EFNIR: Noodler's X-Feather Black

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Noodler's X-Feather Black

This is review #271 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:


Post-recording notes: This is a warmish dark, dark grey - at least, it's not black for me, until I look closely, then it seems black, just as it appears in the images. Maybe there's a sheen of some sort, or it's just glossy. Ran dry (completely) on day 3. No idea why. Shook the pen to get it started again, was fine thereafter.

The RH in my house has been 33% for several days and I'm confident it's impacting the dry time. From now on, I plan to record the RH whenever I test dry time.

Cleaning was the bear you'd expect from Noodler's. The ink likes to cling. I didn't feel like breaking out the pipe cleaner to get behind that tab in Pilot sections that holds the cartridge, so once confirming a simple rinse / flush wouldn't do the job, I put everything in pen flush and into the ultrasonic cleaner. That worked well for everything except the cartridge - the bottom edge still has a ring around it that won't come off - am soaking it now, will try more cycles after hours of soaking.

Zoomed in photo


Screenshot


Scan of Completed Review (The whole image is cooler than reality, but not enough to matter - the ink is black.)


Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (Shading is exaggerated for both.)


Line width (One of the lines used for dry time. Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. The line width for this ink is roughly 263µm. With 271 inks measured, the average line width is 296µm.) (This is a really narrow line!)


Microscope image (400x. Not very interesting, but you can see it's a warm color and looks "granular" - as if there's pigment in there.)


Water Test Results


Previous Review: Diplomat Orchid.

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

Want to influence the inky sequence? Take the "next ink" poll.

View a list of my inks, complete with review results in a google sheet.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh? Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Groaning gears, tippity-tap of….?

I have Lamy Black of the comparison inks. I HAD regular Noodler's Black but it dried too slowly for this southpaw hookist. It looks to me as though you have this X-Feather in a cart? Yup. Good thing, too.

As for the micro:

1. Smog?
2. Distant mountain peaks everyone will have to climb?
3. Mushrooms no one in his right mind should be eating?

I like the way things are moving! Thanks again, Liz, for the Tuesday treat.

[LizEF]

Groaning gears, tippity-tap of….?

It's amazing how many sounds we can ignore.

I have Lamy Black of the comparison inks. I HAD regular Noodler's Black but it dried too slowly for this southpaw hookist. It looks to me as though you have this X-Feather in a cart? Yup. Good thing, too.

Lamy Black is probably under-rated. Noodler's do tend to take a while to dry (though not all). Yes, I always put any potentially staining ink in a cartridge and in my Penmanship body rather than the Prera.

As for the micro:

1. Smog?
2. Distant mountain peaks everyone will have to climb?
3. Mushrooms no one in his right mind should be eating?

Mushrooms grown in mountain smog.

I like the way things are moving! Thanks again, Liz, for the Tuesday treat.

Thank you! And you're most welcome!

[Yazeh]

Great review for not such a great ink
I love the "Mars"scape, the storyline but in his attempt to banish featuring Noodler's managed to create an ink that never dries

At least your review make up for the dismal performance of this one

[LizEF]

Great review for not such a great ink

Thanks, Yazeh!

I love the "Mars"scape, the storyline but in his attempt to banish featuring Noodler's managed to create an ink that never dries

Thanks! In fairness to Noodler's, the ink is meant to be used on poor paper, which is almost guaranteed to be more absorbent than Rhodia, so the dry time may not be an issue when using the ink on the paper it was designed for... (But I still think you're better off using Noodler's Black. )

At least your review make up for the dismal performance of this one

Thanks, again, Yazeh.

[mizgeorge]

Thank you as always for an informative review! Not an ink I've ever considered getting, and it's even less likely now

Thank you also for a nice gentle (but informative) chapter in the adventure. Just right.

Sorry it took until Wednesday for me to get here!

[LizEF]

Thank you as always for an informative review! Not an ink I've ever considered getting, and it's even less likely now

You're most welcome!

Thank you also for a nice gentle (but informative) chapter in the adventure. Just right.

Gladly!

Sorry it took until Wednesday for me to get here!

No worries! Glad you came and commented.