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Noodler's "Dark Matter"


Pictrix

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I picked this up from Swisher pens last week. I am not certain if it is a Swisher exclusive, but I hadn't seen it mentioned before.

 

The backstory on this one is apparently a bottle of vintage ink (or its remains) was sent to Noodler's. The original ink having been manufactured by an unnamed firm in the midwest. The label said "US Army Corps of Engineers, LA NM BLK WF 43". While I can puzzle out most of the acronyms (Los Alamos, New Mexico, Black, 1943) as a reasonable guess, the "WF" escapes me. "Writing Fluid"? Ha!

 

At any rate, the ink was recreated, dubbed "Dark Matter" and a picture of J.Robert Oppenheimer and a notable quote graces the typical Noodler's bottle. The box it came in was stamped "Nuke". (Amusing, since my bottle of Blue Ghost came in a box stamped "Boo".)

 

This is an interesting ink. I would surmise it would have been state of the art for its time, and is pretty water resistant. A little piece of paper came in the box, telling the backstory, and it was mentioned either there or on the Swisher site that the water-resistant nature should increase with time. Some of the ink will bleed off in the water, but, it's pretty clear what was originally written. Now how well it holds up to other chemicals . . . I wouldn't know.

 

Two comparison inks, Skrip Black and Noodler's Bulletproof black are added on the review sheet. The bulletproof black is just slightly blacker, the Skrip just slightly less so. On another sheet (not shown here) where I wrote a paragraph using both the Skrip and the Dark Matter, the dark matter does appear to have a slight "greenish" tone to it. Cheap chromatography (on a tissue) reveals the Skrip to be very neutral in tone, very monochromatic, whereas the Dark Matter does display a warmer tone with a slight tending to the green.

 

This is a very flowy ink, seemingly "middle of the road" in most respects. I can't say anything about "nib creep" because I haven't seen an ink here yet that doesn't... and I just ignore it.

 

It does seem to have some ability to produce shading. Where my dip nib ran dry, and on one sample near the top, I just dipped the Lamy nib rather than fully inking the pen. It will range from as black as Bulletproof, to grey, depending on how dry the nib is. Looking at the whole sample in person, it does exhibit subtle shading. (Although I wasn't able to detect it while I was writing, it stood out more later when the whole page had dried).

 

All in all, an interesting ink, and of course, a "must have" for those who collect the Noodler's bottles etc.

 

--Carol

 

http://www.riorondo.com/fpn/DarkMatter.jpg

Edited by Pictrix
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Wonderfully detailed review, and lovely handwriting to illustrate it. Thank you!

Edited by Jared
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I need another black ink like I need a hole in the head, but this one is getting harder to resist. Thanks for a very nice review!

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I like your review, Pictrix; thank you!

 

I have a few bottles of various black inks, and I bought this one as a sort of novelty, but your review makes me want to fill a pen with it. Yay!

_________________

etherX in To Miasto

Fleekair <--French accent.

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Lovely handwriting! I got to get myself one of those dip nibs at the local art supply store. :) Thanks for ink review.

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Ok, just to make this complete, here's a picture of the "Dark Matter" bottle and box :)

 

--Carol

 

 

http://www.riorondo.com/fpn/NukeBottle.jpg

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pictrix, I really love your reviews and your writing is wonderful, thank you!

All the best.

Ian

 

Mont Blanc Alfred Hitchcock, Mont Blanc 149, Montegrappa Historia Limited editon 410/1000, Sheaffer imperial 777, Prker 51 special, Parker Duofold senior special, Stipula Tuscany dreams piston with 1.1 italic 036/351, incoming: Stipula Tuscany dreams T-flex. Parker 51 Vac, Pelikan 140. Aurora, Twsbi vac, Omas,dupont Waterman leMan 100 Opera

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i ordered mine on saturday but they are out 2-4 weeks...ugh, the agonizing wait! however, after reading your review, i'm SO excited!

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  • 1 month later...

Thank you very much for such a thorough and enjoyable review. I wonder if this ink always dries so slowly.

May you have pens you enjoy, with plenty of paper and ink. :)

Please use only my FPN name "Gran" in your posts. Thanks very much!

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Thanks for the review, Pictrix, as I was planning on buying one of these bottles. A few questions popped in on my mind, how is the writing compared to Noodler's bulletproof black? Is it more free flowing, and is it more a dark gray or just a slight variation of the Standard black?

"Whenever elephants fight, it's always the grass that suffers" -African Proverb

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/5642/postcardde9.pnghttp://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

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Thank you for such a comprehensive review. I was especially interested in the background information you provided and the "de-coding" of the original bottle markings. A very concise review nicely presented.

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Nice review, I'd been contemplating whether to try this ink since I first saw it.

It seems to be very much like my Borealis black, in that Borealis has a green prime seen on some paper types.

Borealis feathers a bit, moreso than any of my other black inks, but it's also one of the deepest blacks despite the green prime.

Seeing Dark Matter taking upwards of over 15 seconds to dry, at least in your review using Clairefontaine paper, is a bit of a detraction for me yet very good to know.

I'd like to try a sample of Dark Matter, compare it to my Borealis since that too is not bulletproof but is extremely water resistant as is Dark Matter.

Borealis is an ink based on those of the 1950s, whereas Dark Matter is based on one from the 1940s, would make for an interesting comparison.

Thanks for the review!

“I view my fountain pens & inks as an artist might view their brushes and paints.

They flow across paper as a brush to canvas, transforming my thoughts into words and my words into art.

There is nothing else like it; the art of writing and the painting of words!”

~Inka~ [scott]; 5 October, 2009

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Seeing Dark Matter taking upwards of over 15 seconds to dry, at least in your review using Clairefontaine paper, is a bit of a detraction for me yet very good to know.

 

 

I'd like to update that in regards to the drying time. For the review, I had used a dip nib that was running very wet with that ink.

 

Here's what I have today:

Safari F nib customized to CI w/ Dark Matter

Safari EF nib with Noodler's custom mix (brown)

Dip Nib with Montblanc Sepia/Brown

Namiki Falcon Custom XXXF w/ Visconti

Namiki Falcon standard SF w/Visconti

Pelikan M200 XXF w/ Visconti

 

 

Papers: Bagasse and Clairefontaine 80g

The Dark Matter and Montblanc seem to be the fastest driers, with the visconti and noodler's a bit behind. I wouldn't classify any of these as notably "slow".

 

However, the dots made with the Dark Matter were curiously persistent in staying wet even after most of the other colors written after it were dry.

So that leads me to think this ink is (for whatever reason) going to be disproportionately slower to dry in a wet pen than it would be in a drier one.

On 2 of the visconti samples, the dots had dried before the text. (The Pel is the wettest writer of these and I'd probably not use Dark Matter in it for that reason).

 

I thought the "dot" thing was odd!

 

Just for reference, I wrote the word "Clairefontaine" for all samples. All took at least 10 seconds for the word to dry and it's about 62°F in my shop today. (The Pel was the slowest at 15-20+ secs, but that thing writes like a firehose and I used it just for reference).

 

I don't have any small vials to hand, but if I did (or if you send one) I'd be happy to send a sample if you like.

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  • 1 year later...

Further update on drying time: when I first filled my wet Eversharp Skyline the drying time seemed fine, but after having it in the pen and using it up slowly for about a week the time has extended until on a Tollit and Harvey Europa notebook I could still smear it after two hours.

 

Maybe it's an ink that like to be used up quickly once the pen is filled - rather a pity as using a "1940s" ink in a 1940s pen is a pleasure in itself.

Edited by PDW
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I've taken* to diluting it 50/50. Makes for even greater shading and I haven't noticed anything unusual about the dry time, seems as fast as any other to me.

 

 

[* the decision to do so was immensly helped by dropping half a bottle of the ink on the kitchen floor - cleaned up nicely btw]]

"What? What's that? WHAT?!!! SPEAK UP, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" - Ludwig van Beethoven.

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nice review. so it shades, huh? i thought this was the blackest thing around, some say. i still think PR velvet black is one of the darkest around -w/o the water resistance, alas!

 

 

 

oh my....

I've taken* to diluting it 50/50. Makes for even greater shading and I haven't noticed anything unusual about the dry time, seems as fast as any other to me.

 

 

[* the decision to do so was immensly helped by dropping half a bottle of the ink on the kitchen floor - cleaned up nicely btw]]

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...

 

oh my....

 

 

You should have heard what I said at the time.

Edited by Biber

"What? What's that? WHAT?!!! SPEAK UP, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!" - Ludwig van Beethoven.

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I like this ink very much. I primarily write with blues and an occasional green or purple but this is a very well behaved ink with good flow and reasonable dry time on various types of paper. The only other black I have is an older bottle of Pelikan 4001 which I find too dry for my tastes. I generally prefer Herbin and Diamine inks but this ink has made me reconsider ordering some more Noodler's inks. I am not the type to want a whole host of black inks so this will probably suffice for me. Plus, I like the historical backstory.

Brett

The secret of zen is just two words, not always so.

Shunryu Suzuki

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