A Macabre History Proctor's Ledge, and the illustrated bottle label, is a memorial to the 19 innocent victims of the Salem Witch Trials that were hanged at this particular site.
The ink is as dark as the theme. The center of the line is rich in saturation and appears almost to be a black. The warm, brown undertone comes through where the ink is less saturated. An Ink with Secrets As Nathan Tardiff (owner of Noodler's Ink) illustrates in his video, the ink has an interesting chromatography. When spread on a paper towel, the rich brownish-black separates into a fluorescent yellow and a fiery red. Using a blacklight, these color separations become more evident.
However, when one uses this ink normally, the saturation hides the fluorescence. Nathan's video may lead some to believe that the sheen and fluorescent tones would be common when writing on a standard paper. It isn't. When I asked about this discrepancy, Nathan clarified that this effect is best seen on craft paper, tag or poster board. Below, you will see a sample of the ink written on Rhodia 80gsm, plain paper.
Getting a little creative with this ink, you can produce the fluorescence by using a water brush to dilute the ink. This can be a particularly effective implementation when it comes to doing illustrations.
In the animation above, the black lines were done using a Pigma Micron waterproof pen and a Noodler's Konrad brush pen was dipped into a very small amount of Proctor's Ledge to wash the page and create varying layers of saturation. The lightest areas proved to show the fluorescence under blacklight. Turn it up to 11 To amp up the fluorescence and make Proctor's Ledge a warm grey ink to use as a color fill for my InkTober drawings, I mixed approximately 1 part of Proctor's Ledge with 3 parts of Noodler's Whiteness of the Whale. The resulting drawing was posted as Day 14's illustration :
(Click on the image above to see the video on Instagram.)
You, too, can have fun creating UV reactive writing and drawings. We've put together a pen and ink set that allows you to brew this inky combination yourself. It includes the aforementioned Noodler's Ink Proctor's Ledge (3oz), Whiteness of the Whale (1oz), a Konrad demonstrator fountain pen, a small Rhodia notepad and a portable blacklight on a keychain.
Since Proctor's Ledge was created as a limited release during the Commonwealth Pen Show, we anticipate the ink will be gone for good once it sells out completely. For a Noodler's fan, this is a must-own bottle of ink (gotta catch 'em all!). For artists, letterers and illustrators, this ink has a number of fun, creative applications, especially when paired with a blacklight.
The single most common question we get from intrigued fountain pen newbies is "which is the best, first fountain pen?" -- and this post should help narrow that down for you. As you venture into the fountain pen world, you'll soon notice that much of the appeal of these pens is how personal they can be; my idea of a perfect pen might have a fine nib and a moderate weight, while yours might have a medium nib and be as light as a feather. The point is, with fountain pens, there are many options, and within each pen, you'll find even more options.
The following are 5 of our best recommendations for your first fountain pen, including features, specifications, and thoughts on each pen. I suggest purchasing finer nibs if you are used to writing with 0.5 - 0.7 mm tips, as the transition may be easier. If you're feeling risky and want to try flex writing or calligraphy, scroll down to find three additional pens that are sure to bring excitement to your writing.
The Pilot Metropolitan has quickly become the top recommendation for newbies. It’s a great value, smooth-writing fine nib, round grip, average weight, and strong durability makes the pen suited for the majority of new users. Two thing to look out for: 1) Pilot nibs are proprietary, meaning only Pilot cartridges and converters will fit into Pilot pens and 2) you can’t see the ink level in the con-20 converter, so you won’t know exactly when you are out of ink until the pen stops writing. If this bothers you, Pilot offers the transparent con-50 converter as a substitute.
Filling Method: proprietary Lamy cartridge included. LZ24 Converter sold separately.
Durability: made of extremely durable ABS plastic
Colors: comes in many colors (can upgrade to Al-Star)
Ink window
The Lamy Safari is long considered a staple in the fountain pen world. It is a great value, with a nib known for being smooth, but with feedback (not glossy smooth, but enough to let you know the nib is touching the paper). The barrel of the Safari is made of ABS plastic, the material used to make the famous Lego toys, which can withstand large amounts of pressure -- making the Safari extremely durable. Many beginners choose this pen because later on, you can try out one of the many other nib sizes (ranging from EF to 1.9mm), which is always fun.
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Ever since Noodler's Ink began their production of piston-fill fountain pens, I've wanted to get behind the brand's efforts in crafting an entry-level pen that spreads the pen-addiction bug to ordinary "muggles." In the opinion of customers I've conversed with and my own opinion, the wizardry fell quite short of expectations.
Every time I was introduced to a new model, first the standard Creaper, then the Ahab, then the Konrad and the Neponset, I went into the experience with optimism that this would be an amazing experience for the cost. Plans began to formulate in my head to obtain one of every color, because it would be an iconic pen that was affordable enough to justify collecting the entire series. However, the moment I would open the package, I would be underwhelmed and disappointed.
OK, so I know most of the criticisms that I shall now list can be negotiated or modified to be suited for one's own needs. As someone who believes that a good pen should be a solid writer directly out of the box, unaltered, I approach my critique of the Noodler's pens with the same eye that a person with limited experience in fountain pens would have. As the Noodler's brand occupies the entry level market price point, it should also be accommodating of the entry-level end-user. Although Noodler's pens are typically considered to be the "tinkerer's pen," it shouldn't require a few hours of research on discussion forums and watching YouTube videos just to get it to function properly.
Noodler's Pen Criticisms :
The Smell - Right out of the box, the body material of the pen has a certain odor that is unpleasant to most people. Personally, I don't care for it. I've read and followed suggestions on how to help the smell dissipate, but each pen still had a faint stink, no matter what.
The Flow (or lack thereof) - The feed of the pen has to keep up with the demand of a flex nib when it is flexing. In past experiences, not only would the Noodler's pen railroad constantly, but I would often get a complete seizure of ink flow that would result in having to prime the filling mechanism just to force more ink into the feed to write anything at all.
The Filling Mechanism - Having experience with a Pelikan piston mechanism first has me spoiled for this "you-get-what-you-pay-for" Noodler's mechanism. The piston head is often sticky and stiff to operate, requiring a bit more force to get it going. My own experience with the Ahab plunger system was the worst of all the models. I went to prime the feed after the nib went dry. I couldn't simply nudge the plunger forward a millimeter or two, it was stuck. I ended up having to rush to the sink just to get the pen working again, as pushing on the plunger any harder would result in the nib squirting with ink.
As you can guess, when I opened up the new Noodler's Konrad Acrylic Tinian Treasure fountain pen, my bar of expectation was set quite low, to say the least. Despite all my reservations about the Noodler's pens I've tried in the past, along with the feedback I get from our customers, I still remained optimistic that Noodler's has to be getting something right. After all, there are those who swear by their Noodler's pens and use them often.
In putting this pen through its paces, I went over my previous objections about Noodler's pens and was pleasantly surprised to see my criticisms were defied.
Noodler's Konrad Acrylic in Tinian Treasure
The Smell of the Acrylic Konrad is actually OK.
It smells like a normal pen would. The acrylic material is devoid of the odor that still plagues the standard Konrad. Comparing it to the new, limited edition Konrad Tahitian Tortoise with the Non-Flex vented nib, the Tortoise still has that distinctive smell while the Acrylic Tinian Treasure does not.
The Flow of the Acrylic Konrad is manageable for flex writing.
As you would be able to view in my video of the Konrad's flex test, the nib does railroad, but you have to find its sweet spot. Positioning the pen at a more vertical angle to the paper does limit the amount of line variation, but it does support a constant flow from the feed to manage the demand of ink. Please keep in mind this evaluation was done without any alteration of adjustment to the pen. These results are right out of the box.
As with any pen that touts "flex" capability, flex it responsibly. Imagine you're meeting a dance partner for the first time. You wouldn't go straight into a fast-paced, complicated number straight away. Take it slow, find out where the pen's sweet spot it is and accommodate your grip and speed to suit the pen's ability.
The Konrad Filling Mechanism is sound.
While being a little sticky at the start, the internal piston mechanism does respond smoothly and draws up a great deal of ink into its body. Having the ink view window is a fun and useful feature on this model.
Overall, I'm quite pleased, and surprised that this Konrad exceeds my expectations for a Noodler's fountain pen. True, it isn't one of their least costly models at $40, but it is a value buy in terms of obtaining a flexible nib fountain pen. Since your options for a flex or semi-flex nib pen are very limited and often expensive, this Konrad fits in nicely as a solid option for a value flex fountain pen.
I'm interested in hearing about your experiences with the Noodler's fountain pen. Love it? Hate it? Have you tried all the tips and modifications to enhance the pen's writing capability? If so, were you pleased by the result? What do you think of the smell? Please write us a comment below.
Review written & video produced by Tom Oddo @ Goldspot Pens
Today, Nathan Tardiff, the Willy Wonka of our niche fountain pen ink market, has announced a drastic change within the Noodler's Ink lineup of bottled inks. The iconic 3oz glass bottle may be no more.
As Nathan talks about in his You Tube video, changes within the glass bottle vendors he used to source the Noodler's bottles have forced his hand to make a decision : either switch to a smaller glass bottle that would up the cost of Noodler's Ink across the board, or make a change to plastic bottles.
Declining to take the approach that so many pen manufacturers have done over the years, the President of Noodler's Ink opted to keep prices the same, while offering better value with the new 3oz plastic bottles.
As he demonstrates in the video, the additional head space toward the top of the bottle actually allows for more ink to be included in the new plastic bottle than in the original glass container. The new plastic Noodler's ink bottles are also lighter and will have less issues with breakage when being shipped. The opaque bottle also blocks UV light from damaging the color of the ink in the bottle.
We had just received our first shipment of Noodler's Bulletproof Black in the new plastic ink bottles and were quite surprised as to how much more can fit in a typical case package. In the past, when we order a case of Noodler's 3oz ink, we would get 144 glass bottles per case. Now, one case constituted 320 ink bottles, over double the amount of ink for the same package.
Considering how much Noodler's we ship on a daily basis, the savings in shipping costs will be a welcome change in the overall scheme of things.
Although Nathan states that the change is temporary and glass bottles may make a comeback by the end of 2015 or beginning of 2016, the tone of his message made it seem like this can be a permanent solution and that the glass bottles of old will be considered "vintage" Noodler's Ink.
What do you think about the change to the plastic bottles? Drop us a line and comment below to tell us whether you think it's a good change or otherwise.
Firstly, I wanted to mention how awesome all of you are who sent in a piece of written correspondence to us during this giveaway. We were delightfully surprised about how creative and personal each letter or postcard was. We were also floored by the hundreds of entries we received from around the world. From our neighbors up North in Canada to the Philippines, the UK, Spain, Norway and down under in Australia, it is truly astounding what the internet can accomplish in terms of a global following.
Here's a sampling of the letters we received that we posted to our new @goldspotpens Instagram account earlier today.
A photo posted by Goldspot Pens (@goldspotpens) on
With today being the deadline for entries, we eagerly awaited the mailman this morning in anticipate of a few stragglers. The last entries came in and the great drawing began. Instead of picking from a hat, which could have led to a bias in shape, size or texture of the entry, we counted out every piece of mail, shuffled the pile, and ran a random number generator that picked the winning entry.
Congrats Marie E. of Madison, WI! We'll reach out to you with the good news and to confirm your address to receive your pen-tastic goodies.
Thanks to everyone for entering and participating in International Correspondence Writing Month.
If anyone would like to send us mail during the rest of the year, we'd love to be your pen pal! Please feel free to send us letters (and offerings of chocolate or jerky) to :
We had, hands-down, our most fun and interactive giveaway yet. A few weeks ago, we announced our new, bulletproof Noodler's Revolution Blue ink. To celebrate, we hosted a giveaway on this blog and our social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter. The theme was to let your "pen war cries" against the digital age fly.
The responses we received were creative, funny and encouraging. The pen community came out in force and represented big time! We randomly picked one of the few hundred entries. The winner is.....
Sot Yuxin
Please e-mail tom@goldspot.com directly with your information to claim your prize.
Thanks to everyone for participating in the giveaway!
Holiday Shipping Schedule
Now, on to business. Christmas Eve is upon us, which is the last possible day to either receive a USPS package or UPS express shipment. Here is a schedule leading up to Christmas Eve and how much our "Get it by Xmas" shipping will cost.
For the remainder of today, Thursday, December 18th, you can take advantage of our Free Shipping Day promotion where there is no minimum to get free shipping with your order. That means any refill or pen ships with $0 shipping charge. This party ends at 11:59pm.
Once Friday, the 19th comes, we are offering a special "Get it by XMAS" shipping method. Simply add any "Quick Ship" items to your cart and select the "Get it by XMAS" shipping method during checkout. We guarantee that your order will be expedited for shipment and we will try our best to get them to you on or before December 24th.
The "Quick Ship" items are available for immediate shipping, but sometimes inventory can run out quicker than our website can be updated. If this is the case, we will contact you as soon as possible to make alternative arrangements or give you the option to cancel. Although our engraving team is fast at work, churning out scores of engraved pens and gifts every day this month, if you select engraving on your order at this time, it may add an additional day to the shipping time. Visit our website for more details about our shipping schedule.
You will still be able to get free shipping on your order of $49 or more, but there is no guarantee that the economy shipping would be able to make the delivery prior to Christmas.
As always, call, chat or e-mail if you have a question or need help with placing your order. Happy Holidays!
Well, Nathan Tardif, the "Willy Wonka" of the fountain pen world, has done it again. To follow up the gargantuan success of the Noodler's Neponset Ebonite Music Nib fountain pens, he has completed a very small batch of Neponset pens in acrylic colors, some of which share the same name as certain Konrad acrylic pens.
Some of the color names that we will be receiving include (UPDATED to include Photos) :
Emeralds on the Sun (no photo yet)
Forbidden City (no photo yet)
Black Python in Pearls (no photo yet)
Coral Sea
Marbled Mairanus
Bengal Tiger
Victory Garden
Himalayan Ruby
Lake Baikal
Appalachian Pearl
Ghostly Lapis
Inventory will be extremely limited. We expect to have them early next week and will be taking photographs the moment they arrive and will announce on our social media and through our e-mail newsletter (sign up here) when they will be available on the website for sale.
Most likely, this will be the last batch until after Christmas. Noodler's does plan on having more of the Black Ebonite and Red Rebellion Ebonite in the next few weeks, but there are no guarantees for Christmas delivery on those either.
December's Social Pen Giveaway in in honor of our first-ever collaboration with Noodler's Ink. We're giving away one bottle of our new, retailer-exclusive Noodler's Revolution Blue 3oz bottled ink AND a Noodler's Neponset Briarwood Ebonite fountain pen. Besides the fact that all the Neponset music nib fountain pens have sold out everywhere, this one is a limited production of only 7 that were made in the Briarwood Ebonite.
How To Enter
We want to hear your battle cry!
For decades, digital devices have marginalized the use of handwriting and penmanship in schools and businesses. Today, we rise up to let the masses know that we will not go quietly into the inky night. Proudly carry your Daily Arsenal of pens in your pocket. Show off your Spencerian and flex those nibs if you've got them.
You have (3) possible entries for this giveaway. One is by simply commenting on this blog post with your pen battle cry. The second and third entries can be obtained via Facebook and Twitter. If you have an account with either social network, simply find our page (details below) and Like or Re-Tweet the giveaway post below :
Join @goldspotpens in the fight against digital! Viva la Pluma! #PenRevolution http://bit.ly/1tF7Knq
(Feel free to add your own pen battle cry and tag it #PenRevolution)
Post your Pen Battle Cry with the hashtag #PenRevolution
"Like" or Re-Tweet the link to the giveaway above (1 Entry per Twitter and/or Facebook Account).
...and that's it! We'll keep track of all the entries and then choose a fan using a random number generator to select one lucky winner. Deadline for Entries is Thursday, December 18, 2014 at 2p ET.
We will contact the winner directly through either Facebook, Twitter or E-mail to obtain the shipping information and send out your Noodler's Neponset Pen & Noodler's Revolution Blue!
In a collaboration between New Jersey-based Goldspot Pens & Noodler's Ink, we proudly present a blue so exceptional, it is "revolutionary." Themed after one of the most crucial battles in the American Revolutionary War that took place on New Jersey soil, Revolution Blue is 3 ounces of fountain pen ink that delivers on performance and color.
The saturated, medium-toned blue ink has a brilliant look on the page. It flows well in both a fine nib and a thick, wet nib like the Neponset music nib. Revolution Blue does have a significant degree of shading and a bit of purplish sheen when using a broader, wetter nib. Click the writing samples below for a larger detail view. The paper is an 80g Rhodia sheet with a custom InkJournal page template printed on it.
Drying time is about 10 seconds with a finer nib and 15+ seconds with the music nib. Once the ink dried, we performed a water droplet test on the scribble swatches and found that Revolution Blue, although may not be completely waterproof, is definitely water-resistant.
UPDATE : After contacting Noodler's to find the performance specifications of the Revolution Blue, it has been stated by the manufacturer that this ink is indeed considered to be Bulletproof, which means that it is UV resistant, fade resistant, forgery resistant, and waterproof. It might have been that in the sample below, I did not allow for enough time for the saturated ink areas to dry before doing the water test and smearing some of the ink around. As you can see in the scribbles at the ends, no smearing is present.
Coincidentally, we received this ink a few weeks before the 238th anniversary of George Washington's pre-dawn crossing of the Delaware on Christmas Day. This blue ought to make an excellent gift for the fountain pen lover on your list... or yourself (we won't tell).
So, now that we got that business of the midterm elections over with, here comes the fun part : voting for your favorite pen released in 2014! We asked for your nominations and received a great response to put together a solid list of nominees that all deserve to be considered for this prestigious honor.
Please take a look at the nominees below. They are sorted in randomized order not to show any priority or preference. Please feel free to cast your vote and share this post with your friends so they may vote as well. Remember, this is all in fun!
Voting is open until Friday, November 14th at 2pm Eastern US time. We will announce the winner Friday afternoon.
Soon, #MusicNibMonday might become as popular as #FlexNibFriday on Instagram.
The eagerly-anticipated Noodler's Neponset fountain pen is due to be released on Friday. According to Luxury Brands, the US distributor of Noodler's Ink, we should have a very limited supply of these music nib fountain pens by early next week (November 5th, tentatively).
What's so great about the Noodler's Neponset?
Well, you may have heard about the Neponset through a giveaway that Nathan from Noodler's had done a while back as part of an art contest. The pen was given away, then the person who had received it sent it to two prominent fountain pen bloggers, Azizah from Gourmet Pens and SBRE Brown. To view the pen in action, check out the short video from Azizah below.
The pen's magic is in the music nib. This triple tined nib is affectionately called the the “Vishnu Victory” nib in honor of the 2.5 million World War II allied soldiers of India as well as the reference to the source for the ebonite used in the pen and the original Neponset Blimp. In the demo model that was reviewed, the nib performs smoothly on paper, giving the writer high degrees of line variation and flexibility.
The pen holds a large capacity of ink and sports the largest length of all the Noodler's pens models. You can find more details on the measurements on Gourmet Pen's blog post.
Like we mentioned earlier, the initial release will be of small quantity and will feature 4 different ebonite colors. There will be a Solid Black, Jade, Walnut & Chestnut Ebonite. The price will be $75 USD each. We will have them up on the website as soon as we check the pens in and get them photographed. We are not taking pre-orders at this time, since we are not sure of how many Neponset pens we will have in the initial shipment. Stay tuned and sign up on our e-mail list to be notified of the launch.
UPDATE 10/30/2014 : We are expecting to also have a limited number of "Red Rebellion" Ebonite Neponset pens. These will be the first of a series of limited production red ebonite pens that will vary in their patterns and/or colors from batch-to-batch. Below is what the first edition will look like. We're expected to receive a little over a dozen of these pens, so be sure to be signed up and follow us on social media for updates.
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