@penfount just had my 2nd significant wrist and hand surgery in 5 weeks. Typing effing hurts and is super limited. Writing a 6 page letter was smooth, not painful and delightful as always. Sending someone a letter is always significantly more personal than a typed message there are so many more choices involved between the paper the pen the ink even the variations in our handwriting depending on mood.
The plan was to clean and ink pens tonight. Instead I went bouldering. Right now I'm fine with that trade-off. Tomorrow at work, I'm gonna find all my empty pens in the case again and regret not filling them. #fountainpens
@paradoxmo@habmala I keep cartridges of shame in my 'office basket' for when I dont clean pens and its... not great. Pen goes in water bottle, gently shake, rinse and pop in a cartridge. 🙈
#FPQuestion of the day:
What fountain pen or stationery retailers have you had the most excellent customer service experiences with? What do you wish fountain pen makers and sellers would do better in order to make the customer experience smoother and more enjoyable? #FountainPens
@paradoxmo@penfount I have had the best customer service interactions with them. They are my preferred 'larger internet retailer' because of how they handle any issues.
@penfount I keep a stash of shark pens, mini note pads and sample ink in little kits. So when people ask, if they seem like a good candidate- I can just whip one out, and boom. Get 'em hooked. Or at least try. Lol. Got one of the girls at my chiropractor that way, then she got her husband and now they are working on their gaming group. Glorious.
@penfount a navy and silver blister-packed Parker Vector. Still have it somewhere around here, completely confident it will still write. This was long ago enough that they were all aluminum (or some other metal).
For some reason, I had the urge to search for Onion Skin paper.
I really need to try Onion Skin paper for writing with my fountain pens. I should try to look for Onion Skin that has 52g and 68g thickness, to make it closer to the look of Tomoe River paper.
@cedled by its nature onion skin is not made that thick. This is my favorite modern onion skin. Absolutely nothing better for shimmer or sheen. Fine for one-sided correspondence (as in you can only really write on one side, not like only sending yourself letters) but not thick enough for ring or disc binding. But a spectacular writing paper. https://www.thepapermillstore.com/paper-mills/the-paper-mill-store/fidelity-onion-skin?
@alexa488 skipping like weird texture issues or skipping like 'ink hates this one spot right here for no visible reason'?
The first shouldn't be an issue on this paper. It has smooth, with a hint of vellum finish so it is smooth- but not toooo smooth. The mystery spot skip is normally due to a) weird hand oil secretly in/on the paper, b) too much sizing in that one spot, c) humidity. Over the years I have gone through ahhh about 1,200 sheets of this. (Part 2 coming)
@alexa488 i got nothing, internet pen friend. I have not experienced that with this paper with any pen. Including those brands. Who makes the previous onion skin you used?
@paradoxmo@alexa488 ok, so traditionally onion skin had a cockle or light cockle finish. Kinda... crinkled. In part due to the tension between different fiber types in the pulp. There is usually a modicum of sizing in the slurry for a mixed pulp batch. I dont know what mill makes the Remy Road paper, but the weight and type of bindings lead me to think you are dealing with a mixed fiber slurry. On a cockle finish sizing is not good with fountain pens as it skips kinda like a record needle....
@penfount i keep trying, lol. But sadly only find less than impressive stationary stores. I'm determined to fix this next year though and planning a few days of travel stopping for pen stores and quilt shops. I'm so effing doomed dollar wise. But super excited.
@paradoxmo@moss well, now if it was only raining today... You're making me want to dig out some artistically ripped fishnets, fill my pens with only grey and black ink, dig out a mix tape that is mostly Elliot Smith and Radiohead, and sit at a coffee shop... But this time I'd get some work done, instead of artistically posing pens and ink bottle in the hopes the very cool boy behind the counter would ask me about them. 😅 oh man. What a visceral flashback you triggered. Lol!
@moss@paradoxmo pen friends > emo coffee shop boy. Lol!! If I'm remembering right, he was far more invested in the ripped fishnets than gorgeous pens. Should have seen that as a 🚩. 🤣
#FPQuestion of the day:
Have you ever met another #FountainPen user “in the wild”—a random person IRL that you didn’t know? Did you strike up a conversation?
@paradoxmo@MisterNobody yep. Only pen i got rid of. Loved how it wrote, but got damn sick of dudes saying "oh, did you take your Daddy's pen? Be careful it is expensive" Gross. Maybe it is better now as I was in my 20's then - but honestly it forever soured me on the brand as being a misogynist magnet. Otherwise when I run into FP's in real life its usually awesome. Always chatty, showing off whatever we have with us, I usually foist off some fun sheets of paper on them. Lol
#FPQuestion of the day:
Do you plan to attend this year’s #Pelikan Hub on 22 September? What have your experiences been at previous Pelikan Hubs?
(For those not familiar: https://www.pelikan-hubs.com/ Registration is officially closed, but if you contact your local hubmaster they may still be able to reserve a spot for you.) #FountainPen
@paradoxmo@iyuri yep. There is a freaking wacky paper called Plike which is 100% sulphite and feel like slightly rubbery plastic, and paper had a baby. Its a trip. But- takes FP ink very well somehow. Monster insane sheen shimmer too as the ink sets on the surface. Forgot to say- it handles humidity very well. Lol
@penfount#FountainPen I try not to be a dick in general... But when I call and ask 'do you carry fountain pens and ink?' And you tell me over the phone you have "a full line of Pilot fountain pens and bottled ink" and I drive and hour and a half to find what you actually carry are Varsity pens in - black, blue and red- and one bottle of Higgins India Ink from 1998... And get snotty when I'm trying to explain why their information is wrong... I'm leaving you a less than seller review. 🤬