Noodler's 54Th Massachusetts

[leftside]

Thanks for the great writing sample. I already have too much Blue-black, but this ink has been calling my name for a while now...

[jakob]

Nice review as good as always. BTW, your hiragana handwriting is awesome!

 

Thank you so much for the compliments! I truly appreciate it. ^^

 

I should let you in on a little secret about my hiragana, though: I write it in pencil first.

 

 

Thanks for the great writing sample. I already have too much Blue-black, but this ink has been calling my name for a while now...

 

You're more than welcome!

 

Well, this blue-black is bulletproof (withstands a splash of hard cider), well-saturated, and nicely lubricated.

[composertp]

I agree with much of what has been said already.

 

First, I have to say that I only use this ink diluted 1:1 with distilled water. I like how it makes it more of a shading blue-gray that way. It looks great to me. Dilution also means you get more mileage out of the ink!

 

This could possibly be my favorite ink for day-to-day business use.

• It doesn't feather as much as my other inks.
• It comes out smooth. I love the lubricated feel when writing. None of my other inks are like this.
• I love the shading when diluted.
• The color is really easy on the eyes when you're doing a lot of writing.

Another thing I love is to use Noodler's Habañero alongside this ink as a bright color for information that I want to stand out. These two inks look great together.

 

Strangely, I also like the smell of this ink (and other Noodler's inks). Sometimes I get my nose right up close to the nib just to smell it.

 

I also agree that jakob's scan represents the color accurately. It's really dark when undiluted. This ink is harder to clean out of my pens than other inks.

 

My only tiny, detail-oriented, perfectionist gripe is that I wish this ink leaned more in the purple direction than the green direction on the blue spectrum. But you won't really notice the difference unless you see it next to other blues that lean away from green.

 

Thanks for posting the review, jakob. I hope it convinces more people to try this ink!

 

UPDATE: Here's a scan to show diluted 54th. I put it next to vintage Skrip Blue-Black for comparison. Yeah, the greenish shade of the 54th is minor, but it's enough to matter to me. (The flow shifted a couple of times during writing - that's why it goes between light and dark.)

 

Edited June 6, 2013 by composertp

[Ted A]

Does anyone know how it compares with FPN Starry Night Blue?

I have a sample of this from the Goulet Ink Drop so only had it in one pen.The two are quite close I think. It seems to me that the Van Gogh is a bit more blue and the 54th a bit more grey. But they are hard to tell apart from a distance and if they aren't next to each other.

 

But that's just my first impression without really putting the 54th through much testing.

[Dr.Grace]

Thanks! The FPN ink is already a little too gray for me, so I think I'll skip the 54th.

[Runnin_Ute]

I recently bought a bottle after previously trying a sample. I have it in my True Writer with fine nib, and the nib creep is a bit annoying but I do really like the color. My Diamine Blue Black and Pelikan 4001 Blue Black seem to be better behaved. Not sure either of those have the Bulletproof qualities that 54th Mass has though.

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for the review and the samples of diluting.

[jakob]

Thank you for the review and the samples of diluting.

 

You're welcome, Amber! Though the dilutions are entirely the work of composertp. ^^

[papabear16]

Is there really anything to be done about the nib creep (other than mixing in a different ink, as suggested above)? I'm getting a decent bit in my Lamy Al-Star, but so far, if I wipe it off about once a day, it doesn't appear to actually cause any problems—no big drips or anything like that.

[jakob]

Is there really anything to be done about the nib creep (other than mixing in a different ink, as suggested above)? I'm getting a decent bit in my Lamy Al-Star, but so far, if I wipe it off about once a day, it doesn't appear to actually cause any problems—no big drips or anything like that.

 

I just embrace the nib creep (Embrace the shake, anyone?). I get a decent bit on my TWSBI Diamond 580 and I only give the nib a wipe when filling the pen with more ink. Since I've been using a dilution recently of 3:1, I've noticed less nib creep than usual, but there's still nib creep.

[papabear16]

 

I just embrace the nib creep (Embrace the shake, anyone?). I get a decent bit on my TWSBI Diamond 580 and I only give the nib a wipe when filling the pen with more ink. Since I've been using a dilution recently of 3:1, I've noticed less nib creep than usual, but there's still nib creep.

 

It doesn't seem as if it will hurt anything, right? I've certainly never noticed enough that I was afraid of leaving a drop on the page or anything like that.