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The Pen Addict 638/transcript

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The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript
Episode: 638
Title: Spooky Episode
Release Date: October 30th, 2024
Hosts: Brad Dowdy

Myke Hurley

Guests: No guests this episode
Additional Information
Official page: Episode 638
Audio File: Audio Episode 638
Podcast page: The Pen Addict 638
Length: 5555 min <br />0.917 h <br /> minutes
Previous Transcript Next Transcript


  • From Relay, this is The Pen Addict, episode 638. It's a spooky episode. No, it isn't. This episode is brought to you by Squarespace and Heinz Pens. My name is Myke Hurley, and it's not spooky around here because it's still Ticonder October. We're saying goodbye, and there's no better person to do that with than Brad Dowdy. Hi, Brad. I can't believe I've made it through like an entire month of focusing on pencils. It's been a great time. I've had it. It's been fun. Genuinely, this has been my favourite month of the show this year. It's been fun. It's been fresh. It's been new. You know, I've really enjoyed Ticonder October. Yeah, it's been fun to do something different, even though, like, you know, I'm deep into pencils. Like, when we have all of these opportunities in front of us with stationery, where you can just go down all these little different rabbit holes, sometimes you forget one of your favourite little rabbit holes. So I wanted to take some time, refocus on the graphite things in life, and I think it's been really fun to me to sit here at my desk and pick out, like, a new pencil every day and kind of explore what I like and what I don't like. And, yeah, we'll be talking about that a lot throughout the show today. First up, a little follow-up, continuing the colorblindness talk. I think this is very good to get some feedback on this from people who are more affected than you or I with this. And I got a link in Slack from Ben, and this leans more towards the digital side, but I thought it was a good reference as, you know, people talk about colorblindness and different ink colors and how all of that works. So Ben says, since colorblind-friendly color combos have come up in the last two podcasts, I figured I'd share one of my favourite write-ups on the subject. It's more geared to on-screen and in-print graphics, but I feel some of the general principles can be applied everywhere. I'm not colorblind myself, but my co-workers seem to appreciate when I use these color schemes. So I wanted to throw this link in there because I thought that was cool of Ben to share that with us. And, yeah, I appreciate that, and I appreciate all the feedback on this discussion. And how interesting it is to, hey, let's find a particular shade of red or a particular shade of green that might work better for a certain person. And that's why we love this type of show, where we can, like, really get specific about one person, one person's issue. But then it turns out that, hey, maybe a lot of other people are interested in this content, too. So it's pretty neat. So we definitely appreciated all the talk and all the feedback around picking some proper colours for some colour blindness challenges. So that's really cool. Cool.
  • I'm going to take you on a quick tangent, which may be a sore spot for you. We'll find out. And just seeing a sight, I thought that you moved the pen addicts, like, to Discord.
  • No. Oh, God, no. Okay. No. Why do you say, oh, God, no. Oh, well, because it hasn't ever come up, really, in, like, years. Okay. As in, like, I've just never really considered it. Not that I wouldn't do it, but, yeah. I'm sure the administrative work would be less. Because you have to invite every single person, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. That's probably, like, an entire podcast. Probably is. As I said, I derailed here. I know, but, like, social platforms for, like, community building, like, that's an entire thing. So, there's definite pros and cons. Slack has a ton of drawbacks. Yeah. Discourse is the answer because it's actually what it's for. I agree. Slack is not for what you're using it for. Yeah. Exactly. And I literally have someone made, like, a shell Discord for me at one point that I'm staring right at right now in the pen addict Discord. But I've never invited anyone to it or never built it out or anything like that. So, I don't know.
  • There's lots of things I could do. Honestly. I don't disagree. Because if you had it free and open, I mean, that's, like, great. But, anyway, I'm not going to make you do it. And I'm sorry, everybody in Slack. I'm sure I've annoyed now. Because they love their Slack. Well, let me tell you, if somebody uses Slack and Discord for this kind of thing, Discord is just better. It is. It is. In my opinion.
  • It is. All right. Speaking of better, Stabilo has upgraded some of their highlighters, at least the exterior of the highlighters, making them better in that they're cooler looking. I got this link in the email. So, thank you, Steven. Did you know that Dolce and Gabbana have a Stabilo highlighter collaboration? I'm completely fascinated by this. What were your initial thoughts when you opened this link? I mean, I don't understand it. It's madness. I don't understand it at all, actually. Like, I'm not sure, like, what this is in service of. Like, who's asking for this? Like, what is the brand connection between them? Like, is this something that is very strange to me? Very, very strange to me, honestly.
  • I could not love this more because it doesn't make sense for all the reasons that you said. You know, they're... Here's what I'll say. Here's what I'll say, actually. Because I was like, what's this cost, right? Mm-hmm. For the pack of four in what is actually pretty cool packaging, it's 30 euro.
  • Now, that's fine, right? Like, I'm less annoyed by this. Is it though? Yeah, but Brad, come on. If I would have told you this was 265 euros, you would also believe me, right? I would, actually. Yes, I would. That's what I'm saying. Like, for something like this, you know, there is a certain type of person that they would like their highlighters to look like this. And it comes in this presentation box. And at least the colors are matched, even though I don't know who wants a brown on black highlighting. Like, a black highlighter. I don't really know what that's for. I guess it's for the opposite. It's the redact things, I suppose. Yeah, it's more of the marker, yeah. But for 30 euros, that's not that bad. Actually, it's not bad at all, I don't think. I guess. I guess so.
  • Look, it's what I'll say. If Stabilo did this with Paul Smith, I would have bought them already. Sure, sure, sure, sure. Yeah, like, Caran d'Ache does a bunch of Paul Smith. They pretty much have the stationery Paul Smith catalog. And, like, Dolce & Gabbana is trying to, like, take some of their classic patterns and colors and put them into, like, a highlighter. But it's just such a weird one because... It's so weird. It's so weird. The Stabilo, this particular highlighter is, like, the base OG highlighter, right? It's not, like, some super unique wild highlighter. It's actually a good platform for color because of the way that these highlighters are shaped. Like, this shape has been around for decades. Like, this highlighter is very well known. It's probably one of the most popular. And then just... But just the idea of this collaboration is... You can't think about it too hard. It's hilarious. Because it makes no sense. It's so good. Yeah, it's hilarious. It's so weird. It's such a weird... Because... I just don't know... I don't know how this comes together. Like, of all of the stationery brands and products to collaborate with, why did they choose Stabilo Highlighters as that? Yeah. That is... It's very odd. Yeah.
  • I'm with you. Like, and it's a German brand. And I like... I do like that they call the... They do call the black one a highlighter still. Like, it's funny to me. So, this whole thing is great. I'm way, way in on that. So, thank you, Stephen, for... That was the highlight of my inbox this week. Because I hadn't seen that before we got sent in. All right. I want to talk a little bit about Ticonder October a little bit as we wrap it up. And we're going to go... We're going to bring pencils in and out of this episode. Because I have some more follow-up we'll do a little bit later.
  • We've covered a lot of the bases for pencils this month. And the one thing I haven't covered specifically were pencil leads. Right? So, mechanical pencil leads specifically. So, I did... I actually got an email this week about it. And I got a... Got an email asking, Hey, you've talked all about this. What about your favorite pencil leads? So, I have a category on the blog that I have not updated in a while. It's called mechanical pencil lead. So, I just put a link into that tag. And I tested... I don't know how many posts there are. There's probably at least 10 or 12 posts on a time where I just kind of went through a bunch of different graphites. Trying to figure out which ones I like, which ones I don't. In the end, anything that Pentel makes was my favorite. Even their stock basic, you know, lead that ships with their products, like, by default. Like, if you just go buy Pentel's basic lead, and you've probably seen those little lead sleeves.
  • They've been around since the 70s. Since, like, around the sharp and the carry time when those came to be invented.
  • Their core lead is just unbelievably good. So, what's happened over the last 10 or 15 years is the companies like Pentel, Pilot, and Uni have taken their base lead formulations and attempted to make them stronger. Right? So, then you have your basic Pentels, and then you have a Pentel Einstein lead, which is made to be stronger. Right? It's supposed to be a firmer, longer-lasting lead while still retaining the same color density that you want to see on the page. Where, you know, harder in Pencil grades usually leads to lighter on the page. But, they've, you know, tried to upgrade all these formulations. So, Uniball has one called Nanodea. That's their, that's their premium, you know, premium lead offering. So, test these out. Most of them are pretty good. You can get by with the stock standards for the most part. Again, I would, my personal preference is with Pentel.
  • And, there was hardly any that I could find to avoid when I was doing all of this testing. Except for one. Except for one. Rotary lead offerings were terrible. I really, really disliked how they felt. They felt less graphite-y and more clay-y. Right? They felt like it had that waxy feel to them. Which I did not enjoy whatsoever. And that was the only company that I found where it just completely stood out on the negative side of the ledger. Where I was like, I would put it in a pencil and I was like, I really dislike this. Just from a feel perspective. So, I'll put in a link to the show notes to the Pentel one. Which I prefer. Which is just the basic one. And then we'll have a link. I think I have the link to the Rotring one. Which I'll find. But, there's a lot of confusion in this market right now.
  • Because there is so many options.
  • Even within, like, a singular maker. Like Pentel. They can have, they have all kinds of different options. You can try and test. But, you know, if you just want something simple. And to have, like, a stock lead. You know, like a stock beer in your fridge. Right? The basics. Pentel basics. Because that's all you need is the stock Pentel. And I'll put a link in the show notes to that. And you'll look at that picture and you'll go, oh yeah. I've seen exactly what these leds look like. So, yeah. Good stuff.
  • Pencil paper is another thing. We didn't, I, we talked a little bit about it. And how paper is important. Just like with fountain pens. And inks. Paper is important to pencils. We did cover that. I have had a little bit of questions. Around paper. Like, what do I prefer? And it's really the more basic. The better. With your pencil paper. Because you want it to have some texture. And some grab to the graphite. Like, I'm using, I use field notes a lot with pencils. Because their paper's not coated. And it's not slick. We've talked about in previous episodes this month. How, like, I don't like rhodia. For example. For pencils and graphite. Because it's too slick. Even though the markings in the end look fine. Right? You're going to see the right color. And, you know, it's going to look like a pencil on the page. It just doesn't feel good. And pencils are one of the more tactile things that we use in the stationery world. Where you can actually feel something. Like, when you're writing on a page. As opposed to, like, with maybe a rollerball. You might be looking at, oh, this ink is a really rich black. And that's how I like it on the page. But you don't really necessarily care about the feel of that on the page. Unless it's terrible. Right? Unless you have, like, something technically wrong with, like, the tip of the pen. Like, you don't ever talk about how a rollerball feels on the page. Well, a pencil you do. So, some of the papers matter. But I tend to lean towards the basics. I use a lot of field notes with pencils. And some of the fountain pen papers that I do prefer work well with pencils. Like the bank paper. However, it's the ever slightest bit textured.
  • To give the pencil a good feel. Moramon makes a paper called the Croquise. Which is, also has that same kind of bank paper feel. It's a very firm page. Which I like. So, yeah. Like, paper matters less with pencils. There's more, just. The more regular stuff works with pencils than with, like, fountain pens. Where you do kind of have to think about it a little bit more. So, and finally, on this part of the wrap-up. I reviewed the Wopex, Myke. Which, the Statler Wopex is a very well-known pencil. That doesn't mean it's good. It's just, it's just so weird. It's like, it's made from, essentially, wood scraps from Statler's other products. Which is great. Like, the concept of this pen, I have zero, pencil, I have zero issue with. Right? They're, they're using every part of their production process. And it's like, oh, look, we have this wood waste. What can we turn this into to actually use something? Man, that's awesome. Right? So, they turn it into this, essentially a paste, is what I call it. To where it could, this pencil is extruded. Right? From a machine. And that's how they make these pencils. As opposed to a traditional lead pencil. Which almost has, like, a two-piece slat. That's kind of, like, top and bottom. And they're, they're phased together. And put together in that fashion. This is, this is made differently. So, therefore, the feel of the barrel doesn't feel like traditional wood. It's very plasticky. They have some plastic mixture in there. It's like a 70-30 wood waste plastic combo. It's very dent. It's like two or three times the weight of a regular pencil. Which isn't too heavy. Because regular wooden pencils are so light. They're airy. This one doesn't feel heavy. Unless you get one side by side. Pick them up right after the other. They're like, oh, yeah. This is different. The problem that I have with the Wopex. Because it's twofold.
  • One, the graphite is really bad.
  • As far as meeting my expectations. This particular one that I reviewed is an HB number two. Which should just be, you know, right in the middle. Straight up. You know, you pick up a pencil that you find. It's probably going to be a number two pencil. And it's something, like, a lot of people grew up with. Like, especially here in the U.S. Where number two pencils are required. So you're just used to this normal number two graphite color on the page. And this is not that at all. Like, it's not even close. It's so light. It's almost like a clay tip. Again, that's what I use. That's the terminology I use for, like, the mixture. Like, color pencils use more of a clay type mixture. And this is more, this is like, it's a pretend graphite. It's what it feels like on the page. It's like someone's made, like, a color pencil graphite. And I don't enjoy writing with that when I have, you know, I don't know, countless dozens of other pencils that I can use instead of this. The bigger problem than the graphite is actually sharpening the pencil. So, if you don't have, like, a good quality handheld desktop sharpener, you're going to have a bad time with a handheld sharpener. It just sharpens unevenly. The barrel catches in the blade. So, like, people who are not familiar with what's required to correctly sharpen a Wopex are going to have a really bad time with this. Like, I can figure something out here at the house, right, because I have a lot of different sharpeners figured out a lot of different options. And I can make a good point on the Wopex. Most handheld, small, tiny, single blade sharpeners, you're just going to have a complete nightmare sharpening these things. So, I did capitulate and did say that it's not the worst pencil of all time, because that's usually what I say. Like, it writes fine. Like, if you want to have this light color graphite on the page, like, it's fine. But everything else about the pencil would make me never choose to use it on purpose, right? It's just not good. It's not good in pretty much every way, shape, or form. So, it did make my handwriting look good, though, because it's a really, really firm, light color graphite on the page. So, you know, I could write a whole – you could write for days with this thing and barely have to sharpen it. But when you do try to sharpen it, you're in for a bad time. So, that's my latest, Myke. We're going to have one more little Ticonder October update here in a minute. But I'm excited to get pens back on the menu this week, Myke. I think we're back. We're back later in this week. And we'll talk about something else that's going on on November 1st. But, yeah, it's been fun posting all this stuff using pencils. I'm using a Camel HB today in the form factor of a craft design technology. This is a very, very weird and unique pencil, but it's one that I love. And, yeah, it's been fun to explore this. And the whole point of me doing this was to, hey, remember that you like wooden pencils and start using them more when it's not Ticonder October. So, I think I have succeeded in that goal. And, yeah, I do look forward back into getting into some pens here soon, though. I think it's a good idea just in general, like themed times of the year.
  • I just think it's a cool concept maybe for you and for us. I think it forces the use of certain products. I've actually already been thinking about another one that I should do. I haven't committed to that yet, though. Journal January. Journal January.
  • Come on. Journal Jan. We should do that. We should do that. We should just talk a lot about journaling in January. I know we do anyway, but, like, focus on it. Well, okay. Let's book that. Because in the past week, maybe week and a half, I've used Apple's journaling app every day. And I avoided it since the beginning. So, I want to talk about that in conjunction with that. But I think I still need until January to get, like, an idea of that. So, journal. Journal January. Coming to a month near you.
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  • Because really, like, the news just came out on, Greg's son posted a post on the Hardy Penwrights Instagram, which we'll have all these links in the show notes if y'all want to go check out everything. So all the makers are just showing their appreciation to Greg, what he taught them, what he shared with them.
  • You know, I've had just wonderful interactions with him through the years. He, when I would see him at pen shows, he would practically yell at me across the room just to show me what he'd come up with next. Right? He was one of those people who just loved what he did, and he wanted you to know about it. And, like, that's really cool that someone cares, like, that much that they want to, like, for me. And, like, I'm not unique in this. Like, everyone probably has a very similar Greg Hardy story. You know, it's like, Brad, Brad, come here. Let me show you this. And then he would just go into it, right? He would just, like, get deep into the weeds on why he did this, what he was doing, why, you know, in a particular case of a pen he made for me. Like, I have a pen that he made, and he made, like, a Pen Attic logo on the finial. Like, I'll put a link in the show notes to this.
  • Just a really cool guy. Really a tier one pen maker, right? Just from, you know, his quality and style. So we did a meet your maker on Greg. So Caroline has known Greg for years. He was one of our first ones back in 2023. So we have a post on that from the Pen Attic blog.
  • He has actually played a role in Pen Attic lore before I really got to know him, in that we played a game at the Baltimore Pen Show. And he donated a really beautiful, stunning pen for one of the winners, which he didn't have to do. Like, he barely knew me at the time. That was, again, probably one of the first times I met him. And the winner of this pen wrote up a nice little piece. I'll have a link in the show notes. So we have a lot of Greg Hardy content out there for y'all to go. If you didn't know him or didn't know his pens, just go check on out. He's a really, really cool guy. Really great pen maker. And we lost a friend in the community this week. And it stinks. So, you know, I probably hadn't talked to Greg in, like, a year. So, you know, remember this. Like, you always, you know, you always hate it to be remembered when someone's gone that you hadn't reached out to them in the past year or so. But this is just a reminder that life is fleeting. And you never know when you're going to get to talk to someone again. So make sure you reach out to your friends. Say hi. Check in with them. So I miss that I didn't get to see Greg this year, like, out on the pen show circuit. So, you know, that's on me and something, you know, I can work on. And I hate that it takes Greg's passing to think about these things. But he was an important guy in our community. And I just wanted to say rest in peace, Greg, and let everyone know the news. And we'll have some links in here where you can go check out some more information. It's very sad.
  • It is. It is. It's, again, it's one of the highlights to go to a show and you'd see Greg set up there. And number one, like, his pens are great. Like, I love them. So I remember at one of the Chicago shows, like, I got to buy Sarah, who writes for the pen addicts. We went over to Greg's table and I was like, pick one out. And I was like, let's get a pen. And, you know, really, really great stuff. So he'll miss being seen at shows. But he will not be forgotten. That's for sure. So that is for sure. It's one of these things where, like, it's just strange, right? Like, doing what we do.
  • And, you know, and obviously it's the same here for Greg. That, like, Greg has a body of work. And now he has passed. But his work is there. And, like, how is that remembered? And, like, his website, like, you can still go buy products. You know, like, I'm not suggesting that you do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know the status. Sure. But, you know, it is this interesting. It's just an interesting thing that occurs now, now that we live our lives the way that we do. And people have, you know, their own communities. You are all more interconnected. And, yeah. And very strange segue. I'm going to put a link in the show notes to a talk that Cable Sasser, who is one of the co-founders of Panic, who made a bunch of apps and make a bunch of Mac software, but also in game publishing now, right? They published Untitled Goose Game, Firewatch. They make the Playdate, a bunch of other stuff. He did an incredible talk at the XOXO Festival. I saw him do one in 2013, but this was the one that he just did, again, 2024. And it's touching on these ideas of how is somebody's work remembered when they're gone. And, yeah. Yeah. So I recommend watching that. I think it's a nice way of reflecting on that kind of stuff. Yep. Yep. Wonderful. Wonderful. So.
  • Rest in peace. Yes. Rest in peace, Mr. Hardy. And I'm sure we'll see some news, like, you know, next year in Baltimore. Hopefully, you know, maybe I'll make a point to go and hopefully we can see, you know, maybe we'll have something set up for him there. Just a retrospective. So who knows? Who knows what's going to happen? But, yeah. All right. The strange. Sorry, I'm going to keep going. Just the last thing. Same here. It's like the strange thing about this show compared to all my other shows is, like, we've done this multiple times now.
  • Yeah. Yeah. Like, people in the community have passed away. Like, that has not happened with my other shows. Yeah. No. I, hey, I think about my own mortality sometimes, you know. It's like, and then, not to get us completely off track, in my shipping office, I keep a bottle of Coke that's got Jim Rouse's name on it, like, from when Jim passed, like, many, many years ago. Yeah. Yeah. That was, he was the Nibmeister from Franken-Kirch stuff. Like, a lot of people new in this community, like, never had the opportunity to meet Jim, you know, at the time. And, like, he was one of my great friends at the time. So, yeah. You know, just, remember, check in with your friends. Make sure they're doing okay. Tell them hi. And, you know, don't have any regrets, you know, at the end of the day. So, it's a good way to live, good way to think about it. So, all right.
  • It's still Ticonder October. Sure is. Make the tough transition, but I wanted to, I've been waiting for this post, but basically waiting on myself to post it. So, my friend Carol, after we did, what was it, two or three weeks ago, I did my top 10 mechanical pencils. And, you know, it was, you know, the things that I like and the things that I like to use. And Carol sent me an email basically telling me how wrong I was. Yeah. And I was, yeah. Was it, though? Like, I was like, I don't know. I mean, it happens. It's kind of more what I'm getting at. I know. It happens. It happens. I was like, yes, Brad, you're wrong. I was like, yes, I probably am. So, but the difference between Carol and I is she's an artist and I'm just a, you know, a writer, a user. So, artists have different needs for a lot of mechanical pencils. So, she spent this time writing this email. Like, all this stuff was in it, this huge, long email. I was like, can I post this? Like, can I just kind of like, you know, put in like your general concepts and link to all the pencils that you like? And she's like, oh, well, yeah, yeah, go for it. She's super open about that stuff. So, I was like, all right, I'm going to rewrite this. I'll send it to you. And I want to post this because, like, that's why we have different writers at The Pen Addict, right? Because we all have different perspectives and how different needs for the tools we use. And an article like this is a really good perspective on how each of us as an individual differs on the needs that we have of the tools that we use, right? So, I think that's the main takeaway from this post. And you can go look at Carol's list. We do have some overlap. Like, the Pentel Sharp is on there. Spoke Model 4. Rotring 600.
  • I did, I will mention Carol, even right after the podcast, before she'd even written this email, she's like, Brad, you didn't mention the Pilot S20. And I was like, you know what, that's probably an oversight. Like, I think the Pilot S20, which is number two on her list, is probably worthy of making my list and would have been, you know, probably in the top ten. That is one that, in retrospect, I think I did miss that one a little bit. But otherwise, like, her list is very good. She's a big fan of the auto-advancing lead systems, like you find in the Pentel Orans. Like, she has two different Orans on this list. And she explains why, like, as an artist, like, why that's important to her in her work. So, very cool post. I appreciate Carol letting me post this straight from an email. And, yeah, it's really good. And I thought, again, this is, like, the perspective that we should all have. Like, no matter what I say or what Myke says or what anyone says, like, we all individually have needs that may not be the same needs as others. So, it's good to have, you know, a different set of eyes on similar topics. So, I love seeing this. So, I appreciate it, Carol, and thanks for letting me do this. So, yeah, the Rotring 600, number three, that was my number one. So, I get that. And Pentel Sharp, let's see. How much overlap did I have? Like, one, two, I think only three of my top ten made Carol's list if I'm just going out right off the top of my head. So, but I think what's funny is when I was going through linking, like, the Statler 925, Platinum Pro Use 171, Pentel Orance, the different Pilot S10 20s and 30 models. I think I've reviewed eight or nine out of these that she's used. So, it's pretty funny when I was looking back at this and grabbing the links to put in here. It's like, I think I've reviewed almost all of these pencils. So, it was pretty funny. But I stick with the ones that I like. And, yeah, it's good stuff. And now, I'm going to have to get out before Ticonder October is over. I'm going to have to go get out my Pilot S20 because that's a super cool, super cool pencil. It's one of Pilot's wooden barrels. You know how they make some of the pen grips and some barrels? This is a full wooden barrel mechanical pencil. And it's just made so well. I really, really enjoy it. So, anyway, go check that out. And as we wrap up, Ticonder October, Myke.
  • Just in time. Get it right just in time to the end. Yeah, still, I'll never get it right. It ends appropriately on Fountain Pen Day. So, we'll probably talk more about Fountain Pen Day next week, even though it's this weekend.
  • But what Fountain Pen Day is, is a celebration for all of us fountain pen lovers and users. This year, it's on November 1st, which is, what, Friday? This week, it's the first Friday of November is always when Fountain Pen Day is. And what happens is you'll just find a lot of people sharing their love for fountain pens, like on Instagram or on social media. You'll find a lot of retailers doing special deals and releasing special products for Fountain Pen Day. So, I know Carrie puts a lot of work into this.
  • Carrie Yeager of Trufe puts a lot of work into this. So, over at FountainPenDay.com, you can go find out all the details and find out what's going on there. So, yeah, definitely keep your eyes out there in the community. If you have a store in your local area, maybe see if they have something special in store for Fountain Pen Day. I know a lot of online retailers will do a lot of things for Fountain Pen Day. So, it should be really fun. So, go check them out. And I am going to be very ready for Fountain Pen Day because I might not actually use any pencils that day, Myke, which has not been the case here for Ticonder October. So, we're getting back into the pens. Man, we're ready. I'm ready. Let me tell people how to celebrate Fountain Pen Day. Let's do it. We're going to the Heinz Pen Company because whether you prefer classic elegance or loud, sparkly, colorful, resin-based pens, the Heinz Pen Company has something that will look right at home on your desk. Founded back in 2017, Heinz has grown from a one-person shop to an internationally recognized brand. One of their unique signature features are their color electroplated nibs with matching hardware available in more than 20 colors. You can add this little addition that can take a stunning pen even further.
  • Heinz has recently incorporated an integrated piston filler mechanism dubbed the Kolbenfooler as an option on their pens, a rare feature for small independent makers. They've also introduced multicolored nibs on select pen models. Heinz offer a wide variety of pen sizes to fit your personal preferences from their Tash and Stiff pocket pens to their giant Koenig and sizes in between. You'll be able to find a comfortable pen to fit your hand. Artisans Jim Heinz and Rachel Neocraft each writing instrument with care in small batches using traditional methods, while Francisco Lopez provides top-tier customer service and sales support, as well as driving product design and development. You can find Jim Heinz and Francisco Lopez, the Heinz guys, at most major pen shows around the country. They've been at a bunch recently, but still coming up at the Chicago Planners Conference and the Atlas Stationers Holiday Sale. But of course, you can always shop online at HeinzPens.com. So go give Heinz Pens a look today. We have a special offer available for listeners of this show. You can get 15% of your next purchase using the code PENADDICT or by visiting Heinz.com slash PENADDICT. That's H-I-N-Z-E-P-E-N-S dot com slash PENADDICT. This is good for one use and expires on November 30th, 2024. Our thanks to Heinz Pens for their support of this show and Relay.
  • You know, I'm not, I wasn't asked to like recommend a pen as part of this ad read, but I'm scrolling through the Heinz site as we're talking about this and I stopped cold on this one. And it's the Jekyll and Hyde show after dark. So it's kind of made for the pen show after dark, you know, concept that we have at a lot of fountain pen shows, like on a Friday or Saturday night, everyone just get together in the bar, share their pens and products. And this was made after a drink and in relation to that. And I just love the colors of this, you know, I like my bright colors. Yeah, a good looking pen. Also with a mixture of the acrylics, like the different acrylics going on and their opacity. So that's what, so what's stopped, what's kind of been a thing for me, which I just kind of fell into as you learn what you like about like custom makers and custom acrylics. I like to have part translucency in some of the materials, right? Solid acrylics and some translucent acrylics. And this is a mixture of that, right? So I like seeing like some transparency, but maybe not full transparency and have this mixed in there. So this is a really cool one I enjoyed and I'm just staring it down right now. It's really nice. There is an entire collection of pens called Pen Show After Dark that are themed on beverages, we'll say. Nice, nice. Love it. Love it. And they were also just in Toronto at the Toronto Pen Show. So we'll have to follow up with them and see how that goes. It looks just as crazy as when we went, what, like 2018? It looks intense. Like I saw some pictures, I think from Wonder Pens. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was, I mean, it was intense and that was five or six years ago that we went and it was intense and it still is. That was maybe the most stressful pen show, like in a good way. Just like, oh, this is like, there's a lot of people, there's a lot of people here. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think maybe beaten by that one that you were just at, the... San Francisco. Yoseka? No, the Yoseka. And the Stationery Fest. Stationery Fest, yeah, probably. Yeah, same category, for sure, for sure. All right.
  • I think last year we talked about this, but it's ink survey time again. So Aeronome, again, on the Slack, who is a great friend of the community, is also a scientist and a PhD doctor in fluid dynamics, I believe. I don't have it right in front of me, but I'm going to read this and we're going to link in the show notes. We'll be filled this out before. Basically, they're trying to get a gauge on how you feel about certain fountain pennings and the wetness and dryness of fountain pennings. And the form is titled, Perceived Wetness and Dryness of Fountain Penings. So it should just take a few minutes for you to fill out. So Dr. Nicole Sharp, Aeronome, and Dr. Joseph Sameniuk from the Colorado School of Mines. What a great college name. So anyway, go take this test. It basically asks you, do you have this ink? If you have this ink, what are your thoughts on this ink as far as dryness and wetness? And I'll read the little purpose here for those who are not familiar and didn't take this last year. They write, we're studying the scientific factors behind what makes an ink wet, dry, or something in between. We already have surface tension, viscosity, and dynamic rheological measurements of these inks. And we're looking to correlate those results with the writing behavior of each ink. So they're doing this just anonymously, trying to get some feedback and get some more data, basically. And it's a real short, you know, just take a few minutes of your time. If you have some of these inks, great. If you don't, you just kind of skip them. And they're just asking you, you know, if you've used these inks, fill it out. So this is a great thing I wanted to share.
  • And, you know, hopefully we'll get some information on this down the line. And really appreciate them putting the work in and putting this out there for the community to check out. Very cool. Very cool.
  • Do you want to do some STPA to finish out today? Let's hit some. All right. First one comes from James. He says, my sister will be getting her PhD this summer. And I thought a nice pen would be a good gift for the occasion. She currently has a Pilot Metropolitan. I've enabled her with and likes the size of the F nib and the overall size of the pen itself. But would like something lighter of a subdued color scheme. Maybe green or brown. Any suggestions?
  • My first idea might not be lighter. And it's the Lamy Studio. So now I'm thinking not the Lamy Studio. Because that's a really, just really classic gift pen. For someone who likes the MR, they would probably like the Studio. But like the MR, it does have some density to it, especially in the grip.
  • They're probably around the same weight. I would start looking at possibly the Pelicans in the M200 series. They have some really nice classic greens and browns. Either the 200 or the 205 series. The 200 or the gold trim. The 205 or the silver trim. You can get the classic Pelican colors. Those are lightweight. But very strong and durable. Like that would be like a real step up from the Pilot Metropolitan. Especially like in price. Like I don't know what your budget is here. That's more like where the Lamy Studio is like in the $70, $80 range. The Pelican 200 series is probably, you're getting closer to like $200, right? So something along those lines.
  • Yeah, I'm having a hard time coming up with anything besides like the Pelican to fit. The lightweightness. The color schemes.
  • And, you know, for getting your PhD, like a pretty special substantial pen. Like I think the Pelican series would be, kind of checks most of the boxes there.
  • I don't know. Do you have anything else off the top of your head? I can't really think anything else. Otherwise, we're getting into like some different things. Like you can stay in the Pilot family and look at the 91s or the 92s. The colors might be tough there. What about 3776? The reason I suggest that is that what I have in stock on is a pen lighter than the Pilot Metropolitan. Now that is hard. And at least the 3776, they're all acrylic, right? They also have a good green color. They don't have a brown. They have a burgundy and they have a really beautiful green. Actually, the green 3776 might be. Or a pro gear.
  • Yeah, or the pro gear. Because I think my expectation is the Metropolitan has probably got a metal grip, right? It does. It's a brass. It's fully brass, the whole barrel. Okay. You know, aren't they like?
  • It's not obscenely heavy. Like you're thinking like a Kara's custom brass. I just figured they're aluminum. That's different. No, no, no. That's a surprise. I didn't know that. No, a lot of companies use just like a basic brass as an underlying barrel. Then I would recommend one of the nice all acrylic pens, which you'd be looking at something like a... I was thinking like a Leonardo was what I was about to say. See, I wasn't... Yeah. Heinz pen?
  • A Heinz would work, but they're less subdued though, right? True, true, true. It's going to be harder to find, I think, something that is a bit more buttoned up. Yeah. Which is why I would recommend a Pro Gear or a 3776 because you can get them in pretty subdued color schemes. Yeah. So it depends on if you like the clarity of the 3776, like the translucency of the barrel, because the green that they have... Let me find the color. Gosh, what is it called? Laurel green.
  • Yeah. The laurel green 3776. Man, that's a win. Let me tell you too. All right, like... You want a special pen. Yeah. The 3776. It rules. It just rules, you know? Yeah. And if you like the Japanese fine nib of the Metropolitan, this is going to be in the same category. Plus, it's going to be a gold nib for like around $200, like where the Pelicans will be steel nibs for around $200. Not that that totally matters to me, but I think 3776 might be the move.
  • Might be the move. All right. Next question comes from Jason. I have a question about nibs. I'm looking at pens to purchase, and they have different brands of nibs. Is there a way to find out how one nib might compare to another? I've seen some writing samples online, but where can I find info on flow, feedback, wetness to compare? And does the pen affect these aspects? Does a Zho'o in one pen write the same as another? I ask because I have a pen that I love the nib of, but I hate the body, and I want to get that. I love, you know, I want to get that. I love the body, but I don't know about the nib. So, I am going to make some people upset here, probably. Although, I think it's probably a pretty correct statement. But comparisons are worthless.
  • Yeah. No, I don't disagree with you. My initial feeling to this question is, like, it's not possible to communicate this to somebody in a way that's going to work for them. In our hobby, there's no way to set a baseline definition of expectations because of the amount of variables that can transpire between not just a nib, but an ink, and the paper, and the writing angle that someone's using, and the hand pressure that they're using. And, you know, is the nib perfectly tuned out of the box? Does the nib need some adjustment? There is just so much options. Like, you can try. Like, you can get some general aspects, right? So, I can tell you that I find Yovo nibs to be stiffer than Bach nibs, right? But that doesn't necessarily mean much beyond that. So, to get any type of writing sample comparison and have that relate to you specifically, and you can take that information that I have provided and translate that on an exact one-to-one option to your expectation, you're setting yourself up for failure, I believe. So, that doesn't mean you can get some kind of tips and ideas and some philosophies about some of this stuff, right? So, your Yovo nibs should write generally the same. If you take a Yovo fine nib from one product and a Yovo fine nib from another product, my expectation is that they should be identical.
  • That doesn't mean that's reality, right? Because the tipping could be a little bit different. The ink that someone used when you were testing this one Yovo could be different than different type of properties than the ink used when someone's testing this other Yovo. And one of them was tested on Rhodia and one of them was tested on bank paper. And to try to say you're going to have a perfect solution with all this data that you've just consumed is like, I just feel like you're setting yourself up for failure. So, how do we solve this?
  • You know, I think, like, you've got to ask specific questions, right? You're going to have to get someone to, like, you know, look at how you write, what you're writing with, you know, what specifically don't you like about a particular nib, or what you specifically don't write, like, about a particular pen body. And then we can kind of get you on a narrower path. Like, you can ask me, you can, like, send me an email and we can go back and forth. Like, I just did this last week with someone. Someone would ask me a question and then I reply black, okay, well, this is what you're asking, but we're not going to get there until you answer these questions. And then we'd go back and forth, right? So, there's nowhere I can point you other than just the general community as a whole is to ask people's experiences. And, you know, ask myself, ask, you know, people in Slack or in this Discord, you know, just figure out if you have an opportunity to go to a pen show. And test more things out and look around. So, it's really, really tough to, like, give you a direct answer. As much as I would like to say specifically, Jason, do these things or go look here, I would be very hesitant to do that. But I would be open to assisting anyone who's in a situation where they want to try to fix something. And, you know, we can try to sort things out.
  • One thing I'll add is I think one of the issues of this kind of stuff is criticism of anything, like being, like, you know, which you provide, right? You are a critic of pens. With any critic, you have to assess your preferences to them as a baseline. So, like, there are certain critics in media who I appreciate what they have to say. But often, if they dislike something, I'm more likely to like it. Because I know how our preferences are. Because none of these, you know, any art, any product, I don't believe can be fully assessed from an objective standpoint. Like, people bring their biases, they bring their experiences to something. And you may not align with their thinking exactly. But there may be some things that you find you do agree on and some that you don't. And you can kind of judge against the baseline. Now, the problem is with a product compared to entertainment is to be able to assess yourself against that baseline, you actually have to spend money and buy stuff and try stuff. Yeah. Which is a bit more complicated than just watching TV shows or movies on Netflix or whatever. But it's kind of like a general thing of, like, I don't really think it is possible to explain to... So, again, I don't think it's possible to explain to someone how these characteristics will meet for them. You can do your best job in explaining it. But it's still, again, it's like the factors you've chosen and your preferences equate to the answers that you give at the end. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I could build a spreadsheet with all this data, right? Yeah. And it doesn't change the fact that I'm the one who built the spreadsheet and put in the data. Yeah. Right? Because it's not... It just wouldn't be... It doesn't translate to every person, right? It's me. It's my biases. What do I think of as the flow? What do I think of the feedback? What do those words mean to me? And then to say, here you go. Here's the information.
  • Well, that's inaccurate, right? That's my... Here's my information. But that may not... That might be a 0% translation to you, like you're saying, or a 95% translation to you in a match, right? Right? So, yeah. It's tough. Like, I'm not trying to, like, avoid the, like, an answer here for Jason. But I'm like, this is a really... One of those really tough things is, like, not everything's universal. Like, an iPhone, for example. Everyone's going to get the same iPhone, right? What they do with it is different. But, like, we all know if we're going to get an iPhone, we're all getting the same iPhone. Well, if Jason gets a Yovo FNib, and I get a Yovo FNib, it's a pretty good chance they're the same. There's a chance it's not. And then I ink it up, and Jason inks it up. And then I grab a piece of paper, and then Jason grabs a piece of paper.
  • And then all of a sudden, we have a very different experience. And it's like, hmm, okay. Well, let's figure something out here, so.
  • All right. If you would like to send in a question for us to answer on a future episode of the show, just go to penaddictfeedback.com, and you can send that in. So you can also send in follow-up for future episodes, too. If you want to find Brad online, go to penaddict.com. He is at penaddict on social media. You can find him at twitch.tv slash penaddict. And find Brad's products at spokesdesign.com. You can find me. I'm at imike, I-M-Y-K-E. I produce shows here at Relay. You can find other podcasts that I'm on at relay.fm slash shows. And you can find my products at cortexbrand.com. Thank you so much to Squarespace and Heinz Pens for their support of this week's episode. But most of all, thank you for listening. We'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.
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