This is not a review of Baystate Blue. There are enough of those. These are some notes and observations I have made in the few hours I have been experimenting with this ink.


There are inks, and there are inks, and there is Baystate Blue by Noodler's. This is a special ink. Its colour, and depth, and intensity, are unique.
But that intensity and depth of colour come at a cost. BSB is not an easy ink to use. It needs just the right pen and just the right paper to make it work well.

To get the depth of colour, I think that it must be very saturated with dyes. This high level of saturation must be what causes so many pens to clog up after only a few days of use.
However, to get an ink that is so thick with dyes to travel down the feed and tines of a nib, it has been made a very 'wet' ink. Thus it feathers and bleeds to a much greater degree than any other ink, that I have, anyway.

I have been experimenting with different pens and papers. This is such a wet ink that it works best in a dry pen. With a medium wet nib, like my Jinhaos, the BSB feathers and bleeds on almost every paper. A drier pen, like my Haolilai 611F, is a better option. However, I get my best results with a couple of dry troublesome pens -- a Hero 100 'Flighter' and a Platinum Preppy that I converted to an eyedropper filler.

I have also been trying different papers. I found that the wetter Jinhaos will feather and bleed badly on Pukka Pad and Maruman papers. While it didn't feather on Stora Enso 4CC 100 gsm paper, it did almost bleed through to the other side, something that doesn't happen with any of my other inks. I tried some HP Colour Laser and Clairefontaine DCP, both in 120 gsm. The HP still bled, but the Clairefontaine didn't.

So, what do you get in exchange for an ink that feathers and bleeds on most papers, that clogs many pens, and flows like a hosepipe on wetter pens? You get an ink that is unique in its colour, depth and intensity. You get an ink that seems to give you pretty much the same colour, no matter what pen you use. You also get an ink that can transform a troublesome, dry writer into a smooth, lush writer.

This is not an ink for beginners. But it is a beautiful ink that gives wondrous results if you are willing to work with it.

I really don't know how I am going to go back to using a 'normal' ink...


Other notes--
1) It does work with dip pens, but you need a relatively fine pointed one. Joseph Gillotts 292 fine pointed pens work, as do crow quill mapping pens.

2) I found I got very good results with my Jinhao 1200 if I rolled the pen over and wrote with the top (back) side of the nib.

3) You can use the Australian Tudor Eco Notebook, and even write on both sides, if you use a fine, dry pen or a reversed Jinhao nib.

It is not the concentration, it is the dye itself. You can concentrate the dyes made in most modern inks on the market as much as is possible and never will you have the properties of Baystate Blue.

It was replicated. It is the 1946 ink in every way. The UK market has requested a Baystate Blue version that is feather resistant on high recycled content papers (a la anti-feather black) - it should be available within a year and if they like it there, it will be introduced everywhere.

The free eyedropper pens included with each bottle of Baystate Blue have a perfect record - unless hidden from us by a retailer, the ink has a verifiable record of working EVERY time with those pens included with the 4.5 oz. bottles. Note each nib is set in a 1940s manner (though the pen has a plastic feed, note that it flows with the control needed for a plastic barrel eyedropper without insulation from temperature changes....yet also flows fast enough to rival a 1940s line effect, though without the flex).

It is an ink that makes manifest the risks of offering the world's largest selection of fountain pen inks and ink properties. If it were to be done again, I am not as sure history would have been repeated...but giving up knowing that modern manufacturing of pens is already scheduled to become even less robust material wise...was not an option. It is the manufacturer who should make a car that can fill up at every gas station with every grade gasoline, otherwise...they have the option of offering far less utility to the user and a car that might wind up with far less market share. It's a free market, they are free to do that...but in the long run the product is for utility and not just display. I am such a believer in that concept - the free pen issuance will eventually be expanded even more just to prove how modern pen manufacturing has no excuse for producing products with such limited utilties. The 1940s level should be the gold standard. They don't have to agree with me and likely won't, but the free pens are going to at least show people how far off the mark some of them have become cost wise and utility wise...

I love the pen that came with my 4.5 oz bottle. Its the only one that I have had 0 problems with Baystate Blue. IMO its a great ink if you can find a pen that works well with it. The X-Feather version would be amazing! Please release it here in the US.

Those Platinum eyedroppers are amazing. I had problem with the O-ring flattening out too much on the one I put Legal Lapis in and causing a little spill (which I corrected by opening and re-setting the O-ring). The one with BSB has been flawless. The two have been allowed to sit for weeks at a time and still write immediately when uncapped. The only thing they won't do well is write consistently on the file folders I use at work. They'll write eagerly on any and all other paper products I throw at them.

I have had a great experience with the eyedropper that came with HOD, much like yours. The same pens I got with Nikita and Dragon's Napalm positively gushed ink past the entire nib assembly and blobbed onto the paper. I had to discard both. I'm not sure whether this is attributable to ink properties or pen quality control.

I'm using the Nikita in a Lamy Safari EF to annotate margins and like it a lot. The Dragon's Napalm developed some sort of precipitate that looked like flecks of gold leaf, and I threw it out.

There was a topic recently about those flecks of gold in Dragon's Napalm. I think its completely natural.

I have also found that the Baystate family: Blue, Cranberry and Grape work well in other ED pens. I have dedicated Bay's to these and have, thus far, experienced nothing but satisfaction.

But then I have lived in the Bay State, also without any inconveniences.

Who sells Baystate with the free fountain pen?


Thanks,
Gawain

Swisher is the only place I have noticed it, but that isn't to say I'm sure it's the only source.

What's the tradeoff? Slower to dry?

The free eyedropper pens included with each bottle of Baystate Blue have a perfect record - unless hidden from us by a retailer, the ink has a verifiable record of working EVERY time with those pens included with the 4.5 oz. bottles. Note each nib is set in a 1940s manner (though the pen has a plastic feed, note that it flows with the control needed for a plastic barrel eyedropper without insulation from temperature changes....yet also flows fast enough to rival a 1940s line effect, though without the flex).

Thanks for explaining that, Nathan. The Platinum Preppy ED that came with the BSB I bought from my local B&M dealer works flawlessly with this ink! Now I know why! I use Ampad Gold Fibre and Clairefontaine pads and it has worked great for me. I'm sticking with a winning combination.

Thanks especially for all of your research and your obvious hard work in developing these inks. The fruits of your labor are truly amazing!

Thank you, Nathan for your reply.

Of the pens I have, BSB works best in my Parker 51 and my Hero 100 'Flighter', a P51 clone. It can be no coincidence that a vintage style ink works well in a vintage pen and a vintage style pen.

It also works well as an ink in some of my wetter pens, writing smooth, lush lines but my problem is modern paper.

My (possibly faulty) memory of dip pens and inks in the early '60s is that there was no feathering or bleeding. And yet, I find it almost impossible to find ordinary paper today that behaves like that with vintage dip pens and inks.

Nobody, except possibly one manufacturer in India, makes paper that is inexpensive but designed to be fountain pen friendly. There are some premium Laser papers that work well, but that is by accident, not design.

It is sad that one of the more common threads in the FPN is "I've found another paper that is FP friendly!", showing that many of us are searching for paper that works well with fountain pens.

BTW, are you able to comment on the smell of Baystate Blue?

Regards,
David.

I also use it in my Pilot VP with 0 problems.
My favorite blue.

a fellow member here let me try some in my lamy safari with an ef nib.

probably my favorite non-black ink. works great on cheap paper, expensive paper.

i would like to find a red that that is as bright on the paper.

mike

The Baystate Cranberry is a beautiful red; you might try that and see if it suits.

Two thumbs up on a slower drying, more feather resistant Baystate blue. A yellow for mixing would be welcome too.

Stephen

I'm curious: which ink(s) made in 1946 looked and behaved like Baystate Blue? And are you suggesting that fountain pens should be reconfigured to work well with Baystate Blue (not sure what you have in mind - less feathering?) when they have no problem working with other Noodler's inks (or any other brand)? (Not sure what "the 1940s levels" refers to either; I have a lot of vintage pens, and most of them are very wet writers, so I can only assume they would make Baystate Blue feather even more than it does in a moderately wet modern pen.)

That said, I very much look forward to a non-feathering Baystate Blue (one of the several reasons why I like Noodler's regular inks so much is that they *don't* feather on any paper I regularly use).

Simon

In one of these recent posts, I think somebody suggested Nathan knows or knew some folks from the old Carter's operation. I'd speculate that BSB may emulate one of their formulas in some regards.