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Black Swan In North African Violets


crunchmaster

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I'm afraid I only have HoD, not Bulletproof Black. I would also like to hear how it works with other blacks and purples.

 

I suspect Wretch may be right: I've found a striking difference in the appearance of this mix depending on the paper and the pen. I put it in a Hero 616 and it puts down a fine, wet line with much less shading, more of a dark black-purple all-around. But with the Nib Creaper, even when I don't flex the nib, and put down a line as fine or finer than the 616, it shades very noticeably. It's like the Creaper can vary the amount of ink put down by the speed of the nib across the page, even when unflexed, whereas the 616 tends to keep the flow more consistent.

 

The paper makes an amazing difference, too. I got an order from Goulet yesterday, and they use that great paper for their packing lists. I tested the Creaper and the 616 on the back, and the 616's line was more purple than black, and had hardly any shading. But then I tried it on the front, and it was like a different pen! It wrote dark, near-black, and had a little shading too.

 

I'm curious now to try the mix in an italic nib, and in one of my Safaris. The Safaris tend to be drier, so I'm expecting more purple than black, but I don't know what to expect about the shading.

 

As an aside, I have two Lamy Joys, and I wonder, does Lamy put different, wetter feeds in the Joys than in the Safaris and AL-Stars?

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This is simply gorgeous! I'll definitely have to try this! I did something similar with Noodler's Gruene Cactus and Noodler's Black. It gave me a gorgeous deep shading green. It's much more green than Zhivago, and wow, does it ever shade beautifully in an italic nib! (looks great with a nice B nib too). The way your BSINAV is shading really reminds me of the green mix I made. I'll have to order some NAV to mix with the Noodler's Black.

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thanks a lot for both your comments. i should say, my question was a bit more about whether there could be unpleasant/unusable chemical results from mixing north african violet with bulletproof black (e.g., precipitate and sediment, turn to sludge, space-time rifts, chlorine gas everywhere), and less about what the appearance would be like; i don't have a sense of how much heart-of-darkness differs from bulletproof black, but from what i've read there do seem to be some important differences.

 

thanks again. really neat idea, and would be neat to create an excellent shading dark blue / true blue-black this way, one that's waterproof, too. can't find anything that fits that.

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Lothianjavert, your mix sounds great! I tried to make the same thing with HoD and Lierre Sauvage, but it turned out more of a dark, piney green with no shading. I haven't tried it in a flex nib yet, though, so no final verdict yet. Can you post pictures of yours?

 

jsph, I've no idea about precipitation or sediment in the mix. Personally, I doubt there will be any serious problems, as they're both well-behaved inks, as far as I know. Their in-pen performance is fine so far. But since I only mix basically 3 ml at a time, even if there turned out to be long-term issues, there's not much ink at risk.

 

I'm very curious to see if Bulletproof Black has the same effect as HoD. I've read that HoD is wetter and more feathery, and I wonder if that helps it shade--in which case, BpB might not shade as much. I hope someone will try it and let us know.

 

I also had a similar idea about a dark blue. Sometime when I have some dry pens (I keep too many inked and it takes too long to write them out...but, oh, the colors!) I will experiment with Midway Blue and HoD, and perhaps Midnight Blue and HoD.

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If this works with BpB, I'd be willing to mix a batch, but if it means I also have to buy that honking huge bottle of HoD (which I don't like as muck as plain ole BpB, I'll pass and wait for the Visconti Purple that's due out in January, 2012.

 

If anyone has tried this great looking recipe with BpB, please post images? Or if the pen had issues (e.g. exploded, melted, vanished into another dimension) I would also find that information useful.

 

EDIT: According to Wikipedia, a standard kitchen/pharmacy measure of a drop equals 0.05 ml - I think that makes a formula that is easier to mix (?) by multiplying both sides by 20. That is IF we accept that measure as a likely correct ml equivalent.

 

Heart of Darkness - 1ml

North African Violet - 60 ml

(I think)

Edited by januaryman

It is easier to stay out than get out. - Mark Twain

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I wonder if a mix of Private Reserve DC Super Violet and Velvet Black would achieve the same effect?

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Just ordered some sample inks from Goulet to try it out as described. Hope I get those same great results!

It is easier to stay out than get out. - Mark Twain

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Great! Please do share the outcome.

 

Just as a general FYI, I have not observed the same effect by mixing HoD with J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage or with Noodler's Midway Blue. However, I haven't yet tried either mix in a flex nib, so no final verdict yet. I did discover that a nice pine green can be made, and that adding black to blue does indeed result in a greenish tint. I was hoping to get the blue of Midway Blue with a shading-to-black effect, like North African Violet allows, but it doesn't seem to work that way.

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If this works with BpB, I'd be willing to mix a batch, but if it means I also have to buy that honking huge bottle of HoD (which I don't like as muck as plain ole BpB, I'll pass and wait for the Visconti Purple that's due out in January, 2012.

 

If anyone has tried this great looking recipe with BpB, please post images? Or if the pen had issues (e.g. exploded, melted, vanished into another dimension) I would also find that information useful.

 

EDIT: According to Wikipedia, a standard kitchen/pharmacy measure of a drop equals 0.05 ml - I think that makes a formula that is easier to mix (?) by multiplying both sides by 20. That is IF we accept that measure as a likely correct ml equivalent.

 

Heart of Darkness - 1ml

North African Violet - 60 ml

(I think)

 

The correct ratio of NAV to HoD is 7.5:1, using the .05 ml standard drop figure. 3 ml of NAV in drop-equivalents is 3/.05=60 and 60/8=7.5. A ratio of 60:1 may not perceptibly darken the NAV.

 

This looks incredible. Gotta try it!

Edited by JLT

JLT (J. L. Trasancos, Barneveld, NY)

 

"People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest."

Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

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Thanks for the correction! :embarrassed_smile:

 

Ooops! Didn't mean for it to come across that way . . . just wanted to 'help the process'. I got very 'direct' - pedantic, even - when I was a TA in grad school, teaching Calc and Dif Eq to undergrads. That was many years ago but it comes back at times and I don't notice.

JLT (J. L. Trasancos, Barneveld, NY)

 

"People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest."

Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

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Thanks for the correction! :embarrassed_smile:

 

Ooops! Didn't mean for it to come across that way . . . just wanted to 'help the process'. I got very 'direct' - pedantic, even - when I was a TA in grad school, teaching Calc and Dif Eq to undergrads. That was many years ago but it comes back at times and I don't notice.

No, I really was thanking you for fixing it for me. :notworthy1:

 

I clean forgot to multiply by the number of drops! English lit majors like me should never try anything resembling calculations.

It is easier to stay out than get out. - Mark Twain

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  • 2 weeks later...

UPDATE- I bought sample sizes of both inks and mixed them as noted, then storing the "cocktail ink" in an old, clean 1 oz Noodler's ink bottle. My issue is that, upon mixing, I see particles in suspension in the ink, small, dark particles of, I assume, HoD. :gaah:

 

I'm now reluctant to put that ink in any of my pens. I may buy an Ahab or cheaper to try it out, but my Pelikans? No way. I don't want to risk it. Has anyone noted that same effect?

It is easier to stay out than get out. - Mark Twain

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Hm. Well, let me see if I can organize my thoughts, in no particular order:

 

I haven't had any trouble with the mix in a Noodler's Nib Creaper, a Hero 616, and a Lamy Joy.

 

The NAV alone has always seemed a bit "clingy" in appearance on the inside of bottles and converters to me--it takes more effort than some inks to clean--but I've never had any flow problems. It has stained the inside of my Nib Creaper, but I suspect that could be cleaned with a good ammonia-soap flush.

 

I'm curious as to how you could even see particles suspended. If the "cocktail" is mixed--I always shake it up before filling a pen--any particles should be evenly distributed, and the color should be uniform. This has been my experience, anyway.

 

I'm not sure the Joy/Safari/AL-Star feed has enough flow to give this mix much shading. It's amazing in the Nib Creaper, but then, that and the Ahab also make other inks look very different. Perhaps a mix with more HoD would do better in dryer pens.

 

By all means, test it in cheap pens first if you want. I've had no problems, myself, and it's been almost a month now. :) But better to be safe than sorry.

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I'm curious as to how you could even see particles suspended. If the "cocktail" is mixed--I always shake it up before filling a pen--any particles should be evenly distributed, and the color should be uniform. This has been my experience, anyway.

Yeah, after I shook the mixture, there were the particles as they passed the glass sides of the bottle, distributed, but not integrated into the color mixture. (Think snow-globe, but way less visible.) But I'm determined to try it out in an Ahab. I was wanting to buy a second, anyway, so I'll pick up that black one when it emerges and fill it with BSiNAV. Until then, I'll let her sit where she is, checking on her from time to time.

 

I still love the color and shading I see in the sample posted here, but patience will just have to control me for now. It's hard to wait. When the sample vials arrived from the GPC, I tore the package open in record time! Hmm.. maybe I should buy that purple demonstrator Ahab....

It is easier to stay out than get out. - Mark Twain

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Are you sure the particles aren't bubbles? I always see small bubbles on the sides of the vial--some inks and mixes tend to form bubbles more than others.

 

I just made a fresh batch and took some photos. I started with HoD this time. You can see how HoD by itself leaves some spots on the inside of the vial. Then I added NAV and shook it thoroughly. You can see how it adheres to the sides of the vial and tends to leave bubbles along the sides too. There also is a visible graininess on the sides of the vial, but I think that is just NAV itself, because I see a similar effect on the inside of my Nib Creaper and a Lamy converter when they have only NAV loaded. NAV even leaves a bubbly coating on the inner cap of the bottle from Noodler's.

 

By the way, the photo with the blue tint is from my LED flashlight shining through it--it's not really blue ink! :)

post-24297-0-60870600-1324377332.jpg

post-24297-0-84713900-1324377340.jpg

post-24297-0-98812100-1324377386.jpg

post-24297-0-83470500-1324377396.jpg

Edited by crunchmaster
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