An Appreciation Of Noodler's “Charlie”

[catbert]

I love the Charlie pen. I have two so far and would love to get more (as well as the unnamed Noodler's pen that comes with other ink bottles.) Right now they are inked with Borealis Black and Nikita Red, and they are my go to pens. I never thought that I'd be so impressed with something considered to be so cheap. It really made me re evaluate what I liked about pens, and that is form following function. For me they are objects and tools to be used and utilized.

 

Yes, tool is exactly the word. The purity of its focus on function is really quite appealing. That said, Nathan Tardif's latest video does point out how pretty some of the randomly coloured caps can be. I got an exceptionally plain one - which suits me fine.

Edited September 25, 2015 by catbert

[catbert]

 

It will be.

HOD seems to flow better than Noddler's Black too and I look forward to trying it out in loads of other pens.

 

(De Atrementis Archive Black is still more resistant than either to water washes though)

 

Going to have to check out De Atrementis now ...

[MRose]

Let me start by saying that the last time I've used a Fountain Pain was in the 90's, and being aware that the only fountain pen I've used was a Lamy with Pelikan Ink and I'm a left Handed, my experience way back in the days was not that great, I struggle using this particular pen. I was very young and in Art School leaving me with a terrible experience using a Lamy Pen, now a days I know they have improve their pens in many ways, but I'm still skeptical lol.

 

Anyway, being an Artist that likes sketching and watercoloring, I wanted to jump back into a Fountain Pen cause I been doing some Urban Sketching and Fountain Pens are very popular in this form of Art, so my hunt for a good pen and a waterproof ink began. So of course the Lamy pen is a star in the subject, but I refuse to go back to a Lamy cause I want to try something different, so I came across with Noodler's Ink. After allot of research about these Inks I've ended up with a Bottle of Heart of Darkness that came with a Charlie pen. So, I love it!

 

What I like about this particular Inks is the story behind them, not to mention how many people use these inks in the Art World and how good they perform. The fact that the Charlie pen has a very Interesting story just gave it away for me, I'm not a Political sketcher but History is something that I really like and the inks all of them have a story. So trying to pick the right bottle of ink from Noodler's for my work was kind of difficult cause there is so much variety that I was very confused on what Ink was right for me. Anyway, The Heart of Darkness was the chosen one to start with, is an awesome ink I like how the ink performs and how great it works with the Charlie Pen, for being a lefty when I've first start writing with this pen was flawless I was like WOW! So I've said: "Finally I can write with a fountain pen!"

 

I've tried the ink in several different kind of papers and of course it gave different results, but overall I was very happy on how both ink and pen are perfect for my work and my left hand. So now I use the pen every day no matter if I sketch, write a note or use it as a regular pen, is just perfect for me.

 

I know that there is a bottle of ink from Noodler's that dries faster and it was made for lefty's called The Bermanke, I will try it eventually. I also know that The Bullet Proof Black is better for Urban Sketching supposedly. What I've encounter with the Heart of Darkness is that it does smear with watercolor so being said that I need to try the Bullet Proof, but for sketching is just perfect and I've discover that using this ink with Neenah Premium Cardstock 65lb for my sketching is just beautiful and dries fast. How ever, if you have a suggestion for watercoloring don't hesitate to tell me, please...

 

Now, because loving how this ink worked for me I want to use it everyday and having another choice of color lead me to order another Noodler's ink that is on it's way. My choice this time is the Baystate Blue, yes I know, a very controversial ink but the one I've order will come with a free pen as well and as far as I know it will be just fine, unless I buy a $1,000 Fountain Pen which probably will handle well the ink if you know what you are doing and don't leave the ink sitting for ages, whatever lol.

 

Anyway this is my story, thanks to Noodler's I'm not scare of using a fountain pen again. Thank you Nathan!!!

 

 

 

 

[catbert]

Great story! Thanks for sharing. Have you checked out the pen art gallery in The Write Stuff forum?

[MRose]

Great story! Thanks for sharing. Have you checked out the pen art gallery in The Write Stuff forum?

Hi Catbert, I'm glad you like my story of the Noodler's Charlie Pen, thanks for the link I will check it out

[Arkanabar]

Well, I've recently been gifted a bottle of Heart of Darkness, and with it came a Charlie.

 

I'd previously had a bottle of the featherocious Borealis Black, which also came with a fairly simple eyedropper (there are a couple reviews on this site, which call the pen the Noodler's Nikita). It laid down a fine, wet line and even with Bad Black Moccasin, it didn't feather much, and it went through the ink every bit as fast as I could wish. In fact, the Borealis Black came with two of these pens, one of which had a really flexy nib. Alas that my wife claimed that one.

 

My nail-nibbed Nikita became my Lenten penitential pen, especially after my wife bought a bottle of Bad Black Moccasin, my nightmare ink (I'm likely to need an ultrasonic cleaner to get it out of the Ivory Darkness Nib Creaper it dried up in, and it's nearly as featherocious as the Borealis Black). But the pen developed a barrel crack, so I had to set it aside.

 

The Charlie is an ideal replacement. It holds more ink than the Nikita and doesn't have the decorative blind cap, both of which make it a better pen IMO.

[NumberSix]

One interesting piece of info:

 

I have not had a Charlie FP, but I have owned a Charlie Rollerball. Posted, it's basically identical size to a posted Parker 45.

 

 

 

I really need to try the Charlie FP. I love the size. Maybe it's time to get back into Baystate Blue. . .

[ChrisUrbane]

Wow, I was googling to see what the Charlie pen was made out of and it led me here. I had no idea about the story behind the name of this pen.  (I heard what happened, but did not know that is why this was the 'Charlie' Pen is what I mean).  Anyways, great review and comments, and I just watched that Nathan Tardiff video link!  That is some pretty deep stuff.

[inkstainedruth]

Say what you might about Nathan Tardiff's politics (and people have said *plenty* over the years), he does have a big interest in history and world events.

There's nearly always an interesting story behind the ink names, too -- whether you like the inks or not.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Gloucesterman]

On 6/30/2015 at 9:29 PM, swanjun said:

If not for the disappearing ink factor, I might want one!

If you used invisible ink in this pen, would all of the disappearing ink suddenly reappear?

Just curious.

[LiquidInk]

Bumping old post, I finally got around to heat setting the Charlie properly and it writes great. But because of this post, I wanted to see if anyone has been using a creaper nib in the Charlie long term and how the experience is. For me it seems like a cheap way to try out a flex pen without the hassles of the nib creaper pen/piston issues/low volume/etc. 

[squirrels]

On 5/24/2021 at 2:05 AM, LiquidInk said:

Bumping old post, I finally got around to heat setting the Charlie properly and it writes great. But because of this post, I wanted to see if anyone has been using a creaper nib in the Charlie long term and how the experience is. For me it seems like a cheap way to try out a flex pen without the hassles of the nib creaper pen/piston issues/low volume/etc. 

I used a Charlie with a Creaper nib as my EDC for a pretty long time. Probably around 2 years, maybe even more. Worked quite nicely. I don't think that the Charlie's feed will keep up with the level of flex that a lot of people expect, but it's enough for the occasional flourish or whatever. The one thing that I would say is that the nib is not really fine enough for drawing (IMO), but for writing it's good.

 

I'm a big fan of the Charlie, really, the no frills aspect really appeals to me. It's also a very nice size. I also like the choice to keep the cap and section opaque with a clear barrel, as fully clear pens look kind of tacky to me, but being able to see the amount of ink in your pen is nice.

[upupup]

Because a lot of people talk about Noodler's (liking it or hating it), I decided to get me a 4.5 oz Borealis Black with free "Charlie" pen.    I am wary of Nathan's inks cause I read they "destroy" pens.

This is the main reason I got one with the free pen, so that if anything gets destroyed, it will be that free pen. 

 

I am still waiting for the actual stuff to arrive in the mail, but I admit I am kind of excited to try it out at once, once I get a hold of it, to see for myself what the hype is all about.  I hope the stuff lives up to its reputation.

[Tas]

On 1/24/2022 at 3:45 AM, upupup said:

Because a lot of people talk about Noodler's (liking it or hating it), I decided to get me a 4.5 oz Borealis Black with free "Charlie" pen.    I am wary of Nathan's inks cause I read they "destroy" pens.

This is the main reason I got one with the free pen, so that if anything gets destroyed, it will be that free pen. 

 

I am still waiting for the actual stuff to arrive in the mail, but I admit I am kind of excited to try it out at once, once I get a hold of it, to see for myself what the hype is all about.  I hope the stuff lives up to its reputation.

Enjoy!
And, well done for not allowing the nay-sayers get to you.

 

[LizEF]

On 1/23/2022 at 8:45 PM, upupup said:

Because a lot of people talk about Noodler's (liking it or hating it), I decided to get me a 4.5 oz Borealis Black with free "Charlie" pen.    I am wary of Nathan's inks cause I read they "destroy" pens.

This is the main reason I got one with the free pen, so that if anything gets destroyed, it will be that free pen. 

 

I am still waiting for the actual stuff to arrive in the mail, but I admit I am kind of excited to try it out at once, once I get a hold of it, to see for myself what the hype is all about.  I hope the stuff lives up to its reputation.

I found the nib to be quite pleasant - smooth and with a good line width and flow.  But I couldn't get mine to stop "burping" ink.  If you don't mind a recommendation, were I to try this again, I would start with water, because water flows dry, water lets you see things, and water is less frustrating than ink.  Specifically, I would fill the pen about half way (just not completely full, yes, explicitly because the pen is more likely to burp when not full) with water, then try writing, see if the water flows and if the water burps - you'll have to write a full page before you can be sure it won't burp.  If it doesn't burp with water, it may still burp with ink (which tends to flow more readily than water), but it's a good sign.  If it burps with water, you'll need to "heat set" the feed.  Once things are good with water, then I'd switch to ink.

 

Good luck with your pen!