Digital BW, The Print

Just a quick update on my use of Paul's QTR Eboni-3 curves for the 
R1800. First let me thank Paul for giving us R1800 owners another 
option to play with. 
Up until recently I have been printing with NK7 Splitone/QTR on HPR 
188, 8 x 10s. Very happy with this setup and the prints to my eye are 
fantastic (nice variable slightly warm tone and very smooth creamy 
tones (ie lack of grain)). The NK7 inks however are expensive and I am 
always on the look out for a cheaper alternative if I can maintain 
print quality. So the idea of using bulk Eboni ink and filling the 
cartridges my self to reduce cost was very tempting. 
Following MIS and Paul's instructions the filling of cartridges and 
installation in the R1800 printer was easy and I got a clean nozzle 
check after only one cleaning cycle - I am very impressed already!
The image I am printing is a landscape (tmax 4x5 readyload, developed 
in PMK, scanned with Epson 4990) with a dramatic dark sky and some 
delicate tones in foreground trees and rocks.
So what were the results?
The Eboni-3 setup with Paul's curve on HPR is tonally very pleasing 
(slightly warm) and prints slightly lighter overall than the NK7 setup. 
To the naked eye the dmax is comparable. Out of the box, with no 
tweaking the printed image is very close to what I see on my LCD Eizo 
monitor - again very impressed!
The downside that I am struggling with (and Paul explains this in his 
notes)is the increased grain in the mid-tones. The NK7 setup wins 
handsdown in this area but it is using 7 inks while the Eboni setup 
only uses 3. With my eye 1 foot from the 8x10 print I can clearly see 
the extra grain. However, if I stand 3 ft back the increased grain is 
not a significant problem. (Note: my wife, who does not have much 
experience in comparing B/W prints, could not detect the difference in 
grain)
I am now wondering if I try increasing the number of Eboni inks to 4 or 
more will this help to reduce the grain while keeping the current dmax? 
Or will this only work with lighter inks in the mix (like NK7)?
Adding color to smooth out the print is not something I want to try as 
the whole BO approach really appeals to me. 
Any comments  would be greatly appreciated.
Jim