Some Blue-Black Soak Tests

[The Good Captain]

Dueing this wonderful period with no pubs/bars/restaurants and the like open, I thought I'd just scan some of my currently-inked Blue-Black inks. I do have others around but these were the first pens that came to hand. I wasn't totally surprised at the results but in one case, quite a bit. As usual, they were done on some pretty-awful paper I got from the University where I used to work which was made into small square pads. It's probably 90GSM. Soaked for 30 minutes then rinsed and dried.

 

 

 

The biggest surprise came from the Pelikan 4001 that was in the long cartridge - it still retains most of its colour, unlike my favourite bottled version. However, that pen was filled some time ago so could be a little 'long in the tooth' - a bit like me! The Platinum stayed true to form, being visually really a 'dark blue' and the Pilot is a little paler.

 

Edelstein & Sailor are about right - somewhat blurred but reasonable legible and would probably behave better if only subjected to a liquid spill. The 4001 Violet was only included as I've recently inked a new addition with it and haven't really done this test on it before.

[carlos.q]

Thank you for this comparison!

 

I always find Pilot's BB performance to be extremely impressive considering it's not IG, pigmented or cellulose reactive.

[putteringpenman]

Thanks for sharing! This is very helpful for picking a blue-black ink.

[inkstainedruth]

I'll admit to being relieved that Edelstein Tanzanite fared better than I feared it would. Of course now I'm going to have to look into trying Pilot Blue-Black....

Thanks for the comparison. And, well, not....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[lapis]

Looks like you took it outta ma mouth, my friend... your long cartridge's pen looks like it once wolfed down a salamander or two....

[gyasko]

Thank you for this comparison!

 

I always find Pilot's BB performance to be extremely impressive considering it's not IG, pigmented or cellulose reactive.

Yes, but is it blue black?

[carlos.q]

Yes, but is it blue black?

Well....

[Tas]

Lovely

Thank you.

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

Thank you for sharing this

[Olya]

Thank you for this comparison!

 

I always find Pilot's BB performance to be extremely impressive considering it's not IG, pigmented or cellulose reactive.

According to this blog post, Pilot BlBl is cellulose reactive!

 

https://estilofilos.blogspot.com/2016/05/vintage-inks.html

[khalameet]

According to this blog post, Pilot BlBl is cellulose reactive!

 

https://estilofilos.blogspot.com/2016/05/vintage-inks.html

We spread the information, let the feast begin!

 

I just wrote an email to Pilot out of curiosity and asked if this is true. I am curious if they will report back.

[The Good Captain]

Looks like you took it outta ma mouth, my friend... your long cartridge's pen looks like it once wolfed down a salamander or two....

Actually old pal, it's a P205 F but I do believe a Pelikan converter might fit. 'Ordinary' internamional ones a rumoured to be a little slack on the connection.

Salamander has only been in my M800 Brown-Tortoise, but we won't go there...

[The Good Captain]

Yes, but is it blue black?

I'd say, visually, no. Dark blue, yes. the packaging is Blue-Black so we must draw our own conclusions.

[Olya]

We spread the information, let the feast begin!

 

I just wrote an email to Pilot out of curiosity and asked if this is true. I am curious if they will report back.

I do wonder whether and what they reply! Do report back if/when they write back! I am very curious.

[Paganini]

Interesting! After reading the Hardcore Ink Testing thread a few weeks ago, I thought I'd try a similar thing. I wrote with Pelikan 4001 BB, Platinum BB, and R&K Salix. Just for kicks I thought I'd include Pilot BB (even though it's not IG) but the pen I grabbed turned out to have Pilot Blue in it.

 

The page has been out on my deck for a couple of weeks; I'd post a photo, but it stormed last night so it's sort of plastered to the deck. A few weeks alternating between being being in direct sunlight and being poured on has given results that are not quite what I was expecting! The Platinum BB has almost entirely disappeared. You can barely tell there was ever anything written there. The Pelikan 4001 BB has faded some, but is still legible. The Salix is still nice and crisp, but the color has become a kind of deep brown / black. The Pilot Blue is the big surprise though - it looks slightly out of focus from all the soaking, but is still perfectly legible, and the color has barely faded! I had no idea Pilot Blue was so colorfast!

 

- N

[khalameet]

@Olya: When (if) they reply I will happily report back! But so far I did not get an answer, unfortunately. I hope they will answer eventually, because I am also very curious.

 

@Paganini: I am surprised, though. I always thought that the Pilot Blue is particularly prone to fading due to UV light exposure, compared to black and blue black. But all three of these inks are very water resistant!

Edited June 15, 2020 by khalameet

[Paganini]

Hey Khalameet,

Well, it's always possible I made a *double* mistake, and I just can't keep track of what ink is in my pens!

 

Clearly, the appropriate path forward here is to do the experiment again with all of my Pilot inks!

 

 

FOR SCIENCE!