How Much Dilution Can Noodler's Air Corp Take?

July 15, 2016

Noodler's Air Corp has long been one of my daily use inks for work. I love everything about it, except that it is just slightly too green for my taste. Then I noticed that when flushing my pens, the flushed-out waste water with diluted ink in it looks bluer. Hence, I would like to try diluting it. My question is:

To what extent can Noodler's Air Corp be diluted before its behavior (flow, wetness, lubricity, tendency to bleed or feather, etc.) changes noticeably? Can I go to a 1:1 ratio of water to ink and still get good performance from it? Can I go even more dilute than that?

And a side question - I have heard reports that recent batches of Air Corp are noticeably bluer than batches from previous years. Is this true? The bottle I'm currently using is from an old ink-hoard I bought and stored since mid-2014. If the current year's production is bluer than the 2014 batch, maybe I'll like it even more

July 15, 2016

Honestly, How much dilution?.. Is a very personal question.. Dilute until you - yourself... find the right color with the acceptable behavior.

Air Corp is VERY saturated.. so I am sure the color can take up to 1:1... but I am not sure if lubrication will take the 1:1 dilution.

Try wit a small sample...

In regards to batch variation, yes is very possible. But, if you don't mind "playing"' with your ink, I will suggest to add some blue (Noodlers Blue?) to a small sample and see what you get.

C.

July 16, 2016

Hi,

I haven't diluted NAC, but from prior experience most Noodler's inks can be diluted to somewhere around 60% concentration. Beyond that the lubricity drops and depending on the pen, flow might become problematic. Sometimes shading might appear, but quite often I do not care for the appearance - it seems to 'flicker' rather than be smooth and supple.

I've posted a fair few samples of diluted ink, and those depicted in my Review of N54M might be the most relevant @ https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/255965-noodlers-54-massachusetts/?p=2825711

Bye,

S1

Edited July 16, 2016 by Sandy1