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Baystae Blue -- Life Isn't Fair


arsimoun

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Two Saturdays ago, I picked up my Nakaya Piccolo Writer from John Mottishaw (who had ground a broad nib into a CI) and immediately filled it with Baystate Blue. A gentleman standing next to me warned that he had read of staining issues. I tend not to worry about such things, and sloughed off the advice. I should have listened.

 

The good news?

 

The color was wonderful. Saturated. Flowed well -- so well that I had John adjust the nib to be a little less free-flowing. Did I mention the intensity? No smearing. It was wonderful. I spent the day looking at pens, writing on a Levenger's legal pad that I had brought with me, and grinning like a happy idiot. Life was good! A new favorite pen for a milestone birthday. A new favorite ink. Life was damn good!

 

The bad news?

 

By Monday, that is two days afyter first filling the pen with ink, I began to have skipping problems. As the week progressed, the skipping occurred more often, and the flow became less generous. A strong shake or three seemed to fix the issue, so I chalked it up to "converter issues".

 

I read everything on this site about converter issues and also Baystate Blue issues. Still, I was convinced it was a "feed issue" -- perhaps just something in need of a little adjustment -- and after sending John Mottishaw an email describing my experiences, that was his sense, too. Finally, as I began not to love my beautiful Nakaya because it was proving to be so unreliable a writer, I sent it to John for a look-see.

 

John called me several days later with his analysis: the Baystate Blue had completely clogged the feed. It had stained the converter (no biggie there) as well as the feed (I do not care), but it had left all kinds of particulate matter in the feed and thse had hardened and clogged everything in a really profound manner. John had had one hell of a time getting the pen cleaned out, even after it sat in his ultrasonic tank over the weekend.

 

I have my newly cleaned Nakaya back now. It writes wonderfully again. No skipping whatsoever. I look at the pages I wrote with the Baystate Blue, and man oh man, they were gorgeous! My old favorite, Visconti, doesn't hold a candle color-wise, but sadly, I will never use the Baystate Blue again.

 

Maybe the Nakaya just reacted badly in a way other pens would not. Maybe it was something else that interacted with the Baystate Blue in this horrible fashion. I do not know, but I wanted to share my experience here. I am not generally an alarmist, and it seemed unlikely to me that an ink could be so problematic, but my experience has led me to the unavoidable conclusion that Baystate Blue has significant issues.

 

FWIW and all that.

 

Adam Rodman

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Thanks for the info. Although I don't have the same pen as you, I was strongly thinking about getting a bottle of this ink despite the previous warnings. Shame, 'cause I like Noodler's. It will not stop me from buying the other inks, but I now realize this one is out. Thanks again, and I'm glad you got your FP working back!

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Purchase once but test thrice, before you risk a pen that's nice. So far in the three pens I am using to test all is well.

The Danitrio Fellowship

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$4 Cross Solo XF + BSB = :cloud9:

Fool: One who subverts convention or orthodoxy or varies from social conformity in order to reveal spiritual or moral truth.

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Seems to me the ideal is to offer BSB in 4.5 eyedropper bottles with one of the free pens.

RAPT

Pens:Sailor Mini, Pelikan Grand Place, Stipula Ventidue with Ti Stub nib, Pelikan M605 with Binder Cursive Italic, Stipula Ventidue with Ti M nib, Vintage Pilot Semi-flex, Lamy Vista, Pilot Prera

For Sale:

Saving for: Edison Pearl

In my dreams: Nakaya Piccolo, custom colour/pattern

In transit:

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I guess this review is the straw that broke the camels back for me. I had it in my Sailor Professional Gear, and was kind of struggling with the bleed and feathering. Now I am not using it at all, and just finished cleaning it out of the Sailor. Too bad because I love the color! But I don't want to risk a $200 pen, which for me is a lot of money :)

Edited by MikeLip
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I guess this review is the straw that broke the camels back for me. I had it in my Sailor Professional Gear, and was kind of struggling with the bleed and feathering. Now I am not using it at all, and just finished cleaning it out of the Sailor. Too bad because I love the color! But I don't want to risk a $200 pen, which for me is a lot of money :)

Well, it's not the money, $200's a lot for anyone. Principle maybe. I like the color too but don't want to risk it. It caused a lot of tongue wag in the community here and caused most retailers to panic and post disclaimers about ink and not replacing pens if they got stained. Heck, I've never once hesitated dipping into any ink until now with this. This is a fantastic color, I hope it might get reformulated.

Seems to me the ideal is to offer BSB in 4.5 eyedropper bottles with one of the free pens.

This seems to be a happy solution, best of both worlds. I'd be in on this too.

 

 

 

JELL-O, IT'S WHATS FOR DINNER!

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I just checked -- I've had no clogging or any skipping issues in my MB Cool Blue Starwalker. It's had Baystate Blue in it for a week now.

deirdre.net

"Heck we fed a thousand dollar pen to a chicken because we could." -- FarmBoy, about Pen Posse

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Anyone has BSB and wants to get rid of it I'll take it. :D

 

I'd even pay a reasonable price for it...

 

 

RAPT

Pens:Sailor Mini, Pelikan Grand Place, Stipula Ventidue with Ti Stub nib, Pelikan M605 with Binder Cursive Italic, Stipula Ventidue with Ti M nib, Vintage Pilot Semi-flex, Lamy Vista, Pilot Prera

For Sale:

Saving for: Edison Pearl

In my dreams: Nakaya Piccolo, custom colour/pattern

In transit:

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I haven't had any of my über wet writers clog with it. And I *love* the color so much that I have two more bottles on the way.

<span style='font-size: 12px;'><span style='font-family: Trebuchet MS'><span style='color: #0000ff'><strong class='bbc'>Mitch</strong></span><span style='color: #0000ff'>

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http://exploratorius.us

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I'm having a clogging issue with a vanishing point. Any commonalities to the feed material used in a Nakaya?

 

Stephen

Current Favorite Inks

Noodlers La Reine Mauve Noodlers Walnut

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Put it in a little stylecraft ringtop with a sweet flexi nib i got for $8 from an antique dealer. NIce color --- only issue is when the pen has sat for 3 or 4 days without use it needs a quick dip in my water glass ( always on my desk, no I don't drink from it!!) to get it going again. Doesn't skip at all once it's going!!

 

My suggestion -- find, buy a cheapie vintage user and this is the ink for it.

Sensitive Pen Restoration doesn't cost extra.

 

Find me on Facebook at MONOMOY VINTAGE PEN

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I've tried it in four pens, and it's now clogged all four. I haven't dared use it in any of my "better" pens.l I'll just keep trying the less expensive pens until I come up with one that likes it.

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I have BSB in my modern Waterman Patrician. When I laid the pen aside and didn't write with it for a couple of days, it had some trouble with hard starting. I wiped the nib with a moist lint free cloth and unscrewed the converter to the point where a drop of ink emerged from the nib and then screwed it back in. That seems to have solved the problem. It wrote without problems again.

 

I love the color. If it gets reformulated, I'll (hopefully) be amongst the first 50 in line to get it. In the meantime, if these are the steps I have to take to use it, I'm prepared to do it. I had read about the staining etc. issues before getting the ink, and did think about it before putting it in the Patrician, so if it ends up ruining my pen then I have no one to blame but myself.

Looking for an Omas Arco Verde...the one that got away.

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Maybe the Nakaya just reacted badly in a way other pens would not. Maybe it was something else that interacted with the Baystate Blue in this horrible fashion.

 

I keep reading about these disastrous experiences with this ink and I am surprised why people keep thinking it could be anything but the ink.

There seems to be something terribly wrong with this ink. Is the beautiful color worth all the expenses for restoring the pen and all the trouble and speculation. No, it's NOT your Nakaya and it's not something else that interacted with this ink, it's just the ink proper. If I had to pay for declogging my feed, I'd be terribly mad at this ink and I would contact the maker and ask him to pay for the repairs. This ink seems to be suitable for disposable cheapo fountain pens at the most. I am sorry that this has happened to you.

Edited by omasfan
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two cross solos with BSB in them for one week. Both working fine. No problems so far. I agree I would not put it in an expensive pen, even if it does not clog. But so far it is flowing nicely with no issues. j

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Had the Baystate Blue loaded into a Lamy Al-Star Ocean Blue with a fine nib for over a week with no issues. Starts right up even after having sat for a day or two. The ink colour is almost a perfect match to the colour of the pen.

 

Rick.

Life Is Not A Rehearsal.

Our Pen Club: http://londonpenclub.com

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