Digital BW, The Print

I expect that Jon has a great ink set.  It is just that it is a bit 
new and untested.

I have to say I give him a lot of credit for being honest and 
forthright about the quality of his inks, and in not stinting in 
praise of Epson inks.  Unlike many of the amateurs that like to slam 
Epson, etc. and make unfounded claims for the most generic of clone 
ink sets. ;>)

I am using a cheap CIS for my Epson 2200. One of the $50 units off of 
Ebay.  They are probably OK if you get them set up right the first 
time. 

Unfortunateky I tinkered with mine a bit, and had every connection 
and tube come undone.  I finally got it working OK, but I would not 
rely on it too much.  I was just playing with the 2200 though, I have 
2 7600's and a 9600 for more serious work.

Probably worth investing in one of the better CIS' if you are going 
to use it heavily.

The K3 inks can yield a good gloss on the newer baryta papers.  Neil 
Snape has posted a bit on the most recent addition, the Hahnemuhle 
Photo Rag Baryta (you have to read that name carefully, it is similar 
to other Hahnemuhle names.)  It is supposed to have excellent dmax, 
no bronzing, no gloss differential, no OBA's.  Not yet available in 
the US though.

Otherwise you can achieve excellent reults with the Hahnemuhle Fine 
Art Baryta, Epson Exhibition Fiber, Harman Glossy FB Ai, or Ilford 
Gold Silk.  They will require spraying and are quite delicate when 
wet, but really great papers.  We are quite lucky to have them.

I also like the Innova F type Glossy Warmtone for B&W.  It does need 
spraying to eliminate gloss differential. 

I have mixed a version of the Epson K3 PK, LK, and LLK inks into a 5K 
ink set plus GLOP that looks decent.  I use a light GLOP on first 
pass, then a second pass of full GLOP.  A method devised by Paul 
Roark, Tyler, et. al.  

I stil have to mix a toner for the 7th channel to get the look I want 
for those inks. That was more of a side project. I still need to 
figure out a production ink set, probably Cone.

Anyway, either Jon's Cone Color inks or the Epson K3 should be able 
to make a good glossy B&W print with a little extra work.  I think 
the HP Z3100 with the GLOP channel is a little easier, but given that 
we are running older (and much cheaper) technology the results are 
wonderful.  I hope that is on topic?

Best,
Michael