Search the Community

I use Noodler's Black mainly for illustration. I generally make a pencil outline, then ink it and finally erase the pencil under drawing with a pencil eraser. When I do erase, I find that Noodler's Black also gets 'erased'. As in, it loses a bit of its saturation on the paper. I've used it in different pens on different paper and different erasers but have the same result. I have Bad Black Moccasin and it's completely fine when I erase over it. I was planning to invest in another bottle from Noodler's Black line of inks for drawing. I had my eyes on Heart Of Darkness, X feather Black and American Eel Black. I was wondering if anyone who has used these inks can provide some insight on how they behave when you use a pencil eraser over them? Any insight is much appreciated.

HI folks, I thought that filling my faceted Omas Ogiva demonstrator with Noodlers Kung Techeng was a good idea until... I emptied the pen and found that the ink had left the barrel stained and with ink residue. I flushed with pen flush with little to no effect. Right now, I have filled the pen with tap water. Does anyone have any suggestions to at least clean out the residue and hopefully to remove the ink staining the barrel as well. Thanks in advance

* originally posted on my Instagram. Ink Review: Noodler's Ink, Hellfire. Grade: 76.25%. Paper: Norcom Composition. I bought Noodler's Hellfire because I usually stick to black and white media when drawing/writing, and I thought I needed to mix things up a bit. First things first, despite its name, Hellfire is a pink colored ink. It doesn't lean toward red, orange, or even yellow. It is a bright transparent pink color that's meant to be used as a highlighter ink. Not many things make me miss taking notes in college, but as someone who color coded everything, it does make me wish I had Hellfire back then to break up the doldrums of Business Ethics. The first thing that pops into my mind when I look at Hellfire is cotton candy or watermelon. I don't really consider this an ink that I would use to write with every day. Not because of embarrassment, although I did get some looks at work, but because it's a little too hard for me to read on its own. Which, honestly, is not its main function. Like I said, Hellfire is a highlighter ink that does its job well. It pops off the page under normal lighting and will even fluoresce under a black light. Don't expect Blue Ghost levels of fluorescence. Think more of reflective safety vest at night. It drys very quickly and won't bleed through cheap paper. It's not a water fast ink, but you can see that it will put up a fight and resist being washed away. It will feather easily, but let's be honest, this ink should go in a felt tip pen and not in a flexible dip pen. Overall, I love this ink. And if you love choosing your own ink colors and feel like trying out a refillable highlighter pen, then you should definitely check out Noodler's Hellfire.

Ink Review: Noodler's Ink - X-Feather. Grade: 67.50%. Paper Tested On: Norcom Composition, Staples 20lb, 85g Clairefontaine. Noodler's X-Feather (XF), aka Anti-Feather, at first glance may not be the flashiest ink out there. Some may overlook it as "just another black ink". However, XF's unique properties make it a very interesting ink for a variety of applications. At its core, XF is the same as Noodler's Black. XF is an Eternal/Bulletproof ink that is known for its permanence and being a 'go to' EDC ink. The biggest difference between XF and Black is XF's resistance to feathering. Is XF completely feather resistant? No, but it does a pretty good job on cheap paper making it a good choice for office use when you don't get to choose the paper that you use. When you write with XF you'll notice that it's a very smooth. XF just doesn't look like other inks. It's somehow thicker, more viscous. XF is not quite as thick as oil, but you'll be able to tell right away that it's different than other inks. XF is one of the blackest inks I've ever used. While some black inks come off as a dark brown or gray, XF remains a true starless black. The quick drying time and resistance to bleedthrough is also very impressive considering how saturated XF is. XF's resistance to rail-roading make it ideal for calligraphy. It's also great for drawing when you need deep blacks and lines that won't blow out. Overall, XF threatens to push Heart of Darkness out of the running for my favorite black ink. Just plan for some extra cleaning time when using XF.

Hey everyone! I recently recieved a sample of the ink mentioned in the topic title. As a leftie, I have high hopes for this ink, but as soon as I started writing with it in my pen(a fine nibbed Pilot Metropolitan), I noticed it bled through the paper of the notebook I was using! Has anyone else experienced this? My other question is should I give up in wanting to use this ink? Thanks for any help you can provide, Rosendust!

I recently purchased my first black ink, Noodler's Black, and while I love the colour saturation and permanence of the ink, the long dry time and smearing are inconvenient. I am a left handed side writer so fast dry time and smear resistance is a key aspect when it comes to inks. I've read a few reviews about HoD (Heart of Darkness), and my question is: how fast does this dry on cheaper loose leaf paper (I'm a student) and does it feather/spread significantly? Thanks!

* originally posted on my Instagram. Ink Review: Noodler's Ink, 54th Massachusetts. Grade: 62.50%. Paper: Norcom Composition. My mother, when she first got into fountain pens, bought 54th Mass. because she thought it was going to be her 'go to' work horse ink. I don't she she wrote with it for even a day before she decided she hated it. She was expecting a blue black ink, but instead got what I call a blue gray. I think that the deep blue gray color makes it unique, but I can understand her sentiment. As I've used 54th Mass., I've both loved and hated this ink. I think the ink was aptly named; the color certainly brings to mind the uniforms the Union wore during the American Civil War. Not a pristine and clean museum piece, but rather a worn in and heavily used soldiers uniform. I can't help but think of the uniforms the Union army wore in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly when I see this ink in person. 54th Mass. is a Bulletproof/Eternal Noodler's ink. You may not be able to tell, but I decided to put this ink to the test. On the words WATER and HAND SANITIZER, I put drops of, you guessed it, water and hand sanitizer onto the ink. From what I can see, 54th Mass. didn't move an inch. However, I can also tell you that it will take some effort to clean this ink. I got some one hands last night and I'm still slightly gray almost 24 hours, and several hand washes, later. 54th makes up for its clean up issues in my mind by being a very fast drying and smooth writing ink. Just be aware that this also means that the pen will dry out quickly if you leave the cap off of your pen for too long. 54th Mass. may not be a very well rounded ink, but I think its Eternal properties, unique color, and resistance to bleeding through cheap paper make it a great office or EDC ink.

*originally posted on my Instagram. Ink Review: Widowmaker. Grade: 78.75%. Paper: Norcom Composition. Noodler's Widowmaker (WM) is an ink that I think that Dracula would be proud to use. Or worse, an 11th grade English teacher. It's a deep red ink that I don't think can just be considered a standard red. I would call it either a scarlet or carmine. I think it's safe to say that WM does remind me of fresh blood, especially when it's wet. Dracula jokes aside, I've had ink on my finger at work and have been asked if I'd cut my finger. WM is a smooth writing ink that flows well. Like a lot of smooth and wet inks, it can take a little time to dry, but I wouldn't consider it to be terrible. Especially an ink this saturated. WM is not labeled as an Eternal/Bulletproof ink, but I've been very happy with its performance so far. You can see that it will definitely smear if you use a highlighter on it (the words I used it on were over a week old), and water almost washed the letters away. But nail polish remover and hand sanitizer didn't push it out of place. It may be hard to see, but I love how this ink shades. It's subtle, but it adds a lot to flex writing. I've also been very impressed with how little WM feathers and bleeds. I thought for sure that it would, but other than some echo on this cheap paper, it's performed very well. The biggest question is what to use WM for. I've mostly been using it in calligraphy, which I've thoroughly loved. I'm not a teacher, but for some reason it makes me wish I could write some A's and F's on someone's math test. It's not an ink that you can sign office documents with, but this would be a great draft review ink. And with the levels of permanence I've seen, it would make some great ink washes. Based on its amazing color, permanence, and writing smoothness I would highly recommend this ink. I just need to find more uses for it.

* Originally posted on my Instagram. Ink Review: Noodler's Ink, Gruene Cactus. Grade: 82.50%. Paper: Norcom Composition. Gruene Cactus (GC) or Incredible Hulk Green, as I've come to think of it, is a green that I think I may have to buy a bottle of. In my Noodler's Ahab, the ink gushes. When I first inked my Ahab I used an ink syringe to fill the piston; when I turned it upside down to let ink flow to the feed, a drop of ink almost fell off of the nib. I have found this ink to be great for calligraphy. The saturation of GC makes it a very smooth writer, and an incredible shader. When I used it in a flex pen, the ink went from a lime green color to a deep evergreen green. GC dries very quickly despite being such a saturated ink and it doesn't feather badly either (even on cheap paper) which surprised me. However it does bleed heavily when you use it in a flex pen. To try it out, I used it on 85g Clairefontaine paper (Quo Vadia Habana) and it bled heavily enough that you could read the words on the other side easily. Despite nail polish and hand sanitizer not making it budge, GC is not water resistant and tap water easily washed away the ink in the test despite the words being on the page for over a week. Despite its bleedthrough problems and low water resistance, I think GC has a lot of potential. If you're looking for an ink that shades, you should try Gruene Cactus.

*originally posted on my Instagram. Ink Review: Noodler's Ink, Dragon's Napalm. Grade: 58.75%. Paper: Norcom Composition. Noodler's Dragon's Napalm (DN) is one of those colors that I may have never bought on my own. Fortunately, a 3oz bottle was given to me as a gift. I would call DN either a fulvous or a deep cadmium color. Or, if you're from Tennessee like me, Volunteer orange. DN may look like a highlighter ink, but a pretty long drying time may make you think twice about using it as such. If you can get past the long dry times, DN will burn off the page. You may find DN to be one of those inks that is a little hard to read on its own and may even strain your eyes if you stare at it too long. DN isn't waterproof, bulletproof, or eternal, so it's pretty easy to clean. Even from your hands so long as you wash them quickly enough. But, DN is fluorescent. If you shine a black light on it you'll probably be reminded of a construction workers safety vest. However, it is interesting to note that when I put water drops and hand sanitizer onto the ink, the portions washed out glowed just as bright as Noodler's Blue Ghost. Just be aware, that according to the Noodler's properties chart that DN does not respond to all UV wavelengths. I was fortunate that it reacted to mind. DN is a smooth writing ink that will be prone to feather. Especially on cheap office paper. I've done some flex writing with a Zebra G nib, but the ink explodes and bleeds heavily unless I use some pretty nice paper. You're not going to get very much shading out of DN, which is a shame because of its beautiful color. I think I'll try to put some Whiteness of the Whale in a sample to see what happens. Overall, I love DN. The bright color and severe feathering and bleeding may not be for everyone, and I get that. But, if you love orange, and feel like you can handle a a Hungarian Horntail, then I would highly recommend this ink.