got the kaweco brass sport i’ve lusted over for like a year 
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oh no… i didn’t know this thread existed. i love good writing instruments. my goodness, that .3 green faber castell victor posted two years ago!!
what’s your favorite fountain pen inks? gonna buy a TWSBI ECO finally, been looking at it for years and why not. i was thinking of a blue-gray-black with good shading and good water resistance, hopefully something fancy like a sheen or shimmer. but seems like you can’t really have both fancyness and durability
in terms of normal pens i’m still rocking the signo dx blue-black as my #1 Uni-ball Signo Needle Gel Ink Pen Review — The Pen Addict
and pencils i’m really favoring this blackwing LE, it’s the same core as the normal 602 but i like the pentagon shape Blackwing Volume 10001 | A Tribute to Puzzles | Blackwing602.com
but i use wood case pencils much less than this ‘shaka shaker’ which lives on my music stand, looove squishy grip Uni Alpha Gel Shaka Shaker Mechanical Pencil - 0.5 mm - Soft Grip - Royal Blue | JetPens
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the stationeryverse is probably the only place on the internet that still runs on blogs. thank you (checks notes) “the gentleman stationer” and “the pen addict” and “the well-appointed desk”
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aha found a shading waterproof ink Rohrer & Klingner sketchINK Carmen Fountain Pen Ink - 50 ml Bottle | JetPens
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goddammit im gonna end up paying the Ink Libertarian arent i
Green is my favorite color and that pilot iroshizoku shin-ryoku is pretty. Just watching it slosh around my twsbi eco’s giant reservoir makes me happy.
Waterman’s harmonious green look almost the same for half the price, having used both.
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most I’ve ever spent at jetpens… two for Zoe and one for me
really hard to find fountain pen inks that hold up to long term writing so I had to pay the libertarian at the end of the day… but the swatches for these look nice and they’re called “eternal”
there’s a Rohrer orange pigmented ink that looks dope for future maybe
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fountain pen review - TWSBI Eco (Cerulean Blue LE), stub 1.1 nib, Noodler’s Baltimore Canyon Blue ink
I doubt these will be true to color but yeah
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fountain pen review #2 - Pilot Prera, medium nib, black ink
also did some fountain pen paper testing with my stub nib. tier list so far:
- A: Apica CD (non-premium) 81.4gsm, Kokuyo High Grade “MIO” 60gsm, Clairefontaine My Essential 90gsm, Maruman Spiral Note Basic 70gsm, Rhodia “R” 90gsm
- B: Rhodia Unlimited 80gsm, Life Noble 84.9gsm, Apica Premium “A. Silky 865” 86.5gsm
- C: Optik paper (Black ‘N’ Red) 90gsm, Caliber (CVS brand) ??gsm
- D: Clairefontaine Collection 1951 90gsm, Rhodiarama (old version) 90gsm, Leuchtturm1917 Softcover 80gsm
strong bias against toothy papers that suck up ink bc they make my stub nib pen feel so dry and skippy, really unpleasant imo. worse when notebooks don’t lie flat.
maybe slight preference for thinner paper.
i really like a wet smooth writing exp especially with a nice color ink
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Updated stationery reviews with the stub nib on more papers
Leuchtturm1917 80gsm (Leuchtturm1917 Softcover Pocket Notebook A6) - smooth writing experience but puts down a wider line than it should + points of bleedthru with the stub nib. quick dry as expected cuz absorbent. D
Rhodia “R” older batch (Rhodiarama from amazon) - surprisingly had some bleedthru with the stub nib. Not much ghosting but def spots of bleed. possibly the coating had worn off since this is about 3 years old? but actually i just went back to a 3 year old apica and tried really hard to make it bleed thru and it didn’t at all. so like. downgrading to C
Clairefontaine My Essential Notebook 90g - bit of feedback like writing with a really smooth pencil, really brings out the shading i think, absolutely no ghosting, probably A tier?
also if you’re looking for a fountain pen paper for slightly cheaper i can confirm that Black N’ Red brand notebooks (Optik paper 90gsm) are fountain pen friendly, no bleeding or ghosting i can see, just a little bit absorbent and flat shading
also Caliber mini composition books (CVS brand) at least a few years ago had surprisingly good paper for dirt cheap, it feels like it would be crap but surprisingly takes fountain pen ink with no bleed even on heavy application. there is showthru but nothing crazy, pressure with a ballpoint shows more than the fountain pen ink
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anyone recommend a brand of graph paper notebooks? I’m looking for a decent sized notebook with good feeling paper that I can use to sketch level designs and dungeons.
I like this brand and (according to their website) 91% of Japanese people like them too. They make other sizes, as well.
I like that notebook in particular bc I don’t like ringed notebooks and you can open it flat or fold it over without worrying about pages falling out. and it doesn’t bleed onto the back of the page. There is some imprint of my notes on the back, but I tend to push the pen into paper kinda hard
Edit- woops pic is upside down but you get the idea
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Looks nice. I’ll see if I can find these at my local art store. Thanks for the suggestion!
best i can do is AL sport raw
this thing feels so nice in the hand it’s stupid. very satisfying swoosh-shunk when you post the cap on the back, and the weight is great. I really wanted something with the pocketfeel of some kind of alien device and this is that to a tee.
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That’s so lovely!
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it’s really wonderful. glad @digs talked me into the raw aluminum, the shiny reflections soothe me
speaking of shiny pens this no name Adler promotional pen I got from a union convention is literally the best for everyday carry. some heft and cool metal feel, exquisite capping and uncapping, strong clip, flashlight, stylus, and I’m pretty sure it’s a common D1 refill so I might put a Space Pen pressurized ballpoint cartridge in it someday. shout-out to the brave+organized government workers of the Tennessee Valley Authority for their taste in labor swag
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good youtube channel + webstore (same guy) for cool cats who like pens and notebooks
that tomoe river paper hardcover a5 looks reallllly good
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cheapo stationery protip, the Wexford brand notebooks you can get at Walgreens (made in India or Vietnam) take fountain pen ink like a champ, only a hint of feathering, no bleed, minimal ghosting.
i’m hoping that the slightly rougher paper will be less sensitive to hand oils as well
these mini composition books are the best value pocket notebooks. ok yea the build quality’s not great, see the page is ripping out. but who cares
on the pen side, i got a ‘premium fine nib’ for my Kaweco AL Sport and the jury is out… it was hard starting a bit but that might go away, after all I forgot to clean the nib before using it.
also i put a Jetstream 0.5mm refill in the Adler pocket pen above, and now it’s like… the best pen i own. writes on anything, writes small, smooth
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