Ink Review #846: KWZ Sheen Machine

For the rest of this week we are going to tackle some inks I picked up at the San Francisco Pen Show last month, starting with KWZ Sheen Machine. I picked up a bottle at the Vanness Pen table. Super sheening inks still seem to be all the rage, so this is KWZ’s newest ink.

The color:

Sheen Machine is a dark blue with a ton of pink sheen.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink is mostly sheen with a little bit of blue mixed in.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: High

Bleeding: Medium

Other properties: low shading, monster sheen, and no shimmer. There is a little bit of shading, there could be a lot more but if so it’s hidden under all that sheen. The sheen is visible in all nib sizes on Tomoe River paper and Leuchtturm, as well as the larger nib sizes on Rhodia.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper the ink feathered in all nib sizes and had a little bit of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Sheen Machine is similar to Organics Studio Nitrogen, Krishna Moonview and Diamine Maureen. Click here to see the KWZ inks together, and click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pop Purple with a fine nib on Tomoe River paper. The ink had an average flow, a bit sticky though. Even in this small fine nib the writing is mostly sheen, it’s hard to even see the blue under it.

Overall, it is very similar to Organics Studio Nitrogen, except that the flow is a little bit better. You can smear it easily if you aren’t careful, even after it’s been dry for a few days. Monster sheening inks aren’t my favorite since they can smear after drying, but they are fun to play with.

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored in any way.