Baystate Blue - horrible!

[Gehaha]

Hello

 

I don't know, whether this is the right place up here. If not, please move this post.

 

 

According to the good reviews and critics of Baystate Blue in this forum, I did buy

 

a huge bottle of it (really expensive) and it's a bloody mass!

 

Feathering, bleedthrough, even the best paper gets penetrated. No difference, which nib I'm

 

using, I can't tell anything good about this ink.

 

 

The colour, yes, the colour is nice, BUT...

 

 

Nib creep, bad drying, smearing, the wetest writer (Omas - B - nib) gets dry and clogged.

 

And above all - it stinks - chemically - like an old garbage can.

 

For me the seven deadly sins of ink.

 

Could somebody explain to me, what he or she likes so much about that ink, that you can ignore the

 

obvious downside of it?

 

I don't want to upset anybody, but for me it's unbelievable, that one could really enjoy this "fluid".

 

 

Sorry, but I had to tell, because I AM UPSET about this Noodler's SOMETHING. :bonk:

 

 

Greetings,

 

Anna

 

 

[QM2]

Hi Anna,

 

If you read some threads about Bay State Blue, especially when it first came out, you will find that there is a lot of trade-off between the vibrant blue colour people like and the problems with this ink. Unlike other Noodler's, it is not pH neutral, it cannot be mixed with other inks, it clogs easier, and it is also more prone to staining. After a cycle of hysterical threads, the consensus was that people can use it only in their cheapest and most durable pens, and even then...

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=51874

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=52376

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=55564

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=54862

 

 

Edited November 23, 2008 by QM2

[Gehaha]

Hello QM2,

 

thank you for the links. Fast as lightning

I think, that I did only recognize the good news about the ink. That was months ago. I made the real experience last week and I was shocked. I would never have taken the risk, if I knew before. Most of my pens are vintage and celluloid. I never had trouble with any other ink. And to tell the truth, I would not even take the risk to destroy my Lamy Safaris. The bluest blue of all blue blues ever can...

 

 

Greetings to utopia! Do you have snow there?

 

Anna

[Deirdre]

I'm glad I heard the initial reports and used it in a gold-nibbed converter-based metal pen, because I think that's its best environment. I like the ink, but now that I've sold the pen I was using it in, I haven't been using it as much.

[QM2]

Greetings to utopia! Do you have snow there?

 

Anna

 

Hi Anna,

 

Well, the good thing is that you did not stain anything. I am sure you will be able to sell this ink on the marketplace to get most of the money back. Just wash the ink out very well of all the nice pens you've put it in : )

 

Utopia is Vienna right now (I go back and forth between here and Boston USA). It is snowing outside (!) and I am using Montblanc "White Forest" Season's Greetings 2008! Ahhh : )

 

 

Edited November 23, 2008 by QM2

[Pen Nut]

Hello

 

I don't know, whether this is the right place up here. If not, please move this post.

 

 

According to the good reviews and critics of Baystate Blue in this forum, I did buy

 

a huge bottle of it (really expensive) and it's a bloody mass!

 

Feathering, bleedthrough, even the best paper gets penetrated. No difference, which nib I'm

 

using, I can't tell anything good about this ink.

 

 

The colour, yes, the colour is nice, BUT...

 

 

Nib creep, bad drying, smearing, the wetest writer (Omas - B - nib) gets dry and clogged.

 

And above all - it stinks - chemically - like an old garbage can.

 

For me the seven deadly sins of ink.

 

Could somebody explain to me, what he or she likes so much about that ink, that you can ignore the

 

obvious downside of it?

 

I don't want to upset anybody, but for me it's unbelievable, that one could really enjoy this "fluid".

 

 

Sorry, but I had to tell, because I AM UPSET about this Noodler's SOMETHING. :bonk:

 

 

Greetings,

 

Anna

 

Hear Hear and well said girl !!!! Love the colour but come on there is a limit to how much quirkeyness (is that a word?) I will put up with.... Back on good old Florida blue at the minute and I will risk my house getting flooded and some documents smearing......oh and X Feather !!!! OK OK it doesnt feather but here is a thing it would be good if it dried!!!

Edited November 23, 2008 by Pen Nut

[rogerb]

I use it in any but my very best pens and risk the consequences!

 

It is lovely in my xf dry-ish P51 aero, for writing postcards....I think that wet writers don't show-off that lovely blue so well.

Most of my pens are wet-writers, because I usually prefer a nice saturated line.

(And, of course a fine dry line dries quicker and is less likely to bleed).

 

My Latin isn't up to "let the writer beware!"....I only did French!.....could it be "Caveat Escribor"?

[Deirdre]

Unfortunately feathering and drying time seem to be related: if it doesn't feather, it dries more slowly.

 

I personally love Baystate Blue, though the context that I'll use it in is limited. Other than BSB, my favorite blue blue is probably Noodler's Ottoman Azure, which is really more of a cyan.

[RoyalBlue]

My Latin isn't up to "let the writer beware!"....I only did French!.....could it be "Caveat Escribor"?

 

Salve, amice!

 

"CAVEAT SCRIPTOR"

 

Salutem dat plurimam Royal Blue.

[ksskss]

I'm using it in a Platinum Preppy and it does look nice. So far so good - if it stains the pen I don't care at all and don't trust using it elsewhere (or with a glass dip pen)

 

---

Ken

[RevAaron]

I love using BSB in dryer and finer pens. I'd never think about using it in a fat Omas broad personally! But it's become a favorite in a Snorkel which has been a bit too dry with a lot of other inks. It's well lubricated and very smooth, writes at a perfect wetness out of my dry Snorkel, dries instantly, and I get no nib creep. I don't use the Snorkel every day, and since loading it with BSB for the first time two months ago I think I did have at least a two week stretch where I never even uncapped the pen, though I usually only go 2-4 days between using it. Even with a two week wait, it wrote without hesitation on the first stroke. Never had it dry up, never had it clog, and it always starts instantly.

 

It isn't an ink for all pens- but when you have it in the right one, it's an awesome ink! In wet pens where evaporation is fast it is probably among the worst of inks.

 

Edit: Erm, forgot an important part of this post... in this Snorkel, it also doesn't feather or bleed, and it's usually the pen/ink I grab for when I have forms to fill out or if I need to write on cheap paper that tends to bleed. No bleeding even on the cheap Ampad pocket notepads I use.

Edited November 24, 2008 by RevAaron

[psfred]

Baystate is a rather unique ink, I think. I've been using it in a Hero 616 Jumbo for a while and it's OK -- tends to dry out in the nib badly, but that is quite likely the pen, they aren't the best in the world and I've had the same problem with other inks.

 

However, it works well when I get it going, and it IS a rather lovely ink!

 

Waterproof, too, which is good at my job.

 

Peter

[I am not a number]

I began as a real BSB fanboy but that enthusiasm has been tempered by experience. It is a fantastic looking ink but I would now not consider it in anything even vaguely high-end from my collection. In something like a Hero 616 it is a total joy and I have had great success with it in a VP and there were no major casualties when I (perhaps ill-advisedly) put it into a Lamy 2000, but from now on in it will be kept for the lower tier pens.

 

There is no doubting that it stains like crazy.

[PigRatAndGoat]

Its too bad that it causes so many problems. Such a lovely colour.

[John Cullen]

Sorry it did not work out for you. Best to just rinse out your pens and move on. I've used it in a Cross Solo fine point and a Waterman Expert II medium point. In both pens it works well and looks great. Like some other inks it does indeed feather a bit, especially on cheapo paper. Staining is indeed an issue if you spill the ink. Otherwise, it seems ok to use. I do not put any richly colored ink in expensive pens. There are plenty of other nice bues. Good luck, j

[RevAaron]

I wouldn't use it for anything "high end-" it stains. Staining is the only problem I've had with it that is universal- everything else is varies by pen. Some pens are more vulnerable to staining than others- but even black pens can stain, it just won't be obvious. That said, pens that don't drool all the time are pretty safe. My 80s Omas (already very sun-faded) has spit up in the cap some, while my blue Snorkel doesn't cough up a thing, and hasn't seen any staining, even though it is clipped to my bag all the time, being jostled around.

 

ymmv.

[psfred]

Use with care in Parker 45's, too -- I think it caused the section to soften badly on one of mine. Left it in longer than I should have, I suppose, but after a couple weeks, the section suddenly had big dents from the cap clutch and was soft enough to dent with a thumbnail. After I rinsed it out and filled with with Quink Black, it slowly firmed up quite a bit.

 

However, soft sections are a known problem on Parker 45's, so it might not be wholly the ink. I've not put it in another one to check, for fear of ruining another pen.

 

The hood also came loose on my Hero 616, but so far the shellac I used to re-seal it is holding. No way to tell if the ink caused it to come apart or not, as the Baystate was the first ink the pen ever saw!

 

Peter

[richardandtracy]

I have put BSB in a 'Leonardo' pen (new Chinese pen) and it behaves really rather well in that. It was a total disaster in a P51 with a stub nib - it lasted 17 words before I flushed it out.

 

The smell does give me a headache if I use it for too long.

 

Think of the ink as a wildcard. It may be dreadful or fantastic, and you won't know until you use it.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

[wrath186]

Hmm, I have the BSB in a Haolilai 601F and while it does bleed through notebook paper rather badly I haven't noticed any other problems. I'll have to keep an eye on it.

[Bill Smith]

I love Baystate Blue but I only use it in one pen a fine nib Parker 51 aerometric. The ink is special and is quite retro in chemical composition, I would definately not use it in my OMAs, Pelikans, Parker Vacs etc.

 

I think you have to be careful what you put BSB in and I do think the hystaria is overblown.