OK, I have given Noodler's Britannic Blue Waves a try with a different pen.

I was recently given a generous gift of a vintage eyedropper pen with an ebonite feed and a modern Kwaeco nib.

Previously, I was unhappy with the performance of Britannic Blue Waves because it skipped and did not flow well in ANY pen that I had. However, the new combination of this pen with BBW has yielded very different results.

With this pen, Noodler's Britannic Blue Waves flows without any skipping. The problems I had with poor flow are nonexistent with this pen/ink combination.

Now the features that drew me to BBW come into play again. It is one of the most beautiful colors I have. It's a turquoise-ish blue. It does not seem as "chalky" as some of the other Noodler's Bulletproof inks (which never bothered me anyway). It is a Noodler's UK Eternal ink, so it is Bulletproof/fraudproof.

When Mrs. Kenny saw my test samples of this ink, she fell in love with the color. It has the Mrs. Kenny seal of approval.

I have to assume that it is the ebonite feed that makes the difference. Has anyone else had such an experience with ebonite feeds for poorly flowing inks?

Wow. I never thought of that. Thanks for sharing the observation. I'll have to keep an eye peeled for that phenomenon.

I use BBW also, but find the color a little too light for everyday writing. I use it mostly for illustrating and ornamentation in my journals. It makes great snowdrifts, flakes, and icebergs.

Paddler

Waterman style large slit feed on that pen? I'd think that large ink channel may help keep the ink in the nib dissolved.

I have some Wearevers with that style feed, they work very well with Noodler's inks.

Peter

Well, it's not Noodler's in general that were a problem. Just this one ink, Britannic Blue Waves. Interestingly, Nathan has said it is a unique type of ink, which probably explains its characteristics.

I am not familiar with the "Waterman style large slit feed." I have a vintage Waterman (I think from the late 1920s or early 1930s) and the feed on that looks smooth (from the outside at least). This pen has a linear hump in the feed (probably corresponding to a furrow on the side facing the nib, I would guess).

Here's what Nathan wrote describing Britannic Blue Waves:

"Brittania Blue Waves is one of the most unusual ink materials we ever attempted (the color, the extreme durability, the properties). It has bi-gravity capabilities (it can maintain itself apart from other dyes in solution) and is among the handful of inks that actually stand up to harsher testing than Noodler's Black. It does absolutely require that the nib tines be set so that at least a ray of light can pass through them...and is also absolutely alergic to acid inks (they destroy it). It is about as radical an ink as is now attempted - because there simply is not enough tollerance and robustness in the designs coming out of Europe today to match those designs in use over in India (those pens can use vastly different inks)."

Hi Kenny,

I just reviewed this ink and gave it a thumbs down because of feed problems. The weird thing is, this ink doesn't run dry...right up till the point it skips!

I've tried it in my broad Pilot, my medium Waterman, and my medium Pelikan 625. It had the same problem in each pen: Dry start-up with occasional mid-sentence skips to boot.

I love Noodler's, but I may have to shelf this one until I find the right pen for it.

Will

kenny, I know some of the UK formulations preferred the broader tines. I'll need to find the right pen for it.

I've never had any success with it and ended up sending my bottle to another interested FPNer. That said, I know Nathan is big fan of ebonite feeds and doesn't surprise me that it works best in a pen of that design.

Is most interesting when you guys review inks and go down to this very level of detail. We all appreciate the effort. Thanks.