Noodlers Ink

[Charles Skinner]

A thought came to my 80 year old brain this morning. Here it is: ----- I seem to remember a time when there was a lot of "talk" about Noodlers ink, both "pro" and "con." I don't seem to see that anymore. Is it just me? Am I "losing it?" Or, have you also noticed this?

 

C. S.

[gryphon1911]

Things like this probably ebb and flow.

 

Like most things, if someone has an issue, they will voice it and those that have had similar issues will chime in. Same with those that love it. We are most likely in a lull right now.

[IndigoBOB]

It's been pretty established what inks have what characteristics and what approach to take to Noodler's in general and/or with specific inks.

 

As a new fountain pen user this year the information necessary to find a noodler's ink that works for me and what is safer or not is easy to find, and there's a lot of experience shared by other's out there to read or view.

 

It's nothing new anymore I guess and just another bit of knowledge in the community to learn IMO.

 

My favorite inks include a few noodler's while my least favorite inks include a couple noodler's, but thanks to youtube and FPN reviews and discussion the word is already out on people's experiences. I've had my problems with noodler's, and from what I gather it's basically accepted that some inks will be hit or miss or variants will happen.

[RockingLR]

I am also a newbie and I've run across a lot of old posts either loving or hating noodlers but not a lot of new ones. I think the new reviews of his inks are more "well this is noodlers so lets see what we have" and I think that maybe he's toned down or improved some of his process for creating or sourcing inks so there seems to be less discrepancy's between inks now, especially batch to batch of the same color.

I'm personally in the love category for Noodlers nks. Pretty much all my EDC's have noodlers in them. Like anything you'll have lover's and haters of each brand so I think people are just have come to the realization that Noodlers is not a company that's going to boom and then die, but seem to be (hopefully) in it for the long haul. And as nathan ages hopefully he'll teach someone else his recipes so the inks can continue. There's only so long a one man company can operate but hopefully it's for many many years to come.

[inkstainedruth]

I think that at this point most of the standard Noodler's inks have been reviewed ad nauseam, and a lot of the LE inks too. And it's like the others have said -- some of my favorite inks are Noodler's. And some of my least favorite (if I NEVER have to use La Reine Mauve again it will be too soon; just sayin'...). I probably have more Noodler's inks, between bottles and samples than anything else (although they run neck and neck with Diamine -- and De Atramentis and KWZI are gaining).

Ruth Morrisson inkstainedruth

[Jan2016]

I am a non-conformist and I like what Noodler's is doing. Some of the inks are very unusual, with very interesting characteristics.

(now working with Blue Nose Bear, amazing...) He fills a niche and I hope this will stay.

I like them a lot. There is a lot of info on the net, but as always stay critical, and luckily there are some shops who offer samples, so try!

[IndigoBOB]

I am a non-conformist and I like what Noodler's is doing. Some of the inks are very unusual, with very interesting characteristics.

(now working with Blue Nose Bear, amazing...) He fills a niche and I hope this will stay.

I like them a lot. There is a lot of info on the net, but as always stay critical, and luckily there are some shops who offer samples, so try!

 

 

I think that's a very good point. He does fill a niche.

 

I have to have Noodler's Air Corps Blue Black in a pen. He somehow pulls off a Dark yet Vibrant color.

 

I feel I would be remiss without allotting a pen to be "tattooed" with Baystate Blue. I rather use a less expensive pen to have this in my rotation than to not and use expensive pens that I may not use it with.

 

These and Noodler's Heart of Darkness allow me to write in low dim relaxing light since they are so rich in color, and beautifully so.

 

Not only are these some of the most beautiful inks out there, but they are very affordable inks, too, and permanent.

 

If I was on a much tighter budget I could happily get by with a lovely and durable $3 Jinhao off ebay, a $15 Jowo nib, and a $13 Bottle of Noodler's that contains 3 ounces filled to the brim!... and I'd be able to have a writing experience that matches and even bests $100+ fountain pens with boutique ink that costs twice as much for half the amount and behaves just as well and I could do it for about $30! Heck, double that budget and I can get about 500 pages of Tomoe River Paper in a beautiful notebook and have a dream of a writing experience that will last me a very long time.

 

My Jinhao x750-Goulet nib with Air Corps Blue Black rests in a pen stand next to my Franklin-Christoph Model 20 with Sailor Jentle Shigure because I preferred the feel of that Jinhao over the Diplomat Aero (I returned) inked with Aurora Black.

[Jan2016]

filled to the brim, the other thing I like a lot! :-)

it always surprises me, in a very positive way

[white_lotus]

Much of the discussion on the boards involves something new, whether that's new inks, or special editions, unless someone is having an issue. This is true for any brand. Noodler's has so many inks that there is rarely anything new. No need. They are very reliable, reasonably priced inks, though with some variability in color from batch to batch.

[Checklist]

Guess it's up to me to be the contrarian. I admit that Noodler's has interesting inks with unique properties; I use Q-Eternity every day because it dries instantly on just about everything. However, I don't find them a good deal because it's almost a crapshoot what you're going to get. For instance, my ink is a very blue-gray or tealish black, which matches no swabs or reviews anywhere. I tried 54th Mass (details here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/325874-changes-in-54th-mass/), and the sample and bottles I tried were literally two different inks. I understand that they're handmade and will have some variability, but it's honestly excessive. If Nathan could tighten up his QC a little better, then, yes, Noodler's would be a good deal. Otherwise, I would suggest that paying a little more for a consistent ink is a better use of your money, unless you're after a specific property.

[IndigoBOB]

54th has varied a lot for me.

[Intensity]

There are plenty of very "safe" Noodler's inks to use that are low maintenance. That's why this site is great: it has lots of reviews of inks. Different inks within the same brand can have different properties (goes for brands like Sailor or Diamine, etc.) Noodler's Walnut is my currently favorite Noodler's ink: behaves perfectly, beautiful ink, great water resistance, and smells fresh and delicious.

[aeba]

I think that at this point most of the standard Noodler's inks have been reviewed ad nauseam, and a lot of the LE inks too. And it's like the others have said -- some of my favorite inks are Noodler's. And some of my least favorite (if I NEVER have to use La Reine Mauve again it will be too soon; just sayin'...). I probably have more Noodler's inks, between bottles and samples than anything else (although they run neck and neck with Diamine -- and De Atramentis and KWZI are gaining).

Ruth Morrisson inkstainedruth

And you might remember certain one person who got banned from the forum, who was on pretty much every Noodler's thread. After that ban everything has been more quiet.

[lapis]

I like the labels on Noodlers bottles.

[FLZapped]

Guess it's up to me to be the contrarian. I admit that Noodler's has interesting inks with unique properties; I use Q-Eternity every day because it dries instantly on just about everything. However, I don't find them a good deal because it's almost a crapshoot what you're going to get. For instance, my ink is a very blue-gray or tealish black, which matches no swabs or reviews anywhere. I tried 54th Mass (details here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/325874-changes-in-54th-mass/), and the sample and bottles I tried were literally two different inks. I understand that they're handmade and will have some variability, but it's honestly excessive. If Nathan could tighten up his QC a little better, then, yes, Noodler's would be a good deal. Otherwise, I would suggest that paying a little more for a consistent ink is a better use of your money, unless you're after a specific property.

From what I've read, he's doing it for forensics on some inks. That would mean he is keeping detailed records, still, a little less variability would probably be a good thing. Of the inks I use, I don't think they are part of that lineage.

Edited December 6, 2017 by FLZapped

[FLZapped]

There are plenty of very "safe" Noodler's inks to use that are low maintenance. That's why this site is great: it has lots of reviews of inks. Different inks within the same brand can have different properties (goes for brands like Sailor or Diamine, etc.) Noodler's Walnut is my currently favorite Noodler's ink: behaves perfectly, beautiful ink, great water resistance, and smells fresh and delicious.

I just picked some Walnut up at our last pen show in Miami. Interesting ink. It does tend to spread out a bit on the paper I use.....at least compared to the standard black which has a pretty high surface tension.

[FLZapped]

When this forum was new and there wasn't much material on it, there were tons of reviews and Noodler's led the way because they had such a large library of colors and characteristics.

 

Noodler's was also pumping out new inks pretty often, including specialty blends for specific vendors, like Swisher and Pendemonium. Swisher has since retired. Pendemonium still stocks Legal Lapis, but no longer can get Eternal Brown and Iraqi Indigo (Violet Vote) because the dyes are no longer available. There are others as well.

Other makers have since come into the market since the founding of this forum and others have upped their game, so it is a much more diverse field to choose from.

 

Sadly, there have also those who have posted hateful commentary, not based in fact that has probably done some damage as well as some information, driven by hearsay, posted by well meaning "experts" whose claims by their clients could not be reproduced, yet they haven't fixed their web sites.

 

-Bruce

[ErrantSmudge]

From what I've read, he's doing it for forensics on some inks. That would mean he is keeping detailed records, still, a little less variability would probably be a good thing. Of the inks I use, I don't think they are part of that lineage.

 

If that were the sole explanation, I could accept that. But I have two bottles that are part of Noodler's "standard" ink line (not bulletproof, forgery-proof, no fancy ink chemistry) that show such extreme variation they really should be labeled as different colors. I didn't realize my bottle of Cayenne looked more like Habanero until someone posted a Cayenne review whose color looked nothing at all like mine. I have a bottle of Ottoman Azure that is a dark teal which looks nothing at all like the samples/reviews posted here.

 

And of course, I have a bottle of Black Swan in Australian Roses that doesn't at all resemble the ink sample I purchased beforehand, nor any of the online samples, none of which resemble each other.

 

Noodler's makes some great inks - I love Heart of Darkness, and I'm still willing to buy Noodler's if I can dip-test the actual bottle first hand to know what I'm getting. But otherwise, if I can get the color or behavior I'm looking for from another company, I'll do that first for the sake of consistency.

[lapis]

Very nicely put. That's actually the reason I steer away from Noodlers' inks. I have a few handfuls of them but then stopped ordering them. Again, I like the labels, but that's no reason to buy a whole, over-stuffed bottle. If they were at least "usually" or "almost always" let alone consistently of one and the same batch/lot/formula, I'd probably buy more.

[RockingLR]

 

I am a non-conformist and I like what Noodler's is doing. Some of the inks are very unusual, with very interesting characteristics.

(now working with Blue Nose Bear, amazing...) He fills a niche and I hope this will stay.

I like them a lot. There is a lot of info on the net, but as always stay critical, and luckily there are some shops who offer samples, so try!

 

filled to the brim, the other thing I like a lot! :-)

it always surprises me, in a very positive way

 

I think thats two of the reasons I like him. He truly pushes the envelope, so to speak. sometimes to great enough effect that other companies begin to follow. Without him i doubt we would have any permeant inks. And I know he really seems to grab onto odd ball ideas and run with them. Would pilot and sailor have come out with a "soft" nib if Noodlers hadn't come out with the flex pens and shown the craze for them....and possibly sparked a huge interest.

 

He very much seems to fill a niche and make other companies realize that sticking to "tried and true" isn't always good business. To bring in 'younger' crowds to keep the market alive you gotta keep it affordable and interesting. I think he's done both.

 

I also love his filled to the brim bottles. I feel i'm getting even more then i paid for that way. I can't believe some people actually complain the bottles are filled so full! I wish the chip companies would take notice lol. All my normal every day inks are noodlers so maybe I'm super biased. They were my first ink and I've had a hard time finding others, other then J. Herbin, that I've enjoyed as much.