Private Reserve Tanzanite

01 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by Five Cat Penagerie in Ink Comparison, Ink Review, Private Reserve

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Fine Nib, Flex Nib, Flex Pen, flexible nib, Fountain Pen, Fountain Pen Ink, Fountain Pen Ink Review, Fountain Pen Network, Ink, Ink Review, Kung Te-Cheng, NAV, Nib, Nibs, Noodler's, Noodler's Flex, noodler's flex pen, noodlers ink, North African Violet, Pasternak, Pens, private reserve, private reserve ink, Purple Ink, Purple Martin, Shading, waterman, waterman 52, waterman 52½V

Here’s a vibrant purple ink from Private Reserve. It’s a very “loud” color, but didn’t particularly strike me as special, though I know it has a pretty strong following.

A Water-Soak Comparison Of Some Various Noodler’s Blues

30 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by Five Cat Penagerie in A Random Writing, Ink Comparison, Ink Review, Various Pen Stuff, Writing Sample

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54th massachusetts, bad blue heron, baystate, Baystate Blue, blue, blue black ink, blue ink, blue ink comparison, blue ink test, blue/black ink, bsb, Flex Nib, Flex Pen, flexible nib, Fountain Pen, Fountain Pen Ink, Fountain Pen Network, Ink, Ink Review, legal lapis, liberty's elysium, midnight blue, midway blue, navajo turquoise, navy, navy blue, navy ink, Nib, Nibs, Noodler's, noodler's 54th massachusetts, noodler's bad blue heron, noodler's baystate blue, noodler's blue, noodler's blue black, noodler's bsb, Noodler's Flex, noodler's flex pen, noodler's fpn, noodler's fpn ink, noodler's legal lapis, noodler's liberty's elysium, noodler's massachusetts, noodler's midnight blue, noodler's midway blue, noodler's navajo turquoise, noodler's navy, noodler's starry night, noodler's upper ganges blue, noodler's van gogh, noodler's van gogh starry night, noodler's warden series, noodlers ink, Shading, starry night, upper ganges blue, van gogh, van gogh ink, warden series, warden series ink, water resistant ink, water test, waterproof

The clear winners are Upper Ganges Blue, Baystate Blue, Bad Blue Heron, 54th Massachusetts, and Legal Lapis. It’s no coincidence that Baystate Blue and Bad Blue Heron are two of my favorite inks ever, and 54th is making its way up that list too.

Noodler’s Bad Black Moccasin

29 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by Five Cat Penagerie in Ink Review, Noodler's

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Ahab, bad black moccasin, black ink, bulletproof, bulletproof ink, dip pen, Flex Nib, Flex Pen, flexible nib, Fountain Pen, Fountain Pen Ink, Fountain Pen Ink Review, Fountain Pen Network, Ink, Ink Review, Nib, Nibs, Noodler's, noodler's bad black moccasin, noodler's black, noodler's flex pen, noodler's moccasin, noodler's warden series, noodlers ink, Pens, Shading, warden series, waterman black

This is a the only black ink in Noodler’s Warden Series of bulletproof/fraud-resistant inks designed to pe impervious (or nearly so) to the most recent development in check fraud: FRICKIN’ LASERS.

It’s a fantastic utilitarian ink. It works well in flex pens (though sometimes there are flow issues if the [flex] pen is on the dry side), but it’s no art ink. Pointed dip nibs are a no-no. It’s meant to be used to ensure security, not be pretty. It’s got a slight green tinge when spread with a q-tip, and it’s a very “black” black ink, easily the darkest and most opaque in my black ink arsenal. The drawback for its permanence? Long dry times on ink-resistant paper (such as Rhodia).

Noodler’s Whaleman’s Sepia

27 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by Five Cat Penagerie in Ink Review, Noodler's

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Ahab, Ancient Copper, black ink, bulletproof, bulletproof ink, dip pen, Flex Nib, flexible nib, Fountain Pen Ink Review, Fountain Pen Network, fraud resistant ink, Ink, Ink Review, Manjiro, Manjiro Nakahama, Nakahama, nathan tardif, Noodler's, Noodler's Flex, noodler's flex pen, noodler's sepia, noodler's whaleman's sepia, noodlers ink, Red-Black, Rouge Hematite, Sepia, sepia ink, Shading, whaleman's sepia

Here’s a fantastic ink with a fantastic backstory. Notice the bleached writing sample and how the tamper-resistant bright orange component serves as sort of a fraud alarm.

Here’s Nathan Tardif’s video explaining the history behind this particular ink

J. Herbin Rouge Hematite 1670

24 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by Five Cat Penagerie in Ink Review, J. Herbin

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Ancient Copper, Antietam, Australian Roses, Black Swan, dip pen, English Roses, Fine Nib, Flex Nib, Flex Pen, flexible nib, Fountain Pen, Fountain Pen Ink, Fountain Pen Ink Review, Fountain Pen Network, Ink, Ink Review, J. Herbin, Nib, Nibs, Noodler's, Noodler's Flex, noodler's flex pen, Pasternak, Pens, Red-Black, Rouge Hematite, Shading, Wild Strawberry

My love of this ink cannot be summed up in one post. It’s one of the most stunning inks when on the page—even non-fountain pen users agree.

Noodler’s Turquoise

22 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by Five Cat Penagerie in Ink Review, Noodler's

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Ahab, blue ink, China Blue, Diamine, Flex Nib, Flex Pen, Fountain Pen, Fountain Pen Ink, Fountain Pen Ink Review, Fountain Pen Network, Ink, Ink Review, J. Herbin, Nib, Nibs, Noodler's, Noodler's Flex, noodler's flex pen, noodler's navajo turquoise, noodler's turquoise, Presidential Blue, Shading, turquoise, turquoise ink

Here’s a great ink from Noodler’s. Very saturated, it’s one of the few I dilute to use.

Sailor Sei-Boku Blue Black

19 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by Five Cat Penagerie in Ink Review, Sailor

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Ahab, Baystate Blue, black ink, blue ink, China Blue, Diamine, Diamine Sepia, dip pen, Fine Nib, Flex Nib, Flex Pen, flexible nib, Fountain Pen, Fountain Pen Ink, Fountain Pen Ink Review, Fountain Pen Network, Ink, Ink Review, Nib, Nibs, Noodler's, Noodler's Flex, noodler's flex pen, Presidential Blue, sailor, sailor ink, sailor nano, sailor nano ink, sailor sei-boku, sailor seiboku, saolor, Shading

This has become one of my favorite dark blue inks. Sei-Boku, along with its dark black sibling, Kiwa-Guro, is a fountain pen-safe pigmented ink. The vast majority of fountain pen inks derive their beautiful hues from dyes rather than pigments, as pigments tend to clog the small channels of fountain pen feeds. And while I’m unsure of if this ink gets its color from only pigment or a mix of pigment and dyes (I’m guess the latter), I can attest that this ink ran through the test pens perfectly fine and without any trouble. And while the manufacturer recommends flushing your pen between fills of this ink, that’s a pretty good ink hygiene habit to get into anyways.

On the page this ink also has a very prominent red/pink sheen, which I’ve found is a common color of sheen for blue inks.

And the one big plus for me with this ink? Here’s what it looks like on cheapo copy paper:

Look at that shading! The best part? It retains its fantastic sheen on copy paper as well! There is only one other ink I can think of that don’t feather and shade heavily and retain sheen: J. Herbin Rouge Hematite 1670. But as for blue inks that share this great behavior? In my experience, only Noodler’s Bad Blue Heron and Rohrer and Klingner’s Salix (an iron gall ink).