Black
Noodler's Ink 


     The 'bulletproof' qualities of Noodler's inks are quite interesting and unique from other fountain pen inks available, I chose Noodler' Black to use for sketching and watercolour work. The colour is a carbon black with no hue of red or blue even when diluted with water. As with most Noodler's Inks you get a lot of ink [3oz (88.5mL)] for a great price.
    

Noodler's Black Test Plate after 3 ml water

     This ink looks thick and viscous and the colour is what you would expect in a black, with a slight amount of shading. The flow is on the wet side and makes for a rather smooth writing experience. I experienced nib creep on every pen I used the ink in, so if this is something you cannot deal with; then I would steer clear of Noodler's Black. Once dried on the page the ink is waterproof, so much so that the paper would dissolve before the ink would. If this is a quality you are looking for in an ink it definitely delivers. The ink doesn't take a lot of flushing to clean out of pens but it left a residue that I found a chore to remove. You need to physically wipe or scrub it off to remove all traces of the ink. The test plate clearly shows that it is stubborn to clean with water alone. When removing from the tester; neither a soap or ammonia sceub would not remove the ink from the roughest (sanded with 100 grit) section. In this case I needed to re-sand the tester to fully remove all remnants of this ink. For me, this is an issue for pens or nib assemblies that cannot be broken down for cleaning and naturally limited the number of pens I felt comfortable using the ink in. On paper the ink performed well, I only experienced bleed through and feathering when the flex pen dumped ink on cheap paper. On ink resistant papers and watercolour papers the ink takes a while to dry. It is less than ideal to use while sketching on the go unless you are using cheaper paper. I was pleasantly surprised by how fast it dried on common paper considering the experience on finer paper.

      This Black from Noodler's ink is a dark true black that performs well on cheap paper and it is great to use on finer paper despite the longer dry time. Nib creep doesn't bother me about this ink, it is the cleaning of it. I only use this Black in the pens that can be easily disassembled and scrub cleaned because a flush alone will not remove the residue it leaves behind. The waterproof quality of this ink is not enough for me to recommend it based on how hard it is to clean, in future posts I will endeavor to find a better option for those looking for a good waterproof ink.

Black on Hilroy Paper

Black on Clairefontaine Paper

Ink diagrams prepared using:
1.  Noodler's Ahab fitted with flex 'modified' nib
2.  Esterbrook nib in dip pen