Noodler's Heart of Darkness

[Limerick]

I don't think it's wetter than normal bulletproof black. But I don't feel that it's a dry ink either; the ink is definitively not gushing out of the pen, but it's flowing fairly, so I'd rank it up with Waterman Black and Aurora Black. Just Heart of Darkness is much, much darker than those two, yes, even a lot darker than Aurora Black

[Songwind]

I don't think it's wetter than normal bulletproof black. But I don't feel that it's a dry ink either; the ink is definitively not gushing out of the pen, but it's flowing fairly, so I'd rank it up with Waterman Black and Aurora Black. Just Heart of Darkness is much, much darker than those two, yes, even a lot darker than Aurora Black

 

I'm not sure that "dry" is the right description anyway. I never have any problems with skipping, etc... but my pens are much more scratchy feeling with the NBB.

[kiavonne]

I don't think it's wetter than normal bulletproof black. But I don't feel that it's a dry ink either; the ink is definitively not gushing out of the pen, but it's flowing fairly, so I'd rank it up with Waterman Black and Aurora Black. Just Heart of Darkness is much, much darker than those two, yes, even a lot darker than Aurora Black

 

I'm not sure that "dry" is the right description anyway. I never have any problems with skipping, etc... but my pens are much more scratchy feeling with the NBB.

 

 

Well, I use HoD in my M600. It always starts right away. The flow is not "wet," but it flows every time. My experience with the Noodler's blacks have been that they don't always flow that well, depending on the pen and nib. Thus far, HoD has performed well every time I have picked up this pen. The nib in my M600 is a fine. Now, my experience with Pelikan nibs is that they are flakey in consistency, but they seem to be a little wider than the F/M/B designation would indicate. My pen doesn't scratch, but it isn't laying down a "wet" line for the glide factor, either. It is very satisfactory, though, and it is a daily use pen.

[MikeW]

I have had no problems with either the eyedropper pen that came with the large bottle or any other pen that I have used it in.

 

Imho, it is the darkest of all the blacks that I have used, including Aurora and Manhattan's Blackest Black. I am not a huge fan of black inks because I never thought there was much difference between them - boy was I ever wrong after testing a number of them.

 

Here is a link to a scan of a number of black inks (unfortunately I did not have Manhattan's Blackest Black at the time because I gave my bottle away), fyi:

 

http://londonpenclub.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/black-inks/

[bluemagister]

This ink is like staring into the still, dead blackness of the Underworld. I half expect wraiths to fly out of the bottle every time I open it up! I put this in my fine nibbed FP's and I find that it works best that way. There's less ink on the page, so it dries faster and there's much less pooling.

[Ed Ronax]

Thanks for sharing.

[aget19]

This ink is like staring into the still, dead blackness of the Underworld. I half expect wraiths to fly out of the bottle every time I open it up! I put this in my fine nibbed FP's and I find that it works best that way. There's less ink on the page, so it dries faster and there's much less pooling.

 

yeah it must have been.. HoD is my daily ink and it "sucks the light out of the room"

 

i really enjoy this ink.. because it is the BLACKEST ink i can find.. and it is bulletproof. its so black it makes the paper around it seem brighter i think

 

possibly my favourite ink.. if only it came in a MB shoe bottle.. then i wouldnt have to transfer it into one all the time

Edited January 11, 2010 by aget19

[JohnS-MI]

QUOTE(RwsRichard @ Apr 30 2008, 11:40 AM) 596029[/snapback]QUOTE(Rapt @ Apr 28 2008, 09:40 AM) 593846[/snapback]I don't have that problem with mine in the pens I've tried.

 

Blotting paper should help, because ts not that it hasn't dried, but that it hasn't reacted with the paper. Basically its pooling on itself.

 

If you decide to get rid of it let me know.

 

After reading this, I wrote on some more paper and let it set for about 2 minutes, then wiped across the ink/paper with a napkin. It did not smear, so to me it did not seem to be pooling. Is that a vaild test to see if it is pooling?

 

Before I get rid of it, I think I am going to experiment with some other paper(s).

 

 

I'd blot it right away and then test for run off after a minute or three. You can use a napkin for a blotter if you want.

 

 

Noodlers is only bulletproof IF it has found cellulose to react with. Some will, so you never get it all out of the paper.

However, with a wet nib, some will dry on top of the paper, unable to find cellulose to react with. It will smear or wash away.

Unless your pen is a firehose, it will be pretty light and you can read the permanent text through it, but it will color the paper a little.

[beak]

Oh dear me. Please can someone help with my Noodler's blacks.

 

Having used Aurora black for ages, and having found it to be a true, deep and black as anything ink, I decided to try two Noodler's just to see if there is any difference, and by hell there is. Heart of Darkness is basically a brown (!) or on some papers a warm dark grey, and yes I flushed the pen well and no it is not diluted with anything. I have very good colour vision (part of my work) and I am not imagining things. Papers on which this is noticed; Kikki notebooks, Moleskines, Rhodia and Clairefontaine, besides many cheaper cards and pads.

 

Noodler's 4006 black (bulletproof) produced very similar results to HoD in a variety of pens and papers; a pleasant colour, but nowhere near as black as the Aurora, Quink, or Lamy black. Often, it appears very similar to Noodler's Walnut.

 

Perhaps the mix sent to Australia is different (?) does anyone know or can anyone suggest why this is happening? I read the above reports of deep deep black for this ink in wonderment! Thanks in advance, Beak.

[Russ]

Noodler's Polar Black is quite black. So is Herbin's Perle Noir. And Noodler's Borealis Black.

[mstone]

Perhaps the mix sent to Australia is different (?) does anyone know or can anyone suggest why this is happening? I read the above reports of deep deep black for this ink in wonderment! Thanks in advance, Beak.

 

Did you shake the bottle?

[Geoff V]

Perhaps the mix sent to Australia is different (?) does anyone know or can anyone suggest why this is happening? I read the above reports of deep deep black for this ink in wonderment! Thanks in advance, Beak.

 

Did you shake the bottle?

+1 for that! I live in Melbourne and have used Noodlers Black for years, and it always goes down ... BLACK. However, I've also noticed that it always pays to shake (or, rather, gently invert several times) the bottle, regardless of the colour of Noodlers in question.

[Randal6393]

@ RwsRichard:

 

Try diluting HoD with a bit of water. Then you will (perhaps) find that the smearing and tendency to run when the paper gets wet goes away. HoD seems to lose water over time -- just sitting on a shelf. Many of us who use it regularly dilute it up to 50% and see no ill effects.

 

@ Geoff V:

 

Very atypical for Heart of Darkness. Might be worth sending an email to Luxury Brands.

 

Enjoy,

[docgarner]

On smearing:

 

Having used this as my daily at work for the past month, I can tell you that whether the dry time is short or long, it runs a TINY bit (5% of the ink volume maybe) under torrential water leaving behind a "where did the light go" black line just as you left it. I can see how drop could create a shaded gray around the letters, but you're never going to have trouble reading what's on the page as written.

 

(addend: I see in retrospect JohnS above has said about the same. So +1)

Edited February 28, 2011 by docgarner

[AdamAWanderer]

Some, not all, of the newer Noodler's ink has a new security measure. If tampering is tried, the "non-bulletproof" part leaves the paper, or is smeared over the paper, while the "bulletproof part remains clear, but in a new color. Thus, you can tell that someone _tried_ to tamper with the writing. Thus, you can tell if someone tried to "wash" the writing off the paper. That may be giving the impression that the newer tamper proof inks aren't waterproof. Try letting HOD dry for a day or so, then "washing" or "bleaching" the paper. It should remain readable but with evidence that the color has changed and the non-bulletproof component is now smeared over the paper.