First Impressions: Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin

[Raissermesser]

The ink came in. Decided to try Bad Black Moccasin first. For a test page, I used a cheap ruled notepad, and started by using up the rest of the Namiki Black in my Metropolitan fine nib to note the ink type and do a quick brown fox. Then I thoroughly cleaned the pen, including washing with a squeeze bulb to force water through the nib until it ran clear, shook the water from it, installed the converter, and loaded with ink.

The Con-50 is a piston type and I'm not really sure how to fill them to full capacity. I've been drawing ink into them, flipping them over, tapping them to make sure the ink flows down to the piston, then put a paper towel over the nib and slowly twisting until the air is expelled, then filling again. Wastes some ink this way, though.

Anyway, loaded with Bad Black Moccasin, I wrote the name of the ink and a quick brown fox under the Namiki. BBM doesn't seem as saturated as the Namiki. It flows well, but the nib had more of a scratchy feel. Didn't do a try test, but it seemed to dry quickly on this cheap paper. Noticed no difference between it and Namiki.

Next came Platinum Carbon Black in a fine nip Preppy for comparison. Carbon Black isn't quite as wet as BBM but is smoother. Surprisingly, BBM looks close to Carbon Black, though it seems slightly flatter.

All three inks had similar bleeding and ghosting. Namiki had the greatest, followed by BBM, and then Carbon Black (Platinum Carbon Black being a pigment ink, it tends to sit on top of the paper).

I let the test paper dry 24 hours, then gave it a water test. This consisted of holding it under running water until the paper is just about ready to come apart, and laying the paper aside while completely wet. The ruled lines on the paper immediately washed away, but noticed no initial change with any of the inks. After an hour, the paper had almost dried and the Namiki and BBM showed "blurring," maybe as the ink flows further into the paper fibers. Namiki showed significantly more, looking as though it was written with a broad nib and with a fuzzy indistinctness along the edges. The BBM only showed the fuzzy indistinctness. Both may have lost some saturation, but with this paper it's hard to tell. As expected, the Platinum Carbon Black remained the same because it's a pigment ink, but as best as I can determine isn't fraud resistant.

The water test caused more bleed-through. As before, Namiki had the greatest bleed through, followed by BBM, then Carbon Black. But since Carbon Black is highly waterproof, I suspect the dunking changed the paper characteristics, making it slightly translucent, so this probably exaggerated the bleed through effect.

I really should have given it an acetone, bleach, and isopropyl alcohol test, but since my main concern was writing characteristics and water resistance, I didn't. Will probably do so later.

Final assessment: Looking forward to trying Noodler's Back after using up this converter full. I later used it to jot down info in a booklet I'd made from 24 lb copy paper, and was surprised by the amount that bled through. This needs real world testing.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Thanks, for sharing your findings. We always love pictures (if you have any from your test).

The Con-50 is a piston type and I'm not really sure how to fill them to full capacity. I've been drawing ink into them, flipping them over, tapping them to make sure the ink flows down to the piston, then put a paper towel over the nib and slowly twisting until the air is expelled, then filling again. Wastes some ink this way, though.

The next time you refill your Con-50, try drawing ink into it, draw the ink out of it, and then draw ink into it once more. It will usually get rid of the majority of the air pocket.

 

[Raissermesser]

Thanks, for sharing your findings. We always love pictures (if you have any from your test).



The next time you refill your Con-50, try drawing ink into it, draw the ink out of it, and then draw ink into it once more. It will usually get rid of the majority of the air pocket.

Will try that. The Preppy converter is similar to the Con-50, and the Carbon Black pen should be due for a wash and refill in a day or two.

Sorry, no pictures. Thought about scanning a before and after.

Took the pen to church. The difference with papers is interesting. The ledger book, where I jot down attendance counts, had bleed through, but the same as with Namiki. In comparison, jotting things on the cheap notepad there, BBM left a precise line where Namiki usually spread some. It had less bleed through and ghosting than a standard ballpoint, which was interesting.

In my pocket notebook, which is also cheap paper, the ink looks close to Namiki. I noticed that there was a light sheen that lasts about five seconds when writing in my notebook.

There is some nib creep, but not nearly as much as with Namiki before I aligned the nib. Really only slight. This is something else I look forward to comparing with Noodler's Black.

Checking my converter, it looks like I've haven't used any ink. This is similar to my experience with Blue Ghost. Namiki seems to go out of the cartridge at a faster rate.

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

BBM left a precise line where Namiki usually spread some. It had less bleed through and ghosting than a standard ballpoint, which was interesting.

Good to know. I can't abide feathering and BBM will get added to my ink stock since it performs well in this area. Show through is a big an issue for me, though it does limit usage a little. I have one journal, a Leuchtturm 1917, in which I write on both sides of the page. Severe ghosting and bleeding has eliminated some inks.

 

[Doc4]

The Con-50 is a piston type and I'm not really sure how to fill them to full capacity. I've been drawing ink into them, flipping them over, tapping them to make sure the ink flows down to the piston, then put a paper towel over the nib and slowly twisting until the air is expelled, then filling again. Wastes some ink this way, though.

Don't worry about getting 100% full ... 80% full is fine, and just top up whenever the ink gets low or at the start/end of each day/week (whatever works for your schedule and ink use rate.)

It sounds like you are filling the converter while it is detached from the pen. You can fill it when attached to the pen: just dip the nib into the ink up to whatever ink intake hole is in the pen (somewhere on the nib/feed) and twist. When the converter needs a top-up, simply hold the pen "nib up" and (after removing the back end of the pen to expose the converter, of course) twist the converter pump "upwards" until ink juuuuust starts to bubble out of the nib. Then dip the nib into the ink bottle as usual, and twist the converter to suck in more ink.

Otherwise (and when a bottle gets very low), use a syringe to fill a detached converter.

 

[Raissermesser]

Good to know. I can't abide feathering and BBM will get added to my ink stock since it performs well in this area. Show through is a big an issue for me, though it does limit usage a little. I have one journal, a Leuchtturm 1917, in which I write on both sides of the page. Severe ghosting and bleeding has eliminated some inks.

You might want to try a sample. Like Namiki, and possibly all dye-based fountain pen inks, it varies. I've used it a work this week and on some copy paper it almost bleeds through, but on others it's well behaved. I've used it twice on Rolodex (tm) cards, and it takes a little longer to dry. With one, I ran a highlighter over the category and it smeared slightly. The second time I let it dry a few minutes and it tolerated highlighter without smearing.

In other words, it varies, and might not work well with your journal.

 

[Raissermesser]

Don't worry about getting 100% full ... 80% full is fine, and just top up whenever the ink gets low or at the start/end of each day/week (whatever works for your schedule and ink use rate.)

It sounds like you are filling the converter while it is detached from the pen. You can fill it when attached to the pen: just dip the nib into the ink up to whatever ink intake hole is in the pen (somewhere on the nib/feed) and twist. When the converter needs a top-up, simply hold the pen "nib up" and (after removing the back end of the pen to expose the converter, of course) twist the converter pump "upwards" until ink juuuuust starts to bubble out of the nib. Then dip the nib into the ink bottle as usual, and twist the converter to suck in more ink.

Otherwise (and when a bottle gets very low), use a syringe to fill a detached converter.

No, I'm using them attached to the pen. The Preppy with Platinum Carbon Black is a bit different in that I'm removing the converter as part of the washing process before each refill. I can try it with the Metropolitan tonight, since I probably don't have enough in it to finish tomorrow. Had thought about trying Noodler's Black, but also wanted to do a proper comparison first, so was already intending to put it off. Was going to do a thorough washing of the Metropolitan when I changed inks.

Had wondered what I'd do when the ink got low. The Platinum Carbon Black has a fill device in the bottle to help with that, but not the Noodler's. And I was wondering about 4.5 ounce bottles like Heart of Darkness.

 

[Doc4]

And I was wondering about 4.5 ounce bottles like Heart of Darkness.

I suggest decanting into a smaller bottle (either one you have finished ... it does happen ... or buy an empty one from Goulet. Or get one elsewhere.)