Hi All,

Since the flushing and rinsing of the pens and nibs used for the writen reviews went so easily after the fills with Waterman Florida, I decided to keep it up, with Noodler's Legal Lapis, as promised. This is a special packaging deal for Art Brown's in NY, as far as I know, but it looks the same to me as regular Noodler's Legal Lapis. I'm sorry I extended the review to four pages now, but somehow I couldn't keep it smaller. Even four pages seemed a little short...

So here is the first page of the review:


Page 2 of 4:


Page 3 of 4:


Page 4 of 4:


Some concluding remarks:
When rinsing and flushing the pens used afterwards, I found, that although the ink seemed to stick to the nib, even when trying to wipe it with some tissues, there was absolutely no problem with that when rinsing.
Also, there was no staining whatsoever in any of the 3 demonstrators I used, and even better, the stains that were there already, disappeared together with the Noodler's Legal Blue! The funny thing is it stains fingers much worse than most inks...
And the colour of the ink, in a transparant converter or demonstrator, looks the same as it does from the side of the bottle, namely a dark, purplish, opaque blue, but dissolved in a lot of water while flushing, it became a Turquoise Blue, like Waterman's South Sea Blue. Very nice. It made it very easy to see when flushing was finished, and this whole operation was even faster and easier than it was with Waterman Florida Blue. Very quick indeed, and a pleasant surprise!

Writing this review, made it very clear to me that I actually undervalued this ink. I didn't particularly like what I thought was a fairly drab colour, but now I really need to see how it performs with a nib that gets everything out of the shading qualities of this ink.

I'll come back on that when I get a chance to try it out .

In the mean time I hope you enjoyed this review.

Warm regards, Wim

Hi Wim,

As always, I enjoyed the review. For comparison, below is an example of Swisher's version of the waterproof Noodler's legal/contract blue called, simply, Aquamarine. It looks just as you described in the bottle--opaque, purplish until you tilt it and see a more bluish color in the neck of the bottle.

My big surprise with this ink was how very different it looked flowing from a Pelikan M200 w/an 0.9 mm sharpened italic nib, than from an Esterbrook model J with their 2312 italic nib...So different that it was like getting 2 different inks for the price of one!


Best, Ann

Amazing Ann. They are so different that it almost seems as if there was some other ink in either pen to make that degree of color difference. I can't believe that much difference just because of the diffferent pens and nibs. Geez, same paper, side by side aomparison and one scan to show both. Unbelievable!

Hate the work, but I'd be inclined to thoroughly clean both pens and do the comparison again.

I think Roger has something there. I've had this problem in a lot of pens. I've cleaned them thoroughly until the water coming out was clear, but when I put the pen on a paper towel, I get an ink spot. I've also experienced "that's not how I remember the color" The problem is that ink can stay under the nib or deep in the feed while you flush. Then when is sits in liquid (the new ink) it gets mixed in.

Now when I flush pens I pay more attention to the nib, soaking it when I can. I also fill the pen with water, wrap the nib in paper towel then put it nib down in a cup filled with crumpled paper towels. Leave it for a while. When I come back the pen is drained. I do this until there are no more spots on the paper towel.

Hi Ann,

This is exactly why I want to do a test with a pen and nib combination that shows off the shading. If you look at samples #4 and #17 vs. the rest, you see something similar.

I'm guessing the Esterbrook is a wet writer.

Warm regards, Wim

P.S.: Your writing: WOW!

Hi Roger,

You can see the same variation in my samples too, from very light to very dark. A lever-filled, sacced pen (wet writer) vs a modern dry writer will show you this difference. Check sample #4 in my review vs. the rest, or even just within that sample, and you'll see what I mean. This is why I want to test this ink in a pen that shows of shading nicely.

First have to finish another review or two .

Warm regards, Wim

Hi Elaine,
If you check sample #4 in my review, you'll notice an almost black, blueish tone, and in #17, a wet modern writer, it gets very dark as well. Compare that to the variety in sample #4 itself, where the nib gets dry, and the remainder, and you'll see this variation is possible with this ink.

With my ink reviews I do this all the time. Of course, with the dip nibs this is the easiest . I tend to leave the nibs soaking in fresh water several times to. Wash them first, rinse, dry, leave for a while, do it again, let them soak in water for a few hours, rinse, again. Put them on toweling, to get the last ink out, dry, rinse, again, etc., until there is absolutely no ink/colour coming from the nibs and pens anymore.
Just to make sure, once the nibs are thouroughly dried, I'll just try it again (I'm only a little OC ).

Oh, and I found that it is a fairly quick process with Waterman Florida Blue, but even quicker with Noodler's Legal Blue. I was really impressed. I'll have to try again tonight, to see if the dried pens and nibs now are really done, but, from past experience, I would say yes. Which means I can get on with the next review (once they're thoroughly dry again, of course ).

Warm regards, the Mad One

I always find a difference in colour of the same ink when I compare using any modern pen, and any lever filler. Does the sac have something to do with it? Or perhaps it's much harder (for me anyway) to flush out my lever fillers. Just a thought.

There are indeed some pens that cleaning completely is almost impossible. The pens that come in mind are Parker 45 and Waterman Phileas/Kulture. Actually if you get a clear section Kultur you will see who difficult to see to clean them.

M200 and Esties are very easy to clean. But it is well known that the wetness of the nib will change the final color considerably.

AZ

Wim,
Great review, as always. I've added this ink on my "to buy" list. I'll get a bottle sometime in the not-too-distant future.
THANKS

on my screen Legal Blue looks much bluer than my Legal Lapis which has a distinct "teal" shade to it. You sent me a sample of the Legal Blue so I'll have to do a comparison and I'll tack it onto this post.

I love Legal Lapis which in my pens has been almost a blue-black but more vibrant.

Roger and Elaine,

The M200 and Esterbrook used in the example above were clean pens. I have an ultrasonic cleaner--and, yes, I use a paper towel to be sure there is no residual ink. Actually, after all color is out, I leave the nib on a paper towel to suck out moisture, and then let both the pens & nibs dry overnight before I reassemble (most of my nibs unscrew) & refill them. The exception to this is if I'm refilling the pen with the same ink (unless the flow was getting balky, then I clean as above.)

Best regards,
Ann

Wow, that is some color variation then! I've seen this kind of variation with my Sheaffer Tuckaway and NOS Sheaffer Peacock Blue, but I've always assumed it was a very stubborn feed that held on to old ink. Actually in this case, it probably is due to the old ink becuase the variation happens only once in a while with the same pen, same fill?

here's a scan I did this a.m. comparing Legal Lapis and Legal Blue. I would say the difference between the two is subtle, but not negligible.

you'll notice that I put a swatch of Diamine Prussian Blue next to the Noodler's swatches just for comparison.

Also, the highlighting is to show off Noodler's Firefly. You'll see that on the non-permanent Diamine Ink, it worked quite well. I've found that as long as you don't swipe over something twice with the Firefly, it won't smear most of the inks I use.

Hi KCat,
Thanks for putting up those two samples. It looks like Legal Lapis is slightly darker, and Legal Blue a little more blue, but not markedly so, IMO. It could well be the difference between several batches of the same stuff, as we've seen larger variation in some of the Noodler's inks.

Warmest regards, Wim

Hi Elaine,
That could well be, if the water evaporates a little from the nib, and the ink stays behind, a little more concentrated.

HTH, warm regards, Wim

Hi Leslie,

Lever fillers, with sacs as ink reservoirs, are generally much wetter writers than non-sacced pens. I have a modern sacced pen, and that is a very wet writer as well. It also depends on the nib of course.

If you go back far enough (in time), you'll get to gravitational feeds. Even the earliest "capillary" feeds were gravitational, just slightly less so, because the ink channels were much too wide for proper capillary action. This is what makes the biggest difference, though: capillary vs. gravitational feeds, and hence, lever fillers vs. modern pens.

With regard to cleaning/rinsing/flushing: if you use the tissue-in-a-jar method, you can clean any pen properly, no problem. Sacced pens are a little harder to clean, yes, but not that much harder. I use a Wearever occasionally, for my ink reviews, a lever filler. One with a transparant feed, so it is easy to check the feed is clean. Even so, I still use the TIAJ method to clean out the last remnants of any ink used previously, and let it dry properly, before filling it with a new ink.

HTH, warm regards, Wim

If one wanted to get the Legal Blue instead of the Legal Lapis, how would you get in touch with Art Brown? Thanks.

Hi Soutpaw,

The same way, via their web site : Art Brown's web site

If you ever visit NY, you have to go see Art Brown's (and FPH, of course) .

HTH, warm regards, Wim

Mucho gracias Wim (didn't know if this was an individual, store, etc.).

Hi southpaw,
Sorry for that. Sometimes I just take for granted people know these things, forgetting I didn't know either 18 months ago...
Apologies for that!

Warm regards, Wim

Wim,
I'm much thicker skinned than that! No offense taken, so you needn't worry. Besides, I enjoy a bit of sharp-tongued sarcasm every now and then.

I'll say! But, with both Ann and Wim's comments pointing to the fact that it is unlikely that there was contamination, I'll defer to the experts.

I, too, appreciate that comparison, KCat. I see the same differences as Wim, but since I have Legal Lapis in shipment now, I won't need the Legal Blue in addition. Besides, I may take a shot at mixing to brighten the LL a bit. A bud says that mixng LL with Iraq Indigo in equal parts produces a killer combination. As we used to say on the streets of Philadelphia, I'll leave ya know when I try it.

A couple of years from now, you're not going to be able to come into my place and see 40+ bottles of ink lying around! Remember that statement folks, and see if I can make good on it. I'm actually a very weak person, when it comes to avocational interests.

Hi Roger,So I guess that means it is going to be more like 100+? Or so many we can't even come in?

Warm regards, Wim

I Tried this and I really like the color.

How is bleed-through on this ink?
I'm considering picking up a bottle.