I’m still using Baystate Blue and I’m still grateful for the gift. Of course I would throw the bottle to perdition if it tried to get anywhere near a pen that has any value or that I’m fond of.
The husband says it reminds him of the blue Parker Quink he always used when he was at school. It’s much stronger though, much bluer, like Quink went to the gym and developed its muscles and, not content with that, paid the trainer for illegal steroids.
The result is blue with brutality. I like that about it. I’m on my second fill of the converter in this cheap Chinese pen. Despite its muscularity it hasn’t done the pen any harm yet. The steel nib shows no sign of assault and the plastic remains undamaged.
Frankenstein of the ink world, I’m a little disappointed that it remains so mild-mannered. I’m pretty sure that when I least expect it, it will turn on my pen snarling and leave it in bits on the floor, molten and smoking.
Goodwriterspens's Blog 
I had no problems with Baystate Blue chewing up the modern pens I put it in. But it feathered like crazy on every paper I tried, and I stopped using it for that reason. I loved the color, a very luminous ultramarine.
Yes, it is beautiful. So far (touch wood!) I haven’t had any problems with feathering. Or eating pens, yet.
Yes, it will make your pen explode. Then melt the floor under the pen, then the foundation, and you will have a China Crisis on your hands. 😄
So they tell me, but so far I am disppointed!
Ah well, maybe an even cheaper pen!
The original formula for Baystate Blue was discovered back in the 1930s only it was called Oxychloride X. Google that name and listen and enjoy.
Feathering can be controlled by diluting BSB about 20% with distilled water. The color is unaffected.
I have used it in a black Esterbrook J and a Noodler’s Ahab for years and had no issues with the pens other than every internal part of the Ahab is now Baystate blue colored. The Estie had a pitted, partially corroded nib and the ink did nothing to make it worse.
I haven’t had any trouble with feathering. I use inexpensive no-name paper and BSB behaves with the best good manners.
As re Oxychloride X: Quite so. BSB’s reputation is equally bad, but I hear tell that it only eats pens that have been filled with other inks and not cleaned properly. Quite jealous in that regard.
There were reports of some Lamy feeds disintegrating back when BSB first came on the market but that was determined to be a feed problem, not a BSB problem. There have been claims of sac deterioration but the only evidence was anecdotal and BSB may not have been the culprit. The problem with other inks is not so much pen destruction as a chemical reaction that forms a precipitate that clogs feeds and can be a monumental pain to remove. I mixed some BSB with the old Highland Heather in my classroom to demonstrate what a precipitate is. Nasty. Really nasty. Noodler’s says BSB plays well with other Baystate inks but that it should not be mixed with anything else due to the relatively high pH.
I’m being careful with it. I like it but I’m regardful of the tragedies others report.