Pen Battle! Brian Turns Against One of His Favorite Pens | Pencast 76
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- čas přidán 20. 07. 2024
- Brian reveals a dirty little secret, and engage in a two-part fountain pen debate against Drew while advocating AGAINST his beloved Pilot Custom 74!
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LINKS TO PRODUCTS FEATURED:
Kaweco Liliput - Green (Limited Production): www.gouletpens.com/collection...
Diamine Ink Cartridges: www.gouletpens.com/collection...
Private Reserve Ink Cartridges: www.gouletpens.com/collection...
Sailor 1911S: www.gouletpens.com/collection...
Sailor 1911L: www.gouletpens.com/collection...
Pilot Custom 74: www.gouletpens.com/collection...
LAMY safari: www.gouletpens.com/collection...
TWSBI SWIPE: www.gouletpens.com/collection...
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00:00 Intro
0:02:29 Feedback
0:10:05 New Stuff
0:12:23 What's the best way to dry your pens?
0:21:26 What's the best ink found in standard cartridges?
0:30:08 What can you add to ink to change its properties?
0:42:49 PEN BATTLE!
1:00:18 What's the weirdest material you've seen?
1:10:27 Memory Lane?
1:16:34 What's Happening?
1:45:18 Comp-nay Updates
1:46:29 Wrap Up
ABOUT GOULET PENS:
Brian & Rachel Goulet started The Goulet Pen Company in 2009 and you can see the evolution of our mom and pop into a full-blown company through this channel. We run a dedicated online store with fountain pens, ink, paper, and other fine writing accessories. Our goal with this channel is to provide fountain pen fans at all levels of experience with comprehensive product reviews, round ups, and how-to videos to answer all the fountain pen questions you may have. Shop at www.gouletpens.com.
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I love how Drew came out swinging in that pen battle. He came at the 1911 like it owed him money.
Brian please don’t ever stop being your tangential and superfluous best!! Not only do we learn things from you on a variety of things, not only fountain pen related, but watching Drew’s face is endlessly fascinating!!😊
LOL yaayyyyy. - Drew
This pencast is honestly my favorite thing to watch while I work.
@@Gouletpens unless I'm mistaken, the sarcasm is palpable. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
There is much special joy in seeing one colour blend in to another over a series of paragraphs/pages upon an ink reload/change. I regard it as a rare treat.
Ooh that actually sounds like a lovely experiment!
Drew’s faces when Brian confessed to playing fast and loose with cartridge swapping were priceless! I can’t say I’d not clean my pen before switching colors, but if I’m not changing colors then engage lazy mode. 😂
that really caught me off guard! - Drew
Same, if it's the same colour I let it be, if they're different I'll clean it through and through, let it dry and then change inks.
nah, just cram another color on there ... that said pilot parallel ink is hot swappable by design too
@@kat_koe Funny you mention the Pilot Parallel specifically. I have two of them (the pens), and I use the 6mm one for inkradicating lines of things I've completed on my ToDo list. It has become a receptacle for whatever minuscule amount of ink I pull out of whatever pen I'm temporarily retiring to storage. Right now, it's got a little Noodler's Dragon's Napalm ("Fire" now), some Noodler's Heart of Darkness, and something else red... Diamine Oxblood, I think. Probably a few other brands and colors in there as well. Something designed to put out ink like a 6mm Parallel, I really don't worry about what I have in it.
Picture it: 1965. I’m a 14 year old who hates ballpoint pens and I come across a nice and cheap Schaefer fountain pen for students that was practically indestructible given I had no idea how to care for it. So one thing I did after using the black cartridges which came with it was switch to blue without cleaning. Later they offered Peacock Blue and I cheerfully switched to that with no problem. If anything, I enjoyed watching the color of the ink change.
Edited to add the only problem I had with the pen was losing it after a few years.
Makes sense given the circumstances! - Drew
Sheaffer Skrip is one of my favorite and lowest maintenance inks. Interchangeable with many inks without needing cleaning. Older Sheaffer student pens were bulletproof!
Peacock Blue is still my favorite ink color, use it in all my Sheaffer’s pens since Jr High and buy it whenever I see it. Currently looking for a match as that cache is only getting smaller.
I had a Sheaffer student pen in the 60's. Peacock blue was my go to. Never cleaned it.
I absolutely swap cartridges with different colors without flushing.
The battle of the pens was everything. Please continue to add that to your pencasts.
Yes, you guys have plenty of inventory to pair up segments of that! 👍
Seconded!
You forgot to mention Herbin cartridges! They have a neat selection of colours beyond the usual red, blue & black. They're standard international too.
Omg the debate portion was so entertaining. Pilot Custom 74 vs. Sailor 1911S, and Lamy Safari vs. TWSBI Swipe. You gotta do these more often. So funny!
When Drew tried to praise the CON-70 converter, I laughed so hard I scared my cat!
I totally admit to swapping cartridge colors without cleaning. When you go from pink to blue you usually get a pretty awesome purple during the transition!
The pen battle had me laughing out loud the whole time! This was an amazing episode!!!
“Are we big fountain pen?” - Brian 😂
Bought my niece a small stuffed black lab for her first birthday so she wouldn't fear my real dog when she sees him. I named her stuffed animal "Baby Gotham" after my dog. For her third birthday, I gave her a huge stuffed lab the size of a kindergartner. She named it "Big Daddy Gotham."
I'm a store manager. Dealing with people on the daily emotionally tires me out. These pencasts reminds me that there are decent and just genuinely nice people out there that like to talk about nothing and everything haha. After a long day, these pencasts just reminds you that life is normal and okay.
I genuinely laughed out loud when during the pen battle Drew espoused the benefits of the Con70, and almost hurt himself. 😂
Brian's random pens is awesome. I 100% support a weekly section of Brian's pen collection.
It can also be a very looong series, given his massive collection. 😁
I've certainly done the Brian method of cartridge swapping. Fun fact--when you do it with Lamy green and red for a little while, you get a great brown for a while until it returns to your normally scheduled ink. So, it's not a bad habit...it's an adventure!
Literally laughing out of my socks with the battle of the pens!!😅😅😅
Witty responses and jabbing! Love it! More of this please😅
Yes!! The Battle of the Pens was awesome!
In my work Preppy, I deliberately didn’t clean when I switched between a blue-black cartridge to a green one. I wanted to watch the transition between colors!
ETA: Also Brian asked what’s the difference between regular soap and shave soap. I’ve made both so here’s my best not-super-technical answer! So when making soap, we combine fats with alkali. The ratio of what specific fats used is very, very different from just normal bar soap, in order to get that foamy bubbles that stick around longer, instead of the flash of big bubbles you get with bar soap. You wouldn’t want to be washing your hands with it all the time though, as it would be very drying to use that often.
Also soft vs. hard soaps use different alkalis, which can also affect how it whips up as you use the brush to create a lather, but that starts getting technical fast. lol
Watching Brian try to speak ill of the Custom 74 nib in favor of the Sailor was the funniest thing I've seen all week. Pen battle (esp. with you taking the opposite side from your favorites) should definitely be a new segment!
Coprolite is the word you were looking for with fossilized dino poop.
Thank you for discussing the 'How to dry a pen' theme!
It just came to mind a few days ago. After having cleaned the pens, they sat for 3-4 days, and still there was water in there - and as a plus now dust on the outside. 😤 So removed the dust (without water) and put the pens in the cabinet for storage, but with their caps slightly opened. Hoping they would dry, sometime, somehow... 🙈
Having you tell us that it is not that big of a deal is so very relieving! 😌 Thank you! 🌈
Piping up to say that I not only have done what Brian does "in a pinch" (put a cartridge in a pen without first cleaning the pen), that is how I used to routinely fill a fountain pen that had run out of ink -- just put another cartridge in. I have had one or more fountain pens since at least the mid-80s and it wasn't until ~2017 and I started watching Brian's Fountain Pens 101 series that I found out that cleaning a fountain pen is not only possible, but a really good thing to do! Luv u guys, thanks for all you do!
It's the same for me. I use fountain pens since I'm 10 years old (school in Germany...) . Only decades later did I learn that cleaning a pen is something that people do and it's even a good thing to do. 🙈
My Lamy Safaris definitely had a hard life...
Yup, guilty when I was in high school. Just take a new colour cartridge and just never ever cleaning my fountain pen 🤣
LOL I'll make sure Brian knows! - Drew
@@Gouletpens i'm sure he will sleep much better knowing this lol :)
Drew's face when Brian was talking about not cleaning out his pens is the reason why this podcast should always be watched on CZcams lol
We don't carry either of those pens any longer, so as far as I'm concerned, YES! - Drew
man the salmon TWSBI swipe can't catch a break. I really like mine! it's a weird, difficult color. love it.
I think it looks great! - Drew
I like it too!
Hey there pen friends! I actually enjoy to mix some colors from time to time, like Lamy turquoise is in the pen, then add Noodler's habanero to the converter/cartridge for example, and you start getting all shades of green in a super cool gradual way, I love it!
Pen battle hysterical. Laughed so hard. Channeling Abbot & Costello, Laurel & Hardy, Martin & Lewis. Take it on the road to pen shows. I would buy a ticket.
Drew just made me buy a green Liliput and Spearmint cartridges. Yes, I bought them from you. Plus a magnetic case. I needed some retail therapy.
You won't be disappointed! - Drew
Great show! Pen Battle should be a standard segment in every podcast. That was a lot of fun to watch.
Confession...I have taken ink sample bottle leftovers and mixed them. I have not yet used the ink. It is also from various brands...right now it is a greenish blue. almost an emerald color. It is pretty cool looking.
The safari does have its pluses and minuses…on the finials 😂
Love the pen battle! Please bring back the other ones in future pencasts!
Only 1:51:17 this week?! C'mon guys . . . 🤣
Brian, im not sure if it wss lazy mode for me, i think i was just a beginner and did not want to waste any ink, i had one platinum preppy, and different ink colours, i would just change the colour and ut would be from pink to blue, and the transition purple was fun to write with, im my defense platinum said the inks are mixable. So it was fun. I wrote with that pen and ink process for a whole year (in 2021) and the pen is still going :)
I have mixed inks in the barrel, out of convenience before. Brian is not alone.
I just finished cataloging all my pens and swatching all my inks. It was good to do and see the results. Organizing everything so they are easier to find and know what I have (over 100 of each).I can’t imagine what Brian’s collection would take.
Regarding cartridges. Before I discovered the Goulet University of Fountain Pens where I learned the proper care and feeding of my pens, I only had a couple of modern fountain pens. My Lamy Safari was my goto and travelled extensively with me. I only had cartridges back then, Lamy Blue Black and Lamy Black. I didn't know anything about proper cleaning so I would just write it dry and put a new cartridge in. I sometimes just stuck the nib/feed section under running water if it seemed like it was getting a bit 'gummy'. I would switch between the black and blue black and never really thought about it. Ah, for the good old days.
Maybe I’m asking for too much here, however can we get a video where Bryan just talks through his whole collection even if it’s just 30 seconds a pen. I would love that video….
Most of the time would be spent trying to remember the names! - Drew
@@Gouletpens still entertaining!
Yes, please!
I’m the one who said that I’d love to organize Brian’s collection. I really enjoy doing those kinds of things. And it’s pretty cool to be mentioned during the Pencast 😎
LOL Brian's assistant got a kick out of that! It's been a loooooong journey. - Drew
Aside from Brian weeping as he disrespects his favorite pen, the video makes it look occasionally as if he has a Man Bun thanks to the "whatever it is" on the shelf behind him.
Fun times. Well done guys!
We need more pen battles!
I’m laughing so hard during the pens wars that I have tears streaming down my face!
I am literally laughing out loud at the thought of cat-turd resin blank being turned on a lathe and a gnarly catbox smell (burnt catbox?) wafting forth!
Yes! I have changed a cartridge without cleaning the pen! To be fair, it was when I was a college student using a Sheaffer No Nonsense that had cartridges in blue or black, and I knew nothing about cleaning pens. And those pens are bulletproof, I never had a problem with them, just a little blue-black internal.
We need more pen battles, that banter is something to behold! I was really waiting for Brian to squash Drew with the clip shape (especially that ball at the end) on Pilot Custom 74 .. but I salute you Brian, you stayed civil and went easy on Drew on this one. That is some amazing self discipline right there :)
And to be honest .. the only reason why my first fountain pen was Lamy Vista is Brian and his videos .. I came across the Goulet Pen Company channel here on YT some 7 years ago .. and right of the bat, I was hooked on the demonstrator - pair it with easy going and affordable Lamy with swappable nibs .. it took me 6 more years of daily writing to finally go for an upgrade :)
@1:03:58 - For those of us with gray hair, we encountered ebonite quite frequently (if we bowled). Before modern urethane bowling balls dominated the market, most bowling bowls were made of ebonite.
I did know that! :) - Drew
Loved the PEN BATTLE! I own the Safari & the Swipe, learned a great deal about both from your arguments.
The Liliput you need to restock is the stainless steel Liliput that is just stainless steel and not the Fireblue. That's the one I want.
That's just a basic 2-man crosscut saw.
Brian, you are not alone; I don’t see anything wrong with continual cartridge use. I am an unapologetic serial cartridge user. I have a Lamy Studio that typically has Lamy Blue in it, but I have no qualms sticking another color in-which I have been doing for over 5 years without issue.
I just started a teal cartridge last week, and the transition time was beautiful. I also got a variety pack of inks for Christmas, and I currently have no plans to change my ways.
Brian, your woods are mouthwatering to me as a traditional archer. You'll need to set up some 3D targets and get a bow out there some day. 🏹
Weird (in the positive sense) materials: Meg at Black Robin Pens has made kitless pens from recycled skateboard decks!
I’ve seen her posts about those, the process of making them is fascinating.
Thank you so much! 💓 my son is also turning 13 this year, and it is really unbelievable 😳 we are here already! They grow up so fast 😢. Loved the battle of the pen 🖊 💙 and all the rest! Muchas gracias!
The DeLorean watch has 1.21 gigawatts of power, that's why it's still running.
LOL YEESSSSS!!!! - Drew
Lol I'm cracking up at the comparison bit. Your pencast helps my depression.... 💓
I know I am a bit late to this pencast, but listen Drew, just putting in the new cartridge without cleaning the pen out first is how we were told in school to do it. To be fair, we were supposed to use just royal blue anyway, but if we got to use a colored one, we always just popped in the new color cartridge. I remember loving watching the colors slowly mix and change. To be honest I still do it sometimes when syringe filling an empty cartridge. It is just so pretty. But in school we only ever used cartridges, usually just Pelikan or Lamy, depending on the personal pen and never cleaned our pens, unless it got forgotten over summer break and got clogged, which rarely happened.
That's the REASON I use cartridges! In some pens, I like to fill the cartridges but I use my other cartridge pens exactly as Brian describes. I like how Lamy Violet slowly turns into Lamy Turquoise 😊 💜💙
Me again! I would love to hear more about pencases that fit larger pens, like Benu Euphoria. I collected a few and ended up sewing my own case. While it is my pride and joy I'd like to see some options :)
I was at an art fair once and saw a booth selling pens, so I excitedly made my way toward it. Before I got a good look at them, the seller saw my enthusiasm and started proudly showing me how all the fountain pens and rollerball pens were made using bullets and metal pieces that looked like parts of guns. I extricated myself as soon as I could. That's not my jam...😅
Also, seeing you two uncomfortably debate against your favorite pens was pretty hilarious.😂
I think Brian's idea to clean in-between cartridges is a good one. Filling from a bottle sends turbulence both ways through your fill hole and feed, dislodging any particulates picked up through use, and enhancing the flow. Maybe you could high-light the Kaweco Twist & Out Ink Cartridge Dispenser for those who like to carry spare cartridges on the go. BTW: after the Pen Battle I no longer trust what you recommend! LOL
Before I learned anything about fountain pens, I used to change cartridge colors without cleaning out my pen. I really enjoyed the ombre effect I would get as one color changed to the next!!
I would love a pen spotlight on anything Benu!! Love the Pencast
Drew, Nightwing issue 87 which is also collected in the trade paperback Vol. 2 Get Grayson, is amazing. If you were able to take each page front and back and lay them down side by side, it would create one continuous cityscape that Nightwing flips in and out of and jumps and fights through.
Amazing! Getting back into things, I'm noticing that Nightwing has a FAR bigger following that when I stopped reading (right before New 52). It's awesome to see a longtime favorite getting the spotlight! - Drew
I've purchased cymk, light grey, white and dilution for De Atramentis document inks and I absolutely love it! Initially I was trying to replicate MB Psychedelic Purple, however the Cyan and Fuchsia aren't warm enough to do that, but I love creating all of my own unique colours. In the ink sample vials, a little from each 30ml bottle goes a long way.
Highly recommend! ...especially if you create a colour wheel first, to understand the basics of the ratios of colour mixing 1darker colour : 5 lighter colour for secondary. The tertiary colours are more of an art form.
I am rapidly approaching 70 years of age and have used fountain pens for probably 60 of those years. Pulling off an empty cartridge and slapping on a full one used to be my way of inking a pen. (As a youth, finding cartridges was easier and less expensive than finding bottled ink.) Color mattered not. I even remember wanting the mixed ink to last longer. Nowadays, converters and bottles are my choice for inking, but I fondly remember the days of cartridges and "what the heck color is that".
Don't feel too badly Brian. I've put different color cartridges in a pen when it's out of ink too. You're right, it does work its way through eventually. You gotta do what you gotta do!
OMG!! I straight up laughed out loud at Drew with as he flexed during the pen battle. I had no idea you could make a pen battle so funny!! I keep imagining how much fun your childhood must have been when you guys first met. I really appreciate your long-term friendship. You guys must be amazing dads too. Your families are really lucky to have you both. Thank you for making this hobby so funny and lighthearted. It really makes my day. Big hugs from Canada.
LOL yes, we have a great time. We wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for your support, Elena! Thank you so much for joining us! - Drew
Quick question. I use a Pilot Kakuno with an extra fine nib and Platinum Carbon black ink (in a CON-70 converter). What Pilot Pen would you recommend as an upgrade as I tried eyedroppering a Platinum Preppy (and I cracked the body) and I am worried that this Kakuno might crack as well. I seem to really enjoy the Japanese finer nibs. I have a Lamy Safari in Extra Fine and a TWSBI Eco-T in Mint in Extra Fine, but alas, the European nibs don't really do it for me as I like to draw with a lot of detail. Your pen advice would be sincerely most appreciated.
I have definitely put different colored cartridges in the same pen without cleaning. Usually, it's a blue after a black and for a while the pen writes a nice blue-black-gray until the cartridge takes over.
LOL - @32:22 Brian meant "reverse osmosis" (not "reverse ion")...
I love when you guys tackle scientific topics (without a formal science education)... you're absolutely fearless!!
We're very comfortable in our ignorance! Lol - Drew
Very neat pencast!
Informative and fun!
Also, Drew I agree on the physical media 💯
I think Drew was correct right at the beginning, I think baking soda would alter the performance of an ink. But not in a way anyone wants.
I wanted to hear Brian dis his beloved Lamy 2000. I think the facial expressions alone would be priceless
German schoolchildren routinely engage in serial cartridge use behaviour. I would even say cleaning a pen that still writes well enough was more the exception than the rule when I went to school. We routinely changed and exchanged and borrowed cartridges of different brands and/or colors, and the transition from one color to another was always fun and interesting. As long as you're using benign "standard" inks, it's fine. These inks (and the typical school pens) are made for users from the age of 6, so there is a lot of room for sloppiness.
(Another shocker: some brands here sell what they call "universal cartridges" with a standard international opening on one end and Lamy on the other. Not a huge variety of colours, but very useful in school.)
In the 80s I used to but myself the Sheaffer Cartridge Calligraphy Set, I was in Junior High at the time and would constantly swap out cartridges since I was in school and had no clue that pens would need to be cleaned out.
How fun to see the banter on the Pilot/Sailor debate. I purchased the Pilot Custom 74 based on Brian's waxing reviews from previous shows. No regrets!
“Big Fountain “! That was pretty funny.
Brian's most mentioned pen things:
#1 - Lamy 2000
#2 - That time he washed a blue fire liliput
#3 - That time he did something with a car port with a Traveler's pen in his pocket
😭 I've cought up on the pencast! Got a fountain pen for Christmas and fell in love with it. Found you guys shortly after that. I have watched every pencast in that time . So Thanks for all you do! the pencast has been a breath of fresh air for me. Your knowledge has been a great asset . Keep it up guys.
Thanks so much for sharing such kind words! - Drew
Just a quick thought on industrial compressed air. Many large compressors will condense moisture in the lines and some may have a touch of oil to collect the moisture and keep things lubricated. If the business is involved in the arts the compressor will have driers built in or added on to protect airbrushes, paints or small air driven tools.
Omg, so I've been writing with a fountain pen since I was 5 (I'm in the UK, that's how we were brought up) and we at least 90% of the time used cartridges only. I cleaned my pen only if it totally dried out and huffing (breathing heavily) on it didn't work. As we grew up using, Parker, Shaeffer and Osmiroid they rarely dried out. You could switch to a pen you'd not used for months and it would just work. So, I'd maybe clean a pen every couple of years. Yes, years and I still have all the pens I had then and they still write beautifully. There's so much scaremongering and obsession about cleaning pens it never ceases to amaze me. Just relax and keep writing. Xx
I want to go on the record right now as stating that I one voice among many, the many who would ABSOLUTELY watch four (or however many, really) hours of you going through your pen collection, especially if you were able to share these sorts of small interesting details about them. However, I will say that I'm also enjoying these short snippets inside the Pencasts as well!!
Standing up on behalf of the popping in a new cartridge without cleaning or even using the same color! Have done that since late 80’s when I got my first fountain pen (italic calligraphy nib). I certainty did not know that people clean pens between uses. I thought you only cleaned one when you wanted to see the lighter color ink you wanted to use after having a dark ink. But, in general, I loved watching the ink change color. Given that I would later be a chemist who worked with dyes, I think the fascination stuck. I still regularly mix inks for fun.
Miss you guys. Always nice to see you both.
Thanks for coming back! - Drew
@@Gouletpens always a pleasure :)
I look forward to your podcast every week as I listen on my commute to work! I found your podcast a few months ago (though I had been following Brian years ago and just refound you guys) and have been listening to older podcasts as well! Would love to see you talk about mixing inks together (either same brand inks or different brands)!
Also, if you guys could only use 3 fountain pens for a whole year (no nib swapping allowed but no limit on ink colors) which would you choose?!?
Love every second of your podcast Brian and Drew!!
Thank you so much for joining us! - Drew
Is an ink in a cartridge always the same as its bottled brethren? Since a cartridge is a closed environment does it need biocide?
Great question! I have no idea! - Drew
My favorite thing is putting in a different cartridge without cleaning and watching the ink mix and transition.
Funny, when Brian mentioned that a tree gets caught by the branches of other trees, I was really expecting him to say that to solve the problem he would cut the other trees that were holding up the 1st tree - then I imagined that those trees would get caught, and so yet another tree needed to be cut! Drew, okay, now am looking forward to that two person saw that you will hunt down for Brian. :) Also, Happy Birthday to Joseph, now he is a teenager!
I currently just shoved a J. Herbin Ambre de Birmanie cartridge into a Plikan Jazz Elegance that had a Waterman Serenity Blue cartridge in it because another pen was having issues and Waterman is my diagnostic ink. The resulting color mix was actually really pretty, like a green you would use for army fatigues.
Drew, if you got cut up that badly you may need to get a fresh blade in there. I've been shaving with a straight razor for over 15 years now and irritation and cuts like that are a sure sign that I need to sharpen it. You guys are great and I always enjoy the pencast.
I am a fan of Goulet Pencast ...here is the biggest reason why...it is on you tube and I can have CC on as a hearing impaired person "podcast" are not an option for me. I appreciate this. Love the pens too don't have enough just a few ....just 10 ...ok it is a thing for me. Thanks for being there for the rest of the world often left out.
I hope the captions are mostly accurate! :) - Drew
@@Gouletpens They are mostly pretty good....once Brian said here at Goulet pen...and caption read here a jelly pen.... I laughed thinking I don't think that's in stock...but yes I can follow. I have a program on my computer too. But CC mostly does ok.
1:12:42 bottle caps are made of HDPE, while the bottle body is generally made of PET. Same family of polymers (polyethylene) but with different additives. PET is the variant called Polyethylene Tetraphtalate. With added glycol it becomes PETG, a common plastic used in 3d printing.
So, it is "the same sort of plastic", but it's a very versatile family with properties that can be tweaked for different uses
Love the different material discussion. Hope to see more interesting materials in the future. I was thinking of Ultem being a fairly new addition to the ranks (thanks Schon and gravitas). I was always looking for neat materials as a turner myself. I did a rattlesnake skin that my sister-in-law snapped up like a, well, rattlesnake. Also when you see carbon fiber pen blanks, it's usually only a single layer over the central brass tube and the rest is just clear resin so you aren't turning the actual carbon. However, some of the "big" manufacturer carbon fiber is legit tough to work with like the pineider one you said had a big error rate. I'd love to see more interesting materials become more commonplace!
Staedtler has a ballpoint pen made of concrete, that came to mind immediately.
Brian while grimacing: "if you.. like a.. stiffer nib"
Aurora: "are we a joke to you?"
WatermanPhile here and I used their long cartridges in black in a pinch on top of any ink color... I keep one in my pen case for emergencies
Mixing a Tsuki Yo cartridge plus the Pilot Petit 1 Light Green cartridge (meaning, adding a new cartidge without cleaning), makes a beautiful color. The Petit cartridges fit in kakunos, plumix, pluminix, penmanship....
Cheap fun!
I don't use cartridges all that often but I always keep a box of Diamine Syrah on hand. I enjoy using it in a Retro 51 Stealth.
No shame, Brian! I also mix inks without cleaning out the one before-sometimes you can get some interesting combinations! I love the deep purple that comes from mixing Australian Roses and Heart of Darkness between pen fills :)
For standard international cartridges, don't forget Monteverde has California Teal (and others too I'm sure, but who needs more than that one?)
I am behind on the physical aspect of my health diary and have 3-4 health related appointments this week, so I am not paying too much attention as I try frantically to write down 2.5 weeks of stuff I have been monitoring in text messages to myself. It's a Brunnen dot grid fabric spine A5, all shiny and new... because I ran out of pages in the other one. This one hasn't been rained on five times yet, so it is still in the honeymoon stage where it doesn't mind if I use wet, broad nibs on both sides of the page. Forgot how nice that could be.
Great pencast mood, thanks for keeping me company,
I love the ombre effect I get when I fill a pen with a different color of ink without cleaning the previous one out!
Brian, using whatever ink is available without cleaning was very common in the past. Modern obsession with cleaning is probably more because of the more special properties inks. A brand made for around a century at least should play nice with others. So Diamine is a safe bet for standard inks. (Other "heritage" brands as well. Unnamed because you don't carry them. 😁) I have safely swapped inks without cleaning with others than just Diamine.
Biocides? Vintage tended to use that standard of Chloraseptic, phenol, so it may be available pure (crack open a WWII era bottle of Parker Quink. Phenol is the smell. 😉)
And Drew, might be the razor. Vintage Gillette has always done well for me because the pitch and amount of exposed blade. I HIGHLY recommend something adjustable. Still shaving with a basic '62 Gillette after a stroke and poor coordination now with no cuts. Keep at it! You'll tackle the problem!