Pelikan 4001: Blue-Black

[Signum1]

[jthole]

Yes, your writing sample with a fine nib looks like my own experiences. Nice to see how dark it gets with a broad nib.

 

It may not be a waterproof ink, but in practice I find it pretty water resistant indeed. Maybe time that I buy a bottle again! (my current "default" blue-blacks are Lamy and PW Akkerman).

[LizEF]

Thanks, @Signum1!  Great review giving us all the required info!   And thank you for the different nib sizes -  it definitely shows how much of an impact the nib has on how an ink looks.

[USG]

 Nice Review.  It's one of my favorite inks. 😀👍

[yazeh]

Great to see one of your reviews again @Signum1 and your elegant calligraphy.

[lamarax]

In my view, this is the most classic fountain pen ink, in the sense that it could well illustrate an encyclopedia entry about 'fountain pen inks'

 

It's *very* dry though... even Pelikan's own EF nibs have trouble coping.

[USG]

1 hour ago, lamarax said:

In my view, this is the most classic fountain pen ink, in the sense that it could well illustrate an encyclopedia entry about 'fountain pen inks'

 

It's *very* dry though... even Pelikan's own EF nibs have trouble coping.

 

I'm having the hardest time understanding the ranking of "dry"/"Low Delivery" inks.

 

@InesF  @LizEF  @yazeh

 

Does this mean that Waterman Mysterious Blue and Waterman Inspired Blue, (5 from the bottom of the list), are dryer than Pelikan 4001 Blue Black, (5 from the top of the list)?

 

[lamarax]

In my experience, what we're used to call "dry" inks, are in fact the most lean/less viscous. Have you tried simulating writing with a pen full of water? It's very scratchy and dries in no time, I'll tell you that

 

Maybe a scale of 'lubrication' would be more appropriate in describing what we're talking.

[USG]

26 minutes ago, lamarax said:

In my experience, what we're used to call "dry" inks, are in fact the most lean/less viscous. Have you tried simulating writing with a pen full of water? It's very scratchy and dries in no time, I'll tell you that

 

Maybe a scale of 'lubrication' would be more appropriate in describing what we're talking.

 

I've written with water and I know exactly what you mean. 😀

 

[ The 1st column in the chart is Surface Tension, the 2nd is Viscosity, the 3rd is PH ]

 

The Viscosity of 4001 Blue Black is 1.019.  The Viscosity of Mysterious Blue (at the bottom of the chart) is also 1.019.  

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, USG said:

Does this mean that Waterman Mysterious Blue and Waterman Inspired Blue, (5 from the bottom of the list), are dryer than Pelikan 4001 Blue Black, (5 from the top of the list)?

Yes, yes it does.    As mentioned, a lot of things go into your personal perception of how well an ink flows.  In my experience, these are the primary points of confusion:

1. Lubrication: People tend to think that if an ink feels scratchy, it's dry; and if it feels smooth, it's wet.
2. Dry time: People tend to think that if an ink dries quickly, it's dry.  The opposite is usually the case.
3. Wet appearance: People tend to think that if the ink appears wet on the page (forms a "bead"), that the ink is wet.  The opposite is the case.

FWIW.

 

ETA: People also tend to discount the pen.  When people think one ink is wet and another dry, and that's the opposite of what the data says, and you ask if they tested in the same pen, the answer is frequently "no".

[inkstainedruth]

I've got this in the M120 Iconic Blue at the moment.  It's a nice, well-behaved ink.

It's weird in a way that when I started here, I wasn't remotely interested in blue-blacks.  And now?  I currently have several OTHER pens inked up with various blue-blacks at the same time.... 

Go figure....  

 🤷‍♀️

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Lithium466]

10 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

ETA: People also tend to discount the pen.  When people think one ink is wet and another dry, and that's the opposite of what the data says, and you ask if they tested in the same pen, the answer is frequently "no".

That. I have several Parker 45, for example, and between the newer models (let's say from the 90's) and the older from the 60's/70's, the handling of various inks isn't the same. Can it be attributed to just the feed, or the ink collector (since feeds and nibs can be easily interchanged), or just batch variation, or country of origin...remains a mystery.

 

And to move on to another mystery and do a terrible pun, I have seen Waterman mysterious blue sometimes tested with a somewhat neutral pH, so possibly they are formulating with either what they have in hand or to comply with the ever changing EU regulations on chemicals?

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

And to move on to another mystery and do a terrible pun, I have seen Waterman mysterious blue sometimes tested with a somewhat neutral pH, so possibly they are formulating with either what they have in hand or to comply with the ever changing EU regulations on chemicals?

Good point.  We can't rule out different formulations of the "same" ink.

[Signum1]

On 10/31/2025 at 11:16 AM, LizEF said:

Thanks, @Signum1!  Great review giving us all the required info!   And thank you for the different nib sizes -  it definitely shows how much of an impact the nib has on how an ink looks.

 

Well LizEf, you're welcome. 🙂 Another factor is the paper. This 20lbs paper is standard copy paper. Bumping up the paper quality to 32lbs paper is 120 gsm. So... better paper will provide better eye-candy results. LoL...  I also was pondering about my prior ink reviews using a scanner.  The results from the scanner doesn't best capture the true colour of the ink.  The picture from a smartphone with direct access to sunlight (by the window) gives a better representation of the ink.  I recalled you mentioning that making a video gives a better reflection of the ink's colour.

 

 

On 10/31/2025 at 11:20 AM, USG said:

 Nice Review.  It's one of my favorite inks. 😀👍

 

You're very welcome.

 

 

20 hours ago, yazeh said:

Great to see one of your reviews again @Signum1 and your elegant calligraphy.

The body of the text is normal handwriting in print form.  Calligraphy would be blackletter script or uncial script with an edge tip nib.  A Lamy 1.9mm nib will best deliver blackletter results.  Bangkok carries the Lamy brand in the big malls.  It's on my next shopping trip. 🙂

 

On a different note, there's an interesting discussion about dry inks and dry nibs. My two cents is that a dry nib limits the ink flow in the tines.  The result is a scratchy sound when you write.  There's also an issue of paper fibers stuck between the tines, and you need to use a brass shim to remove the paper fibers. If you don't remove the paper fibers, the letters you create with your nib will not be legible. I have only one pen (a Pelikan M215 with a fine nib) that gives the ink a lighter hue on paper.  I was using a Noodler's Black, and the ink looked like light gray ink with a dry nib.  

 

Thank you all for taking the time to chime in on this thread.

[LizEF]

2 minutes ago, Signum1 said:

I also was pondering about my prior ink reviews using a scanner.  The results from the scanner doesn't best capture the true colour of the ink.  The picture from a smartphone with direct access to sunlight (by the window) gives a better representation of the ink.  I recalled you mentioning that making a video gives a better reflection of the ink's colour.

Yeah, color reproduction can be really hard, depending on the ink (and all the rest, but some ink colors just resist digitification  ).  And some look better via scanner while others prefer the phone...  Natural light is often best if you can get it.

 

You can use GIMP (free image manipulation tool) to edit the image and make the paper look white.  Sometimes that screws with the ink color, and sometimes it doesn't.  I don't think there's a phone app for GIMP, but I haven't actually looked (give me a computer every day of the week over a phone).

 

And as for the videos, I found that Mike Matteson's videos had the best color reproduction for me, and it seems like that's usually the case with my own videos - something about a video seems to give you a better overall idea - don't know why.

 

Let's just say that capturing accurate images of ink is hard!

[LizEF]

7 minutes ago, Signum1 said:

On a different note, there's an interesting discussion about dry inks and dry nibs. My two cents is that a dry nib limits the ink flow in the tines.  The result is a scratchy sound when you write.  There's also an issue of paper fibers stuck between the tines, and you need to use a brass shim to remove the paper fibers. If you don't remove the paper fibers, the letters you create with your nib will not be legible. I have only one pen (a Pelikan M215 with a fine nib) that gives the ink a lighter hue on paper.  I was using a Noodler's Black, and the ink looked like light gray ink with a dry nib.  

Paper fibers between the tines are a result of either a hairy paper (where the fibers are loose and visible above the paper surface) or using too much pressure when writing.  Rather than using a brass shim to remove fibers (or glitter clots), I use a thinner steel sheet taken from the anti-theft tags found on electronics and some other products.  The brass usually come thick enough to make a nib flow wetter, whereas the thinnest steel sheet from one of these devices won't do that nearly as much.  (Some people worry about using these on a gold nib because gold is softer.  I figure folks can decide for themselves.) Cut-away image of one of these:

 

A dry ink can feel scratchy, but doesn't have to.  While wetter inks usually have better lubrication, they don't have to.  Though rarer, I've had dry inks with good lubrication and wet inks with poor lubrication.

 

Your pen that gives the ink a lighter hue is probably a dry pen.  That's surprising from a Pelikan, but my m405 F came too dry and needed adjusting to get it to flow reasonably wet, so clearly it's not impossible.

 

Always remember to shake Noodler's (and pigment or glitter) inks before filling - stuff in these inks settles.  But I expect a dry-enough pen could make the ink look grey.

 

NOTE: The feed can be wet as well as the nib.  With the nib, it's tight tines (and that's adjustable).  With the feed, it's the dimensions of the channels that cause it to be dry. That's harder to adjust and can't really be reversed (unlike tine adjustments).

[yazeh]

@Signum1 @LizEF I use both scan and photography to give different feel of the inks. I use to take the photos at the North window. But with the grey days, I've decided to take the photos under artificial light. After all in fall, in North America one cannot see much.

 

[LizEF]

32 minutes ago, yazeh said:

@Signum1 @LizEF I use both scan and photography to give different feel of the inks. I use to take the photos at the North window. But with the grey days, I've decided to take the photos under artificial light. After all in fall, in North America one cannot see much.

 

 Yep, that's why I always do both and why I use artificial light - sunlight cannot be guaranteed to be present when I need to capture review images.   (One disadvantage to being on a schedule.)

[yazeh]

18 hours ago, LizEF said:

 Yep, that's why I always do both and why I use artificial light - sunlight cannot be guaranteed to be present when I need to capture review images.   (One disadvantage to being on a schedule.)

When I use the north window, there's normally never any sun. It's a flat, neutral light. I noticed that however, with many oxidizing iron gall inks, one cannot capture "nuance". And many have commented that the inks look the same, after oxidation. So, I switch to artificial light to capture more colour variation. After all many inks look similar on a cloudy day.  

[Chris1]

The influence of paper was brought home to me when comparing Pelikan 4001 blue-black on almost all papers (when it is indeed one or more variations on blue-black) and newsprint whilst doing the crossword (when it is pale blue-grey with no black at all). 

 

Therefore, much as I love reading the various reviews of ink and appreciate the effort so many folks go to to write them, I know that what I will see, should I try that same ink, will depend on the pen, nib, and paper I'm using and who knows, possibly the phase of the moon as well!