New Baystate Blue advisory by Richard Binder

Etoyoc_Rebmos said:

Well, I have BSB sitting in a plaisir, which has enough plastic in it that I will have to keep a watch out. On the other hand, if the Plaisir goes all pear shaped, then I am not out a great deal of cash. Thanks for the reminder!

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If there is a pen I would trust to handle BSB, it is the Platinum Preppy. The Plasir is just a metal-body version of the Platinum, so I would expect you are fine. I have had BSB in a Preppy I have kept inked consistently for years and neglect terribly. The thing just keeps going. I actually don't remember it's there until something like your post jogs my memory.

Jimmy James said:

There are plenty of well behaved Noodler's inks. To cite just one example of many, Noodler's Dark Matter is the best not pitch black black I own, even including the standard bearer for many, Waterman Black. You are certainly welcome to write off an ink brand -- there are so many these days you might not notice too much loss. You should, however, know you will be missing out on a lot of good ink because each ink has its own properties. I actually prefer Diamine inks to Noodler's (they have KILLER blues), but there are Diamine inks that will also give you troubles. Kelly Green and Pumpkin are notorious for crusting up on the nib if left for even a short time period. There are others that do it as well, but I don't know their names right off. Even if you go with the oldest name in inks, J. Herbin, you'll find that their Rouge Hematite ink does the same thing Diamine Kelly Green and Pumpkin do. It's a gorgeous ink, though.

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I own 4 J. Herbin inks and while I love the way they perform -- always good flow and drying time -- I use them mostly with dip or glass pens because they tend to have that "washed out" appearance in all except in my Hero pens.

Diamine is the most-consistent brand I've encountered, but as you say, there are some black sheep lurking there too. Though between Sailor, Sheaffer, Diamine, Rohrer & Klinger, Caran d'Ache and Pelikan, most of my ink desires are covered. So I can afford to "write off" Noodler's and Private Reserve. It's a pity. I really love the look of PR Copper Burst and there always seems to be another Noodler's that catches my eye every day, but I've been disappointed by performance too often.

I have two BSB pens- a blue Lamy Al-Star and a blue Lamy Studio. The blues on those are really close to the color of BSB. BSB is the only ink I have ever had in them, or ever will. Should BSB some day destroy the pens, I will buy them again and reload with BSB- I REALLY like it, and am willing to take that chance. Would I put it in a $200+ pen? Probably not. Welcome to B&B.

If that does ever happen, Lamy USA sells what they call the "front" of both pens for $20-25. You wouldn't have to replace the whole thing.

Jimmy James said:

If that does ever happen, Lamy USA sells what they call the "front" of both pens for $20-25. You wouldn't have to replace the whole thing.

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I did not know that- thanks.

How is the Levenger pen holding up to the BSB?

I may have to change my mind about using BSB. Seems one of the older guys got his undies in a wad, and sent out an email saying that some documentation was looking like 3rd grade art projects, and that we are to use black ink. I cannot wait until this fool retires- of course, he has been retiring for the last 10 years. I swear, some people just have no imagination. I really like my Studio, so I may have to put black ink in it

For a moment I thought you were talking about me.

Jimmy James said:

If that does ever happen, Lamy USA sells what they call the "front" of both pens for $20-25. You wouldn't have to replace the whole thing.

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No too long ago you could buy the whole pen for 20-25 dollars.

BTW: welcome to B&B Jimmy!

oc_in_fw said:

I may have to change my mind about using BSB. Seems one of the older guys got his undies in a wad, and sent out an email saying that some documentation was looking like 3rd grade art projects, and that we are to use black ink. I cannot wait until this fool retires- of course, he has been retiring for the last 10 years. I swear, some people just have no imagination. I really like my Studio, so I may have to put black ink in it

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Well how bad we're the ink smudges?? Or is he just "that guy"

Dave258 said:

Well how bad we're the ink smudges?? Or is he just "that guy"

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Yep, he is "that guy". He is about as exciting as overcooked spaghetti. The writing was neat, I just think he has a problem with the color, so he had to get a slam in there. I may just start leaving him handwritten notes instead of emailing him- and all in BSB. Hell, my granddaughter uses Tchaikovski- I may have to break it out. I am sure it would make him apoplectic.

strop said:

How is the Levenger pen holding up to the BSB?

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I have had no issues. I do confess that I chose the pen for this task because getting extra nibs is easy (even easier now with TWSBI but it was still easy enough to get them from Levenger back when I started).

oc_in_fw said:

Yep, he is "that guy". He is about as exciting as overcooked spaghetti. The writing was neat, I just think he has a problem with the color, so he had to get a slam in there. I may just start leaving him handwritten notes instead of emailing him- and all in BSB. Hell, my granddaughter uses Tchaikovski- I may have to break it out. I am sure it would make him apoplectic.

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If I had a yellow ink, I would send it to you just to hear how he reacted!

Dave258 said:

If I had a yellow ink, I would send it to you just to hear how he reacted!

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Something far more subversive is in order. An almost-black ink.

Be it 5 O'Clock Shadow, or Air Corps Blue ... or some such ink ... that will pretty much look black to the casual observer, and he can get out his magnifying glass and fuss and fume about how that's "not black" but everyone else will just look at it and think it's black, and the guy is off his marbles. (Besides, if he's that old, he might not be able to SEE it in the first place, and then you've got him good.)

Welcome aboard JJ...been saving up for the BSB and I love my Preppy eyedroppers so sounds like a plan.

oc_in_fw said:

I may have to change my mind about using BSB. Seems one of the older guys got his undies in a wad, and sent out an email saying that some documentation was looking like 3rd grade art projects, and that we are to use black ink. I cannot wait until this fool retires- of course, he has been retiring for the last 10 years. I swear, some people just have no imagination. I really like my Studio, so I may have to put black ink in it

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That's weird. When I was in the Marines--not the most flamboyant outfit--everybody wrote in different colors when they circulated a document. It made it easy to figure out whose comments were whose. Sounds your buddy is just a jerk.

The Nid Hog said:

Sounds your buddy is just a jerk.

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Yep, had to tell him to take me off his racist email distribution list after he sent out one titled "Pics of the NYC blackout". He is a crotchety, miserable old man.

As a member of both B&B and FPN and a wet shaver and fountain pen user for over 50 years each, I feel qualified, but not an expert, in both media. I really like my Noodler's inks and feel Nathan is doing a wonderful job. Bay State Blue is a great ink. I use it in an Ahab and have not had any problems with this combination. Will I use it in one of my Parker Duofolds? No way. There was a time I used nothing but Parker Quink or Schaefer Script. But back then, they both offered a wide selection of colors. Now there are very few.

When Parker introduced Penman, I started using them and soon discovered their shortcommings. Since then, I am very careful introducing a new ink to one of my pens. Both the pens and the ink all have their own personalities. What works in one will destroy another.

These forums, both FPN and B&B, offer us the resources to see what works and what doesn't. I will keep using my BSB in my Ahab and my other Noodlers (and others) in various pens. I enjoy them all.

I need help


I'm a bit lost. I'm mostly a B&B guy. Can someone pipe-up and give a 20 word summary?


1) Will Bay State Blue ruin a pen? What does ruin mean? (will the pen still function after this ink?)
2) What are the feed problems? Does this ink rinse out so we can carry on?

In my very limited experience, BSB is likely to stain a feed or section permanently, and doesn't rinse out easily. Nathan actually recommends you use bleach if you're going to switch inks. Also, dedicating a pen to the ink entirely (he gives you two if you buy the big bottle).

It's a fairly brilliant color, but th general fussiness around it has prevented me from buying a bottle.