I recently bought a P51, aerometric F nib from Ron Zorn--great pen! However, this pen is somewhat of a dry writer. While that is
generally good for my purposes (copious note-taking), I noticed that only 2 inks provide a nice dark line in that pen (writtein on Rhodia graph paper):
Noodler's Manhattan Blue (Art Brown) and Legal Lapis (Pendemonium). I tried Waterman Florida Florida Blue, several Diamine blues, and Cd'A blue; all
nice colors, but thin and light in this pen. Which ink (besides the Noodler's cited above) would give me a nice, dark line in that pen that
is more blue in hue? Please advise.
Tulcin

Don't know if your pen will like it but most of my P51 aeros work best with 1:1 Quink blue and Quink blueblack. One P51 is on a Diamine Imperial blue diet but other than this pen they get Quink.

I actually quite like the way current Quink b-b works in the 51s... but it's best a couple of days after loading so things have had a chance to dry out a little.

Give Private Reserve Midnight Blues a try. I was looking for a nice, deep blue after being underwhelmed by Florida Blue, and I fell in love with Midnight Blues!

Hmm... sorry, but my 51 writes wet with all inks (no sarcasm meant here). Wet inks that look nice but flow nicely too (for me) are:
Blues: MB's Royal Blue and Herbin's ECLAT DE SAPHIR.
B-Bs: MB's B-B (iron gall-containing), Herbin's BLEU NUIT, Rubinato's B-B.

Mike

Private Reserve has, for my taste, the best array of blues on the market. Try Black Magic Blues, Midnight Blues, Electric Blue, Supershow Blue and American Blue (the first three are the darkest). Note, these are all saturated inks and will take a lot of flushing out to remove all traces of the colour in the event you want to switch from blue to some other colour. In wet pens they can be slow to dry, but that shouldn't be a problem for you (if it is, dilute the ink with water). I expect you will find all low-saturation inks (Waterman's, Diamine, Sheaffer, Pelikan, Parker, etc.) look too watery.

Simon

I use a 1st Quarter 1947 P51 as a daily writer. The pen and I are just about exactly the same age. My favorite ink for this pen has always been PR Black Magic Blue. They just seem to be perfect together. /Craig

I have heard that PR ink may be bad for the P51, as it may cause mold. Any thoughts?

I have had no problem, but I do carry the P51 in my shirt pocket and use it throughout the day. Storage or infrequent use of the pen full of ink may be another matter. /Craig

Sailor Blue, and Sailor Blue Black. So smooth and wet that I think there is double dream in there somewhere.

John

It's going to be hard to say for sure, because even P51s vary from pen to pen. I have three, an XF that seems to take everything from dishwater to PR Velvet Black and PR Tanzanite. Of the other two F pens, one is noticeably 'wetter' than the other. Both have been disassembled and cleaned.

A couple of posts have noted that Parker Quink Blue-Black, or a mixture with this, works well. PQ Blue-Black is noticeably wetter than PQ Permanent Blue, so it will give a richer line than the Permanent Blue.

There are many, many rich, thick inks out there. As mentioned, Sailor Jentle inks are nice, as are many Private Reserve and Noodler's inks. You might want to browse through the Ink Reviews Forum and have a good look at the inks mentioned in this thread.

WHAAAAAT is this about PR ink causing mold?? I've never heard this and would love to hear more from anyone, regarding this property in a P51 or any other pen!

this is what i'm currently using in one of my 51's and i like it.

I gotta vote for Parker Quink Blue Black!

Smythson Blue.

I tried Quink B/B in my P51. Yes, it flows well, but is SO light. Using that ink is no better (in fact considerably worse) than using my favorite BP (Cd'A Leman with a Large (Bold) blue refill--delicious combo for a BP.

I guess it depends on the particular color and degree of saturation. As I said, I'm using Noodler's Legal Lapis in my P51 w/great results.

I recently bought a Vac 51 from julikko, and it too was pretty dry. Didn't like the vintage Super Quink permanent BB that every other pen in existence has loved. Nor did it like a lot of inks I tossed at it. It did, however, love PR DC Supershow Blue, Swisher Midnight Black and NSB, and Noodlers Lapis Legal. A lot of other inks, vintage and modern, wrote incredibly dryly. Even other Noodler's inks came out super dryly. I recently added a bit of Polar Blue to the Lapis Legal, and that mix is flowing very well.

Aaron

I have been using Noodlers La Couleur Royal and it seems to work just fine. Lovely dark blue ink.