Editing The Pen Addict 362/transcript (section)

== Listener Questions ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Interesting. See, that's good to know. That's why we gotta, that's why we gotta have you on here. So, um, um, we have a bunch of listener questions. To get to. And there's some interesting ones. And, you know, I could go through all of them now, just asking you questions, you know, rapid fire. But I want to get these listeners involved. And we took in a bunch, Myke. So, let's talk about one of our good friends at Pen Chalet. Wonderful supporter of this podcast. And, uh, let's see what they have for us this week, Myke, before we get into these questions.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Pen Chalet sell authentic, amazing rollerballs and fountain pens and ballpoints and mechanical pencils and refills and pen holders and fountain pen converters and carrying cases and so much more. They have everything you're looking for. Fast and reliable customer service. Great deals. Great shipping. If you order anything, uh, with a total order of $50 in the U.S., the shipping is free. But they do international shipping as well with great shipping rates. Pen Chalet believes in low prices on high quality pens. They offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee for that. They have all of your favorite brands. And they have great deals and great discounts. Twice a month, they do special discounts. They do closeout specials every two weeks as well. And they're always adding new styles of pens. I find these days anything that I'm looking for, I go to Pen Chalet and I can find it. And what's great about that, for being a pen addict listener, you can always get 10% off at any time on any purchase at Pen Chalet on top of their other fantastic savings as well. So go to Pen Chalet.com, P-E-N-C-H-A-L-E-T.com and click the podcast link at the top of the website. And use the password Pen Addict for this week's special offer and to get the code that you need to save 10% on anything over at Pen Chalet. And this is one of those weeks, Brad, where the offers are so special, they're so amazing, that we can't even talk about them. So the only way that you're going to know is by going to Pen Chalet.com, click the podcast link at the top of the website and enter the password Pen Addict. You'll get to be able to feast your pen addict eyes on those wonderful offers and get the code that you need to save 10% at any time at Pen Chalet. Our thanks to Pen Chalet for their continued support of this show and RelayFM.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right, Dan, real quick, before we get into specific questions, can you give me a general price point idea for, let's say, the most basic grinds, cursive, italics, stub, needlepoint, architect, just so people who don't have any experience doing this just kind of have an idea in their head of what they're looking at if they're interested?

'''Dan Smith:''' Yeah, so there's basically two price points. Stubs and cursive italics are $45, and then needlepoints and architects are $60.

'''Dan Smith:''' Obliques, they're a little bit more, they're $50. And then Tunis Moose, they're included at no charge when you buy a pen from me, but at a show, if you bring a pen, that's $25.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Gotcha. Okay, yeah, that makes sense. And that's, you know, pretty consistent, you know, for the type of work that I've certainly had. And I find the end results of spending that extra money well worth it to really get the writing experience that I want. Like, we've joked about the Sailor Pro Gear Ocean before, but it's not the same pen with a stock nib for me. The way I write, the way I have a block style lettering, and when I get, like, a stub grind on a fine Japanese nib, that makes my handwriting just so much more enjoyable for me. So that's why I personally enjoy getting nibs ground, and I am more than happy to pay that price to have something so enjoyable. All right, let's get into it, Dan. From our friend, Incantadora. Dan, what is your favorite nib to write with?

'''Dan Smith:''' Oh, that's an easy one. Sailor Fine nib.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Really? That's... Oh, yeah. Okay, so I feel like I know you. Like, I don't know you, like, really, really well, but I know you pretty good, and I know you're a Sailor fan. That is not at all what I expected. I thought we were going to, like, some German medium nib, Mont Blanc or Pelican. Like, I thought we were going big honking nib, not fine Japanese nib.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Ground upside down on a winter's morning.

'''Myke Hurley:''' March of 2013. It's a very specific grain.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Why? Why?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Why the Sailor?

'''Dan Smith:''' It's just, I like the way it feels. I like the size.

'''Dan Smith:''' It's just perfect for my writing.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I mean, you're not getting any argument from me whatsoever. I just didn't think that was going to be the answer. I mean, that's it for me. Like, if you give me, tell me to pick one nib to use just for the rest of my life, it's probably that one. And that's very cool. Now, separate from that, do you have a favorite nib to grind? Is there a brand size style material that you know you're going to get good results with every time and you go, you really much enjoy?

'''Dan Smith:''' Pretty much any Sailor size. Yeah. Whether it's extra fine or Zoom or music or whatever. I know if I'm grinding on a Sailor, it's going to come out awesome.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, wait a minute. Are you sending this link to the Sailor distributor when we're done? Like, do you need something from them? Maybe. Also, from Anna, is there any nib modifications or grinds that you will not do? Like, will someone ask you to do something to their nib that you will refuse to do?

'''Dan Smith:''' No, not really. Not that I can think of.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, like, I guess a separate question to be, is there a specific type of grind that someone might ask for that is something that you would push back against and be like, are you sure about this?

'''Dan Smith:''' I suppose if it was on, like, a really rare vintage pen, I would want to make sure they're really certain that they want that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' We have a question. We have that question.

'''Dan Smith:''' That's probably the only one I would push back. I guess, well, there is one. I don't add flex to nibs just because the outcome is so uncertain and you never – it's hard to tell how much experience the customer has with it. And it's just – it's not – I've not had good experiences with it in the past, so I don't do added flex.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's a different set of expectations too, right? Right. It is. I mean, you can – number one, you being the nib grinder can do certain things, but is that going to match the results of the expectations of your customer? And that's a hard thing to line up, I would imagine. And, like, me and you will come to pretty good terms on a curse of italic, but we're going to have a lot harder time getting there on a flex. I can totally, totally see that. All right. Last one from Anna. What's your favorite ink?

'''Dan Smith:''' I don't know if I have, like, one specific color. I would say I use a lot of sailor ink and a lot of Mont Blanc.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' What is happening here? It's – hey, they make really good products, man. I know. You should just be on this podcast with us. Like, man, you're catching me all off guard with the sailors.

'''Dan Smith:''' Well, now that I'm doing this full time, my Wednesdays are open, so. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I do follow your Instagram, and you, Myke, and I can get into an entire offshoot Sailor Limited edition discussion because I know you're a big fan of those things too, right?

'''Dan Smith:''' I did just have two arrive yesterday, and I've got four more on the way.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Nice. Yeah. A bit of a problem. Yeah. Myke, you have competition now. I just need a good Rialo. Yeah. All I need right now is a good Rialo. So, when you find a good Rialo, let me know, Dan, and then I'll be happy. Like, I'm good not being on that train right now, but I do want a good Rialo. So, all right, from Chorok, what is the most unusual nib grind you have ever done? Is that such a thing?

'''Dan Smith:''' Yeah. I had a customer who holds the pen, how do I want to say, very specifically, and they wanted an architect result, but it had to be ground much differently than how I would regularly grind an architect. And so, he basically sent me, like, a blueprint of the nib grind, and with, like, all the angles outlined. Wow. And it was wild, but it was incredibly helpful. And it turned out fantastic. Like, he loved it. But it was definitely the most unusual grind I'd ever done.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay. I'm, like, trying to wrap this around my head. So, would you say, like, it almost had to be at a certain angle, like a left-right angle on the grind to work with his specific riding posture?

'''Dan Smith:''' Yeah. It was, the way it was rotated, it was almost like a right oblique, but because of the way he tilted the pen, there were just a lot of extreme angles.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. Involved.

'''Dan Smith:''' But, yeah, it was, it turned out great. I was happy with it. He was happy with it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I was going to say, that's got to be intimidating on the front end, but, like, to finish it and to be, you know, the customer to be happy with it, that's got to be pretty satisfying. Right? I mean, like. Yeah.

'''Dan Smith:''' Yeah.