Rhapsody in (waterproof) blues

[DennisU]

I got a lot of nice responses to my earlier recipe “Super Lux” Blue (50% Noodler Luxury Blue + 25% PR DC SS Blue + 25% PR Tanzanite). There were many good suggestions for alternate components, especially from Lloyd, RonB, southpaw, and Melnicki. I promised to do some more mixing and trials. It’s done now (whew), and here are my observations and conclusions:

 

Objective:

 

All of the Noodler bulletproof inks seem to be “flat” or “dull” after drying. None of the waterproofs have the power of American or DC SS blue. Can we find a mix that as a lot of the power of American or DC SS, but keeps much of the staying power of the bulletproof or waterproof inks?

 

Strategy:

 

My basic strategy was to do two surveys. This post discusses the first (using two inks) and the second (using three inks) will follow in a subsequent post added below.

 

The first strategy tried various simple 50:50 mixes of a waterproof blue with a non-waterproof blue.

 

Waterproof blues: Luxury, Polar, (Swisher) Noodler Glacier and Namiki blues

Non-waterproof blues: Lake Placid, American, DC SuperShow and Florida blues

 

Observations:

 

1. Florida blue mixes are all flat and “dull” compared to the other blues. (I still like to use Florida blue by itself and always have it loaded in at least one pen.)

2. Both American and DC SS blues are wonderful in all mixes. Their brilliance shines through. They are fantastic inks!

3. Lake Placid blue is a great color. It just is not my cup of tea. Whereas both American and DC SS tend to “overpower” the flatter waterproof inks to allow their richness to shine through, Lake Placid is more of an “equal partner” in that the attributes of the two starting inks are both very apparent in the resulting mix. That means that in mixes Lake Placid loses a lot of its beauty and character (at least to my eye.)

4. One of the pleasant surprises is that (Swisher) Glacier and Luxury Blues are very similar and give virtually identical mixes! (Thanks to RonB for this one.) Glacier is significantly less expensive than Luxury, so this is really good news.

5. Polar seems to have a distinct grey/purple cast compared to Luxury or Glacier. That seems to show through in all the mixes. This isn’t bad. It’s just a matter of your preferences.

6. Namiki is much less intense than the other blues used. As a result, while it definitely still works to give a waterproof (not bulletproof) mix, it lacks some of the “punch” that I was seeking. It is still a very nice mix.

 

Here is the scan. It is impossible to capture the nuances of the color differences, but some of the observations can be discerned.

Edited February 25, 2007 by DennisU

[DennisU]

Here is a water dunk test (ten minute bath in warm water). Interestingly, here is where you can best see that there is a very different color cast in Polar vs. the other three waterproof blues, especially in the mixtures (all columns except the first)

Edited February 25, 2007 by DennisU

[DennisU]

The second survey consisted of 50% waterproof blue + 25% non-waterproof blue + 25% purple/blue ink. I did this because I really like blues with a hint of purple (like Florida blue). Here were the inks I tried:

 

Waterproof: Luxury, Glacier and Namiki blues

Non-waterproof blue: DC SS, American, Ottoman Azure

Purple/blue inks: PR Tanzanite, Noodler La Coleur Royale

 

Observations:

 

1. First of all, I really do like all of the mixes! To me, they are all very nice and useable.

2. As above, the Namiki blue is less intense than Luxury or Glacier, so the mixes using it are less intense as well.

3. As above, American and DC SS seem to give virtually identical results in the mixes. They are fantastic!

4. The Ottoman Azure/La Coleur Royale mix is similar to the Private Reserve mixes (mixing Tanzanite with either American or DC SS), but, to my eye, the American/DC SS blues are so brilliant and rich, my vote goes to them.

 

Bottom Line:

 

The bottom line is that there are a wide variety of mixes that will give wonderful results. I especially like using Luxury or Glacier blues to have a bulletproof result. I also have a preference of the brilliance and saturation of American and DC SS blues. Finally, I like adding some Tanzanite.

 

Thanks for reading all this. Hope this is useful. My thanks to fjf for the inspiration to try all this, and to MicheleB, Lloyd, RonB, southpaw, Melnicki, and hypercamper for comments.

Edited February 25, 2007 by DennisU

[Catsmelt]

Dennis,

 

This is great stuff -- I really appreciate you taking the time to do this research. I've been looking around for some waterproof inks for my next purchase and haven't really liked the blues. Now I know what I want to do...

 

Thanks!

[Viseguy]

Great mixes, and great soak-test results! I may finally have found a use for the bottles of Supershow and American blue that have been sitting in my drawer.

[RonB]

Thanks, Dennis! I would be especially interested if you see any problems develop from mixing the Noodlers and PR inks. I haven't heard of any, but you never know.

 

Ron

[DennisU]

Thanks everyone.

 

Hey Ron! So far, I haven't noticed any problems with the Noodler's / PR mixes. I'll definitely keep an eye out.

[jd50ae]

Outstanding research.

 

To my eyes the PR American/DCSS are the richest and most vivid blues either by themselves or mixed.

Edited February 25, 2007 by jd50ae

[sonia_simone]

Tremendous, thank you!

[lefty928]

Wow, thanks for your systematic and extensive work!

[Tricia]

Thanks for doing this! I love the brightness of the PR blues, but at the same time want the greater waterproofness of the others. This way I get both! I don't really need 'bulletproofness', I just want to still be able to read my work even if I accidentally spill something on it.

 

(The scary part is that I already have most of these on hand! )

 

 

[MicheleB]

Dennis,

 

You deserve an honorary PhD from the University of FPN for this research! Thanks so much. You have answered many questions I have had for a long time! There's so many good choices to explore and it is such a great problem to have! - Michele

[Nipu]

Wow, dennis!

Guess what, I just ordered some lux blue today to experiment mixing it with my Aurora blue , and you have done the experiment for me already! (I know you used La Couleur Royale, but I own both Aurora and LCR, and they are pretty much identical in colour!)

 

Thanks!

 

[DennisU]

Thanks to Catsmelt, Viseguy, RonB, jd50ae, sonia_simone, lefty928, Tricia, MicheleB, and SallyLyn for your kind words. I can't tell you how delighted I am that I've been able to help out.

 

It is especially gratifying to hear that some of you are resurrecting bottles of ink that you had put away because you weren't happy with them. That is the ultimate win-win... for you, ink retailers, manufacturers... and the environment! Hooray!

Edited February 26, 2007 by DennisU

[jd50ae]

QUOTE (MicheleB @ Feb 25 2007, 09:29 PM)

Dennis, You deserve an honorary PhD from the University of FPN for this research!

This is a good idea................................hmmmmmmmmmmmm

[meanwhile]

QUOTE (DennisU @ Feb 25 2007, 08:24 PM)

Thanks everyone. Hey Ron! So far, I haven't noticed any problems with the Noodler's / PR mixes. I'll definitely keep an eye out.

Dennis may already know this from our chat about mixing permanent purple, but I found mixing PR Mojo and Noodler's Iraq to produce an ink that was unusably dry in pens that wrote will with either ink alone. So unfortunate combined behaviour of some type is possible, although at the moment there is no reason to believe it damages pens.

[DennisU]

meanwhile (aka Jonathan) makes an important point. So far, I have not noticed any flow issues with any of these mixes, but I have to admit that I've only had a couple of them for any length of time. Both meanwhile and RonB have sensitized me to this.

 

I'll keep an eye out for any issues... I am very curious about meanwhile's observation on Purple Mojo (which is one of my favorite colors) and Iraqi Indigo and I'll definitely do some more experimenting with purples. (Does it show that I used to work in a research lab many years ago? My wife is NOT amused, since all this ink mixing goes on in our (uh, her) kitchen.)

Edited February 26, 2007 by DennisU

[Latro21]

great work on these mixes. now i know which inks to buy so i can get the most out of great colors [PR] and bulletproof properties [noodlers]. i love the namiki ink on its own so its nice to see how it works mixed with the other inks.

[Melnicki]

Dear Dr. Dennis (since this research has merited you a Ph.D.),

 

Wow, this may possibly be the best post I've read on here. It's hard to pick a favorite mix.

 

I'd love to see more of this sort of experimentation done, with other colors. (The hankering for a dark permanent and bold red certainly comes to mind)...

 

One question... I will always be unnerved at the darkness and purpleness of La Coleur Royale (because few scans online show it that way), and thus I'm surprised to see your LCR mixes so blue. When I mix LCR with Glacier Blue, I usually get a lovely & bold blue-lavender, a bit like a blueberry. However, it takes more than 75% Glacier to unpurple LCR. I hate the qualm, "Is my bottle anomalous?", because it's really a scapegoat for me not liking the color.

 

But indeed, this activity really revives those under-utilized bottles.

 

CHEERS to Dr. Dennis!

[DennisU]

Wow.... I'm speechless. Thanks to everyone for the nice comments, but I'm just bowled over by Dr. Melnicki! (By the way, you really got to me with your "unpurpling" concept. I have, indeed, tried the Glacier Blue + LCR mix to see it for myself!. I now understand what you mean.)

 

I share your frustration about the nuances of these scans. The colors are not exactly right. I have taken to always including a couple of standard inks in the hope that they can serve as some kind of color reference.

 

The mixes I have shown using LCR and Tanzanite (both of which I really like) always use 50% bulletproof blue + 25% deep blue (either DCSS or American) + 25% LCR or Tanzanite. The proportions are enough to "unpurple" the LCR or Tanzanite. To me, they just add a hint of a purple/violet tinge that improves the final mix a lot. It looks deeper and richer with the LCR/Tanz component.

 

By the way, I have now been regularly using mixes using all three Noodler Bulletproof Blues (Luxury, Glacier, Polar) and have not seen any flow issues or precipitates in the bottles. I still prefer Glacier or Luxury over Polar, but the differences are not material and do not warrant ever dumping any Polar Blue.

 

The several comments I've received about people "resurrecting" old bottles of ink make me happy, happy, happy!! It sure is nice to be part of FPN where there is so much goodwill and helpfulness.

 

P.S. to Dr Melnicki: I've placed orders for a bunch more inks. Other colors will be in the works...

Edited March 10, 2007 by DennisU