Editing The Pen Addict 61/transcript (section)

== Fountain Pens ==


'''Dan Bishop:''' Oh, it's, it's an automatic, um, yeah, it's a lead rotation. Uh, that's, that's a touchy thing with me because I, uh, I'm just getting into fountain pens like I said. And I just bought, I was, we were out to dinner and we were right by a Staples and so I grabbed some of the cheap throwaway fountain pens because I'd never tried them before. And the problem that I had to get over is because I come from a fine art and design background is I unconsciously turn my writing instruments as I use them. Absolutely. So if something does that for me, it feels weird. It's a different feel.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Right. No, we've talked, we've talked about that a lot since the pencil came out and some people can't use it because they can't stop twisting it in their hands. And actually when I reviewed it, you know, I had to make a, you know, I made a point of, you know, making sure the mechanism worked. I had to force myself to not spin it in my hand as I'm writing. You know, it's just, it's a natural thing. You know, we've been doing this for decades. You know, it's a natural thing. It's hard to stop. It's, you don't even realize you're doing it until you're told not to do it. And then it's like, oh my God, I can't even write. But yeah, but it's, you know. No, I'm going to have to try it though because. But functionally it works. It's, it works perfectly. It's pretty amazing. It's astounding.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's one of those things that I can show people that don't really care much for this stuff. And they're like, oh wow, that's, that's more interesting than I thought it would be. You know. Right. Because it is very, very interesting that they're, that they will. Someone came up with it and two implemented it so flawlessly in a relative. I mean, you can pick one of these up for $7.50. It's, you know, it's cheap for what it does.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. They'll have it at Staples or Target. You know, just the basic model. Then there's some higher end models you can pick up online. All right. That'll be my homework this week. They started, they started making them, mass producing them because I think it went so well. So yeah. That's pretty cool.

'''Dan Bishop:''' I mean, is there anything that, that you guys can think of that you would, see, I always ask everybody. Because I mentioned the fountain pen and that's because nobody, I work in a machine shop. I mean, these guys never, had never used anything besides a big pen. For, since we started making our own, now everybody at work is carrying around a copper pen.

'''Dan Bishop:''' And when I, when I mentioned the fountain pen and Myke's reaction, that to me is very interesting because I'm kind of in a bubble. And I'm not even a huge pen fanatic. I love objects because I'm a designer. And so now I have to put more thought. Thanks a lot, Myke. Now I have to.

'''Myke Hurley:''' No problem.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, for me, if you want, if you want a suggestion from me and I haven't seen it done just like on, on, well, it doesn't mean it's not out there. But I mean, you're like, you'll find other fountain pen projects on Kickstarter. But I haven't seen, I haven't seen anything for a good quality mini pen, you know, just a pocket carry along the lines of like Myke's Fisher space pen that, you know, people can throw with their field notes and, you know, have some variables around that. I don't know. I don't have a perfect design in mind. Yeah.

'''Dan Bishop:''' I think that's number two on my list.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Because I'm a, I'm a big mini pen guy. I like the carry. I like the pocket carry and that whole EDC type of, um, type of pen. And I think that would, it's something different that really hasn't been, you know, there, there's been a few options out there, but it's just something that's really, really well done. And really, I hate to use the word minimal, but just, you know, a real simple, simple, but high quality mini pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And there's a thing, a thing for me, like, in this is an engineering difficulty is there are so few of these pens, but so there's a pen that, that Brad loves that I loved called the pilot vanishing point, which is a retractable fountain pen.

'''Dan Bishop:''' Yes. That is the holy grail of pen design, I think.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So the problem with that pen, um, for me, and it seems like all, there are only two or three retractable fountain pens that we've been able to come across, is the clip for the pen is placed in the writing area. Yes. Um, and I don't really know why they make this, well, I guess they make this choice because then the ink won't run. Yes, exactly. Yes. That's why. Yes. But I, what I would like to see is a retractable fountain pen without that clip, because the problem for me, I don't know if it's because I'm left handed or whatever, but I cannot hold those pens comfortably. Because with the way that I grip the pen, um, the clip is always in an awkward position underneath my finger. Um, so as much as I do love as a piece of engineering, the vanishing point to the point where I keep it in my pen case, even though I don't use it anymore. Um, because it's like a work of art, right? But I don't use it because it's uncomfortable to use. And, and like, there's another one called the Lamy's what's, what's the name of the Lamy's the dialogue, the dialogue three is the same. And it has the clip there. And again, I mean, I just worked out as I was talking about, I never really thought too much about why it was like that before. It's because then you aren't clipping it upside down, but I would like to just see one without that. Um, so then I can use it again.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And I haven't used the dialogue, but what I've, and I've almost bought one several times. And what I'm finding when I'm reading the reviews about it is what pilot seems to have solved with the vanishing point that the Lamy does not do as good a job with is the, um, is the trap door mechanism to where to keep the nib, keep the nib from drying out. Right. Since you're not doing it, sealing it with a cap, there's a tendency for the nib to dry out. Well, pilots got that open space more on lockdown. It seems then all the reviews I'm reading about the Lamy, like I've, I've had it in shopping carts and then I just can't get over the repeated reviews of, you know, this pen dries out, this pen dries out. And, you know, I've set it down for an hour and now I can't write with it. And it's over and over and over. I think that's almost more of the challenge than the knock piece of, you know, the, the, the knock mechanism would be, I would think because, you know, if your pen's just going to be sitting out in open air, it's going to dry out. And that's the biggest challenge in my mind.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. That little trap door is, is as an impressive feat of engineering as the fact that it is a retractable fountain pen. Right. It's, it's the first time you see it and it's difficult to see. I think you took a quite good photo of it, didn't you?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I tried. It's, it's hard, especially with the, especially with the black matte version. If I think if I had a chrome tip, I could probably see it, do a better picture. It wouldn't be so dark. You could probably see it better. And I, you know, I've, I've held the Lamy. I don't, I don't, I don't remember exactly what it looks like, you know, looking up through it. But that seems to be a, a recurring theme with the, with the dialogue. So I think that's almost more of a challenge than the actual, the knock mechanism itself to, to eject the tip. So who knows? So we can, we can put that in Dan's book. So that's, that's going to be Dan. Dan's next pen is a retractable fountain pen. Oh no.

'''Dan Bishop:''' No, my problem is.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I'm just kidding.

'''Dan Bishop:''' I get, when I get something like that, my problem is I want to tear it to pieces to find out how it works. No doubt. And so it's, it's very tempting. And I mean, and that's very much how, you know, Bill at work, the owner is, he's not afraid to tear anything apart. So you get something like that. And I, you know, I'll look at it and say, Oh, look at this awesome, you know, whatever it is. And he's like, Oh, let's tear it apart. And he just tears it apart. And I feel like I just, you know, you know, killed somebody's puppy or something. Like I feel horrible afterwards, but in the, in, in the name of progress, it seems to work. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I think so. I mean, I guess. I don't.

'''Dan Bishop:''' Yeah. I, I, I don't know. I have lots, I have lots of ideas and twists on, on some things. And some of them, like you said, a pencil, if you can do something, it might just be an exercise in aesthetics. But, uh, I think eventually, um, whether or not those things are, are going to be successful, you know, who knows. But as a followup, I think it would be nice. Cause people have asked us, can you do like a set, you know, do you guys do sets of stuff? So with the render K and the retract, and I don't know, maybe a pencil, who knows if you had something that looked on your desk, they all looked like they belonged. Um, cause don't we all just want to belong in the end, really? So, um, I don't know. There's lots of stuff and I might pick your, both of your guys' brains a little bit off the air, but, uh, uh, for the next one, I want to do something different. And, uh, what that ends up being is, is going to be a surprise to me and everyone else cause I'm still working on it. So who knows?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, good. I think, uh, I mean, if history is, is any indicator, I think we would all be, uh, anxious, anxious to see what's next on the, on the table from, uh, you and from Karis Customs. Cause, uh, I think, I think the retract, you know, I don't have it in my hands, but I think it's probably going to be the best one yet in, in my humble opinion. But we'll, we'll, we'll see, I'll, I'll get it in hand and we'll see how it goes. But, um, it's, it looks incredible. Um, thank you. Yeah. I mean, I don't know what else to say. It's, it's fantastic looking and, uh, I'm, I'm anxious to see how this, uh, this project, uh, finishes out. I think it'll be, I mean, it already is, but I think it's going to be just a huge success for you guys.

'''Dan Bishop:''' Yeah. Uh, me too. I just, it's, when it's over, it's going to be kind of nice because, you know, every day you wake up, you check, you check it. You're like, Oh, how much, what's it up to? You know, every day you're, you know, dancing around on eggshells, trying to figure out, you know, where it's going to be. And I've just taken to not looking at it because it stresses me out so bad. Um, but yeah, it's quite the ride. If you've never, it's a unique experience to put something on Kickstarter, to have something just out in the open. And then you're on just a timer and it just goes and you just, you know, it's like rolling a, a boulder down a hill. You don't know where it's going to end up or what's going to happen, but it's exciting to watch and nerve wracking at the same time.