BLAKE'S BROADCAST

The Goulet Pen Company Ink Drop November 2013

November 10, 2013 by Blake

Written with Rohrer & Klingner Glass Drip Pen on Maruman Smooth-To-Write paper. — Written with a Rohrer & Klingner glass dip pen on Maruman Smooth-To-Write paper.

This month’s Goulet Pen Company Ink Drop is titled “Christmas Dreams” and includes the following inks:

De Atramentis Poppy Red (not Red Poppy as I put in the writing sample…oops)

De Atramentis Pine Green (not Aramentis…double oops)

Diamine Crimson

Diamine Kelly Green

Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-Ryoku

My favorites this month are the Shin-Ryoku and the Poppy Red (reviews to follow). From my quick first impressions none of these inks are a buy for me. The Shin-Ryoku looks amazing when wet but it becomes a little dull when dried; it’s very similar to J Herbin Lierre de Sauvage which I think has a little bit more character and is cheaper to buy.

Ink Drop is a subscription service through The Goulet Pen Company (no affiliation) that consists of monthly shipments of 5 ink samples. Each shipment is $10.

Uni-Ball Signo Impact RT 207 Bold 1.0mm Review

November 8, 2013 by Blake

The Uni-Ball Signo Impact RT 207 is a retractable gel ink pen with a bold 1.0mm tip. I have been writing with this pen for a day now and line width is too wide for me and I don’t have small handwriting. The ink really flows out of this pen creating an ultra smooth writing experience. It’s actually a fun pen to write with even though I wouldn’t use it for work. The ink drys very quickly which is surprising for a gel ink pen with such a bold line. The design isn’t overly cohesive; it has a silver barrel with a black rubberized grip, a translucent click button with blue plastic inside, and a metal tip. It’s almost as if this pen with made from Uni’s spare parts bin.

I don’t have a use for this pen and it is a bit ugly but I do find it fun to use. I am not sure I would recommend this pen. The quality like all the pens in Uni’s Signo line is great but unless you need a really bold line you would likely be happier with a narrower Signo.

Morning Glory Passion Notebook Review

November 6, 2013 by Blake

The Morning Glory Passion notebook contains 32 7.5″ x 5.1″ sheets of lined (7mm rule) red paper. Morning Glory calls these notebooks “Colored Inner Paper Mini Notebook”. They come in other colors such as blue, green and yellow,. The different colors have different sayings on them; I saw a a blue one that says “diligence” on the cover. The notebook looks great with a bright red cover and pinkish red pages.

The notebook is bound with two staples. The paper handles fountain pen ink very well. I only saw bleed through and feathering with my Visconti Van Gogh combined with Noodler’s Qin Shi Huang. The paper is thick and smooth. I there was little ghosting; you can easily write on both sides of the paper.

The pages are much more red (pink) than the pictures show.

I really didn’t care for the Morning Glory Mach 3 but if you can handle colored pages this notebook for $2.00 is a complete home run. The notebooks look great, handle fountain pen ink well and are ultra cheap to buy.

Copic Multiliner SP 0.35mm Review

November 5, 2013November 5, 2013 by Blake

The Copic Multiliner SP is a drawing pen similar to the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner and the Sakura Pigma Micron. What makes the Multiliner special is that it has replaceable nibs and ink. The Multiliner comes in 10 nib sizes and 13 colors (including black). It is worth noting that the black pen comes in all 10 nib sizes whiles the color Multiliners come in two. The color refills fit in the black pen so if you want a specific nib size you might be better off buying a black one and a color ink cartridge.

The pen writes really well. The 0.35mm tip glides nicely across the paper and lays down a crisp black line. The tip does have some give but is not as soft as other fineliner type drawing pens.

The body is aluminum and while it feels nice it has too much writing on the barrel for my taste. This pen was designed to be a tool and serves its purpose well. The pigment ink is waterproof. The Copic Multiliner retails for $9.20 and the ink refills cost $2.30; it’s not cheap (the refills are almost two times the price of the Staedtler) but the high quality writing experience is easily worth it. I was surprised by how much I like this pen. I prefer Multiliner to my now former favorite the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner.

Here are some reviews of the Copic Multiliner:

(I have no affiliation with the sites linked below)

Does This Pen Write? – Copic Multiliner SP

Parka Blogs – Review: Copic Multiliner SP Pen

The Pen Addict -Copic Multiliner SP 0.3 mm Cobalt Blue Review

The Pen Addict – Review: Copic Multiliner SP Black 03

Montblanc Permanent Blue Ink Review

November 2, 2013 by Blake

Montblanc has released two new permanent inks, Permanent Blue and Permanent Black. Both of these new inks are ISO 14145-2 certified; this is the same standard applied to roller ball refills with permanent ink suitable for documents. Montblanc Mightnight Blue was previously formulated as a permanent ink but I do not believe it held this same ISO certification. The new Midnight Blue is no longer permanent. Interestingly, the Permanent Black costs $28 while the Permanent Blue costs $17 (same as the other MB inks). I went for the Blue because the saleswomen couldn’t explain to me why the black was worth an extra $11 (…if someone knows why please let me know).

The branding on the these new permanent inks is a little bit different. The boxes and labels on the bottles are white instead of the normal black with a color fade. The permanent inks use the same great 60ml Montblanc bottle which has a little hump in the middle making it easy to fill your pen when the bottle is low. Montblanc does an all around superb job with their packaging. There is an expiration date on the box and bottle which is a feature I love.

Permanent Blue is a nice true blue color with some shading. Permanent inks tend to write on the dry side and MB Permanent Blue is no exception. The flow was comparable to the R&K Salix (permanent) ink but noticeably dryer than the Waterman Florida Blue. I saw no feathering in my test and the ink had an average dry time on the Maruman Smooth-To-Write paper. I have tested the ink and it is completely waterproof. I dripped water on the word “Waterproof?” and the result is what you see below. Overall I really like this ink. I am going to see how it behaves in my Pilot VP for a couple of weeks and if I don’t run into any issues with clogging as I have with some other permanent inks, I will use it regularly.

J. Herbin Refillable Roller Ball Review

October 31, 2013 by Blake

J. Herbin is the oldest ink manufacturer in the world and was established in 1670. The J. Herbin roller ball is special because it is designed to use fountain pen ink. It takes short standard international cartridges which gives you a very wide variety of inks to choose from. I have been able to fit a Monteverde mini ink converter and now the ink possibilities are endless.

When I received the pen the first thing I noticed was that it was quite small at 4.5″ capped and about 5.5″ posted. The translucent demonstrator body is decently made. If you look closely you can see some seams but you cannot feel them. The metal clip feels pretty sturdy. I don’t like the “J. HERBIN” in red along the cap; I would have preferred something more subtle. There are three little holes on the bottom of the body so this pen could not be used as an eyedropper. The cap snaps on to the body to close and posts securely. Due to the small size of the pen, some people will need to post the cap to use this pen comfortably.

I filled the pen with Diamine Turquoise and the roller ball wrote quite well. Nice clean lines no skipping or any other bad behavior to report. It is not as smooth as a hybrid gel ink roller ball but that is to be expected. The line is about a medium width. The Monteverde mini converter does not hold a lot of ink so the standard international cartridge may be a better choice for some.

Overall I really like this little pen; it’s well-made, a good writer and can use all my favorite inks but if you are willing to put up with the hassle of fountain pen ink and cleaning the feed when changing colors why wouldn’t you use a fountain pen instead? I can’t come up with any reasons.

Here are some great reviews of the J. Herbin Roller Ball:

East West Everywhere – J. Herbin Rollerball

Paper Pens Ink – Review of the J Herbin rollerball

The Well-Appointed Desk – J. Herbin Rollerball Fail

Life Imitates Doodles – Review of the J Herbin Rollerball Pen and Ink Cartridges

Ink of Me Fondly – J. Herbin Refillable Roller Ball Pen

Yasutomo Y&C Gel Stylist Pen 0.5mm Review

October 29, 2013 by Blake

The Yasutomo Y&C Gel Stylist is an ugly and cheap refillable gel pen. The rubber gel grip is short on one side and long on the other, ending at a bump that prevents the pen from rolling on a flat surface. There are two big ugly seams that run the length of the pen. The chromed plastic tip unscrews allowing you to change out the refill. I found an unusually amount of resistance on the paper with this pen which made it hard to write in my messy cursive-esque hand. The ink like most gel inks is bright and vibrant. At $1.30 there are a lot better gel pens out there like the Pentel EngerGel X and the Sakura Gelly Roll.

Lihit Lab Aqua Drops Twist Ring Notebook Review

October 27, 2013 by Blake

The Lihit Lab Aqua Drops notebook employs an unique ring style binding that on the surface looks similar to your standard spiral ring notebook. The plastic rings are held together with two metal spines separated by a spring. This unique binding system allows you to open the rings so that you can remove and add paper to the notebook as necessary. The Aqua Drops comes with 30 sheets of B5 size paper with a 6mm rule. The covers are made of a translucent plastic and come in multiple colors; I got the Indigo Blue cover. The Aqua Drops logo is inset in black into the cover. There are also these little inset dots that are intended to look the rain drops.

In the picture you can see all of this ugly text / instructions at the bottom left corner of the notebook. This text is the first page of the notebook it is not actually on the cover of the notebook. After taking the picture I pulled the page out.

The pages have room at the top for a title and there are little notches on the top and bottom lines with a thicker halfway notch in the middle. On each page in faint grey “PULL OPEN” with a circle and an arrow is printed to show you which direction to pull to open the binding. The paper is smooth and fountain pen friendly. I only saw some slight bleed with the Visconti Van Gogh and the Noodler’s Konrad. There is some very minor feathering, but not enough to bother me. I have no problem writing on both sides as the paper is relatively thick.

A couple of negative points for me. First, the 6mm rule while nice and crisp is darker than I would prefer. Second, the Aqua Drops notebook only comes in a B5 size unless you want a top bound memo pad.

I really love the binding system on this notebook; it is top notch. If it came in more appealing sizes I would consider replacing my Maruman notebooks with Aqua Drops. At $9.35 for a 30 page notebook and $7.15 for a package of 30 loose leaf sheets the Lihit Lab Aqua Drops is on the expensive side. If the B5 size works for you this notebook is definitely worth a try.

Shachihata Artline Ergoline Roller Ball Pen 0.5mm Review

October 26, 2013October 25, 2013 by Blake

The Shachihata Artline Ergoline (I am amazed they could only fit “line” into the name twice) is an affordable disposable roller ball pen with a large plastic body and an ergonomic grip. The pen uses a water-based ink with a ceramic ball. I compared it against the Pentel EnerGel Euro and was surprised that the Ergoline moved across the paper with less resistance, despite this fact, the tip feels scratchy…it’s a weird combination.

The Ergoline is one of the fatter disposable pens I have come across at nearly half an inch thick at its widest point. It’s length is pretty standard at 5.5″ long capped and 6.25″ posted. I like the matte plastic black body and inset gold lettering which gives the Ergoline an air of quality. The cap has a nicely integrated clip.

Unfortunately, once you take of the cap and see the shiny black plastic grip section with two large seams the quality look goes out the window. The ergonomic grip felt cheap in hand and took a bit to get used to.

Apart from the grip I like this pen for $2; it has a nice clean look to it and writes relatively well. The Ergoline comes in black, blue, red, and green ink with a 0.5mm tip.

Shinola Paper Cover Journal Review

October 23, 2013 by Blake

Shinola is a Detroit based company that manufactures high quality American made watches, bicycles, leather products, and journals. The paper cover journals are sold in packs of two and come in three sizes and in multiple colors. The one I will be reviewing is the middle size measuring 5.25″ x 8.25″. Each notebook contains 144 pages (72 leaves) of blank paper…the cardboard packaging says “ruled paper” so finding blank pages was a bit of a disappointment. The acid free paper is a nice thick 60lb weight and comes from sustainably managed North American forests. Shinola’s notebooks are made by Edwards Brothers Malloy in Michigan. The cardboard packaging features a triangle ruler and a coaster (not sure why anyone would want a cardboard coaster).

Inside the cardboard jacket — Inside the cardboard packaging.

The notebooks look and feel very nice. I really like the clean design; there are no markings on the journal apart from “SHINOLA DETROIT” on the back cover. These books do not lay flat and the spine is slightly less flexible than a cloth bound Clairefontaine journal.

The paper is very smooth and quite nice to write on. I did notice some feathering with the Noodler’s Qin Shi Huang and J. Herbin Eclat de Saphir. There is bleed through from the Visconti but this particular pen and ink combination causes bleed even in Clairefonatine notebooks. The thick line from my semi-flexible Conway Stewart did not bleed. There is some ghosting but it isn’t bad enough to prevent me from writing on the other side of the page. The dry time for this paper is quite fast with most of the inks I tested drying under 10 seconds.

Overall I really like these journals and I consider them to be fountain pen friendly. I have been using this journal side by side with a Clairefontaine cloth bound journal and I definitely prefer the Shinola. They run $9 for a two pack which is about the same cost as one similarly sized 192 page Clairefontaine journal. In the future I am going to give Shinola’s more expensive soft and hard linen cover journals a try.