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Will Be Buying Noodler's For The First Time! Performance On Mid-Quality Paper?


Richard Ma

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Hi all,

I'm fairly new to fountain pens and brand new to FPN.
I'm from Canada and I've never used Noodler's inks before, as I find that it's prohibitively expensive to ship the stuff up north.
I'll be heading to the States for an internship this coming summer and will finally have a chance to buy some!

I would gladly appreciate some advice with regards to Noodler's ink performance on medium-quality paper.
I find most reviews are done on nice high quality paper, but most of my writing is done on a regular Grand and Toy notebook (the paper is "heavy weight" and better than copy paper, but it's no Rhodia).

Here's what I'm looking for.
1- A blue/blue-black/navy/green-blue ink. I've attached an example of my current ink (mix of Pelikan blue and a bit of J. Herbin green to make it darker, maybe 5:1). I'd really like something like this color.
2- Performance on medium-quality paper: specifically, no feathering. My standard is Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue
3- Impartial regarding bleed-through, water-proofness, or dry-time

Here are some inks I'm considering. All are in stock at Fountain Pen Hospital as I'll be living walking-distance from them and I plan to visit often :P
- Blue/Black (not Aircorp)
- Deep blue Treasury? (Can't find any reviews online)
- General of the Armies (Not many reviews and most don't seem too excited about this one?)
- Midnight Blue (really like the color but am afraid of feathering issues)
- Squeteague
- Blue Manhattan (FPH exclusive)
- Ellis Island Blue Black (FPH exclusive)
- Henry Hudson Blue (FPH exclusive)

Also open to any other suggestions, as I'm pretty excited for free shipping in the states :P
- Bad Blue Heron
- 54th Massachussets
- Aircorp blue-black

Thanks everyone! :)
Richard

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I have Bad Belted Kingfisher, and have used it in a Sailor 1911 F, Sailor Clear Candy, Pilot Metro M and Parker 45 M, and have had no problems with it feathering or smudging on copy paper or better. I did have some minor feathering on the very very very low quality blue book exam booklet paper from school, though... But it wasn't enough to make the writing illegible or anything like that. It's very highly saturated, and will bleed through thin paper (less than 70 gsm), especially with a wetter pen, but it mostly behaves itself, and I quite like the dark, almost blue-black color. :)

Good luck with your ink quest, and your internship! :)

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I have Squeteague and ACBB. I like 'em both, can't recall much in the way of feathering, but feel like they have more of a green component than your photo shows.

 

This may not be a bad thing.

 

You can search the ink reviews here for further technical details.

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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Perhaps you could take samples of your preferred writing paper to FPH and dip test the inks before you buy. That way you get no surprises and the store gets some good sales.

 

I'll second Nicole_Vs comments on Bad Belted Kingfisher. Great ink that is well behaved. I have had some feathering issues with Ellis Island on cheaper papers and every pen I put it in has ferocious nib creep.

 

Enjoy your sojourn in Da City.

Dave Campbell
Retired Science Teacher and Active Pen Addict
Every day is a chance to reduce my level of ignorance.

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Thanks for everyone's suggestions. Just looked up Bad Belted Kingfisher and it looks great- I may have to get both the BBH and BBK... :P

I'll see if I can bring paper and pen to do a test. Will update if I'm allowed to, so others can do it as well.

Cheers!

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Manhattan Blue is probably my favorite blue ink (FPH seems to be calling it Blue Manhattan on their website now). It's more of a dark blue than a true blue-black. Henry Hudson Blue is more of a grey-blue. It's a nice color but might not be what you're looking for.

The last time I was in FPH, they did not seem to allow dip testing, except if you were looking at pens (and then with only the ink they provided). Instead they had a swab book, and I spent a heck of a long time trying to decide between colors because I find swabs to not really be indicative of the color when coming out of a nib. Back when they did still allow dip-testing, I remember trying Ellis Island and it was pretty wet and really dark -- more black than blue). And I probably tried every blue-black ink they had with the exception of Montblanc (I was trying to match, for shading as well as color, the ink that flushed out of an Estie I found in an antiques mall, and I probably drove the staff crazy; after that I went to the late lamented Art Brown's and ended up with a bottle of Diamine Denim (for the color) and Noodler's Manhattan Blue (for the shading).

Although FPH didn't seem to stock it on their website, definitely take a look at 54th Massachusetts. It's more of a teal-y blue-black, but is very well behaved and one of the inks I trust to be permanent enough for signing checks with. I wasn't sure I was going to like the color, but it grew on me.

The only other ones I've tried on your list are Midnight Blue (which was really wet, and I didn't really care for the color) and Bad Belted Kingfisher, which also didn't really grab me.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I have some Noodlers Henry Hudson Blue, which is a FPH exclusive. Unlike Ruth, I don't find it to be gray-blue. I find it to be an attractive very dark navy blue or blue-black. Unfortunately, I also have trouble with bleed through on plain copy quality paper and I do not care much for the smell.

 

It is not Noodlers, but from what you are describing you might like Iroshizuku Tsuki Yo.

Edited by whichwatch
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I am a huge fan of Ellis Island blue black (a FPH exclusive). It is more black than blue, but in certain light, you see the blue...

Octatonic

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Here's what I'm looking for.

1- A blue/blue-black/navy/green-blue ink...

- Blue/Black (not Aircorp)

 

You should seriously consider the Aircorp - your description is exactly how I would describe the Aircorp!

Jim Couch

Portland, OR

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Air Corp is one of my favorites. Bit of dilution is also interesting. Not as crazy about Army, good flow, just color.

Like the color of 54th but it is sticky, hard to start in pens without that issue. I like/love Legal Lapis. Similar but more on the blue side, excellent flow. I also love its partner Violet Vote (orig Iraqi Indigo). Yes violet but a great flowing ink. Only Noodler's I put in one vintage pen. Both these exclusives from pendimonium ??? But worth the effort to order.

Navy would be my blue/black to consider. Not a true BB but what is?

I'll mess the names but also look at the 4 that make a mixing batch. Look up articles back in 2008 or so. As I recall regular Noodler's black, shahs rose, yellow and turquoise .... Believe Navaho turquoise. Can't remember if discussion in ink recipes or ?

I'd look at Apache Sunset, has shading, also the Australian rose. Both different and interesting.

Then you can look at the series of air mail? Inks.

No I don't have every Noodler's ink, far, far from, but they are fun and quite good. Reading the reviews should tell you the ones with 'issues' you might want to avoid.

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Thanks again everyone for the suggestions :) A shame that FPH doesn't allow dip-testing, but I suppose that's reasonable.
I also like the idea of getting a mixing set! Think I will do so.

Here's what I'm looking to pick up from FPH for now- the recommendations have helped a lot:
-Black: Noodler's Black (I don't have any black inks at all and as Sally mentioned I think it would be good for mixing, which I like doing)
-Blue: Manhattan Blue
-Black/Blue: Ellis Island (hooray for exclusives!)
-Apache Sunset (really popular and the shading looks great, and maybe a good substitute in "quasi-CMYK" mixing as I only write with darker inks anyways)
-Saguaro Wine (for mixing)
-Navajo Turquoise (for mixing, and as my stand-in for Tsuki-Yo which looks very nice but is much too expensive for me right now)

What I'm looking to order online *Edit: I had a lot of inks listed here to get free shipping, then realized FPH carries many of them.... so now I might need to buy a pen on top of the ink for free shipping. oh no...
-Bad Belted Kingfisher
-Aircorp BlueBlack or 54th massachusetts (I like blue-green, I mix a lot of the color myself)

P.S. I was thinking about how much money I'd be spending on this stuff... then realized it's still cheaper than drinks at the bar on a unit-volume basis, and is (hopefully) a healthier habit, too. Maybe less sustainable at this rate, though :P

Edited by Richard Ma
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Just one thing about Navaho Turquoise: lovely color, but in my experience, and with the bottles I've had, it never, ever dries. Ever.

 

At least some of the time. @__@

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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Your color looks a lot like Pendemonium's Legal Lapis on my monitor. Both Legal Lapis and their Violet Vote are in my EDC pens. Sam and Frank are very helpful to their customers, and if you sent a SASE and a sheet of your paper, they might write on it for you.

 

Do you think you will continue to use the same paper?

 

Edited to add that both L L and V V are bulletproof and that I enjoy General of the Armies as well. It is lighter in color than your sample above.

Edited by Octo
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I am a happy Noodler fan, use BBK, Black, and Navajo Turquoise a lot. Most noodler inks tend to the wet side and that can make for problems. But a bit of diluton will solve most of those. Sounds like a good list. Might want to order a set of samples from Goulet Pens before you buy full bottles, though. That might keep you from owning a bottle of ink you hate.

 

Best of luck,

Yours,
Randal

From a person's actions, we may infer attitudes, beliefs, --- and values. We do not know these characteristics outright. The human dichotomies of trust and distrust, honor and duplicity, love and hate --- all depend on internal states we cannot directly experience. Isn't this what adds zest to our life?

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Thanks again everyone for the suggestions :) A shame that FPH doesn't allow dip-testing, but I suppose that's reasonable.

I also like the idea of getting a mixing set! Think I will do so.

 

Here's what I'm looking to pick up from FPH for now- the recommendations have helped a lot:

-Black: Noodler's Black (I don't have any black inks at all and as Sally mentioned I think it would be good for mixing, which I like doing)

-Blue: Manhattan Blue

-Black/Blue: Ellis Island (hooray for exclusives!)

-Apache Sunset (really popular and the shading looks great, and maybe a good substitute in "quasi-CMYK" mixing as I only write with darker inks anyways)

-Saguaro Wine (for mixing)

-Navajo Turquoise (for mixing, and as my stand-in for Tsuki-Yo which looks very nice but is much too expensive for me right now)

 

What I'm looking to order online *Edit: I had a lot of inks listed here to get free shipping, then realized FPH carries many of them.... so now I might need to buy a pen on top of the ink for free shipping. oh no...

-Bad Belted Kingfisher

-Aircorp BlueBlack or 54th massachusetts (I like blue-green, I mix a lot of the color myself)

 

P.S. I was thinking about how much money I'd be spending on this stuff... then realized it's still cheaper than drinks at the bar on a unit-volume basis, and is (hopefully) a healthier habit, too. Maybe less sustainable at this rate, though :P

 

 

I love Manhattan Blue ... Don't forget Noodler's yellow for mixing. It's a nice ink.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Legal Lapis and Violet Vote both look great. I'll keep them in mind for the future :)

As to wetness and not-drying: I think my paper should hold up. I consider my J Herbin green to be fairly wet and I don't have any problems with it, so I hope the Noodlers inks are ok too!

I'm going to try and see if I can use Apache Sunset as a stand-in for Yellow because I like somewhat darker inks. I'm sure many purist mixers will be shaking their heads right now- and rightfully so- but hopefully I have just as much fun. Worst comes to worst, if the results are no good, I'll pick up a yellow and my wallet will just have to deal with it lol :P

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Henry Hudson blue is sort of a "slate blue." It's darker than Polar Blue. For me, it performs quite well on a variety of papers.

BBK can get crabby on bad papers.

Never tried Legal Lapis or the Violent Vote.

If you want a good blue-black that works on many different papers, try Sailor Sei-Boku. Good durability. Good behavior. Never tried bleaching it though.

There is also Sailor Yama-Dori, but it's not as great on nominal paper:/ Plus cleaning it from a pen is a real pain. A bit "darker" than Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo, and definitely far more saturated. It's one of the few inks that I have seen sheen on with really bad paper.

Edited by SeeksAdvice

Imagination and memory are but one thing which for diverse reasons hath diverse names. -- T. Hobbes - Leviathan

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