a photo image in natural light. sorry the handwriting isn't nicer.

Hi KCat, your Legal Lapis writing sample looks very true to the actual color. I like LL for writing checks, using it for work, and addressing envelopes. Right now it is in my Pelikan 605 but when it runs out I am going to try it in another pen

I tried the LL in a little knockabout pen I have that is very smooth and a wet writer. Very nice. I think I will feel more comfortable with it being in that pen when I'm out and about than in my M400. Besides, my M400 is missing it's normal diet of DC Blue. :-)

I have been strongly considering this ink. I like the handwritten review.

Hi there chad234,

Are you considering it for its colour or its permanency. Did you know that Nathan has said that the Noodler Black has the highest performance in terms of permanence.

Both really, I am looking for a permanant blue ink.

My current ink of choice is Private Reserve 2004 DC supershow blue. However, it can not be highlighted over without smudging a bit, and smears at the hint of water.

I love a good vibrant blue.

While I do like a nice black ink, blue is a beter choice for me, since a blue signature is how I distinguish the Orginal copy of many documents.

Any other suggestions on a blue ink from Noodlers would be great, I have heard of different types, Contract, and Aqua marine from Swishers.


Thanks,
Chad

There is a post on PT today of someone disapointed by his new bottle of Aquamarine, saying that it is less vibrant than it used to be... If that can help...

Denis.

I wouldn't consider Legal Lapis "vibrant" - it is a blue-black sort of ink though I think it's much denser and a bit "bluer" than traditional blue-black inks. You can add other Noodler's colours to the waterproof inks supposedly. At least some. Samples can be found on at Swisher's site. I did this for grins and it doesn't alter the permanence. it will smear with water droplets though - the non-waterproof ink that is. the waterproof colour stays in place. A complete washing leaves behind the LL colour.

thanks for the advice...
I saw that post on PT, I am sure Nathan of Noodler's will be on that situation. . .

I would not like to be Nathan... each time he improves his inks, someone will say they prefered it before. The only solution is to many 500+ different inks

Indeed - from a niche s/w developing POV - being responsive to your customers, while it earns excellent reputation, is exhausting!

I have been using Swisher/ Noodlers Gulf Stream Blue (very similiar to Legal Lapis) a dark blue K ink.

At first, I was unimpressed. The ink looked very washed out, and was dry, almost gummy writing.

However, I now love it.

I filled 2 freshly cleaned pens, a Namiki VP and a Pelikan 200 with Binder nib, and it writes superb.

It dries fairly fast, has nice color and is very waterproof.

KCAT your postings have evaporated!

kurt h

thanks Kurt.

yeah - some of them have. What happened was I used RS to host them (it was quick and easy) and when RS became an IPB board...

so. I will have to take a few minutes and move. sorry.

more recent postings should be visible and should show up in my Schwerpunkt web pages.

I am using Legal Lapis right now in my pen, and I must say that I really enjoy the color. and the nice silky feel it writes with.

This is also my ink of choice. I alway have a pen loaded and ready for use.

This is not one of my favorite colors, but the flow characteristics are really something. I loaded a slighly dry Hero 100 flighter with fine nib, and it is a different pen altogether compared with how it felt loaded with Pelikan Royal Blue. It runs a touch wetter and feels a good bit smoother with the Legal Lapis. The color itself is growing on me.

This was one of those colors that grew on me. I would describe it as an aquamarine-black ink.

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...&hl=legal+lapis

-Bruce

I think you will find the same flow and lubrication characteristics in luxury blue. I noticed how much smoother my italic nib was with this ink. Since I like the color better, it's a good alternative for me.

Stephen

I love this color and wish it weren't so expensive.

Will have to eventually splurge.

I'm so hooked on it that it's become the only color I use.

Yes, I know I'm boring.

It doesn't mean you are boring, it just means you know what you like! I also use Legal Lapis.

Buy some Luxury Blue or Hunter Green. Then it won't seem so expensive...

I think the reference was to Luxury Blue, Viseguy.

My own recommendation re Luxury Blue and the price is to only use it in dry writers or with xtra-fine or fine nibs. At least that way you get more words per bottle. My Hero 100 stays loaded with L.B. Using Hunter Green in a Sonnet with stub nib, though -- may not be my best idea.

I thought the discussion was about Legal Lapis. L.B. is about twice as expensive as L.L.


I use L.B. almost exclusively for signatures. A single fill of my signature pen (a Pel M800 with Mottishawed B nib) lasts a month or two, and I sign my name a lot. Noodler's Gulf Stream Blue (a Swisher exclusive) is quite similar in color and other properties ("eternal") and, at half the price, I feel OK about using it as an all-purpose blue. I've also been enjoying the Mystery Blue mix that's the subject of another thread. But, seriously, once you get used to the price of the 1 oz. bulletproof inks, the other eternal inks seem downright reasonable. And, in truth, there are other, non-Noodler's, non-waterproof inks out there that cost about as much as the bulletproof Noodler's, so that would be another, comparable frame of reference.

Can I just clarify that the Legal Lapis ink is completely waterproof? That is, no smudging with highlighting or smearing when it's come into contact with a dose of water?

yes, completely waterproof once dry.

It appears to be window cleaner proof too....after having a bottle of the stuff come uncapped.....

-Bruce

If you go to http://www.pendemonium.com/ink_noodler.htm and scroll down a little, you'll see pics of a water test of Legal Lapis.

'Way later in time than the original posting, I just discovered Legal Lapis recently. I have used it in two pens: Sheaffer Imperial fine, and Sheaffer Balance 2 fine. Flow is perfect. Feathering minimal on supercheap paper, nonexistent on decent and copier paper. I've also used blue-black for many years in various brands, and am enjoying this one because it appears to lean more toward the blue side than the black. However, I also see a hint of green in it.

My daily ink is black, but I expect this to be a daily secondary choice.

I like your sample of Legal Lapis because it's more of a blue-black. I don't like my Legal Lapis; it's tourqoise! <_<

Tony, if you have Noodlers black, you could always add a few drops of it to the legal lapis. Personally, I much prefer Tahitian pearl to legal lapis. Lovely ink.

Stephen

Would someone be willing to post a side by side comparison of Legal Lapis and Tahitian Pearl? Both inks appear to be blue blacks with a greenish tint.

I'm hoping that someone, perhaps Nathan, will soon introduce a bulletproof blue black ink that has no greenish tones. The other ink I'm waiting for is a very dark bulletproof royal blue ink.

I love Legal Lapis! The bottle I have is what I would describe as a deep teal - not really turquoise. But I guess the line between turquoise and teal is a fine one.
I think of turquoise as being bright whereas teal is more subdued.

Judybug

Seconded. I have the luxury blue, and it is so ugly I cannot use it. I've read a lot of good opinions aboout the tahitian, but it is only available in the US, and I'm afraid it may have the same lifelessness that the luxury one

Edit: the comparison tahitian-legal lapis was done already: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...?showtopic=6795

Hm, I don't see an image with the two side by side in that posting. The original image link is no longer working, so it might have been there.

Legal Lapis is, to my eye, both bluer and greener than Tahitian Pearl. TP looks pretty well blue-black to me, no green undertones to my eye.

My bottles of LL and TP look very similar as far as I see in my jounal entries written by each ink. TP dries faster, though. I wonder if there are batch differences. I currently don't have a pen filled w/ LL so I have to do so tonight to compare.

**EDIT** I filled a pen with LL and compared side by side. sonia_simone is right. While they are similar, TP looks more black and LL is bluer/greener. Sorry my scanner is not working right now but i'll see if I can post a sample eventually.

I know that someone mentioned how washed out the Swisher's waterproof Gulf Stream Blue is. I have a bottle, so I would have to agree. Is that a problem with the Swishmix Gulf Stream blue as well? I've noticed my other Swishmix colors are more vibrant that the Swisher waterproof line.

Also, some bright young thing here recommended a 1:1 mix of legal lapis to iraqi indigo. I've tried it, and it yields a nice purplish navy. Still not as vibrant as the non-waterproof Noodler's or PR inks, but I like it.

Just my 2 cents.

The image loads sometimes:

Nice scan - I appreciate American Blue and Florida Blue in the mix since I actually own them and they serve as a nice frame of reference.

I have been waivering on Legal Lapis for awhile now - and I'm still not completely sold after seeing the samples here. The permanence is the main attraction and since I have Noodlers black I keep wanting something a bit more, well, blue.

I have the same reaction to Legal Lapis. Luxury Blue does it for me. A very nice blue blue and permanent. Kinda expensive, but what the heck.

Doug

HDoug - I suppose I need to take the plunge but at the price I know I'll be hesitant to use it a lot... anyway, how does it compare to American Blue.

Of course I have 4 blue inks right now (Quink washable, PR American, PR Midnight, Waterman South Seas) but you can't have too many!

PR Midnight and American are my favorite blues, but not permanent. PR's American Blue must be the bluest blue in Ink Universe -- it's incredibly saturated and really jumps out at you. Noodler's Luxury Blue isn't as vivid, but it's a very nice blue, and it's permanent.

Also, I inadvertently mixed some Luxury Blue with Noodler's Black and came up with something similar to PR Midnight Blues, but I need to refine my formula.

The way it breaks down for me (as a big fan of blue and blue-black): Best color = PR. Good color plus permanent = Noodler's. Too bad we can't have both desirable characteristics, but it's a "pays your dollar and rides your ride" situation.

Doug

Why do you suppose that there is no permanent, waterproof true blue or blue black ink on the market? I'm wondering if there is something about the chemical composition of Noodler's reactive dyes that makes all their bulletproof blues chalky and all their bulletproof blue blacks greenish. The sad truth is that I can't use either their permanent, waterproof blues (Luxury Blue, Contract Blue, etc.) or their blue blacks (Aircorps, Tahitian Pearl, Legal Lapis) for business use because chalky blue and inks with a green tint are not acceptable colors in the business world.

CharlieB, I agree on your assessment of Legal Lapis and Aircorps Blue-Black. LL is too pale and green for me. And I react physically to Aircorps. The weird green "halo" makes me feel like when you go to work with a hangover and they've just installed ultra-bright bargain basement flourescent lights. I had to give my bottle away. Bottle of ink, I mean.

I've found Luxury Blue to be a good, deep, useable blue, though. Not as in-your-face as PR's American Blue, but very nice. I was thinking (uh oh!)... Noodler's is a small outfit, maybe there's variation from bottle to bottle (like wines). I'm at the end of my first bottle and wonder if there will be a difference in the next bottle. The pen/nib makes a difference too. I've been running most of the Lux through my Sailor 1911M fine point which is a very wet writer. It does look paler in a dryer writer like my VP fine point.

Anyway, not trying to dismiss your assessment, but I'm thinking of the folks who might like Luxury Blue but be disuaded from trying it out. I say, if in doubt, try it out. It's kinda expensive, but if you don't like it, I bet you can find a buyer for the partial bottle which would further reduce your risk to a more manageable magnitude.

Doug

P.S. If I'm not stricken by terminal laziness this weekend (very big "if") I'll post some comparison scans between American Blue and Luxury Blue.

I tried to use to luxury blue for work. It is blue, but ugly. I am using noodlers black now. At least, this one is a true, brilliant, very black, black. No problems with this one.

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like the way luxury blue makes nibs smoother, the contrast it provides against paper, and the way it shows off italic nibs (the thin strokes are thin and precise). I find it to be a nice looking ink when it's the only ink on the page.

Stephen

And I think Aircorps Blue-Black is glorious, it's my favorite black by a mile. Especially good with a flex nib, as the green-blue shading is subtle. Mileage varies, as it so often does.

In my experience, the average person in the business world is not going to take any notice whatsoever of any of the inks mentioned here. Pink or purple can raise eyebrows, but one has to be in a very conservative industry indeed to be bothered by Legal Lapis, IMO.

The 1:1 mix of Legal Lapis and Iraqi Indigo (affectionately called "Lapindigo") is good for those who don't like any green in their blue-blacks. The color is not unlike Waterman Blue-Black but it is somewhat more saturated. The color does have a touch of chalkiness or dustiness--so does WBB in the pens I've tried.