Ink Review #32

*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.

Overview

The color/properties:

Blue 72 is a light to medium blue. There’s a hint of shading, the larger nibs shade with a more noticeable crisp cut between light and dark tones where the ink pools, but I was surprised to see that it doesn’t show as much with the finer and medium nibs. In my tests, it was the most visible on the Kokuyo paper, but even there it was almost imperceivable outside of the larger nib sizes.

Rhodia

Leuchtturm1917

Performance on paper:

Blue 72’s performance was good: there was no bleed-through or feathering on any of the test papers. Surprisingly, the dry times were slightly below average, especially on Midori where even the finer nibs barely dried within the 20-second mark. The water resistance was good. There was some color retention, and the remains were still crisp and easy enough to read.

Midori MD

Maruman

Tomoe River

Kokuyo

Performance in the pen:

Blue 72 had a medium-wet flow that was consistent across each of the test nibs. I didn’t run into any hard starts, skips, or stops during my tests, and the ink felt well-lubricated, providing a comfortable and pleasing writing experience. Cleaning was easy as well, and Blue 72 washed out of the test pen and nibs with a single soak and flush.

• Performance in a pen: 10/10

• Performance on paper: 10/10

• Color saturation: 3.5/10

• Sheening: 0/10

• Shading: 3/10

• Dry time: 6.5/10

• Water resistance: 6.5/10

• Ease of cleaning: 10/10

• Shimmer: None

My personal thoughts...

I've had a lot of experience with Blue 72: each Franklin-Christoph pen comes with a cartridge of this ink, as well as a cartridge of black ink. Given my unceasing compulsion to buy a new F-C pen at every pen show, I've been through quite a few cartridges of this ink. It’s an unassuming ink — probably why it’s good to package with a pen — but it’s one I like a lot. I can’t really put my finger on why either, but I liked it so much that I did ask them what it was and was directed to the bottled version. I still feel the same way about it now. It’s simple, but it’s a pleasant, flawless experience.

More images/info:

Tools and materials used in the writing samples:

• A TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with 7 nib units including a Needlepoint grind, EF, F, M, B, 1.1mm stub, and an Architect grind. All nibs are tuned to perform at the same medium wetness.

• A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad

• A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook

• A Midori MD A5 Notebook

• A 68gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook

• A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook

• A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook