I happened to suck some Noodlers Eel Blue into my Cartier, Diablo the other day and was amazed at how much smoother it wrote. So I sucked up some more into a Namiki, Hawk, and again it was smoother. I'd like to know why. I understand that there must be some kind of lubricator in the ink, but what is it? Does it effect drying time? Is it more likely to clog my nib? I know I should have discovered this years ago, but I've been going through the Private Reserve colors, rather than trying out other brands. A very slow process. By the way, it is due to this board that I became more aware of inks, and am enjoying that direction very much.

Well, the Noodler's Eel inks are billed as being lubricated; it's no secret. That's what the "eel" means...some kind of eel oil. There's no reason it should cause a problem. The biggest clogging risk from ink to a pen is the ink drying out, and of course the reason that can happen is due to the water, which all inks have.

Yes, different inks flow differently and thus cause the pen to write smoother. And, PR inks are generally poor in this regard. It's a trade-off: if you put a high amount of dye or pigment into the ink so it's deep and saturated like PR inks, it impedes the flow. Famously "flowy" inks like Diamine and Waterman are consequently also less saturated.

For a good mix of saturation and lubrication try Aurora, esp the black, this is super lubed, like writing on oil.

I love the saturation, which is why I go with the PR inks and keep it to the wet medium nibs. though Noodler's Eel looks rather enticing to me.

I am presently using (and using and using - my darn Pelikan won't stop!) the American Eel Gruene Cactus and it's a marvelous, smooth ink. It just accentuates the great qualities of my Pelikan 215. It takes a little bit longer to dry, but that's not a big problem.

My advice: Go for it!

Erick

Regarding ink--and a lot has been written and discussed on this subject by many pen people--Richard Binder wrote an article not long ago, "The Good, Bad, and Ugly". I must agree with his conclusion--Waterman is #1, even though they don't offer the variety of colors as does Noodler's and PR. It probably doesn't matter if the ftn. pen is flushed w/ water often. What say ye, O' fountain pen community?

I have used Waterman, Pelikan, Private Reserve, Dupont, Sheaffer, Lamy, Montblanc and Diamine. Diamine has been the most consistent performer for me.

Coincidentally, Diamine was in that article as a close 2nd choice.

I agree completely - in my experience nothing else has held a candle to Waterman (although Aurora black seems pretty rad).

The only thing i've ever read about noodler's eel line is that it helps loosen up many pens in a good way, as it's supposed to.

I agree that the Noodler's Gruene Cactus is a great colour, although I've also found it is very slow drying (meaning, weeks or maybe never!) on less absorptive paper.

I have to disagree that all American Eel inks of Noodler's flow well (in the way Aurora Black has an "oily" smoothness, which is so true): Polar Black is the worst flowing ink of all the several dozen inks I have tried! Aurora Black was a godsend after many failed attempts to find a pen that could write with N. Polar Black. Unfortunately A. Black is not even waterproof, let alone Canadian-winter-proof...

Has nobody had the same problems with Noodler's Polar Black that I have? I rarely hear my sentiments echoed, and I so much wanted that ink to become my number one staple.

-Andrew

I have a new-style Hero 329 that, because of its very fine nib, was not exactly a dream to write with. I wanted to test out some old Parker Penman Ebony I had, and it transformed that pen. That ink make the nib just glide on the paper, without feathering or bleeding through on even my most sensitive of papers.

Of course, I have to use that pen at least once a day, now, or the nib dries up, but as this is now my carry on site pen, that won't be a problem.

Your experiences are interesting as I used Aurora Black for many years. Recently I have been a convert to Polar Black because it flows even better than Aurora Black, yet dries faster, and has an appealing gloss finish on paper that's missing with Aurora. So I am sticking with Noodlers Polar Black but moving towards Waterman and Diamine for my other colours.

JustinB

Perhaps Aurora black isn't for very fine point pens. I tried it in an XXF pen and I had problems getting the pen to write without skipping, and it took several strokes for the ink to start flowing out. I flushed it out after a couple of days and tried my newly received Noodler's Navajo Turqoise in it. It wrote much more smoothly.

I've had mixed results with Polar Black. Nib creep for one, and indeed not as smooth as one might expect. The only pen I have it in now is a Wality piston-fill which I use for pen & ink sketchings that will have watercolor wash applied. It is very waterproof.

Ditto!

I used to like Waterman black, but it isn't as black as I prefer, so I've gone through various blacks, and now I'm extremely pleased with Noodler's Old Manhattan Blacky Black Black. Love it! It dries faster than the Aurora (also blacky black black!), which I need, cos while I don't mind nib creep, I don't like smears.

The Eel Black isn't black enough for me, but man is it smooth! I am right-handed and don't mind drying times, so a tradeoff of drying time for smoothness is generally fine for me.

I quite agree, waterman is too, well, watered down, definitely not deep enough for my taste. it's a tricky task to find a deep, rich color that dries fast but won't cause pen problems.

Diamine is my favorite for its behavior and palatte