fountain pen

by Tony Thomas  One of my favorite You Tube personalities is Amy Schmittauer ( @Schmittastic on Twitter). Her channel, "Savvy, Sexy, Social", offers plenty of valuable information on social media marketing.  I watch her channel regularly as she is a thought leader in the field. Back in April of last year, I wrote her a short note with one of my fountain pens for which she thanked me on Twitter. When I heard she was writing a book, I decided to send her another handwritten note and a Platinum Preppy fountain pen and refills.   From watching her videos, I learned that she likes to write everything down rather than just putting it into a computer.   That made her the perfect candidate for a little bit of "fountain pen evangelism".  To my surprise, she unpacked the pen and read my note on one of her You Tube videos leading up to the book launch.  You can watch it here:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBXXtsJsUwk Amy's book, "Vlog Like a Boss: How to Ki...

by Tony Thomas Ray Blake is well known as champion of personal organizers, notebooks and journaling.  His You Tube video on making your own travelers notebook has received over a quarter of a million views. When I saw that he wrote a new book on pocket notebooks, I was intrigued. I bought it in Kindle format and began to read.  While it is a short book, it covers a lot of ground.   He begins by discussing how to buy and set up your notebook.  I would have liked to see some reviews of different notebooks rather than generic descriptions, but I still found his information helpful.  He continues by providing different applications for pocket notebooks. This is the real "meat" of the book and the reason you should buy it. This is a great book for fountain pen users looking for more ways to use their pens.  Users of rollerballs, gel pens, pencils, etc. will also resonate with its contents.  If you have a pocket notebook or plan to get one, I think this boo...

by Tony Thomas I decided that I wanted to put some of my frequently used fountain pens in a cup on my desk for quick access.  But what kind of cup did I want to use?  A coffee cup?  A Ball jar?  Something else? After thinking about it a bit, I decided it would be cool to put them in a lab beaker made of borosilicate (thermal shock resistant) glass.  After checking the measurements, I settled on a 250 ml beaker and placed an order on eBay.  The price was a bit more than $7 with shipping. I think it has a high-tech look and the beaker is perfect for that purpose.  Where do you keep your frequently used pens?

by Tony Thomas As many of us look for places to shop for gifts this holiday season, I thought I would take a few minutes and share some of my favorite pen dealers: The Goulet Pen Company: I have followed Brian and Rachel since they were selling fountain pens, paper, and ink out of their house. In recent years, Goulet has grown become the one of the premier fountain pen dealers in the United States, with a strong emphasis on customer service and education. They have a You Tube channel with an exhaustive library of videos on fountain pens, ink, paper, accessories and tips. Goulet also has one of the broadest ranges of products of any fountain pen dealer.  Their website is top notch with plenty of custom tools to help you find the best pens, paper and ink for your needs.  In addition, they offer great service with a personal touch.  I only wish they offered free shipping options and faster fulfillment when they are backed up with orders.    https://www.gouletpe...

by Tony Thomas I know I am late to the party, but I finally bought a TWSBI Eco fountain pen, made in Taiwan. Due to its amazing popularity, the Eco has been a difficult pen for me to score. Every time I was ready to pull the trigger, it was on backorder. Now I see why. To their credit, TWSBI is company that puts a lot of thought into the design of their pens. They are always experimenting with new and innovative designs, building prototypes and getting feedback from the fountain pen community. You can always see what they are working on by checking out their Facebook page. A pen like the Eco is the result. "Eco" is short for "economical", and at less than $30, this pen is pretty amazing. Aside from some cheap fountain pens from India, this is the least expensive piston filler you can buy. The main advantages of piston filler pens are their large ink capacity and ease of use and cleaning. In the case of the Eco, it is easy to disassemble and clean using the ...

by Tony Thomas While I have reviewed the standard Platinum Preppy previously, I wanted to check out and review the extra-fine 2 mm version as well. To my knowledge, this is least expensive Japanese extra-fine pen that you can buy. As with the standard Platinum Preppy, this pen is easy to hold and very comfortable. Because it is molded from light plastic, it is certainly more fragile than more expensive fountain pens. It comes in black and blue-black and can be used with standard Platinum ink cartridges or a Platinum converter (that costs more than the pen.) I found the nib to be very smooth and a pleasure to write with. If can be found for as little as $4, and it really is a bargain for those who are like to write very small or very fine text.

by Tony Thomas As I am always on the lookout for fountain pen friendly paper, I like to hang out at art supply stores and check out what they have. I have heard good things about paper used by artists to create layouts and sketches with markers, so it became the object of my attention during my most recent visit. Upon examination, a paper that has intrigued me is Canson XL Marker paper. It is somewhat light at 70 gsm (18 lb.) and semi-transparent. What really impressed me is its amazing smoothness. It is also made in France, and the French are known for making quality paper. (Clairefontaine is a great example.) Although it is someone expensive at around $10 for one hundred 9� x 12� sheets, I decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed. This paper is ultra smooth and does not feather with fountain pen ink. There is also no bleed through, although a bit of show through is evident due to its light weight. My plan is to cut it down to smaller sheets so I can use it in my leat...