Noodler's Polar Blue

[*david*]

I don't have a camera or scanner - sorry.

 

I just got a bottle of Noodler's Polar Blue. Colour and writing quality are very close to his Luxury Blue, with the Polar looking very slightly more blackish (as opposed to a different shade of blue, which I don't really think it is).

 

A non-pen person would probably not recognize them as different colours.

[rhdpens]

I have experienced quite a bit of flow clogging with Polar Blue in Montblanc 149 (M) and a Sheaffer Legacy (M).

The two pens write a rather wet line with Aurora Black.

Has anyone else experienced this?

I have used Noodler's Black and Swisher Swishmix Midnight black for several years with great results.

I am puzzled at the difficulty in getting a smooth line with Polar Blue. Any suggetsions would be most appreciated.

[BillTheEditor]

QUOTE (rhdpens @ Mar 9 2007, 09:38 PM)

I am puzzled at the difficulty in getting a smooth line with Polar Blue. Any suggetsions would be most appreciated.

Use Polar Blue in other pens. I have started using Polar Blue in my new Lamy 2000. No problems. The pen writes just as wet a line with Polar Blue as it did with Eel Blue. No clogging, no flow reluctance. If that changes, I'll let you know.

[Philly Rider]

I have the Polar Blue loaded in a Pelikan 2XX with an italic nib and it is working just fine.

[rhdpens]

I have now filled a Newman with a cursive italic nib. The Polar Blue seems to be working fine.

[jimg]

I have persisted with a bottle of Noodler's Polar Blue for over a month because I love the colour, however all of the 7 pens I have tried it in have experienced the worst "nib creep" that I have ever seen.

 

The pens I filled ranged from an Esterbrook 101 and "J" to an early Pelicano to a Pilot MYU 701. Problems with all of them.

 

I have now cleaned out the pens and put the ink in the drawer for a rest.

 

Jim

[Bayes]

What is nib creep?

[guitarman19853]

nib creep is when the ink "creeps" out of the nib and coats it with ink around the slit

[amper]

Just today, I finally got my bottle of Polar Blue, after over a month of backordered status.

 

Upon filling the included Platinum eyedropper converted pen, I notice that the color is a medium light Prussian Blue, with no shading characteristics, and a dried color somewhat lighter than the wet color. After cleaning my Pelikan M800 old style 14K medium to remove any traces of previous fills, I see that the color is a deep, dark, rich Prussian Blue, just like the old watercolor pigments. This ink flows at room temperature like it's going out of style, making my medium nib at least one size larger. I think I will have to pick up a Pelikan Fine nib in order to use it as an everyday ink, which was my original plan. As it is, I think it makes a wonderful formal signature ink.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have a scanner, so I can't post pictures, but perhaps I'll try my digital camera later.

 

So far, I only tested it on Ampad quadrille pads, which I use for quick notes and ideas, and Filofax lined paper, which is currently in my organizer. It bleeds through the Ampad paper like it was a solvent based marker ink, but the Filofax paper seems to resist it somewhat better, though it also bleeds through too heavily, at least with the medium M800, to be able to write on both sides of the sheet. My next tests will be with 100% cotton papers, including my current favorite, Crane's Thesis Paper. As with the other reviewer's experience, I find that the ink feathers only slightly, not really that noticeably, but I am really quite shocked how fast it comes out of the pen.

 

Perhaps at lower temperatures, the flow rate will be reduced. I can't imagine how anyone could have light flow problems with this ink. Maybe this pen and ink combination will not be suitable for summer temperatures, but I'll find out soon enough, I suppose.

 

A couple more thoughts...the ink dries quite quickly with no smudging on the papers I've tested so far, and smells (faintly) something like wet latex house paint when wet. I spilled some while attempting to fill my Pelikan because I didn't want to commit an inkwell just yet, but it cleaned up nicely from non-cellulose surfaces (the glass bottle, the glass dish I used to fill the pen, the pen itself, my fingers), but I suspect the new blue spots on my poorly finished pine floor are there until I sand them out. The spillage was probably strongly correlated with the strong adhesion properties that have been noted by others.

 

I did do a very quick test comparing with the Mont Blanc Bordeaux that was previously in the M800. Running the sheet under cold tap water, the MB was nearly gone within 30 seconds, while the Polar Blue, having been written only about a minute before, was entirely untouched, as expected.

Edited March 27, 2008 by amper

[AlecG]

I was curious how it went all this time, did you use the polar ink a lot?

How does it work on several papers/pens?

How does the Cranes Thesis works?

I want to buy 500 or 1000 sheets of it.

[PenFisher]

I got a bottle of Polar Blue when it first came to market years ago. I must confess that I do like Noodler's Ink, especially the Bullet Proof Black and Legal Lapis (Pendemonium). I got the Polar Blue for the color and bullet proof quality ... not the cold weather application. I like the color and don't mind the nip creep; however, the bottle is nearly as full as when I first got it because of what I think is excessive feathering. I inquired about this matter and came away with the impression that the feathering issue was a result of the ingredients added that gave the ink its cold weather performance quality. I do love Noodler's ... and if the Polar Blue did not have such a feathering issue it would be one of my favorites.

 

Addendum:

 

As mentioned, my bottle was one of the first, so maybe things have changed with the feathering issue In which case, I will go buy a new bottle!

Edited December 11, 2009 by PenFisher

[AlecG]

Naah, I've got the polar black last week and the luxury blue.the first one does feather an enormous amount on some papers (Cranes Crest and cheaper papers or very thin calendrumed papers) but the blue is usual much less feathery. I would like to try the polar again in the garden when it is freezing like there is no tomorrow, but I don't want to risk my pens on that. Hehe.

What I did notice is that the ink can dry on the point of the nib after a day or two not being in use. But after a few tries it starts again and writes like it's on steel on ice: fast, smooth and without much friction.

Edited December 11, 2009 by alecgold

[Randal6393]

Hmmmm, have used Polar Blue for six months or so now. It's a great blue, with no more feathering than most.

 

Am using it in a Pelikan M200. Decided I wanted a slightly darker blue, so added 10 % Midnight Blue to the Polar Blue. Makes a great everyday blue ink that flows well and has a beautiful tint.

 

Well, to each his own, YMMV is still holding true.

 

Enjoy,

[dizzypen]

I have some Polar Blue and I also find that it feathers a lot. However, it makes a good mixing ink to add BP properties to other colors. It doesn't take much either.

[djh]

I recently bought a bottle of Polar Blue and have been using it in my Lamy 2000 (F). I have quite a few Noodlers Inks and I wanted the cold-resistant properties as I leave this pen in my messenger bag and it can get quite chilly out there. The combination has performed flawlessly thus far.

[jk0592]

I have persisted with a bottle of Noodler's Polar Blue for over a month because I love the colour, however all of the 7 pens I have tried it in have experienced the worst "nib creep" that I have ever seen.

 

The pens I filled ranged from an Esterbrook 101 and "J" to an early Pelicano to a Pilot MYU 701. Problems with all of them.

 

I have now cleaned out the pens and put the ink in the drawer for a rest.

 

Jim

 

I have had a similar experience, and I don't use this ink anymore because of nib creep, which I do not find pleasurable.

[WendyNC]

Just because I like the color, I think I'm going to try it next in a Safari with a 1.5 mm cursive nib. The pen has handled Noodler's Navy without a problem and since it's not a pen I use at the office, I think I can handle the nib creep. Besides, it's cold here now (by our standards), which should probably help with performance. (The last time I tried it, we were still running the air conditioning.)

 

Looking back at notebooks in which I wrote with Polar Blue during the first experiment, what I see (which I have seen mentioned elsewhere here) is not traditional spidery feathering but spreading. Depending on the pen and paper, the line can end up looking slightly out of focus.

[AlecG]

Why do people have such a problem with nib creep? Nib creep is the ink that gets on the face of the nib, isn't it? Ithappens with my Omas and Pelican aswell, but Im not really bothered with it. Sometimes I clean my nib. That's it.

I dislike the irregular ink line/ odd feathering a lot more.

Edited December 12, 2009 by alecgold