The Well-Appointed Desk

Link Love Link Mascot Sorry for the delay in this week’s Link Love. I came down with a nasty cold this week and missed a couple of prime blogging days as a result. I hope to get all caught up as soon as the NyQuil hangover wears off.

This week’s pen reviews run the gamut from office supply cabinet staples, ballpoints and some higher end fountain pens so there’s something for every price point. Enjoy!

Pens:

Pilot Vanishing Point – Matte Black (via The Finer Point)
Noodler’s Ebonite Konrad (via Gentleman Stationer)
Récife Fountain Pen (via Unroyal Warrant)
Parker 51 (via Alt. Haven)
Bic Atlantis Ballpoint (via A Penchant For Paper)
Zebra Sarasa Clip (via Gentleman Stationer)
Pentel Tradio Fountain Pen (via Write To Me Often)
Parker Jotter (via That One Pen)
Pilot G2 (via Fountain Pen Physicist)
Levenger True Writer Select Fountain Pen (via Pen Addict)

Inks:

J. Herbin 1670 Stormy Grey (via Gourmet Pens)
Diamine Coral (via A Fool With a Pen)
Iroshizuku Murasaki-Shikibu (via Fountain Pen Physicist)
Noodler’s Bad Belted Kingfisher (via Clicky Post)

Pencils:

David Hayward Design Hexagonal Leadholder (via The Pencil Case Blog)
Uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencil (via Pens! Paper! Pencils!)

Paper & Notebooks:

Kaweco Zequenz Notebook (via Gourmet Pens)
EcoQua Pocket Notebooks by Fabriano (via Office Supply Geek)
Blackwing Slate Notebook (via Notebook Stories)
Baron Fig Apprentice Pocket Notebook (via My Pen Needs Ink)
Mini Emergent Task Planner Notebook (via Pen Addict)
Dotgrid Co A5 Notebook (via Pens! Paper! Pencils!)
Free printable planners (via Plannerisms)

Other Interesting Stuff:

Dudek Modern Goods “Divide” (via Woodclinched)
Nib 9-1-1: Nib Tuning by Dan Smith (via From The Pen Cup)
Why Analog? (via The Cramped)
WHAT’S IN YOUR PENCIL CASE?: Poppy Chancellor (via All Things Stationery)
DIY Envelope Glue for Handmade Envelopes (via The Postman’s Knock)
NaNoWriMo – My Analogue Tools (via Pete Denison)
Time Shifting My Web Wanderings (via Modern Stationer)

In news

Diamine 150th Anniversary Ink Collection

AnaNovember 15, 2014Leave a comment

Diamine 150 years ink

In honor of the 150th anniversary of Diamine, eight new ink colors have been announced. The 1864 “Anniversary Collection” features new, triangular-shaped 40ml bottles. All the inks will be available for individual purchase and this collection will not be a limited release. For a full listing of the colors and written samples, check out this post from The Good Captain on the FPGeeks forum. I’m particularly keen on the Regency Blue, Blue-Black, Safari and Silver Fox.

Hopefully theses inks will start shipping in time for holiday stocking stuffing.

Diamine 150th Anniversary Ink Bottles

(via FP Geeks)

In Fountain Pen Review

Ka-Week-O! Review: 14K Gold BB Nib

AnaNovember 14, 2014May 27, 20174 Comments

Kaweco 14K Gold BB Nib

Have you heard about the new 14K gold nibs available from Kaweco? Ooh la la! I got the chance to try out the BB, double broad nib. By eye, it looked like a stub nib, wide and flat but when I put it to paper, it created a wide soft line. Not hard edged at all.

Kaweco 14K Gold BB Nib

The ink just poured out of this nib. It really was quite wet and super smooth. There’s a little bit of a spring to the nib but as you can see from the writing sample, it doesn’t actually flex. I suspect it has as more to do with the overall broadness of the nib than how flexible the gold nib is. I’ve never used a BB nib before. It was a lot of fun but with my small writing, it might be a bit too much nib for me.

Kaweco nib size sampler

As I was testing all these Kaweco pens this week, I was able to compare the line widths of all the various Kaweco nibs I had on hand. I have almost the full gamut available (just missing a B and the calligraphy nibs). I’ve often commented that there is very little difference that I can see between the Kaweco steel EF and F nibs and, from the sampler page, I think that stands true. It also makes it abundantly clear how much wider and darker the BB 14K nib is.

The BB nib I received is a full unit, not just the nib so, out of the box, its designed to fit onto the higher-end Kaweco fountain pens like the AL-Sport, Luxe Sport, Special, Allrounder, Elegance, Student or the Dia2. It could probably be wiggled out of the housing to fit into a standard Sport but since its a nib that will retail for around $100, is it really something you’ll add to your $25 Sport?

The 14K nib is available in the full range of sizes: EF, F, M, B and BB. There is a two-tone version available in M only.

Overall its a gorgeous nib and speaks to Kaweco’s commitment to advancing their pen line, staying true to its historical roots and listening to the numerous requests of its loyal users. And that makes me very happy.

DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Kaweco for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In news

Field Notes: Ambition (Winter Colors Edition is OUT!)

AnaNovember 14, 2014September 20, 20174 Comments

Field Notes is not resting on its laurels. The Winter 2014/15 Colors Edition “Ambition” is certainly an ambitious edition. The three books are stunning in rich autumny tones with gold embossed logo lettering on the cover and gold foil edges. Each notebook serves a different function: the olive cover features ledger lines (the same as what was featured in the Traveling Salesman edition – one of my favorite editions), and the wine-colored cover covers a book of graph paper, and the chocolate colored cover hides 56 pages of weekly planner pages. Get a jump start on 2015!

The paper inside each book is Cougar Opaque 50# Natural White text weight vellum and, of course, there are matching gold tone staples biding the books together.

No better time to start a Colors subscription ($97 for a year of quarterly offers plus a 3-pack of the classic Kraft editions) than with this edition. Or purchase individual sets for $9.95 per set.

Field Notes Ambition inside lines

I don’t have mine in hand yet but I cannot wait for this edition and I’ll definitely have to order additional sets. It would make a good stocking stuffer too.

In Pen Review

Ka-Week-O! Review: Kaweco Skyline Rollerball in Grey

AnaNovember 13, 2014November 14, 20141 Comment

Kaweco Sport Skyline Grey Rollerball hack

With pens, I tend to choose silver and grey as my go-to colors since there are seldom options in green. With the new Skyline series for the Kaweco Sport line, I went straight for the Mint color. I did not pass GO, I did not collect $200 – or a grey pen.

Most people are excited about the Skyline series because they feature silver-toned nibs and chrome silver hardware instead of the traditional Sport series’ gold-toned nib and hardware. So when the Skyline series was released, lots of folks were just pleased to purchase the black or grey Skyline model with silver hardware.

Its only now that I see the appeal of the neutral grey color of the Skyline series. In an effort to expand my horizons, this time, I’m test-driving the rollerball version.

Unfortunately, the Kaweco refill was not the least bit left-handed friendly – at least not on the Rhodia paper I use for most of my testing. The Skyline rollerball refill is probably about a 0.7mm in black and I smudged for the word “go.”

So, it was time for a hack. I found a Uni-Ball Sign RT 0.38 refill which looked to be the right length in the point section but the barrel was a little too long. I used scissors to trim the end and then put the spring on the tip and loaded it back into the Skyline body. Voila!

No smudges and a great new pen!

Kaweco Sport Skyline Grey Rollerball hack

DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Kaweco for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In news

Winners: Productive Luddite Giveaway

AnaNovember 13, 2014November 13, 2014Leave a comment

There were six winners in the Productive Luddite giveaway. (Sorry for the delay in drawing winners this week. I came down with a hella cold this week and was out of commission for two whole days. The last thing I remember it was Monday!)

The first three will get their choice of color of the Really Big Freestyle Notebook and the last three will get a Matte Black Star-Studded Sampler Notebook.

And the winners of the Really Big Freestyle Notebooks are:

Becca
ArtPen
Laura

The winners of the Matte Black Star-Studded Sampler are:

Stephen S.
Linsey S.
Dottie D.

You’ll each be contacted via email to confirm your shipping address.

In Pencil Review

Ka-Week-o! Review: Kaweco Skyline Clutch Pencil 3.2mm in Mint

AnaNovember 12, 2014November 14, 20141 Comment

Kaweco Clutch Pencil 3.2mm Mint

Everyone knows how much I love my Kaweco Skyline Fountain Pen in Mint so you can imagine how tickled I was to see the 3.2mm clutch pencil in the same gorgeous mint color. I’ve got a matched set!

Kaweco Clutch Pencil 3.2mm Mint

This is my first experience with a large diameter graphite pencil and it was a pleasant surprise. I was worried that the point would wear down too quickly but it stayed sharp through a page or more of writing. I will definitely need to look into a graphite point sharpener because this pencil will definitely be getting a lot of use.

The wide lead was smooth and easy-to-use. I think it will be great for writing and sketching.

Kaweco Clutch Pencil 3.2mm Mint

These two beauties snuggle up beautifully together in my leather soft case. Now I’m thinking all my Kaweco pens need pencil pals.

DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Kaweco for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.