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Twenty Blue-Blacks


Daisy

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Okay, I finally got around to it. :D

 

Here are 20 blue-blacks on a sheet of HP Laserjet 24 lb copy paper:

 

http://i1026.photobucket.com/albums/y323/daisy-be-true/20BlueBlacks_zpse7325e18.jpg

 

Notes:

 


  •  
  • It actually took two sheets of 8.5" x 11" HPLJ24 to do this; it's through The Magic of Gimp that they are now all on one page. :D
     
  • I happened to do this on a day where the humidity had hovered around 100% over the last three days; that plus an occasionally overloaded glass pen produced a tiny bit of feathering, especially on the bottom row.
     
    Ignore it: that doesn't happen under normal conditions with these inks.
     
    I had been cleaning carpets and afterward had a spare moment to get on doing the review, but because of the work my hands were a little more shaky than usual, so I was not thorough about getting every last bit of excess off the pen so as to not tip over sample bottles. My bad. None of these inks feather on this paper even in high humidity.
     
  • Shaky hands also equal REALLY sloppy, jerky and jagged writing; my apologies!
     
  • The lines between each entry are Caran d'Ache Storm in a Lamy Logo F nib.
     
  • While the color is generally true, the red balance is a tiny bit off. I can't tell anywhere except on the J. Herbin Bleu Nuit and the Diamine Denim: neither are that purple in real life. Both are absolutely blue on the page. Also, there is NO green whatsoever in Sheaffer Blue-Black, though there's a hair of it in the scan.
     
  • The absolute dryest ink of all, by a long shot, was the Lamy Blue-Black.
     
  • The absolute wettest ink of all, again by a long shot ahead of the rest, was the Sailor Sei-Boku Blue-Black.
     
  • Maybe it was just the sample, but I saw nothing black about the Parker Quink Blue-Black, or even much in the Sailor Sei-Boku.
     
  • The "stickiest" of all the inks, the one that had to be aggressively wiped off the glass pen even after several dunks, was Noodler's Bad Blue Heron. I've never used it in a pen, so I don't know how it would fare there, and it felt fine writing with it -- it was just sticky somehow and clung to the glass nib like it was scared to say goodbye. I wouldn't be surprised if BBH users were having to do more soapy flushes than others.

 

Gotta run right now but if I think of more I'll add it. Enjoy!

 

Here is the same image but separated into columns for more detailed viewing:

 

http://i1026.photobucket.com/albums/y323/daisy-be-true/File021b.jpg

 

http://i1026.photobucket.com/albums/y323/daisy-be-true/File021c.jpg

 

http://i1026.photobucket.com/albums/y323/daisy-be-true/File021d.jpg

 

http://i1026.photobucket.com/albums/y323/daisy-be-true/File021e.jpg

 

http://i1026.photobucket.com/albums/y323/daisy-be-true/File021f.jpg

 

Please note -- the inks that are not included are the inks I do not have! :D

 

 

 

 

 

(edited to add note about Noodler's BBH and separated column images)

Edited by Daisy

Not really a scribe, more of a Pharisee...

 

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

-- Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

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Thanks for the great comparison. I find comparisons much more helpful than straight single ink reviews. Lots of variation between the inks.

Change is not mandatory, Survival is not required.

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What an outstanding comparison! Superb, Daisy. I've quite a few of these myself but it's really great to see these altogether. Great.

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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Nicely done, Daisy.

 

I can see I'm starting to lean towards the blue-green blacks. I have a 54th sample and am waiting for some PR Ebony-Blue. I won't have 20 BG-B inks, but will try to do a few.

nulla dies sine linea

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This is awesome! :thumbup:

 

Besides Lamy BB, what other inks would you describe as very dry?

 

Hi Carlos! There were one or two, but now I don't remember exactly which they were because I actually wasn't thinking about wet vs. dry as I was doing it -- until I ran into the Lamy and the Sailor Sei-Boku, both of which were, "Wow, this is really [bone-dry/firehose-wet]."

 

I can tell you that none of the Noodler's felt dry, nor did the Diamine inks.

 

I *think* two of the dryer inks were the Pel 4001 and the Sheaffer, though neither were uncomfortably so, by any means. The Lamy I'd not venture to use again, to be honest -- the dryness was THAT dry.

 

As far as the wetter side of things, the Sei-Boku was the only one that got my attention at all; it really surprised me! It made a firehose out of a glass pen, or so it seemed when I was writing with it, though the now dried lines look no more thick than any of the others.

 

Sorry for not being able to remember clearly. Maybe if this lil project hadn't stretched out for over a month I'd be of more use in remembering, but alas. Hope this helps!

Not really a scribe, more of a Pharisee...

 

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

-- Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

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It is pretty difficult to find someone who has 20 blue-black inks, no less someone who is willing to do a comparison of them. Thanks much for this comparison!!

Jeffery

In the Irish Channel of

New Orleans, LA

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...I won't have 20 BG-B inks, but will try to do a few.

 

I actually don't have that many full bottles either; they're mostly samples. I ain't rich. :D

 

But if you're seeking samples of teal/black and blue-green/black inks, I'd suggest including the following:

 

Diamine Blue-Black

Noodler's 54th Massachusetts

Noodler's Blue Black

Noodler's Air Corps Blue Black

 

There are a few others on the page with a hair of green or teal, but those are the most pronounced. Of the four, my absolute favorites are Diamine Blue Black and Noodler's 54th Massachusetts. Both are nicely wet, good lube, eye-friendly and dark enough on the page, with the added benefit that the Diamine BB is a wonderful shader, and the Noodler's 54th is waterproof (maybe bulletproof too? I forget) and the ink doesn't budge off the page, even under running water.

 

Hope this helps. :D

Edited by Daisy

Not really a scribe, more of a Pharisee...

 

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

-- Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

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It is pretty difficult to find someone who has 20 blue-black inks, no less someone who is willing to do a comparison of them. Thanks much for this comparison!!

 

No problem, it was just finding the time to do it and shaking the persistent and sometimes aggressive offers of feline assistance that invariably follow when I sit down to pen and ink -- or to scanner, for that matter. (That's how I could do it right after carpet cleaning: kitties don't want NONE o' that action, and they had long since skedaddled. :meow: )

 

Glad everyone likes it! I actually have a much higher res scan of it; if I get a chance I'll upload it and post a link. I really thought this would expand to more detail than it does. Ah, well.

Not really a scribe, more of a Pharisee...

 

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

-- Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

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It was enough to push me over the edge for Diamine Denim.

 

Nice choice, and perfectly named. It really is THAT shade of "new denim" blue, a very steady and respectable navy to my eye. I don't think you'll be a bit disappointed. :D

Not really a scribe, more of a Pharisee...

 

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

-- Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

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:clap1:

 

I had no idea that I'd lean towards Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite. Great comparison. I also like the green/blue/blacks and will eventually pick up some Noodler's 54th too.

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I love Noodler's 54th!!! When I first got it I thought I'd just be using it for envelopes and packages, but it's become an everyday writer. It's a nice ride for the nib, has a little bit of shading, pleases the eye -- AND it's waterproof. Couldn't ask for more! :cloud9:

Not really a scribe, more of a Pharisee...

 

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

-- Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

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Thank you for a very useful comparison Daisy.

 

Although I like Parker Quink Blue-Black I agree there's not much black in it. I remember it being darker from ages ago (in the 70's and 80's) but that might be just my memory playing tricks on me :-)

 

S.

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Thanks for the helpful comparison. Having all these inks together is very useful.

 

I find very few "Blue-Blacks" that are really blue and black. Many have green or gray in them. Some are just very dark blues like Diamine Denim. Nevertheless, blue-black is one of my favorite ink colors and two of the pens in my pocket now are loaded with some.

"One can not waste time worrying about small minds . . . If we were normal, we'd still be using free ball point pens." —Bo Bo Olson

 

"I already own more ink than a rational person can use in a lifetime." —Waski_the_Squirrel

 

I'm still trying to figure out how to list all my pens down here.

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Thanks for putting in all this work.

Which seemed to have the most shading, especially of the darker ones? I can't enlarge the image large enough, and when I tried saving the image to my computer and zooming in to that, I was losing a lot of detail.

Someone gave me a sample of Diamine Denim, which is an almost perfect match color-wise to what came out of the Esterbrook SJ I picked up in the fall, but it has zilch in the way of shading that I could see (I've been hoping to find a close match with both the color and amount of shading to whatever that unknown ink was). Is the Diamine Blue-Black the reformulated? And is the Noodler's 54th Massachusetts really as teal as it looks on the screen? I'm trying to get a feel, still -- but think that when comparing the Denim to what I have it looks like what you've put up is pretty close to what I have (and am therefore guessing that the rest of the scans are going to be fairly accurate on my screen as well).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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You know, I really thought this image would have more detail upon expansion. As it turns out, Photobucket is compressing the image, which is a shame because there's a lot of detail in the original scan, especially in regard to shading. (I just spent a half hour uploading various versions of the scan files only to find that Photobucket was compressing them all down to the same size. Pfffft.)

 

SO...

 

I am now off to split the scan into five smaller images. I'll see what I can do. If the kitties get all up in it then it's over for tonight. (If I put them outside the door -- or outside the house -- they cry and cry until I let them back in. I confess it. I am pwned.)

 

I think the Diamine Blue-Black is the reformulated but I can't verify because I can't find the "R2" thingy the Good Cap'n told me to look for, and there are huge honkin' stickers on the bottom of each box that it may be hiding under. Or not. I don't know because I can't get the stickers off the boxes without tearing up the boxes. But I've only had the Diamine BB for less than two months, and it matches the reformulated scans as far as I can tell, so I can't imagine it's not the reformulated. It also tends to shade really well, and I'm not seeing it on the originals. Might be the humidity when I did it; I can think of no other reason why it would normally shade so beautifully and then go blah on the same exact paper I always use.

 

But I'll look for other shaders, Ruth. :D

 

Funny enough, Noodler's 54th has a good bit of shading on the right paper. You can't see it on the HP LJ 24, but on my M by Staples Mix & Match you can see it distinctly, and it's lovely. (It also takes forever to dry on that paper.)

Not really a scribe, more of a Pharisee...

 

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

-- Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

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I find very few "Blue-Blacks" that are really blue and black. Many have green or gray in them. Some are just very dark blues like Diamine Denim. Nevertheless, blue-black is one of my favorite ink colors and two of the pens in my pocket now are loaded with some.

 

Agreed on both scores, Frank! Very few are actually blue/black, and I like most of 'em very well anyway!

Not really a scribe, more of a Pharisee...

 

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

-- Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

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Thank you for a very useful comparison Daisy.

 

Although I like Parker Quink Blue-Black I agree there's not much black in it. I remember it being darker from ages ago (in the 70's and 80's) but that might be just my memory playing tricks on me :-)

 

Maybe not; I've seen samples from some vintage bottles that were way darker than this. I was actually really surprised to see it come out this light.

 

So maybe you're not just getting old and losing brain cells like me, SMK! :D

Not really a scribe, more of a Pharisee...

 

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

-- Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

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The ones I haven't got are the two Pilots, the Sailor pigment one and the two Nooder's Bad Belted. BUT I've also got Monteverde Blue-Black and three vintage Quink or super-Quink Solv-X versions too.

I love this colour and thanks again Daisy. As for the R2 Diamine identification sticker: mine has it inside the box, on one of the bottom flaps. Things may have changed though.

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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