Noodler’s Blue Black Ink Review

[officesupplygeek]

I have not done any ink reviews before, so this is my first one. Larger pics can be found here on my blog, I didnt want to clog up the board with giant pictures.

 

http://officesupplygeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/noodlers-blue-black-ink-and-woody-300x225.jpg

 

It was not until recently that I started trying any of the multi color inks because I always had a misguided perception that they wouldnt look “business-like” and I wouldnt be able to use them in a serious business or office environment. After getting my hands on the Pilot Petit1 with blue black ink (that I recently gave away to a reader) I quickly changed that opinion. I found the color of the ink to be very suitable for any professional setting, and it had a very dignified and clean look to it…not at all the cheezy “trying too hard” look that I had expected. I used to do the majority of my writing and note taking in straight black ink, but after trying this one out for a bit I’m starting to change my preference to the blue black…it has just enough character to it so it stands out, yet it is just subtle enough to not draw too much attention to it.

 

http://officesupplygeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/noodlers-blue-black-ink-on-levenger-paper-300x147.jpg

 

One quick thing to point out before getting into the writing samples is that there seems to be something wrong with my scanner and there are some smudges on the glass, so you will see what looks like some smear makrs in the picutres, but I assure you this has nothing to do with the ink. The first picture you see above shows the Noodler’s blue black ink writing sample on Levenger paper. As with most other inks that I have used on Levenger paper, they preform really well. The ink writes very smoothly, and it doesnt show any feathering or bleeding on the page resulting in very crisp and clean lines. This is my day to day writing combo for work, Noodler’s blue black and my Levenger Circa Notebook.

 

http://officesupplygeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/noodlers-blue-black-ink-in-a-rhodia-notebook-214x300.jpg

 

Now I know that there are many fountain pen users out there who love their Rhodia and/or Moleskine notebooks, so I wanted to do a quick writing sample to show how this ink writes on both of these papers. I guess at some point I should also mention that the writing samples were all done with the same pen…I dont want to mention the pen yet because I will be doing a full review of it at some point, but I will say it is a Pelikan Fine nib, and Ill leave it at that.

Writing in the Rhodia notebook with this ink was also very smooth, and the ink seemed to lay down a nice line. There are very faint signs of feathering that you really dont notice unless you look REALLY close…I used a magnification of 20x in order to be able to see this. Overall I would give a thumbs up to using the Noodler’s blue black with your Rhodia.

 

http://officesupplygeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/noodlers-blue-black-in-a-moleskine-notebook-201x300.jpg

 

Now for the Moleskine writing sample…I dont think I’ve ever been truly satisfied with any fountain pen ink or liquid ink on a Moleskine. The only thing that I’ve used that was ok on one of these has been a ballpoint or a gel ink. You can see in the sample above that the Noodler’s blue black shows some heavy feathering on this paper…this has always been my issue with Moleskine paper. If you look closely at this ink on the Moleskine vs. the Rhodia or the Levenger paper you will see that it appears to be lighter in color. I noticed this after scanning the writing samples, so I went back and checked the actual samples to make sure this was not just my scanner acting up, and it definately was not. In looking at the samples next to each other, the Moleskine definately resulted in a much lighter appearance for the ink. I dont know if Im just not being fair here, but I just really wouldnt reccomend this paper and this ink together.

 

http://officesupplygeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/noodlers-blue-black-ink-with-woody-and-paper-samples-300x225.jpg

 

The last picture here is my attempt to try and show the ink on all three different papers in the same picture. You can really see how the ink is much lighter on the Moleskine (bottom right) as compared to the Levenger and Rhodia papers. I purchased this bottle of ink from Goldspot who carries a ton of different Noodler’s inks, each time I have ordered from them they have always been very quick to deliver. In order to keep things completely transparent I want to also mention that Goldspot did give me a small bloggers discount on the ink, however I this has nothing to do with my suggesting them as a great place to buy from. I was actually a happy customer of theirs before I even started this blog.

 

I had some comments and questions after posting this, so just some quick follow up points:

 

- The ink did not show much bleed through at ALL on the Levenger paper, you could probably write on both sides of it with this ink, and the Rhodia was not bad either...the Moleskine, well I wouldnt write on both sides of that.

- They drying time was pretty good on all of the papers, I think the Levenger dried the fastest, but they were all pretty reasonable (no more than 3-4 seconds) in my mind.

- The ink definitely seems to lean more towards black than blue, but the blue tones are quite obvious.

 

 

edited by moderator

Edited March 3, 2009 by Ann Finley

[acfrery]

Noodler's Blue Black is a fantastic ink. Thanks for you review.

Alejandro

[Yoda]

This is my favorite bottled Blue-Black ink. Thanks for the review on an under-appreciated ink.

[jbn10161]

That looks like a good color.

• Did you have any nib creep?
• Is the blue-black "bulletproof"?

[officesupplygeek]

Noodler's Blue Black is a fantastic ink. Thanks for you review.

Alejandro

 

 

 

 

This is my favorite bottled Blue-Black ink. Thanks for the review on an under-appreciated ink.

 

No problem, Im glad you both enjoyed it. Im really a big fan of this ink too.

 

That looks like a good color.

• Did you have any nib creep?
• Is the blue-black "bulletproof"?

 

Hardly any nib creep at all, and no, unfortunately it is not a "bulletproof" ink.

 

[Inka]

That is a nice blue/black and I've become rather partial to Noodler's inks of late.

I also like Levenger inks, sometimes using a blend of their Cobalt Blue or Noddler's Polar Blue with some Noodlers' Borealis Black to make my own blue/black.

I've never gotten the ratios close to what this looks like and I'd prefer not mixing if I had the cash to just buy one color I liked.

I've been finding many companies insist on original document signatures be written in blue these days, so they can tell originals apart from black photocopies.

This ink looks like it may be blue enough to me for that purpose and yet still black, so maybe I could get away with using it as a signature ink.

 

Thanks for the review!

BTW, your hand writing is very legible and I appreciate that you've shown ink comparisons on different papers.

I particularly like the Circa example, since I've been really considering going with that system and the Levenger paper.

[officesupplygeek]

That is a nice blue/black and I've become rather partial to Noodler's inks of late.

I also like Levenger inks, sometimes using a blend of their Cobalt Blue or Noddler's Polar Blue with some Noodlers' Borealis Black to make my own blue/black.

I've never gotten the ratios close to what this looks like and I'd prefer not mixing if I had the cash to just buy one color I liked.

I've been finding many companies insist on original document signatures be written in blue these days, so they can tell originals apart from black photocopies.

This ink looks like it may be blue enough to me for that purpose and yet still black, so maybe I could get away with using it as a signature ink.

 

Thanks for the review!

BTW, your hand writing is very legible and I appreciate that you've shown ink comparisons on different papers.

I particularly like the Circa example, since I've been really considering going with that system and the Levenger paper.

 

What you mention about the signatures in blue to be able to tell the difference between the original and a copy is a good point. Although I usually do like black the best, when it comes to signatures, I was using blue, so this really is a nice compromise to your point. Glad you liked the review, I really love the Levenger Circa system and their products, I've done a few reviews of them on my site that you might find helpful. Levenger usually has a few sales going on so you can probably catch a 20% off or a free shipping deal on them if you keep your eyes open.

[Inka]

It is interesting that years back when I worked for the U.S. Government all signatures had to be in black ink and all forms filled out with the same.

To this day I recall those cheap ball point click pens that had "Property of U.S. Government" etched on them, they were everywhere in my daily life.

Having an ink that meets both needs, seems better than having to carry pens of different ink colors, as long as all agencies recognize them as usable.

 

I'll definitely have to check out your Circa reviews, especially since joining the Levenger mailing list.

They sent me an e-mail the other day giving me 40% off but I'd have to spend $150 to get it, not hard to do but I don't have that much fluid cash flow right now.

I spoke with John at the Help Desk yesterday and he did mention something about 15% discounts right now, just haven't looked over the Website yet to see what's on sale.

A few weeks back they sent me an e-mail about solid brass/nickel plated Circa discs but when I went to order them they were all sold out, looks like they've been discontinued too.

I would have really liked solid brass rings/discs over plastic and some of those specialty plastics are by no means cheap/inexpensive.

I've been thinking about getting one of the sewn/bound 190 blank page Note Worthy notebooks in bright green, then using purple inks on it for contrast, just for something more lively.

Those NWs look like they'd make nice journal/sketchbook combos, something I'm really interested in lately.

[Lloyd]

Check out Levenger's Ebay outlet for great deals on authentic Levenger products.

[officesupplygeek]

It is interesting that years back when I worked for the U.S. Government all signatures had to be in black ink and all forms filled out with the same.

To this day I recall those cheap ball point click pens that had "Property of U.S. Government" etched on them, they were everywhere in my daily life.

Having an ink that meets both needs, seems better than having to carry pens of different ink colors, as long as all agencies recognize them as usable.

 

I'll definitely have to check out your Circa reviews, especially since joining the Levenger mailing list.

They sent me an e-mail the other day giving me 40% off but I'd have to spend $150 to get it, not hard to do but I don't have that much fluid cash flow right now.

I spoke with John at the Help Desk yesterday and he did mention something about 15% discounts right now, just haven't looked over the Website yet to see what's on sale.

A few weeks back they sent me an e-mail about solid brass/nickel plated Circa discs but when I went to order them they were all sold out, looks like they've been discontinued too.

I would have really liked solid brass rings/discs over plastic and some of those specialty plastics are by no means cheap/inexpensive.

I've been thinking about getting one of the sewn/bound 190 blank page Note Worthy notebooks in bright green, then using purple inks on it for contrast, just for something more lively.

Those NWs look like they'd make nice journal/sketchbook combos, something I'm really interested in lately.

 

 

Check out Levenger's Ebay outlet for great deals on authentic Levenger products.

 

 

Lloyd is right...the eBay store does have good deals sometimes too. But I've come to learn that you almost never have to pay full price for Levenger stuff as long as you are a little patient.

[blackranger63]

I have basically given up on Moleskine. I am down to a couple of blank cahiers, that I rarely use, and when they are gone I am done. I must admit I still look every now and then at the Reporter's Notebook, but can't pull the trigger.

 

FWIW with regard to the Military, don't know if we are a little more liberal today, just joking, but I can sign official documents in Blue or Black ink. I normally use Black (ranging from J Herbin Perle Noire to Bullet Proof Black) but I have used Pilot Blue Black and Private Reserve Midnight Blue. I do use the Bullet Proof Black or Perle Noire for forms that will go beyond my organization.

 

Cheers,

 

Tony

[officesupplygeek]

I have basically given up on Moleskine. I am down to a couple of blank cahiers, that I rarely use, and when they are gone I am done. I must admit I still look every now and then at the Reporter's Notebook, but can't pull the trigger.

 

FWIW with regard to the Military, don't know if we are a little more liberal today, just joking, but I can sign official documents in Blue or Black ink. I normally use Black (ranging from J Herbin Perle Noire to Bullet Proof Black) but I have used Pilot Blue Black and Private Reserve Midnight Blue. I do use the Bullet Proof Black or Perle Noire for forms that will go beyond my organization.

 

Cheers,

 

Tony

 

Tony, glad to know I'm not the only one giving up on the Moleskines, I was worried I was just being stubborn or picky.

 

Good to know that the Military is allowing blue or black and blue black...if they are, Im sure that many (if not most) other places would be fine with it as well.

 

[OboeJuan]

Hi. I was wondering if you know how this ink compares to the Ellis Island blue/black from FPH? I really love it, but the cost for shipping from them to Canada is more than the ink. I rather suspect that the ink you reviewed would be more easily sourced than the Ellis Island. Thanks in advance.

 

Kathryn

[Moose]

That looks like a good color.

• Did you have any nib creep?
• Is the blue-black "bulletproof"?

 

I know that the question of bulletproof has already been answered, but this came from Pendemonium's website (http://www.pendemonium.com/ink_noodler_info.htm#security):

 

"I'm also pleased to say that Noodler's: Black, Zhivago, Blue-Black, Walnut, Aircorps Blue-Black, Eternal Brown and Legal Lapis.....ALL were graded as "Bulletproof" past sixty-six days of testing."

 

So, apparently blue-black is a bulletproof ink...this may be a new one for me to have to try.

[officesupplygeek]

Hi. I was wondering if you know how this ink compares to the Ellis Island blue/black from FPH? I really love it, but the cost for shipping from them to Canada is more than the ink. I rather suspect that the ink you reviewed would be more easily sourced than the Ellis Island. Thanks in advance.

 

Kathryn

 

Kathryn, Im sorry I have never tried the Ellis Island blue/black...wish I could help you out.

 

That looks like a good color.

• Did you have any nib creep?
• Is the blue-black "bulletproof"?

 

I know that the question of bulletproof has already been answered, but this came from Pendemonium's website (http://www.pendemonium.com/ink_noodler_info.htm#security):

 

"I'm also pleased to say that Noodler's: Black, Zhivago, Blue-Black, Walnut, Aircorps Blue-Black, Eternal Brown and Legal Lapis.....ALL were graded as "Bulletproof" past sixty-six days of testing."

 

So, apparently blue-black is a bulletproof ink...this may be a new one for me to have to try.

 

Thats interesting, I just assumed that since it didnt say it was on the bottle, that it wasnt. I know the bulletproof black says it right on there. Interesting bit of info though, so thanks for sharing.

 

[Bill Smith]

Nice review, yet another blue black I have to try out:).

[officesupplygeek]

Nice review, yet another blue black I have to try out:).

 

Thank you, Im glad you liked it, this was my first Ink review.