The Kuretake No. 8 Fountain Hair Brush Pen is a great drawing tool that ships with Kuretake non-waterproof ink cartridges. Finally used up these original refills, so I could finally test how well this brush pen accepts the waterproof Platinum ink cartridge refills. 
The brush tip was soaked overnight in water and Koh-I-Noor pen cleaner to remove all traces of the old dried ink. The old Kuretake cartridge was also cut open to retrieve and save the metal ball bearing which can reportedly be used on newer ink cartridges that lack this feature. 
Both refills are similar in size and design, so the Platinum cartridge fit perfectly within the barrel of the Kuretake No. 8 brush pen without any undue effort. 
The Platinum ink dries waterproof very quickly. As soon as this sample doodle was completed, it was placed under a running faucet. The water stream did not affect the dark rich marks in the slightest on either side of the page no matter how long the sheet of vellum was kept under the flowing water.
Thus, the Kuretake No. 8 brush pen loaded with a Platinum Pocket Brush Pen ink cartridge refill proved to be a very effective and versatile drawing tool that can easily lay down waterproof marks of varying line width. Highly recommended for field watercolor kits and sketch crawls.
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6 comments:
Very cool! I like the intensive water test. The Carbon ink really holds up! I thought of trying a Platinum Soft Brush pen, though I was interested in the Kuretake No 8 pen as well. Good to know the cartridges are interchangeable. I wonder if the sable hair Kuretate replacement brush would also work with this pen body?
As always a great informative post! :)
While I have not yet tried the sable hair Kuretake, I just did a quick check with a spare No. 13 brush replacement and the barrel of the No. 8. While the No. 13 brush tip can be screwed securely into the No. 8 barrel, the cap of the No. 8 does not click shut tight on the flange of the No. 13 brush nib. Thus, not a perfect match. From the Jet Pens site photos, it looks like the Kuretake No. 13 might be a pretty good match with the sable brush pen tip replacement for the No. 40 & No. 50 models. Still, it might be risky to try the Platinum Carbon ink with the more delicate filaments of the sable brush tip.
I agree, I definitely would not use the Carbon ink with a sable brush pen like that, it would not be worth the risk of ruining it. That type of ink seems to be a better choice for the synthetic brush pen.
I read on the Jet Pens forum, someone tried the Sable replacement for the No. 40 and 50 with the No. 13 brush and it was definitely interchangeable. So that is good to know. :)
I probably won't invest in a 40 or 50 any time soon. Admittedly, I never buy or have owned any very expensive paint brushes, and that one is more than I would normally spend.
Thanks for the info, I always appreciate it! :D
You are quite welcomed. Agreed on the unlikelihood of purchasing such a pricey brush pen. At the retail price of the Kuretake No. 40 & No.50, one would probably do better by investing in any Winsor & Newton Kolinski Series 7 round sable brush between #4 and #7 or even by getting half a dozen of Pentel Pocket brush pens instead. While I have never tried a sable brush pen, I can't really justify spending that much on a single brush pen.
before knocking the #40, check this out:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y64/Angry_spirit/IMG_0334.jpg
FTW Sable hair brush + fountain pen system
Duly noted. Thanks for the comment and providing this link that highlights the expressive potential on the higher tier Kuretake sable brush head fountain pens.
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