled sac with no troubles. It thought it was going to be like the Diamine Grape that was coming out of the pen for weeks, and just when I thought it was clean... more came out. But this stuff flushed straight out with so few issues, I wasn't sure I had done it properly. So I left it and went back again... clean, clear water :)
This ink was everything I was hoping it would be. I wanted it for an everyday office ink with a little, extra special something; it delivers for me. If you do not like dark blues, then this is not for you. It is a very saturated rich colour, much like the Iroshizuku inks. I am very happy and already have three people at work that would like a sample for their pens, I think that speaks for itself.
The rest can be seen from the pictures and scans. I tried to correct as best I could and included a scan and a photo of the review paper. The swab was a bit more purple in real life, but the rest seems about right.
I hope this helps somebody out there.
p.s. Sorry for the terrible handwriting.
Do I like this ink? ... Yes I do.
It is very much like Iroshizuku Asa Gao, but darker. It flows well, looks very nice and is very water resistant from the two tests I did. I tried it on cheap copy paper, Rhodia, Clairefontaine and Tomoe River. The Pilot Parallel feathered terribly on the Rhodia for some reason... not sure why! The sheen on the Tomoe River was amazing, it was visible on nearly all the text, but especially on the Pilot Parallel and flexed writing. It was also visible on the Apica but nowhere near as stunning. I captured it the best I could, but I don't have an expensive camera or set up.
I thought that cleaning this out of a pen was going to be a nightmare after the water test... but I was wrong. I cleaned out my Speedball auto-feed, which has a lever filled sac with no troubles. It thought it was going to be like the Diamine Grape that was coming out of the pen for weeks, and just when I thought it was clean... more came out. But this stuff flushed straight out with so few issues, I wasn't sure I had done it properly. So I left it and went back again... clean, clear water :)
This ink was everything I was hoping it would be. I wanted it for an everyday office ink with a little, extra special something; it delivers for me. If you do not like dark blues, then this is not for you. It is a very saturated rich colour, much like the Iroshizuku inks. I am very happy and already have three people at work that would like a sample for their pens, I think that speaks for itself.
The rest can be seen from the pictures and scans. I tried to correct as best I could and included a scan and a photo of the review paper. The swab was a bit more purple in real life, but the rest seems about right.
I hope this helps somebody out there.
p.s. Sorry for the terrible handwriting.