In feature

Paul South: Lefty Notepad

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment

Paul South Notepad

The Write Notepads & Co. is a Baltimore-based notebook manufacturer. Their notebooks feature a heavy kraft card stock cover that it letterpress printed with their logo on the standard edition or with their own creation, the Paul South figure on the specially made left-handed edition that features the spiral rings on the right-hand side.

Letterpress, locally-made, fountain pen friendly and lefty-centric? What’s not to love?

Both versions of the notebook are available in a small, 3.5×5.5″ pocket size and a larger 5.5×8.5″ A5-ish size. All versions come with either lined or plain paper. Prices are $8 for a small and $16 for a large and include a Write Notepads-printed, oversized rubber band to hold the book closed.

(tip o’ the hat to Inkdependence. Check out their post for a detailed review as well.)

In feature

Vector Scouts: Power to the Pen Tool

Author AnaPosted on

 

vector scouts field kit

I work in Adobe Illustrator a lot and the pen tool which allows me to work with bezier curves uses a fountain pen nib as its icon. WHAM! Both of my worlds collide. When I saw the Vector Scouts Field Kit from Vector Mill, its seemed like an obvious match. The set includes a Moleskine Cahier printed with the Vector Scout logo — bezier curve lines and the iconic, graphic pen nib —  and wrapped with a decorative, paper band. There is also a matching sticker and embroidered patch in the kit, all for $20. Most of the products sold by Vector Mill are icons, patterns and brushes to be used in Illustrator but anyone who wields a vector pen tool might appreciate the “Field Kit.”

(via Vector Mill)

In photo

Kaweco By The Bottle

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Kaweco Bottled Ink

I’ve been using Kaweco inks by the cartridge for all my Kaweco Sport fountain pens (when I’m not syringe filling) but I’m delighted to have the opportunity to use the inks in the more economical bottled versions. There are eight colors currently available: brown, midnight blue, palm green, paradise blue, pearl black, royal blue, ruby red, and summer purple. I assume these colors align with the cartridge colors. Each bottle is 30ml and sells for $15.75.

(via Anderson Pens)

In feature

News: The Case For Cursive Continues

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Case for Cursive

The new American educational curriculum called the Common Core State Standards Initiative is being discussed in the news in part because cursive writing is no longer going to be required instruction. Handwriting instruction has been waning and many states have already chosen not to require it. A national chance in teaching strategies in the US will pretty much guarantee that the few remaining states teaching it, will abandon it as well.

I’m at a loss what to say. So much more is gained in learning penmanship beyond merely the skill to read and write the characters: motor skills, brain pathways, patience and so much more…

I won’t rant here, but there’s plenty of other people who have said it:

Some links from the graphics (couldn’t find the Washington Post article):

(graphic via Montessorium)

In link

Link Love: Holiday Mail and More

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment

USPS Holiday Post Deadlines

Letter Writing and Postal Follies:

Neil Gaiman and his Lamy 2000

Pen & Ink:

Notebooks & Paper:

Misc:

In Pencil Review

Review: Pentel Graph 600 Mechanical Pencil (and Tombow Mono-WX 0.3mm HB leads)

Author AnaPosted on 5 Comments

Pentel Graph 600 0.3mm

I blame Mr. Dudek and, of course, Jet Pens for continuing to stoke my interest in evermore writing tools. My most recent foray was into modern technical pencils. I’ve used the sort of “standard” mechanical pencils for years but wanted to upgrade into a more substantial tool. This lovely, aqua blue Pentel Graph 600 0.3mm technical pencil ($10) seemed like as good a jumping off point as any. This pencil uses the finest lead I have ever seen at a mere 0.3mm which was part of the appeal since I’ve been using 0.5mm and 0.7mm leads in the cheaper mechanical pencils I’ve purchased in the past.

Pentel Graph 600

The body of the pencil is plastic but has a metal, knurled grip area. The metal helps to weight the end of the pencil as a purely plastic pencil would feel pretty lightweight in the hand. I wish the body of the pencil was also metal. I have a Caran D’Ache 844 mechanical pencil that is painted aluminum so I know it’s possible to have a great color and still get the consistent weight of a metal body.

The cap can be rotated to indicate which lead grade (from B, HB, H-4H) is in the pencil. Under the cap is a white eraser which is functional and at least gives you a chance to erase if needed and you forgot to pack a good eraser. The clip is metal. It looks removable but its not.

The pencil uses a standard click mechanism to reveal the lead and with the delicate 0.3mm lead, I only advanced a little bit at a time to eliminate the possibility of breaking it if I got heavy-handed. The lead can be retracted back into the pencil but the metal casing around the lead does not retract so I wouldn’t recommend carrying this pencil loose in a pocket or bag as impaling yourself is a risk.

Tombow Mono WX HB leads

I paired the pencil with Tombow MONO-WX 0.3mm HB leads ($5) which come in a sturdy plastic dispensing case. The leads are available in 2H, H, HB and B (HB being the grade most like the #2 pencils we used in school). The lead on paper was buttery smooth and withstood quite a bit of pressure for something so fine.

I do love writing with graphite and I think this would be a lovely addition to my ever-growing collection.

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