Noodler's Fph Henry Hudson Blue

[jandrese]

Noodler's Henry Hudson Blue is an exclusive ink for Fountain Pen Hospital. It is billed as an Eternal Security ink, meaning that it should stick permanently to paper, and that there should be a telltale sign of tampering. First, the color is a really lovely blue/black and looks the same coming out of a Noodler's Ahab flex pen, a Waterman Ideal #3 semi-flex, or a Delta Evolution with fine nib. Shading potential is excellent. Below are some comparisons.

 

 

Since it is billed as Eternal Security I thought I would test that. So, I took small pieces of paper (HP Premium Choice Laser), drew circles with my Ahab flex pen, let the ink dry completely, and then soaked the squares in a bunch of solvents including:

 

Control--No soaking

ddH20--pure (18 MOhm) sterile water

Methanol--100%

Isopropanol (ISO)--100%

Ethanol (EtOH)--100%

Bleach--100%

CHCl3--chloroform, 100%

Ether--100%

Acetone--100%

DMSO--dimethyl sulfoxide

20% (w/v in ddH2O) sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)--basically strong laundry soap

30% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)--strong reactive oxygen species

Glacial acetic acid--relatively weak acid. I had sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid but the fumes prevented me from using these strong acids

99% cesium hydroxide (CsOH)--strong base, it will dissolve glass!

20% SDS plus rocking (agitation) at room temperature for one hour followed by extensive water rinsing

 

Here is the result. Sorry about the blue background around some of the squares, I thought the glue would turn clear when dry, oops.

 

 

 

All squares were soaked for 10 minutes except for the last test, 20% SDS+agitation, which went for one hour.

 

As you can see only ddH20, 30% H2O2, and 20% SDS even so much as touched this ink. Actually, methanol also brought out the red component but the wetting properties were so different it instantly spread evenly through the paper and became very faint. The 99% CsOH turned the paper yellow immediately and made it very fragile.

 

Basically, water immediately removes the red component, making water exposure obvious. Bleach may have removed some of the blue component, but the vast majority remained unaffected. Only 20% SDS plus agitation for one hour followed by extensive rinsing reduced the intensity of the ink, but it is still completely legible. This last treatment actually started to dissolve the paper so who knows if it really attacked the ink. If you get this ink on cotton it will not come out.

 

I think it is safe to call this ink eternal, and consider it a security ink! Sure it smells a little funny, but it has very nice writing properties, looks great, washes off plastic, and will survive a chemical attack. What more can you ask for?

[benborgmeyer]

What more can you ask for?

 

For me and a blue/purple, nothing. Love this ink.

[spiv]

Thank you for the comparison swabs. Your testing is admirable.

Sadly as much as I love this ink (and I really do) it pains me to think that I am now interested in Texas Blue Bonnet. Dagnabbit. Another exclusive ink from even farther away.