Editing The Pen Addict 85/transcript (section)

== Fountain Pens ==


'''Dan Bishop:''' where to begin. um, after talking with every, I mean, it wasn't, it was inevitable. I mean, just like you eventually moved into the world of fountain pens, a lot of people, if they appreciate pens, they seem to graduate towards fountain pens and, um, being, talking to you guys and people contacting us through Kickstarter or email, they said, hey, hey, what about a fountain pen? What about a fountain pen? We want to see a fountain pen. So, um, I started the process actually right after the Render K, um, trying to find nibs and setting up, um, sources for that stuff and we found a, a few nibs through, uh, Schmidt that we liked and, um, started, uh, designing around those and, um, I really just, uh, put my nose to the grindstone and, you know, pen to paper and started sketching and, I, for the first time, everyone was surprised there was no knurling Yeah. um, on the fountain pen but, um, it was a, a process that kind of began with, um, it's mostly aesthetics because figuring out how a nib assembly can fit inside a pen and that fits inside a cap and all that stuff, that's, you know, that's kind of what I do at work. I mean, I do mechanical, um, stuff all the time but, designing something that people, non-fountain pen people would be drawn to and that fountain people wouldn't find too outlandish was, was the line that I had to walk and, uh, most of it came down to the clip. Um, because on the ink, um, the clip design is completely different than our other pens. We've actually used the same clip on our previous three pens and I did a complete redesign. I wanted something completely new and so, I came up with the idea of the, the one piece kind of one dimensional clip, um, fitted into a slot on the cap and it, uh, it turned out really, really nice, I think. I, uh, I'm really pleased with, uh, the overall aesthetic of the pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I, I think the, the looks are, are fantastic. The thing that I personally like the most and from when you even, you know, started showing me sketches way back in the day was just, I guess, the, the barrel silhouette, I guess, if you will, just the, the shape of the barrel is exactly like if I was designing a fountain pen, this is kind of my favorite, um, barrel shape, if you will, to write with. It's slightly wider diameter than you would think of a normal pen and here you go, Myke. Oh, that was for you. Killing me. Um, it's, it's slightly wider in the middle than, you know, say like a Pelican M205 or whatever. It's just a straight, um, probably standard, standard diameter barrel. This one kind of flares out just a little bit in the middle and tapers down, um, towards the cap and tapers a little bit towards the front. Um, I don't know. That's just a really good, good shape for me. I, I've, ever since I saw that first, first drawing of yours, I was like, I gotta get one of these in my hands because I think it's going to be just right for, for what I like in a pen and it, and it really is. I, I like the feel of it. It's, um, you know, it's, it's aluminum, so it's not overly heavy at all.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Um,

'''Brad Dowdy:''' it feels really, yeah, I, I think you mean aluminum. Yeah, thank you. Say it right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't say it at all.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's aluminum.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, because you have one in hand, right? You're not just, teasing everyone. You actually have one.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, no, no, I have one. Um, yeah, Dan sent me a prototype. I got it on Friday, so I haven't had it too, too long, but I've been using it ever since, and, uh, you know, I'm, I'm enjoying, uh, the, the writing experience with it. I like the, the section smooth, and, you know, we have a link, uh, to your blog post you did, Dan, where you, we talk about designing the pen and taking it from sketch and everything, and I saw one of the old pictures, which I haven't seen before. You shared some of, some of them with me as the part of the process was going through, but I did see one where you had knurling on the grip, uh, on the grip section. Yes. And, uh, but I think, I think, uh, smooth is, is, was the way to go with this. I think it just aesthetically, it probably wouldn't have looked right. Um, but I think, no, I just could say this, this, the section design is really good. It's a good, comfortable, comfortable writing pen. I just, I just like how it fits in my hand. It's really good.

'''Dan Bishop:''' Well, the funny thing about that grip section, um, when I was looking, because I, I mentioned, like you said, that blog post, um, there's not many machined fountain pens. I mean, there's very few. I mean, granted, a lot of the other ones that are acrylic and things are machined, but there's not many metal, uh, pens. Now, the, the pen that kind of inspired the genesis of all this was, uh, the Nakaya. I think that's how you say it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Um,

'''Dan Bishop:''' they have a titanium piccolo, which is an awesome pen. And, uh, if you look up the, the, that, that pen, there was a lot of elements about it that I really liked. and the, the grip section has this, um, a tapered, uh, the tapered swords with the nib, but then it flares out with kind of a square collar. And my original design actually had that. And then we made it and I used it and it felt horrible. So I actually, you know, was a kind of an irritation to, uh, Josh in our shop because he was, he was helping me with the prototypes. I said, uh, I made a new design. This one's not going to work. And he's, he looked at me like, are you kidding me? I have a bin full of, of, of parts that are the other shape. Um, and we, we remade them, you know, and, and that means he had to remake them in the fountain pen configuration and the roller ball configuration and in copper, brass, and aluminum, you know, he had to redo them. And so, but in the end, um, this, the shape for the grip section just kind of worked its way out and, uh, every, everybody that has tried it, you know, has liked it. so, I think it was a good decision to, to go with this, um, more, I don't know what you would call it, voluptuous shape rather than the real squared off look.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Now that I've never heard, uh, in the description of a fountain pen that it's voluptuous.

'''Myke Hurley:''' It's kind of got like a, the look of it is like, it's kind of like larger than life.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Dan Bishop:''' It's, it's kind of bulky. I mean, a lot of the pens, and here's, during the process, like I said, I, I would send texts to Brad. I would, I would send pictures to Myke and say, hey, look what we're making. And he would send back responses in all caps. And I was very, I was very cryptic, but I was also contacting Ed Jelly, um, um, and, uh, believe it or not, uh, Myke Dudek. He, I would have him come down. I'd say, hey, that new fountain pen that you have, can you bring it down here? I want to look at something. And so he actually, um, helped me decide, you know, what style I want to do on certain things and what I did and didn't like, but it was also an excuse to go out and get hamburgers for lunch. but everybody gave really good feedback, um, along the way. And it was, it's always encouraging that when you come up with something and people go, yeah, that looks good. Or that's a little, you know, that looks better. And so this was kind of a, a small community effort, whereas a lot of my pens in the, in the past, I've kind of designed them on my own. So this one, um, I have to thank everybody who, who, you know, participated or at least just ood and odd when I said them stuff that made me, uh, feel encouraged to push forward. So.

'''Myke Hurley:''' See, I can't help but think then that you made this project for me.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Oh,

'''Dan Bishop:''' I did actually, part of it. Um, the rollerball functionality, is that what you're talking about?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. Well, and the, the, the, the, the manufacturer of the nib as well, but yeah, go on. So talk about the, because in case it's not clear from what we said before, it's basically one pen design, but you can either get it in a fountain pen or as a rollable, right? Correct. You can choose, you can buy both, which what I've done, I, I want one of each. Um, and you'll see, everyone will see why in, in a mere matter of moments that they don't know already. Um, but you can choose to have it in, in, in one or, in one or the other, because obviously they have different mechanisms inside, so to be manufactured slightly differently is my understanding, like the way that you would, uh, looking at like some of the designs, you can see how they, they slightly differ on the inside from what you're making, but say, please tell the people why this is, this is the Myke Hurley project in that regard.

'''Dan Bishop:''' Well, it's a little bit of ego, but it's also a little bit of, can I do it? Um, because every time we talk about pens and there's, you know, wish lists or gift guides, Mr. Myke Hurley always says, I love the retro 51. I love the retro, and understandably so. And so I did, um, I did a bit of, of digging and I'm like, well, what about the pen makes it so fantastic? And in my opinion, it's the refill. Yes, 100%. Well, the pens are also very nice. I own a surf, you know, uh, there, there's nothing wrong with those, but the refill is spectacular. And so I said, hmm, can I make a, this pen take that refill? And I mean, so I, I did it. I just, uh, I just, uh, designed a different grip section and it'll also take a Parker compatible refill. So someone likes a, like a space pen or, you know, or whatever else it will work too. But this was designed to work best with that very refill. Cause I wanted to kind of displace the other pen on your list subconsciously. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' See, I wonder, I'm, I mean, I obviously don't want to speak too soon, but I mean, it's, it is all about that refill for me. Now obviously retro, retro 51, they rebrand it that they call it like the retro, they call it the RAF five P, um, for that, like the black version. But I mean, obviously I've done some digging on it and I know that the, the Schmidt, is it P eight, two, six, one, eight, eight, one, two, six, eight, one, two, six. That was from memory. All right. So, you know, I maybe got one number off. Um, it's the same.

'''Dan Bishop:''' You call yourself a super fan. Oh, uh,

'''Myke Hurley:''' and yeah, so that, that refill I think is, is absolutely perfect. Um, and so to, I'm really interested as, uh, to, to use it in a, in a, in a new, in a new body, but I'm excited. I think, I feel like you've made a great decision and as well, because you also use Schmidt for the nib manufacturer, right? They, they make the nib. And I've used, um, the tornado fountain pen, which is a Schmidt nib. Mm. And that is also fantastic. One of my favorite fountain pens. So, I mean, I think that you've definitely gone with the right decision. I'm really pleased that you're actually including, I'm right in thinking you're including the, the Schmidt refill, right? With the, with the pen.

'''Dan Bishop:''' Yeah. The, the, for the roller ball, they get a refill and with the fountain pen, they get the converter.