Editing The Pen Addict 266/transcript (section)

== TPA Questions ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right. So we have a bunch of ass TPA. We sure do. You ready to knock them out? I'm ready. All right. So this first one from a trendum on Twitter says, I want to get my sister, a pencil artist, a nice pencil gift for her birthday. But CW Pencil subscription sold out and Blackwing subscription is out of my budget. Any alternatives? So CW Pencils, aside from their subscription model, they do a pencil sets setup where they put together different groupings for specific tasks. Like they have a jumbo pencil set. They have a lefty pencil set. The one I would look at, they have a sketchbook sampler set. If your sister's a pencil artist, you know, maybe she wants an art type pen. You can also, you know, add on, you know, a pencil sharpener, you know, something like the Coombe, oh gosh, a blank masterpiece. Or, you know, the Pollux pencil sharpener, you know, if that's something she likes. Or you can get the sampler set, which includes a pencil sharpener and eraser and some of the most popular pencils. So that's probably where I would head first to where you can get some variants and try a few different things. And you will also see, you know, the different setups that they have. So maybe there's something that's very particular that you think would be a good fit. But I would definitely look at the sketchbook set or the favorite things set. Those look like really, really good combinations.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The next one from Les Harper, one of the three hosts of the RSVP podcast. She says, what's the best inexpensive planner for fountain pens? I'm asking for a friend. I print and buy my own, which Les does. She makes a bunch of notebooks that she prints and makes herself. I didn't know she made planners, but she was wondering for fountain pens. I don't exactly know the answer to this question, but my guess would be that QuoVatis, I know, has the best fountain pen paper for fountain pens. And they offer such a range of planners that you can get something as small as like a pocket monthly calendar all the way to a daily, hourly, year-long calendar. So the smallest, you know, like pocket notebook calendar up to the largest, thickest type of calendar. So I don't know exactly what layout they're looking for, but the paper quality is outstanding. So it's QuoVatis. They're the same distributor in the U.S. as Clairefontaine and Rhodia. They're really good quality paper. We've reviewed them in the past. They always work really well. And if anyone has any other suggestions, I'd be happy to hear about that too. Something inexpensive in the planner world that handles fountain pens well.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So Dilly Esquire backed the LP5 pen D1 model and wants to know any recommendations for a D1 similar to a Retro 51 refill, smooth and fine. This is a question I don't think I've ever had, Myke, because I don't know of a D1 refill that is rollerball ink. And that's what I take this question to be. The Retro 51 is a rollerball ink. I've seen D1. D1 refills generally are ballpoint and then a few are gel. I like the Uniball Jetstream D1 refill the most. It's kind of the best writing and the best, I don't know, probably just the best overall D1 refill. It's a little bit expensive, but not too expensive. You can get some gel writing pens from Zebra, or refills I should say, and they are a little more expensive and they run out so quickly. But that might be closer. If you can get a 0.5 gel Zebra Sarasa refill, that might give you the feel, but you might be turned off on spending $3 a pop for a refill that's not really going to last you very long. I'd look at the Jetstream first. That's my favorite D1 refill. And you can get some different sizes. And it's smooth and fine in the D1. It's just not going to give you that blackest black of a rollerball ink like a Schmidt P81 27. So, you know, that's something to check out. So, all right. I think you like this one, Myke. Third floor artist wants to know, when ink shopping, do you look more for shading and dazzle or more towards performance? What do you think?

'''Myke Hurley:''' I'll go for color. Yeah. Yeah. Like, that's my primary thing, which is interesting that they didn't put this in. Shading and dazzle doesn't necessarily mean the same thing to me as color. Like, they are properties of the ink. Like, color is what I go for first whenever I'm looking for an ink. And that might be because I don't buy too many, right? That, like, maybe sometimes I just want a red, you know? Rather than, like, oh, look how this red shines. You know what I mean? Because, like, I don't have red. So, I tend to look for. Permanence is not a thing that I worry about too much because I'm not taking any super important notes. I mean, shading and or dazzle, that's always a good thing to have, right? Like, fire and ice. Robot Oster fire and ice, right? Like, I love that because it's a great blue, but it's also got some red in it, right? Like, it's a great ink. And I bought it because it was fun, but most of the time, like, I'm just looking for a specific color. Like, when, you know, when I bought, like, KWZ, I think I got Raspberry, or when, what is the, what is the one with the, Andrinopor, Califolia Andrinopor. I just wanted a pink ink for some, for a pen. And so, that was the one that I bought. Actually, for the twist pen that I mentioned earlier, that was why I bought that. I wanted that. That specific ink fit the pen that I was looking for.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, I'm pretty much the same way. Number one is color. And then number two is performance. I want to know if the ink has something weird that's going to make it bleed, or feather, or never dry, or something like that. Most of the time, you don't even have to consider that. Most of the time, it's going to be, you know, 90% of the time, it's going to be, you know, a good, balanced ink. And then, I'm probably looking at shading and dazzle. And then permanence would be last on the list. I don't ever have a reason to have permanent ink. There are some permanent inks I like because I like how they perform, not because they're permanent, per se. So, color, performance, shading, and then permanence somewhere way down the line. So, all right. I'm asking this one to the crowd because I don't have an answer. Oh, man. This is Aries 923. Well... I put this in because I need you to answer it for me. I'll explain. I'll explain why. Aries 923 says, what are ways to prevent an eyedropper fill from burping ink aside from filling the entire barrel? I wish I had an answer for this because my Shinobi just burped all over itself the other day, all up into the cap. And I don't know how or why. And it's really full. I don't know that you can. I don't want to say that in a negative sense. It should prevent you from eyedroppering because eyedropper filling pens is fun. And I have definitely some eyedropper pens filled right now. But they do burp ink into the nib and cap area on occasion. And I don't know why. I don't know if it's a temperature change. You know, if I could be going from 100 degrees outside to 72 degrees inside the house. Could that be the issue? I don't know what the true scientific answer for that question is and if it can be answered. So sorry, Aries. If we come up with something, I'll let you know.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Honestly, in a way, I'm just pleased to know that this is a thing because I have a pen that's doing this right now. And I was worried there was something wrong with the pen because I've only ever eyedropped like two pens, you know, and so I don't have a ton of experience with it. And I thought that maybe I shouldn't have like that was a pen that maybe I shouldn't have eyedroppered because every now and then like just ink would just go and just spur over the page. But it turns out this is just a risk that you run with eyedropper ink pens then. Yeah. Why is that? Is it air? Is it air that gets trapped in the barrel?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So the chat room is definitely on the temperature bandwagon and the changes in pressure. I don't know if because the ink is less insulated being through. It's just, you know, from the outside air just through the barrel, not from the outside air through the barrel into a converter or something like that. But piston fillers don't necessarily do that. You know, maybe the airflow is more restricted in there. There's not enough pressure to change the space in the air. So it's probably environmental atmospheric type of thing. Okay.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That makes sense. That makes sense. I'm just pleased because I have a pen that I love that's doing it. So I'm happy to know that this is a thing that happens.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. You have to take extra considerations with eyedropper pens to begin with. So just understand that it might be a thing.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. So that means because I'm not going to stop doing it then basically. I know it's a thing that's going to happen. So like that's just how it is.