I am still very much feeling out the experience level in this subforum. You guys are not at at forum like FPN -- this is a hobby that appeals to some extent to some subset of the shaving community. Forgive me if I explain too much here that is obvious to you:
Richard Binder is one of the most respected members of the fountain pen community. He runs Richard's Pens, a respected retailer of pens. Until recently, he accepted work for both vintage pen repair and nib grinding. He is responsible for a lot of good things that have happened in fountain pens. He is also believed to actually sell Noodler's Ink relabeled as Gate City Pen Company Everflo Ink, though that is not 100% known.
Noodler's Ink is a business run by Nathan Tardif. He is also at least in my book one of the most respected members of the fountain pen community. He is responsible for Noodler's Ink and all of the Noodler's pens that have hit the market in the past few years. He was also a respected nibmeister and pen repairer before he started his ink business. He has introduced three inks that compose the Baystate line of Noodler's Inks: Blue, Cape Cod Cranberry, and Concord Grape (which is just a mix of the first two).
Soon after Baystate was released, issues came up with staining pens like a yellow Lamy Safari. Later, some feed issues came up with other Lamy Safari models, though those feed issues also came up with pens that had never been used with Baystate inks. I personally had Baystate Blue ruin the inner cap of a Hero 616 when it got into the cap. I mention all of this because Richard Binder claims to have now seen evidence that Baystate Blue (and ergo very possibly any of the Baystate inks) will ruin the translucent feeds on Pilot and Namiki pens.
I want to take a firm and clear stance here: I do not regard either the ink or the pen to be at fault for this issue. It is simply the nature of things. Ink is a chemical. It can react with certain other chemicals like plastics in undesirable ways. Nobody could expect any company big or small to test their products on every single one of the products it might come into contact with. Please to not make this out as any attempt to vilify Richard Binder, Nathan Tardif, their companies, or the fine people at Pilot/Namiki. This is simply an advisory that I take seriously due to Mr. Binder's reputation and feel needs to be known. I'd be sad if I didn't know about something that might ruin a favorite pen. Now you know and can act however you feel comfortable.
ETA: I love Baystate Blue. It is the most vibrant blue ink by a good margin. My sincere advice to all of you who are interested in it would be to do what several of us on FPN have long suggested: buy an inexpensive but decent quality pen to commit for use with this ink. My pen is a Levenger TrueWriter I got from Levenger Outlet on eBay for something like $15. This is in part due to the concerns seen here and in part because Nathan Tardif himself has warned to never mix any other ink with the Baystate inks. That doesn't mean flush until clear. It means flush until there is no trace of the other ink left. That's very difficult to do compared to just getting a pen for the inks.
Richard Binder is one of the most respected members of the fountain pen community. He runs Richard's Pens, a respected retailer of pens. Until recently, he accepted work for both vintage pen repair and nib grinding. He is responsible for a lot of good things that have happened in fountain pens. He is also believed to actually sell Noodler's Ink relabeled as Gate City Pen Company Everflo Ink, though that is not 100% known.
Noodler's Ink is a business run by Nathan Tardif. He is also at least in my book one of the most respected members of the fountain pen community. He is responsible for Noodler's Ink and all of the Noodler's pens that have hit the market in the past few years. He was also a respected nibmeister and pen repairer before he started his ink business. He has introduced three inks that compose the Baystate line of Noodler's Inks: Blue, Cape Cod Cranberry, and Concord Grape (which is just a mix of the first two).
Soon after Baystate was released, issues came up with staining pens like a yellow Lamy Safari. Later, some feed issues came up with other Lamy Safari models, though those feed issues also came up with pens that had never been used with Baystate inks. I personally had Baystate Blue ruin the inner cap of a Hero 616 when it got into the cap. I mention all of this because Richard Binder claims to have now seen evidence that Baystate Blue (and ergo very possibly any of the Baystate inks) will ruin the translucent feeds on Pilot and Namiki pens.
I want to take a firm and clear stance here: I do not regard either the ink or the pen to be at fault for this issue. It is simply the nature of things. Ink is a chemical. It can react with certain other chemicals like plastics in undesirable ways. Nobody could expect any company big or small to test their products on every single one of the products it might come into contact with. Please to not make this out as any attempt to vilify Richard Binder, Nathan Tardif, their companies, or the fine people at Pilot/Namiki. This is simply an advisory that I take seriously due to Mr. Binder's reputation and feel needs to be known. I'd be sad if I didn't know about something that might ruin a favorite pen. Now you know and can act however you feel comfortable.
ETA: I love Baystate Blue. It is the most vibrant blue ink by a good margin. My sincere advice to all of you who are interested in it would be to do what several of us on FPN have long suggested: buy an inexpensive but decent quality pen to commit for use with this ink. My pen is a Levenger TrueWriter I got from Levenger Outlet on eBay for something like $15. This is in part due to the concerns seen here and in part because Nathan Tardif himself has warned to never mix any other ink with the Baystate inks. That doesn't mean flush until clear. It means flush until there is no trace of the other ink left. That's very difficult to do compared to just getting a pen for the inks.
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