Noodler's 54 Massachusetts

[Sandy1]

Hi all,

In leiu of posting a Topic with a load of comparisons, here are new scans of inks that were mentioned or came to mind. I've posted Reviews of these, so a more in-depth comparison may be done at your leisure.

Paper: HPJ1124
Pen: Platinum President Purist + 22K B nib.
Originals are 60x30mm.

Top to Bottom:

• Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris
• N54M
• Noodler's Benevolent Badger Blue
• Noodler's FPN Van Gogh Starry Night
• N54M
• Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20Noodlers%2054%20Massachusetts%20N54M/INK245_zps15742cbb.jpg
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20Noodlers%2054%20Massachusetts%20N54M/INK248_zps713b7e1e.jpg

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20Noodlers%2054%20Massachusetts%20N54M/INK244_zps238bb15d.jpg
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20Noodlers%2054%20Massachusetts%20N54M/INK246_zps7e865fb9.jpg
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20Noodlers%2054%20Massachusetts%20N54M/INK248_zps713b7e1e.jpg
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20Noodlers%2054%20Massachusetts%20N54M/INK247_zps84c95ab8.jpg

-30-

Edited November 24, 2013 by Sandy1

[Sham69]

this ink is now my daily writer, half way through the 2 oz's of diluted to 80% i have made, i would buy this ink in a 16 oz customer order noodlers bottle, that and elysium goblet blue are my favourite noodlers at the moment.

 

strangely i have gone from hating this ink, hating the smell, hating the clean up, hating the maintenance, hating the colour to loving it!

[Inkydinkydog]

I have recently fallen in love with this ink. I use it straight in a Lamy Safari with a 1.5mm nib, and it's behaving well on both Moleskine notebooks as well as Field Notes, and Black n' Red notebooks. I'm getting a nice medium bluish grey color, so I wouldn't want it any darker or lighter. I like its waterproof quality as well--actually the reason I bought it; but now the color alone has won me over. I wouldn't know if it has any scent or not, because I lost my sense of smell over the last couple of years (and yes, that can be a problem!).

[Sandy1]

this ink is now my daily writer, half way through the 2 oz's of diluted to 80% i have made, i would buy this ink in a 16 oz customer order noodlers bottle, that and elysium goblet blue are my favourite noodlers at the moment.

 

strangely i have gone from hating this ink, hating the smell, hating the clean up, hating the maintenance, hating the colour to loving it!

 

Hi,

 

Its great that you continue to use N54M as a daily writer, especially as you're well on your way through a bottle. Interesting that you also choose to dilute it. I hope that not only helps with nib tip dry-out / start-up, but also lowers the maintenance overhead.

 

As I mentioned in the Review, N54M strikes me as a daily writer for those who commit to using it - the pen is being used & charged (flushed with ink) on a routine basis, rather than lingering in a seldom used pen that's 'in rotation'.

 

There are indeed some inks that are slow to reveal their charms, which is one reason I'm reluctant to send an ink off to Mixing Corral limbo without giving it a fair go, even if it just gets loaded into a casual carry cum doodling pen once in a while. In my case, perhaps the most notable was Pilot tsuki-yo, and I was more than a little persistent with that one!

 

Bye,

S1

Edited November 27, 2013 by Sandy1

[Sandy1]

I have recently fallen in love with this ink. I use it straight in a Lamy Safari with a 1.5mm nib, and it's behaving well on both Moleskine notebooks as well as Field Notes, and Black n' Red notebooks. I'm getting a nice medium bluish grey color, so I wouldn't want it any darker or lighter. I like its waterproof quality as well--actually the reason I bought it; but now the color alone has won me over. I wouldn't know if it has any scent or not, because I lost my sense of smell over the last couple of years (and yes, that can be a problem!).

 

Hi,

 

My goodness - the N54M L♥ve Train has rolled into the station!

 

Thanks for sharing the specific pen+paper combos that work for you. So even Moleskine - that will warm the hearts of those who like the format & features of their products, but have trouble finding ink that matches to their paper.

 

It seems you're getting more of a Blue-Grey appearance as mentioned above by Member Ghost Plane. I must ask, do you give the ink an almighty shaking before charging your pen?

 

Even if you can't stop to smell the roses, I hope that every so often you pause to remember their scent.

 

Bye,

S1

 

Edited November 27, 2013 by Sandy1

[lapis]

Thanks for the very extensive review.

 

This seems to me to be a good example of love at second sight. After trying it out I first thought it was a bit chalky, at least quite "unblue", then asked myself if it was a "sheen". I now say "No" and tend to discern a glance of silver in there somewhere. With the right light on the right paper, almost a "glow". In any case, I myself would suggest a "lustre".

 

Mike

[Sandy1]

Thanks for the very extensive review.

 

This seems to me to be a good example of love at second sight. After trying it out I first thought it was a bit chalky, at least quite "unblue", then asked myself if it was a "sheen". I now say "No" and tend to discern a glance of silver in there somewhere. With the right light on the right paper, almost a "glow". In any case, I myself would suggest a "lustre".

 

Mike

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

I did spend a bit of extra time with N54M, in part because it has some remarkable properties, some idiosyncrasies, and that I was slow to see its charms.

 

I very much appreciate subtlety in an ink, yet it should not be dull, and it should have 'something' going on that sets it apart from other inks. Unfortunately for N54M, a lot of that subtlety is lost during the journey from ink‑on‑paper to pixels‑on‑a‑display, which is the reason I was not enthusiastic about N54M after seeing online depictions, and that the hue leaned towards Teal.

 

Ah, well & good that you're seeing some lustre. (Show‑Off!)

Alas, even the inks known to have a surfeit of glitter & glow rarely favour my efforts with such SFX. For me to wrangle lustre from a diluted bulletproof ink seems a rather tall order. Yet if you have certain pen/s paper/s in mind, please do tell.

 

Bye,

S1

[lapis]

Well, lemmee put it this way... I have as of yet only filled my Charleston with it, but I get that "lustre" on Rhodia, CF GraF it, CF Velouté 90, Leuchtturm, and -- hang onto your hat -- above all Moleskine!.

 

Mike

[Sham69]

I have recently fallen in love with this ink. I use it straight in a Lamy Safari with a 1.5mm nib, and it's behaving well on both Moleskine notebooks as well as Field Notes, and Black n' Red notebooks. I'm getting a nice medium bluish grey color, so I wouldn't want it any darker or lighter. I like its waterproof quality as well--actually the reason I bought it; but now the color alone has won me over. I wouldn't know if it has any scent or not, because I lost my sense of smell over the last couple of years (and yes, that can be a problem!).

 

 

 

Hi,

 

Its great that you continue to use N54M as a daily writer, especially as you're well on your way through a bottle. Interesting that you also choose to dilute it. I hope that not only helps with nib tip dry-out / start-up, but also lowers the maintenance overhead.

 

As I mentioned in the Review, N54M strikes me as a daily writer for those who commit to using it - the pen is being used & charged (flushed with ink) on a routine basis, rather than lingering in a seldom used pen that's 'in rotation'.

 

There are indeed some inks that are slow to reveal their charms, which is one reason I'm reluctant to send an ink off to Mixing Corral limbo without giving it a fair go, even if it just gets loaded into a casual carry cum doodling pen once in a while. In my case, perhaps the most notable was Pilot tsuki-yo, and I was more than a little persistent with that one!

 

Bye,

S1

 

Perhaps this photo will show you how much I love this ink; after finishing a 3 oz bottle in 3 months I decided I must order some more. Unfortunately the bottle leaked a tiny bit on its way from Mr Tardiff to me so the label was ruined; it cleaned off nicely though so the bottle is blank. Nevertheless I have 16 oz of 54TH Massachusetts and will print out a new label and attach it shortly!

 

http://s12.postimg.org/z47qa9f9p/IMG_1742.jpg

Edited January 21, 2014 by Sham69

[jacquesdubois]

I like the color of this ink a lot! But- it writes so dry for me. I've used it in medium, fine, and broad nibs, convertors and cartridges, hooded nibs (Parker 45 and 51), non-hooded (Parker Sonnet, and Noodler's Ahab), diluted it 3 to 1...and no matter what I do, I can't get it to work the morning after I fill the pen. Sort of frustrating, since I do like this color.

[Sham69]

I like the color of this ink a lot! But- it writes so dry for me. I've used it in medium, fine, and broad nibs, convertors and cartridges, hooded nibs (Parker 45 and 51), non-hooded (Parker Sonnet, and Noodler's Ahab), diluted it 3 to 1...and no matter what I do, I can't get it to work the morning after I fill the pen. Sort of frustrating, since I do like this color.

they are all dryer pens, mod the ahab slightly to make it wetter. I have no problems with this ink in the pens i use it in, lamy 2000, visconti homo sapiens, montblanc 146 and a pelikan m800. I think that is about all I have used it in. But it has quickly become my go to ink for the homo sapiens and lamy 2000. I used my first bottle diluted to 80% pure. This 16oz bottle seems a little bit less saturated then my last batch so it has been fine so far 100% pure

Edited January 21, 2014 by Sham69

[sitnstew]

I've only inked up my FC Ambition so far with this ink but for some reason my pen absolutely HATES this ink! Hard starts are constant, writes extremely dry and the nib creep drives me absolutely bonkers. My Ambition is one of the nicest writers I have so it is definitely the ink's fault. I'm going to throw it in my Lamy Safari and Jinhao x750 to see if either of those fare better but I sure hope this doesn't end up being a wasted bottle.

[RyanH]

I'd definitely try it in the other pens. N54M is definitely one of the most temperamental inks I've used (excepting special cases like BSB or Rouge Hematite), but I haven't experienced anything near what you're describing. Sometimes a pen and ink just don't get along - nothing to do with one or the other being bad - and Noodler's inks tend to be more idiosyncratic than most.

 

Worst case, though, I'm sure you wouldn't have any problem selling it off if you chose, given that is the #1 selling ink on GouletPens.com right now.