Is Chou Kuro Dangerous??

[@MarshaLove0723]

0:56 I was saying over and over, "Open drain, open drain, open drain." Then, "Whew."😅

[@pensinfocus]

Two common causes of tragedies in fountain pens: leaving the drain uncovered when cleaning, and leaving the ink bottle open after filling. That little cover has saved me a few times, as has capping the bottle the moment I take the pen out of the ink. Thanks for watching!

[@arcfide]

This just goes to show the difference between various people's ideas of what maintenance means. Chou Kuro certainly won't damage your pens. However, it will have a higher likelihood of clogging them when cleaned according to normal cleaning procedures using tap water. The above cleaning procedure would be classified by most standard pen companies as extreme levels of deep cleaning (or even restorative cleaning) and is in fact not recommended as a normal procedure for cleaning by most makers because of the risk of damage and wear and tear on the feeds. Standard cleaning procedures from most major pen manufacturers is cleaning only with water flushing without the removal of any internal components of the section, to include the feed and nib. This would mean, for piston pens, just flushing with water; for cartridge pens, this is usually defined as a soak of the section for 12 - 24 hours in plain water followed by a rinse, with no disassembly of the section. For some pen companies using standard and low maintenance ink, this cleaning cycle is not expected to be required more than once or twice per year. For companies with higher maintenance inks or a reliance on cartridges, the maintenance cycle tends to be on the order of 1 month to 3 months. Platinum's own advice for pigmented inks assumes the use of a well-sealing pen (such as those with the Slip and Seal caps that they produce), and then the recommendation is for 1 month maintenance that should only require plain water to flush the pen, though a pen cleaning solution is made by Platinum in cases where further cleaning may be desired. In no case do they recommend the removal of the feed under normal conditions. Given this, and the behavior of Chou Kuro under Tap Water, there is a much higher likelihood of Chou Kuro clogging (but not damaging) pens when maintained using the standard methods that are recommended by Platinum. Thus, their maintenance recommendations require the use of distilled water to clean the pens, because they are assuming that you will not disassemble the section or use any sort of brushing or other action inside of the pen when cleaning.

[@pensinfocus]

Thanks for the detailed reply. I saw some concern regarding Chou Kuro and tap water in forums and on Reddit that seemed hyperbolic, so I decided to see what happened when I ran the pen through my post-pigment deep clean. My voiceover is all "hey, it's fine" but when I was shooting the video I really wasn't sure what would happen.

[@kevinu.k.7042]

I would love to see a comparative video between this ink and Montblanc Permanent Black. One written review (from a leading reviewer) stated that the Montblanc was actually more black. And, of course, it has none of these disadvantages. Great video - Thanks.

[@pensinfocus]

Interesting. If I see a sample I’ll see about doing the comparison. I don’t use black ink very much, so I know I won’t need a full bottle of the MB.

[@kevinu.k.7042]

@@pensinfocus Thanks I've since talked to another 'inky' and they were of the opinion that there is little difference between the Montblanc Permanent Black and Platinum Carbon black regarding colour. He suggested the MB for general writing and he prefers Platinum for his art. So maybe that gives a measure of it. I certainly would not bother with Chou Kuru I am not that desperate to get a 'Darker Shade of Black' with the extra processes involved here. But for some that might be important. Anyway - Again thanks for covering this. Appreciated.

[@sahilmandalia7720]

Thank you for the thorough video on cleaning a fountain pen, especially with such a challenging ink. It was presented in a way that even beginners like me can easily understand! Could you also tell me which pen model was demonstrated in this video?

[@pensinfocus]

It’s a TWSBI Swipe. I’m glad you liked it!

[@judyle4893]

Do you think you'd shimmer up your Chou Kuro? I have some shimmer additive coming (not mica powder) and I am eyeing my blacks and greys for it.

[@pensinfocus]

That could be interesting. I’m not sure what would happen. I tried adding powder to Baystate Blue - another dense ink - and the ink completely overpowered the shimmer. BSB is a completely different formulation than CK, so it may work fine. I really like JH Stormy Grey, so a denser black with gold shimmer could look awesome.

[@judyle4893]

@@pensinfocus OK I put some Wearingeul Silver Shoes in my Chou Kuro and I call it Chou Kurwhoa and while I am sorry about that I'm not going to stop. It is so sparkly! It's in a Jinhao 100 with a Kaigelu M nib right now and it hasn't clogged or anything yet (it hasn't been long) and I love it so.

[@AndrewWertheimer]

Happy no damage. I would be especially careful with vintage pens. Of course results will vary depending on your water, pen condition, etc. aloha. I can see a new genre of pen cleaning videos. Just kidding. Aloha

[@pensinfocus]

Yes. I don't have many vintage pens, but those that I do have, I use well-behaved inks in them. I avoid pigment-based inks and those with shimmer. As to the new genre: fast and blurry. Let's see if it catches on.

[@AndrewWertheimer]

@@pensinfocus maybe stay in focus, but enjoy inking and writing. Aloha