Baystate Blue

[politovski]

a review of the dreaded baystate blue, on crappy oxford 3x5 cards.

it really is a fantastic ink, but has its drawbacks.

[Scrawler]

The blue in this scan looks a bit watered down compared to what comes out of my pen. Perhaps your scanner has not quite captured the full brilliance of this ink.

[politovski]

actually, it is pretty dead on. the finer the nib, the less saturated the bsb tends to be.

also, check out my pen review of the noodler's stylo, another 3x5 card review. my scanner

(which is a lexmark all in one copy/scan/print machine) did not want to scan this correctly,

but some manipulation of the curves and levels in photoshop (thank goodness for LAB color)

has managed to get the final product reasonably close to the original.

Edited March 27, 2011 by politovski

[flight878]

Noodler's Baystate Blue is my current favorite blue ink. The color space of scanners and even digital cameras can never accurately produce the color seen by the naked eye. It actually has a hint of violet, but give it 30 minutes, and the final state is a beautiful pure cobalt blue. Another thing that needs observation is that the ink is closer to the scan above when light from conventional light bulbs (with yellow hue) is cast on the writing sample. The violet component of the ink becomes more noticeable when shining fluorescent light or those "natural light" eco-friendly bulbs onto the written paper. Let's not forget the paper's color too, and the observer's perception of color.

[Scrawler]

Noodler's Baystate Blue is my current favorite blue ink. The color space of scanners and even digital cameras can never accurately produce the color seen by the naked eye. It actually has a hint of violet, but give it 30 minutes, and the final state is a beautiful pure cobalt blue. Another thing that needs observation is that the ink is closer to the scan above when light from conventional light bulbs (with yellow hue) is cast on the writing sample. The violet component of the ink becomes more noticeable when shining fluorescent light or those "natural light" eco-friendly bulbs onto the written paper. Let's not forget the paper's color too, and the observer's perception of color.

Interesting observation. All of my lights are fluorescent daylight tubes and spiral bulbs.

[y2bd]

Nice review. Surprisingly, for me this is one of the only scans match where the color in the scan matches what I see in real life :hmm1:

[torstar]

Very nice !!

 

Drawbacks? (careful...)

Edited March 27, 2011 by torstar

[politovski]

Very nice !!

 

Drawbacks? (careful...)

 

hhhmmmm....drawbacks? well...

1.stains

2.runs

3.burps

4.feathers

5.bleeds

6.nib creeping

7.clogs nibs

8.eats feed mechanisms

9.not bulletproof for all the fuss

[Scrawler]

Very nice !!

 

Drawbacks? (careful...)

 

hhhmmmm....drawbacks? well...

 

3.burps

 

What pen did you use it in? A partially filled eyedropper?

[torstar]

Very nice !!

 

Drawbacks? (careful...)

 

hhhmmmm....drawbacks? well...

1.stains

2.runs

3.burps

4.feathers

5.bleeds

6.nib creeping

7.clogs nibs

8.eats feed mechanisms

9.not bulletproof for all the fuss

 

 

It's been discussed on dozens of other threads.

 

A "few" on here rigorously defend the honour of the ink and get a tad testy...

[Possum Hill]

Very nice !!

 

Drawbacks? (careful...)

 

hhhmmmm....drawbacks? well...

1.stains

2.runs

3.burps

4.feathers

5.bleeds

6.nib creeping

7.clogs nibs

8.eats feed mechanisms

9.not bulletproof for all the fuss

1. Staining is not new with BSB and there are several threads on removing BSB stains.

2. Not for me.

3. Not for me.

4. Not for me -- probably a function of paper.

5. Not for me.

6. Not in my Pilot 78G.

7. So does lots of other ink. It's a FP; put the cap back on.

8. Just a lie - a really old lie.

9. Some people have posted lengthy explanations of why ink doesn't need to be bulletproof. Some people just don't want to be happy.

[Possum Hill]

It's been discussed on dozens of other threads.

 

A "few" on here rigorously defend the honour of the ink and get a tad testy...

Ink has no honor, but it isn't supposed to. People are supposed to, and liars don't.

 

It's not easy being "a tad testy", in fact it's a bit dull. One can denounce the same old tired lies like point 8 in one's sleep. Just to make things more interesting I wish someone would come up with a genuinely new fabrication about BSB. What we need here is a better quality of liar.

 

ETA: I don't mean to imply that anyone posting here is the original liar, and I do recognize that someone can repeat a lie without realizing it is a total fabrication.

Edited March 28, 2011 by Possum Hill

[politovski]

Very nice !!

 

Drawbacks? (careful...)

 

hhhmmmm....drawbacks? well...

1.stains

2.runs

3.burps

4.feathers

5.bleeds

6.nib creeping

7.clogs nibs

8.eats feed mechanisms

9.not bulletproof for all the fuss

1. Staining is not new with BSB and there are several threads on removing BSB stains.

2. Not for me.

3. Not for me.

4. Not for me -- probably a function of paper.

5. Not for me.

6. Not in my Pilot 78G.

7. So does lots of other ink. It's a FP; put the cap back on.

8. Just a lie - a really old lie.

9. Some people have posted lengthy explanations of why ink doesn't need to be bulletproof. Some people just don't want to be happy.

 

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.............

not to say i don't love the color, because i do, but these little things make it unusable at work for me.

bulletproof black (and its derivatives) seem to work about the best for my day to day uses in the office.

as far as the drawbacks, the feathering and bleeding (which happen on average office 20# and below paper

and most all the paper in hospital and nursing home charts) make life miserable. as far as clogging, it

happened to my cross, lamy vista, pelikano, and shaeffer calligraphy pens even with the caps properly kept

on and the pens kept upright 95% of the time. as far as destroyed feeds, well, i saw the pictures and can

not risk that in my nicer pens. and as for bulletproof, well, i think it is necessary for writing out

prescriptions (which is the whole reason I bought the fountain pens and inks in the first place). good

for you that you are lucky enough that these things do not happen, and I wish that they did not happen to

me. Oh, and paper makes no difference, as it will bleed and feather on clairefontaine and cardstock with

a wet and/or wide enough nib.

[torstar]

Stains like crazy, drips like crazy, doesn't smell good, great shade of blue and I won't put it in my old and treasured pens.

 

But it's in regular rotation.

[Possum Hill]

Very nice !!

 

Drawbacks? (careful...)

 

hhhmmmm....drawbacks? well...

1.stains

2.runs

3.burps

4.feathers

5.bleeds

6.nib creeping

7.clogs nibs

8.eats feed mechanisms

9.not bulletproof for all the fuss

1. Staining is not new with BSB and there are several threads on removing BSB stains.

2. Not for me.

3. Not for me.

4. Not for me -- probably a function of paper.

5. Not for me.

6. Not in my Pilot 78G.

7. So does lots of other ink. It's a FP; put the cap back on.

8. Just a lie - a really old lie.

9. Some people have posted lengthy explanations of why ink doesn't need to be bulletproof. Some people just don't want to be happy.

 

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.............

not to say i don't love the color, because i do, but these little things make it unusable at work for me.

bulletproof black (and its derivatives) seem to work about the best for my day to day uses in the office.

as far as the drawbacks, the feathering and bleeding (which happen on average office 20# and below paper

and most all the paper in hospital and nursing home charts) make life miserable. as far as clogging, it

happened to my cross, lamy vista, pelikano, and shaeffer calligraphy pens even with the caps properly kept

on and the pens kept upright 95% of the time. as far as destroyed feeds, well, i saw the pictures and can

not risk that in my nicer pens. and as for bulletproof, well, i think it is necessary for writing out

prescriptions (which is the whole reason I bought the fountain pens and inks in the first place). good

for you that you are lucky enough that these things do not happen, and I wish that they did not happen to

me. Oh, and paper makes no difference, as it will bleed and feather on clairefontaine and cardstock with

a wet and/or wide enough nib.

Inks vary in how quickly they dry. Quick drying is a good quality in many circumstances.

 

I use mainly 20# office paper and BSB works well for me.

 

Results depend on pen, ink and paper. When you say that you can make BSB bleed and feather on clairefontaine and cardstock with

a wet and/or wide enough nib you have identified your problem. You need a dryer pen. The combination you selected doesn't work. That may mean you switch to a different ink, a different pen or a different paper, but that doesn't mean there is a flaw in the ink if you can't change the other factors.

 

As for the pictures of "eaten" feeds, maybe you saw one I posted. That pen was used with BSB. The Lamy Safari had a bad run of feeds; the problem wasn't related to BSB. There have been other pictures of feeds "dissolved" by BSB. Those alleged effects have never been duplicated. We've never even had a report of someone putting the damaged component back in contact with BSB to see if further damage would occur. People have defended their conclusion that BSB was at fault vigorously but have NEVER been able to provide further evidence.

 

Nobody has to use or like any particular ink; just remember it's only a third of the system.

[tfwall]

hhhmmmm....drawbacks? well...

1.stains

2.runs

3.burps

4.feathers

5.bleeds

6.nib creeping

7.clogs nibs

8.eats feed mechanisms

9.not bulletproof for all the fuss

 

Hi politovski,

 

It may be cold comfort to you, but your cries have not fallen on deaf ears. I don't know how old your bottle of BSB is (and you may not be able to determine this very easily yourself), but a re-formulation of BSB was undertaken in 2008 in response to complaints of feathering, bleeding and excessive nib creep. The downside being that the ink has a bit more tendency to clog feeds now.

 

We discussed the reformulation a while back, you may find the old discussion informative in weighing whether it is worth your while to buy a new bottle of BSB.

 

You might also consider doing as the reviewer here did and load BSB into a specially tuned Noodler's Ink branded pen designed to help ameliorate some of the more deleterious effects of the ink.

 

HTH!

Edited March 28, 2011 by Chemyst

[politovski]

hhhmmmm....drawbacks? well...

1.stains

2.runs

3.burps

4.feathers

5.bleeds

6.nib creeping

7.clogs nibs

8.eats feed mechanisms

9.not bulletproof for all the fuss

 

Hi politovski,

 

It may be cold comfort to you, but your cries have not fallen on deaf ears. I don't know how old your bottle of BSB is (and you may not be able to determine this very easily yourself), but a re-formulation of BSB was undertaken in 2008 in response to complaints of feathering, bleeding and excessive nib creep. The downside being that the ink has a bit more tendency to clog feeds now.

 

We discussed the reformulation a while back, you may find the old discussion informative in weighing whether it is worth your while to buy a new bottle of BSB.

 

You might also consider doing as the reviewer here did and load BSB into a specially tuned Noodler's Ink branded pen designed to help ameliorate some of the more deleterious effects of the ink.

 

HTH!

 

i did load it into the noodler's stylo, and that is the pen you see there. it has tamed the

beast quite a bit, but it still burps and has stained the barrel of the pen. no feathering

or bleeding though. thank you for the suggestion.

-p

[tfwall]

i did load it into the noodler's stylo, and that is the pen you see there. it has tamed the

beast quite a bit, but it still burps and has stained the barrel of the pen. no feathering

or bleeding though. thank you for the suggestion.

-p

 

Ah, sorry. I missed that you were in fact the OP.

[Ink Sandwich]

it really is a fantastic ink, but has its drawbacks.

 

And that's the long and short of it, IMO.

 

Very nice !!

 

4.feathers

4. Not for me -- probably a function of paper.

 

It actually feathers a bit even on my 90 g/m² Clairefontaine notepad ... On another pad, writing behavior was a bit weird. There were parts where the ink feathered and parts where it didn't. Maybe it's a paper issue to a degree, but this ink definitely seems be very sensitive to feathering papers.

 

I'm just constantly surprised at how blue this ink is. It's intense, and I love it.

 

As to the staining - well, ink stains, and that's not something I would hold against BSB. Pelikan Blue Black stains almost as bad, and I haven't seen threads complaining about it.

[torstar]

I guess we could start up a thread about the vicissitudes of using Pelikan Blue Black ink.