Editing The Pen Addict 247/transcript (section)

== Fountain Pens ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' At the beginning of last December, I did not own a single fountain pen. Through the years, I have had at least a mild interest in finding the right things to write with and write on. When I was younger, I was gifted a couple of cross pen sets that I used to the point the finish was worn through where I held it. I've hunted for the perfect wooden pencil in an office supply store, which I loved to browse in as a kid. I have splurged on bound notebooks that I can abuse, but really not damage. When my sister gave me a brown leather Retro 51 tornado, she used for her wedding's guest book, because I like nice pens, her words. I thought, I guess so. She was right, and I still love that pen today. I bought a pack of Field Notes Shelterwood because I thought they looked cool in a store. It has always been more impulsive, but constant. So I think a lot of us can see ourselves in this email from Joseph already. So he says, last year I got tired of using notebooks I did not really like, and I set out to find my perfect notebook. A heavier quadrille paper with a top binding using staples or thread. No glue. Sound familiar? I'm an engineer, and as a previous engineer named Joseph pointed out on your show, I will always write to solve problems, particularly when math is involved. That's when we were talking about in the past, like, why writing's never going to go away, right? I mean, in math and science, it's super important to be able to write and explore your handwriting on a page to try to solve a problem. So he says, that means I want a cheap notebook too because I go through paper and because I'm an engineer. Over the course of several months, I ended up finding Rhodia Classic Orange pads online, then found jet pens. I ordered a stack of Apica CD notebooks and Rhodia pads in different sizes and colors, and on a whim, I ordered a Platinum Preppy because it helped me reach free shipping. That was my first mistake.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' At the end of February, I now have a Platinum Preppy, a Platinum Metropolitan, a Lamy Safari in dark lilac with KWZ berry, which somehow fell into my box with other purple samples. Thanks, Vaness. Twisby Eco, extra fine, inked up with Montblanc Irish green, and another Platinum Preppy in extra fine and black. All my inks are samples or original cartridges, and I have also tried Ackermann 13 Simpliste Violet, Ackermann 05 Shocking Blue, and Noodler's Violet. It has not been that long, and I have not been able to rotate pens and ink much yet. I did dip test all the inks with some of the pens, but I'm still scratching my head a bit at some of the differences. My Eco seems to flood any paper with the Irish green, while the Safari felt dry, nearly scratchy, with any of the inks I tried. From everything I read, I guess I would have not expected either of those things from everything I have read or images I have seen online. I was wondering what your thoughts are on trying things out at the lower cost end and where money would best be spent early on. The pens I purchased so far all kind of led me onto the next one as I like them, but I also don't expect to gain much from just buying the next one up at this point. I'm really just trying to get my bearings in the market and the community so I can have a better idea of what to expect and make an informed decision once I do decide to put more money into a single purchase.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So let's stop right there. There's a little bit more that's a separate question that I want to take separately. So, number one, this is an amazing story. This is how a lot of us got into this, right? We always had like this deep-seated thing to write with something better than the junk we were writing with that we found at the office.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Go back to the start of the show and maybe like 15 episodes in, me and you start this journey, right? Safari to Preppy to Metropolitan. We go down that route together.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right, right. So this is awesome that Joseph has found this and found us and has found some enjoyment in finding the things that help him enjoy his writing better and help him solve problems doing math and being an engineer. He's not just writing. He's writing to do work as well as writing for fun and once an enjoyable experience. So out of these pens he's bought, he said he's tried a few things. So, one of the things, Joseph, that I'm unclear on, which is going to change your experience, is you said you did dip test all the inks with some of the pens and that's not going to give you a good test for the eco flooding the paper with Irish green while the Safari felt dry. You need to fully ink the pens to get the real experience because I've never had an eco flood ink. But if you're just dipping it, you're going to get a different sample or experience of the ink delivery onto the paper than if it was filled and flowing and metered properly from the barrel through the feed, through the nib, onto the paper. Same thing with the Safari. Safari.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' The Safari has a solid feed. There's hardly going to be any ink in there when you're dipping it. But if you're using it filled with a cartridge or converter, whatever you're doing, it's going to be different. It could still be dry. But it's going to be different than your experience with just dipping that nib in your random inks and feeling what that's all about. So I'd be curious about that. Your point about not expecting to gain much from just buying the next one up at this point, I agree with that. I think you're good with what you have. Like, the Eco, the Safari, and the Metropolitan, and the Preppy honestly give you all kind of different writing experiences in the fines and extra fine nibs. Like, I don't know that unless there's some valid reason for you in the way you write, in the way, you know, you do your work to switch up with what you have. Like, you have good pens, you have good inks, everything should work as intended. You know, fill them up properly, don't just dip test them. I know you're trying, if you're just buying samples right now, you know, you're probably trying to conserve ink, but you need to go ahead and fill them up to see what the performance is really like. That's how you're going to know for sure whether you're in a good space with the pens that you need. So, anything else I need to say about that, Myke? I think that's...

'''Myke Hurley:''' I don't think so. I think you made a really good point of like, you've really got to try them properly. you've got to... Dipping is like a good tester, but it's not going to give you the results that you're looking for, as you said, Brad.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. So, this last little bit says, also, is it worth going to a pen show if you do not intend to buy anything in particular? Okay, I would buy tons of ink samples if they were available, he says. The Little Rock show is a bit of a drive for me, but I have family and friends in that area, so it would not be a wasted trip no matter what. I just do not know what to expect. This is a really good question because I've had this come up before. I've had people come up to me at a show saying, I just wanted to come and see what it was all about. So, you can absolutely go to a pen show if you don't intend on buying anything. And, I've seen people like, I couldn't. We're all different, but I know people do this because I have talked to people like at DC that said, we just came to see what it was all about. Thanks for talking to us today and we'll see you later. And, they said they had the best time. They said, this is awesome and now I have an idea of this and maybe next year I'll come with a list. So, absolutely, it's worth going to a pen show just because you can see things, touch things, feel things. you know, if you're, you already bought a Lamy Safari but people who are just getting into this, you know, maybe not, may not know how a Lamy Safari grip section fits their fingers. You can try it there. So, don't go in to a show with an expectation to buy something because that's absolutely normal and well, well worth it. I mean, it is very much worth it to go even if you don't spend a single dollar other than to get in. So, absolutely would recommend going even if you don't buy. Don't intend on making a purchase just to try things out, see things, see things you may not have known existed that might fit your needs better. So, it's very cool. It's very cool. So, absolutely do that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, and that's it. you know, so that was a good email. We get these pretty frequently like the ramp up the like the zero to 60 in various speeds and where do I go next? Am I good? And I love that people are thoughtful enough to like send us these emails and ask for our opinion on these things. It's kind of cool.

'''Myke Hurley:''' If you want to find our show notes for this week, head on over to relay.fm slash penaddict slash 247. Thanks again to our sponsors, Squarespace and Mack Weldon. If you want to find Brad online, you can go over to penaddict.com on knock.co to find his writing and his product. You can go to Twitter. He is at dowdyism, D-O-W-D-Y-I-S-M. I am at imike, I-M-Y-K-E. Brad is penaddict on Instagram and I'm also imike on Instagram as well. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of The Pen Addict and we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad.

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

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