Why Is Baystate Blue Advertised As Alkaline?

[phillieskjk]

Why is Noodler's Baystate Blue advertised as being alkaline? The bottle says ph between 8-9, and various retailers advertise it as being slightly more dangerous to pens due to being basic. Yet, many sites including richardspens.com and a thread here quote the pH as acidic, in the 4-5 range, and when I pH tested my bottle in lab today with a ph probe I got a pH of 2.96, which is 1,088,484 times more acidic than the quoted pH. (pH is measured on a logarithmic scale with a pH value representing a Hydronium Ion Concentration of 10^-pH molar, so pH 5 is 10 times more acidic than ph 6, which is 10 times more acidic than pH 7, and so on). Could Nathan have meant to list 8-9 as the pOH? I can't really think of any other explanation.

 

 

Edited to say: Even if he did mean pOH, that would only mean a pH range for the ink of 5-6. Measured values have been significantly more acidic than that, by a factor of up to a thousand.

Edited December 22, 2016 by phillieskjk

[torstar]

Why can explain the vast endless mysteries of this great colour ink?

[jmccarty3]

This is not the first time that contributors have measured the same ink and gotten widely differing pH readings. One wonders about the bottle variation of fountain pen inks, as well as the reproducibility and accuracy of pH measurements done outside of an analytical chemistry lab.. Then there is the question of how much acidity or alkalinity it takes to make a practical difference in ink/pen/paper behavior, as well as the safety of using inks of various pHs in pens made of unstable materials, such as celluloid.

 

From my perusal of hundreds of posts on FPN, my suspicion is that chemical quality control in the fountain pen ink industry is more honored in the breach than in the observance. It would be nice to be proven wrong about this, but I don't see the industry lined up to fund the necessary studies.

[tamiya]

I keep a pack of litmus paper on my workbench... but wonder about the futility of dipping it in bottles of strongly coloured liquids.

 

Maybe I need a pH meter...

[cellmatrix]

I worry it would permanently stain your pH electrode

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi Phillie,

 

I'm not a scientist, so i can't address your question in any way that would make sense.

 

All i can do is relate to you my own personal experiences with the ink and maybe that will help you in some way. First, I used the ink in the free Preppy that comes with the large dropper bottle. After around 3-4 days of use, the pen "seized" up on me and I couldn't get it to write anymore, even dipping the nib in water did nothing. Perhaps Photoflo or bleach would have done something, but I didn't think of it at the time and I tossed the pen.

 

Then I tried using it with a couple of dip pens and even though I wiped off the nibs, they still turned to complete rust overnight!

 

So I've got an almost full bottle of the stuff I'm not sure what to do with; I'd love to use it, it's a beautiful color. Good luck in your research.

 

- Anthony

[PS104]

At this point I would only use it with a glass pen

[Chrissy]

At this point I would only use it with a glass pen

 

I'm not sure I would even risk that.

[torstar]

I haven't had a problem when I was using the pen every day and cleaning it thoroughly before shelving or switching to another ink in the pen.

 

And not minding a few days for the stains to go away.

[kestrel]

I have used it in a couple of pens with no permanent damage to any of them. One was an Estie J with an old, pitted 2668 nib. After a year of solid use there was no build up in the feed and no increase in the pitting on the nib. BSB stained everything it touched including the black feed and section but that came off with a few wipes of a standard commercial cleaning cloth. The other pen was an Ahab and again, aside from staining, no issues. I still haven't been able to remove the blue from the clear plastic converter but the barrel is opaque so that isn't an issue. These days I have a dedicated Ahab that is reserved for Baystate inks but that is mainly because I don't have the time or the patience for the necessary cleaning regimen to switch to another ink in my other pens.

[JonSzanto]

They should just state that it is radioactive, estimate the half-life, and be done with it. There are plenty of people willing to tempt fate for a retina-burning blue.

[Morphling27]

They should just state that it is radioactive, estimate the half-life, and be done with it. There are plenty of people willing to tempt fate for a retina-burning blue.

Haha an apt description. It could be mistaken for that nice light blue given off.

[aeba]

Haha an apt description. It could be mistaken for that nice light blue given off.

Might be my sample of BSB (quite dark) and / or youtube videos, but I think that BSB is totally wrong shade for Cherenkov radiation. Maybe if BSB would be mixed with De Atramentis document white to make it lighter and more opaque.

[torstar]

Might be my sample of BSB (quite dark) and / or youtube videos, but I think that BSB is totally wrong shade for Cherenkov radiation. Maybe if BSB would be mixed with De Atramentis document white to make it lighter and more opaque.

 

We double dare you!

[Abner C. Kemp]

I'm not a scientist. In my experience, BSB stains pretty much everything it touches and makes Rhodia bleed and feather like tissue paper -- so regardless of it's PH, I tend not to use it.

[torstar]

Where are the dozen or so who always come on here to proclaim that they have never had a problem with BSB causing a nib jam or staining anything??

[inkstainedruth]

Where are the dozen or so who always come on here to proclaim that they have never had a problem with BSB causing a nib jam or staining anything??

 

Dunno. My batch stains the snot out of everything. And since it doesn't play well with others it gets a dedicated pen. One of the reason it gets relegated to cheap pens that I don't care about them staining. Right now it's residing in a Charlie eyedropper, which doesn't see any other ink.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[torstar]

 

Dunno. My batch stains the snot out of everything. And since it doesn't play well with others it gets a dedicated pen. One of the reason it gets relegated to cheap pens that I don't care about them staining. Right now it's residing in a Charlie eyedropper, which doesn't see any other ink.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

That's my experience, but I'm a bull in a china shop with things in my life, so I'm used to public displays of BSB on garments and stainless steels sinks and any resin that got besmirched eternally.

[Gloucesterman]

Have used it with several dip pens and it has worked well. Nibs get wiped off and "swirled" on "Rapido-eze" then wiped off again. Continue to work very well. I have used it one dedicated Chines pen which also continues to work well.

 

Other than some bleed-through on most paper it writes nicely. I even use it on some old elephant folio sized (17"x23") ledger paper (1910 or so) and it is superb.