Noodlers Socrates Fountain Pen Ink is the latest ink color creation in the wide array of colors offered by Noodlers Ink. Noodlers Socrates could be categorized as a light purple ink and Socrates is classified by Noodlers as an “Eternal Ink”, thus its UV and bleach resistant, forgery proof, impervious to solvents, which makes it fade resistant and may be used for archival purposes.

Noodlers Socrates Fountain Pen Ink

Below are the various characteristics about this USA manufactured ink, which includes a historical picture/painting of Socrates on its bottle, that I hope you will find helpful:

Testing Factors for the Noodlers Socrates Fountain Pen Ink

For this ink review I used a J. Herbin Glass dip pen, which has an extra fine nib on Rhodia Block N. 18 paper.

Bottle Sizes

Noodlers Socrates Fountain Pen Ink, which is in stock today at Pen Chalet, comes in a standard Noodlers Ink 3 oz. glass bottle (the temporary plastic bottles are gone for now…). The bottle is not condusive for getting that absolute last drop of ink out of the bottle, but Noodlers ink is known for filling their bottles to the absolute brim, to the point of overflowing. I was not disappointed when opening this Noodlers Socrates bottle of ink, as the ink literally came to the edge of bottles rim.

One trick I have found with Noodlers Inks is to add an Ink Miser Intra-bottle inkwell inside the Noodlers bottle of ink. This small inkwell allows you to fill it by turning the bottle upside down and then back right side up, with the cap on of course. When you then open the ink bottle the intra-bottle is full of ink making it easier to fill your fountain pen and get all the ink from the bottle. The inkwell can also be transferred to a fresh bottle once the ink is gone.

Cost

The Noodlers Socrates Fountain Pen Ink is pricier than most Noodlers inks due to its unique qualities and retails for $18.50.

Dry Time

Using the J. Herbin Glass dip pen (which is equivalent to an extra fine nib, the dry time was immediate at less than one (1) second. There is absolutely no smudging after the ink was dried.

Bleed Through

There was no bleed through when using the glass pen, but very slight bleed through with the 3 swab line using Rhodia Block N. 18 paper.

Feathering

Using the J. Herbin Glass Pen and Rhodia Block N. 18 paper there was no feathering at all, even under a magnifying glass. The Noodlers Socrates ink produced very clean and crisp lines.

Water Test

After letting the Noodlers Socrates Fountain Pen Ink dry for approximately 3 minutes, I ran a wet cotton swab over the ink. There was zero smear, feathering, etc. thus this ink is waterproof!

Shading

Even with an extra fine nib, there was some nice shading, which clearly showed using the swab.

Overall

Good value, high quality waterproof ink, nice light color with superior dry time with no feathering, which can be used for archival type documents and writing.