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Noodler's Whaleman's Sepia


mhphoto

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Here's is the most excellent Noodler's Whaleman's Sepia, a fantastic ink with a great history.

 

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh494/gunsandlights/NoodlersWhalemansSepiaMedium.jpg

 

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh494/gunsandlights/NoodlersWhalemansSepiaPensUsed.jpg

 

No so good with the dip nib, though.

 

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh494/gunsandlights/NoodlersWhalemansSepiaHunt.jpg

 

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh494/gunsandlights/NoodlersWhalemansSepiaObservations.jpg

 

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh494/gunsandlights/NoodlersWhalemansSepiaComparisons.jpg

 

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh494/gunsandlights/NoodlersWhalemansSepiaShading.jpg

 

I'm also going to take a picture of the bleached sample. The beautiful reddish-orange tint that's left behind when this ink is bleached just didn't show up correctly in the scans.

 

I highly recommend this ink. :cloud9:

fpn_1451747045__img_1999-2.jpg

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I love the ink color, but I haven't had the same luck with the behavior. It wrote very dry in the pens I've tried it in. :( Burma Road Brown is another that I love the color of, but it either clogs or starts hard in the pens I've tried it in. I've also had it actually leak out of a pen for some odd reason.

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Gorgeous review / colour. I am really reminded of Diamine's Saddle Brown which I love.

If there is righteousness in the heart, There will be beauty in character. If there is beauty in character, There will be harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home, There will be order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, There will be peace in the world. Bhagawan Shri Satya Sai Baba

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One of my favorite inks!

"Do you know the legend about cicadas? They say they are the souls of poets who cannot keep quiet because, when they were alive, they never wrote the poems they wanted to."

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And, oddly enough, this is the only ink I have ever purchased that I completely stopped using and eventually traded to someone else (who *knew* they liked it). Dry to write with, hard-starting, nibs would dry out... I was sad, as it was my first Noodlers, but it was simply never going to get used, so it went bye-bye.

 

For anyone considering it, do order up a sample and try in a few pens for a number of days. This is an ink that deserves a test-drive before full purchase.

"When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick; and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

~ Benjamin Franklin

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Do I understand that there has been a reformulation of this ink? My bottle from a few years back (which has since sat unused) exhibits some major component separation.

"What? What's that? WHAT?!!! SPEAK UP, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" - Ludwig van Beethoven.

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I've also had a terrible time with this ink, which is a shame because I really enjoy the color. I actually like the sample you showed with it diluted, maybe I'll have to give that a try and see if it helps.

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

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And, oddly enough, this is the only ink I have ever purchased that I completely stopped using and eventually traded to someone else (who *knew* they liked it). Dry to write with, hard-starting, nibs would dry out... I was sad, as it was my first Noodlers, but it was simply never going to get used, so it went bye-bye.

 

For anyone considering it, do order up a sample and try in a few pens for a number of days. This is an ink that deserves a test-drive before full purchase.

 

Also one of my first Noodler's inks (along with Walnut). I have gotten a TWSBI to work with it, but not much else. It's a bit too greenish brown to be a pretty ink.

Jeffery

In the Irish Channel of

New Orleans, LA

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Do I understand that there has been a reformulation of this ink? My bottle from a few years back (which has since sat unused) exhibits some major component separation.

 

The first batch was very red which some people liked (me) and others didnʻt (everyone else). So Nathan Tardif reformulated it to look like tired crankcase oil (my opinion). I like that first batch quite a bit, although my ink database shows it last being used to refill a pen on April 19, 2011.

 

I just looked at my bottle and it doesnʻt show any separation. This thread has rekindled my interest in the ink and no doubt will be using it again soon.

 

Doug

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Mine is the latter crankcase oil formulation. Being an invertebrate zoologist, a true sepia color would be fine. I expected it to be a bit purplish, not greenish.

Jeffery

In the Irish Channel of

New Orleans, LA

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  • 1 month later...

I get a dark purplish-brownish-gray.

 

It wrote very dry in a Noodler's Konrad, so I now first draw in some distilled water to saturate the feed and get a few drops into the reservoir, and then fill with ink, just to dilute a tiny bit. Plus I had to fiddle with the nib and feed a bit to improve the flow.

 

With that, if the pen is stored horizontally (storing nib down is a major league mistake with this Konrad anyhow) it starts right up and flows well. And being diluted just a little, it's still got good color but just a little added transparency and shading.

 

I definitely consider this among my favorites. It doesn't seem in great supply, and when Goulet ran out I freaked -- but was assured by someone representing Noodlers that another batch will be on the way eventually.

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  • 8 months later...

Just got my bottle of Whaleman's Sepia today. No separation in bottle, but I shook it up anyway. I loaded it into my Ahab, and I've got to say that while I really like the colour -- a very interesting brown red purple -- this is definitely not a beginner-friendly ink. I'm just starting out and it took three disassemblies of the nib/feed to get enough flow; Whaleman's definitely tends toward the dry. Once I got the feed wet enough though, it's definitely an enjoyable ink to use. And it taught me more about adjusting my pen :-) thanks for the great review, OP! You convinced me to give Whaleman's a shot

"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 'Ulysses'

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I've got two bottles of the crankcase variety. Both seperate, and yes it's dry dry dry and almost always a problem, but I love the stuff. I generally mix it half and half with Black Swan in Australian Roses to both loosen it up and give it a smidge more red, though admittedly it doesn't change it much.

 

( Image of where I posted this in another thread here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/145908-noodlers-manjiro-nakahama-whalemans-sepia/?p=1979205 )

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got my Whalemans today. Not sure if it's the crankcase variety or other......I felt it was a LOT more purple than what I was hoping for.

It's crazy-dry as well, and it kind of difficult to write with using a Safari EF. Maybe a Medium nib would improve the flow?

 

My search for a nice earthy archival ink continues.

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Am I the only one who 'sees' NO photos in any of mhphoto's ink reviews? Can anyone enlighten me as to the problem and a possible solution? thanks!

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I've found that the Noodler's Manjiro Nakahama Whaleman’s Sepia (MNWS) greatly benefits from about 3:1 dilution with distilled water (that's 75% ink/25% water by volume) along with the addition of a few drops of a surfactant like PhotoFlo. As I like to term such changes, "adulteration" of the ink alters the MNWS from a slow starter with constantly drying-out nibs to a (relatively) well behaved ink with decent shading and much smoother application.

 

Without question, it's not a gusher with this treatment, but it became an ink that I could leave in a pen for days without use and have (almost) immediate start-up, with no nib crud, and no plugging. Even with the dilution and surfactant, it's a "tough ink" in that it doesn't wash out completely from paper, and even keeps a decent line without completely "haloing" when rinsed. In short, adulteration turned MNWS from an almost unusable ink into a semi-regular in the rotation.

 

I'd say, "Better Living Through Chemistry", as it's a long standing motto of sorts, but I understand that a new movie is coming out with that title which would stand the discussion on its head... :rolleyes:

 

 

 

John P.

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It's crazy-dry as well, and it kind of difficult to write with using a Safari EF. Maybe a Medium nib would improve the flow?

 

 

That's exactly what I had to do. Couldn't get my sample to flow in my Safari F but the medium works o.k. I love the idea of the this ink but won't get a bottle due to the flow questions. Especially when R & K Sepia is almost the same but flows better.

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I must have gotten lucky. I used the ink in a Noodler's Konrad and in the included Platinum Preppy with no drying issues.

 

The brown was nice, and just enough "off black" to be interesting.

Proud resident of the least visited state in the nation!

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Am I the only one who 'sees' NO photos in any of mhphoto's ink reviews? Can anyone enlighten me as to the problem and a possible solution? thanks!

 

 

I think I remember he moved pictures around in his PhotoBucket account, and that destroyed the links in a lot of his older reviews.

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