Editing The Pen Addict 387/transcript (section)

== Mechanical Pencil ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Who we got next, Myke? This next question comes from Peny. I'm looking for a very nicely weighted mechanical pencil for my daughter-in-law. She just loves her pencils. For Christmas, she asked for a Platinum Pro. Use mechanical pencil for Christmas. She's being frugal. She likes nice quality. The description of the pen reads very well. I would really appreciate it if you read the description and tell me if you can suggest or offer me anything that is more interesting and unique. I have a budget of around $50 but can't spend any more than $65. I thank you so very much for helping me find this fantastic woman a nice surprise. Also, if you would, in a few words, let me know if her requested pencil is okay only because I'm being curious. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you from Peny.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Her requested pencil is absolutely amazingly well designed. I adore it. I love it. I think you might have a long-term issue with the grip section. It's a little slick. The way they build that pen, the pencil, excuse me. I have the pen model of that. It's fantastic. It is just great looking. I would put you on the Rotring 800. That's at the top end of your budget. You can get it for in the 50s. And you get it without the, not the 800 plus with the stylus tip. That one's not worth it. But the 800 is well weighted, like the 600 model that Myke recommended earlier. It looks cool. It's not flashy, right? But it's tradition, you know, German design. But it has a retractable pipe. And that is key if you're going to use a pencil for a long-term gift to have that retractable pipe in the pencil to protect it a little bit more. Especially if you're spending that much on a pencil, like around 50. I think you can get the 800 for around $50. It's cool looking. It's got a retractable tip. So you can protect that lead pipe from bending or breaking. And it's really good. I love the Pro Use. I don't think you will be as happy long-term with it as you would with the 800. Plus the Pro Use is a little bit wider diameter. And I think the wider you get on a mechanical pencil, the less enjoyable. Um, writing with one is. So that's my take. That's just me personally. Um, and I feel pretty confident in that answer. That's like where you want to go as opposed to the Platinum Pro Use. But, you know, I, I wouldn't discount the Platinum Pro Use either. So, you know. Um, so, um, I think the, the 800 would be my answer in that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And I lost a question. Oh, go on, Anna.

'''Anna Reiner:''' Oh, I said, I've read through the reviews of the Platinum Pro Use. And it mentioned that the, um, pipe was retractable on it as well. Mm-hmm. And you could actually adjust the length of the pipe depending on sort of like what types of, um, graphite you were using. So it sounds like there's good options with it. And so if she wanted something that was a little bit less expensive, it seems like probably a good, like, entry level into, um, those sort of drafting pencils. But, yeah, I'm, I, my instinct was to go with the Rotring 600, which the, you can retract the pipe on that one too, right? Or is it just the 800?

'''Myke Hurley:''' The 600 you cannot. The 800 you can't. Okay, yeah.

'''Anna Reiner:''' So then I would say the 800 as well.

'''Myke Hurley:''' If you like the features, like the adjustable pipe length, the, the, um, I think it's the, who makes the Pro Mecha? I think it's Statler. Uh, there's one called the Pro Mecha, M-E-C-H-A, where you can adjust every part of the length. Of the pipe and, uh, how far the lead extends. And it's in the $35-ish range. I'd have to look. I'm, I'm just doing this off the top of my head. We'll put that link in the show notes as well. So it's got those bells and whistles. I want to say Pro Mecha. Yeah.

'''Anna Reiner:''' Mecha.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mecha. Sorry.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So, yeah, it has all, like, the bell and whistle adjustments. Um, and it's a very nice, durable, um, mechanical pencil. I know Jeff, uh, uses that one a bunch because it has all these varying lengths of pipe and varying lengths of, uh, lead deployment that you can adjust all these things. It's pretty wild.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' This one's wild looking.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. So let's see if we can find an answer to this question. I'm not sure. I think we have the right person. I don't know. I don't know. We're going to have to hope somebody out there could know. Sarah asks, are there any holiday cards that were particularly Fountain Pently? Fountain Pendly? Oh, my gosh. Wow. Fountain Pen Friendly. Fountain Pendly? That is a brand right there. But anyway, Fountain Pen Friendly paper. If you know of bulk or packs of cards that are, that feature Fountain Pendly paper, that would be exceptionally helpful. Sarah didn't say Pendly. I did.

'''Anna Reiner:''' I like Pendly. Fountain Pendly? FountainPendly.com? Somebody go out there and buy that one.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I could get that right now. Do it.

'''Anna Reiner:''' So Skylab Letterpress, I don't know if you're familiar with that, does have a few holiday cards. They're a little skewed, but they do have to pass through my hands before they leave the shop. So we do test to make sure that they are Fountain Pen Friendly. There is a T-Rex holiday card that is quite charming and is available in a pack of four. It's on Etsy. And then there's a couple others. There's some that are very oddball. I don't know of a ton of people who go through the trouble of making sure that they use Fountain Pendly paper. We've gone through the trouble just because, you know, Bob has to suffer with me around and I'm like, give me that paper. Let me see if it works. Because, like, especially with letterpress, the qualities that work for letterpress, which is soft paper that will allow the pressure of the press to press into the paper, is not the same quality that we want for writing with fountain pen ink, which is harder paper with more surface material to keep the ink from settling into the paper. So it's, like, conflicting interests. So, like, things like letterpress, you know, the same thing with, like, digital offset paper. They want the ink to sit on the paper a certain way, which is not the same way that Fountain Pen Ink wants to sit on the paper. So it can be a challenge to find that, like, sort of perfect sweet spot. But I have to confess, I also work at this very large greeting card company. I don't know if you guys have ever seen or heard of it. It kind of has this crown logo. But I have tested a lot of things. Obviously, any of the coded cards are not going to work. That's going to require a ballpoint pen. But any of them that have the little lining sheet on the inside, those have been tested and work fairly well with fountain pens. Just saying I've actually tested this. And some of our newer cards are now printed on higher-end paper. So those are a little bit, they withstand a little bit better. But, of course, we do tend to put, like, shiny, sparkly stuff on the inside. And that starts to diminish the ability for it to hold ink and things. So, especially with, like, pack cards, I would recommend always having, like, at least one that you use to, like, test out pens and see if they work. Or, like, test on the back of the card, you know, where the logo and stuff is before you, like, write out your messages.

'''Anna Reiner:''' Because that's, you know, you never want to, like, actually be writing, like, I love you, Mom! And then have all the ink go everywhere. And you're like, crap! So, like, on the back, you know, just a couple little marks on the back to make sure that the ink's not going to spread beforehand. Or, you know, maybe write on your cards with rollerball or gel pen. You know, this may be the case where you're, like, for your Christmas cards and stuff. Like, find that lovely Lamy ballpoint pen that Brad recommended.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You know, go that route. We need to get you a cooler refill. At least get some sparkly gel.

'''Anna Reiner:''' There you go. Some of those fun gel pens. We all have a drawer full of them somewhere.

'''Myke Hurley:''' We do. We do. And only pen addicts would ask these types of questions because these are the answers we need in all of our stationary usage. And we hope we provided some good answers for your gift-giving needs this holiday season. I think we did pretty good. Oh, yeah. Pat ourselves on the back on this one. Absolutely. I'm very happy with this episode.

'''Anna Reiner:''' One more quick tip. If you're addressing your envelopes for the holidays, address them before you put your cards in them in case the ink leaks through. Or put a piece of paper inside the envelope so that it doesn't leak through to the other side.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Very advanced tip right there that I can totally get behind. I love it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. There are a lot of links in our show notes for this week's episode. You can sign them in your podcast app of choice or on the web at relay.fm slash penaddict slash 387. It's the best place to go and do that. If you want to find Brad online, you can go to penaddict.com, knock.co, where, of course, there are many other products to put in your stocking. Am I right, Brad?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Very, very much. Go check out the Tallulah. The new color is awesome.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. So, there's one to go check out at knock.co. You can find Anna over at wellappointeddesk.com as well. And there's links there to buy all of Anna's wonderful wares. Also, this show is part of Relay.fm. You can go to relay.fm slash shows where you can find many more podcasts which may tickle your fancy. I want to thank our sponsors again for this week's episode, which is Squarespace, Moo, and Hello. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, everybody.

'''Anna Reiner:''' Goodbye, everybody.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Goodbye, everybody.

'''Anna Reiner:''' Wow, we did that way off time.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, we can fix it in the edit.

[[Category:Podcast Transcripts]]
[[Category:The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript]]