The Fourth Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper

Need some new reading material?  The Fourth Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper hosted by Black Belt Productivity came out today. Lots of links to good pen stuff so come on down! Oh, and a big thank you to Notebook Stories for creating the Carnival.

October Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper

Check out the Third Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper hosted by OfficeSupplyGeek. Fun to see what other bloggers find interesting.

The Rhodia Webnotebook vs Moleskine Journal Showdown

Many journal devotees would agree the Moleskine A6 journal has cachet to spare. So can a newcomer called the Rhodia Webnotebook (a/k/a The Webbie) best it? With certainty in one key category it does but is it enough to make you switch?

Rhodia Webnotebook vs Moleskine Journal

When it comes to form, Moleskine is exactly what a journal ought to be. The cover is thin but sturdy, the perfect little black book. The ribbon marker is durable enough and the pocket tucked inside the back cover is convenient for all manner of uses. The elastic band closure fits just right and helps keep goodies tucked tidily between the pages. The cream colored pages with pale gray lines are easy on the eyes and discreet. The Moleskine is a classy-looking journal in every respect.

The Rhodia Webnotebook is similar and certainly gives more than a nod to the venerable Moleskine. Unfortunately, it misses in some small ways but puts the Moleskine to shame in the most important one. More later about that.

Addressing form differences first, the Rhodia cover is thicker, sturdy, rigid, and smooth. The elastic band is tight and left permanent indentations on the front and back covers of the sample I received from Exaclair. There is a pocket attached to the back cover just like the Mole.  The inside cover is black with no place to write a name or offer a reward should the journal meet with misfortune. This omission could easily be remedied with a bookplate sticker. The Rhodia does not initially lie perfectly flat like the Moleskine but with use the spine will relax enough to make that less an issue.

The paper is a whole ‘nother subject and in this the Rhodia excels. The images tell the story. The Moleskine paper feathers in places with fountain pen ink but does well with pencil, gel pens, roller balls, and Sharpie Pens (not markers). There is show-through and bleed-through from every fountain pen I used. As one would expect, the finest nibs worked best. Although I didn’t have them on hand to test today, Noodler’s Black or Legal Lapis in a dry Parker ‘51′ extra-fine are the best fountain pen and ink duos I’ve ever found for a Moleskine. The Pilot Prera fine nib tested best of the lot this time.

Moleskine Journal - Front

Moleskine Journal - Reverse

Now for the challenger. The darker cream/gray lined Rhodia paper is thicker, smoother, and absolutely loved nearly everything I threw at it. Finally, double-sided writing is feasible in a small, black journal. No feathering, no bleed-through except with a Sharpie Marker and only the very faintest show-through with anything else.

Prefer fountain pens? This is a match made in heaven at least with the new 90g version. Depending on the ink and pen, drying time can be longer than with the Moleskine but I think it is worth the few-second wait. A piece of blotter paper should eliminate any smearing if that is a concern.

Rhodia Webnotebook - Front

Rhodia Webnotebook - Reverse

For anything but fountain pens, both the Moleskine and the Rhodia work well. The Sharpie Pen was particularly nice. It didn’t even leave an indentation. For compatibility with fountain pen ink though, the Rhodia Webnotebook easily came out tops. Every pen on my desk worked well including the stub and the free-flowing cursive italic, just the sort of versatility that is perfect for an inkophile.

Update: One of the comments below states that the line spacing is larger in the Webnotebook. A side by side comparison of the 9 x 14 cm sized journals used in my test showed no difference between the two.

Note: Another Rhodia Webnotebook review at Rhodia Drive.

Pen and Ink Links at Blogs.com

Check out the Top Ten Pen, Ink, and Paper Links at Blogs.com courtesy of The Pen Addict, Brad Dowdy. Bet you’ll find some new blogs to visit. I certainly did.

You are invited to a carnival!

The First Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper from Notebook Stories opened today. Lots of good stuff for newbies and aficionados alike. So come on down!

ferris wheel

J. Herbin Meets G. Lalo

G. Lalo of France makes very high quality stationery, envelopes, writing tablets, and cards, the best sort for making a good impression and a wonderful writing experience. Consequently, I was delighted to find two lovely pastel writing tablets at the bottom of a recent package from Karen Doherty of Exaclair. After a little sorting and cleaning, six Lamy italic nibs and one Pelikan custom italic received fills of J. Herbin ink in preparation for a meeting with Verge De France stationery.

G. Lalo Verge De France Stationery

The degree to which paper can affect nib performance as well as the interaction between ink and paper color are clearly evident.

G. Lalo Verge De France Stationery Comparison

The rose paper took ink very well and made the colors vivid and attractive.

G. Lalo Verge De France Rose Stationery

The pistache paper resisted the same ink resulting in skipping, poor color, and reduced legibility.

G. Lalo Verge De France Pistache Stationery

However, different pens and inks on the pistache paper produced much better results.

G. Lalo Verge De France Pistache Stationery with Additional Inks

Paper can play friend or foe, enhancing or tempering colors in both attractive and unpleasant ways, frustrating even the nicest nibs and inks. Initially the G. Lalo stationery looked at best unpredictable until further experimentation uncovered three “just right” pairings. By finding suitable inks and pens for this laid finish, pastel paper, Verge De France will join my stationery wardrobe and bring some welcome color along with it.

In addition this experiment has made me wonder if there are other brands of paper that I may have dismissed too soon. Perhaps one of my latest favorite pen and ink duos would be perfect on a paper for which I could find nothing suitable only a few months ago. Me thinks it is time to visit the bottom of my paper drawer just in case it holds some buried treasure.

Piccadilly Wire-O Notebooks

Piccadilly, Inc. was kind enough to send a couple of their products for review and on first glance they look like the sort of notebooks I would really enjoy. But looks aren’t everything.

First the medium-sized Wire-O Notebook  just because I love the Hokusai art on the cover. I could snap up inks in all the colors depicted and be quite happy. So I was prepared to love this notebook regardless of the slightly bent wire rings, a hazard with all wire-bound products. The wire ought to be a more heavy gauge for such a thick notebook but that’s not a deal-breaker.

Piccadilly Wire-O Notebook

Moving beyond the charm of the cover, the paper has a smooth texture that is the sort that might or might not be good for fountain pens. Sometimes you just know a paper is going to be terrific but this paper could go either way. So I lined up a half dozen pens with as many different inks to give the Wire-O a proper fountain pen test.

The first combination tested, Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo in a Pilot Elite Socrates F, proved at least one free-flowing ink would feather mildly and produce rough edges with wider than normal lines and mild bleed-through. <insert expletive> The ink color was beautiful on the white paper with medium gray lines so that was a plus. Otherwise performance was mildly disappointing.

Next I tried J. Herbin Terre de Feu in a Lamy Al-Star EF, a dry-writing fountain pen that should tame the problems encountered with the Tsuki-Yo. Sure enough the feathering happened less frequently and became almost imperceptible. The show-through was much less significant though the lines still looked a little wider than normal and the letters had smoother edges. Everything else I tested leaned toward the same results as the first pen and ink. Those combinations included Diamine Emerald in a Cross Solo in a fine cursive italic, Mont Blanc Violet in a Lamy Safari EF, Private Reserve Ebony Blue in a Lamy Al-Star 0.4mm cursive italic, and Sailor Brown in a Levenger True Writer F if you are keeping count. So the finer the nib and the drier it wrote, the better the performance on Wire-O paper.

To be fair I also tested three non-fountain pen instruments with much better results. A Sarasa Zebra 0.7mm rollerball performed beautifully as did a Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.3mm with blue black ink. I held the latter very lightly as I would a fountain pen with lovely results.

My final test was with a Pentel mechanical pencil with o.5mm B lead and this is where the paper really shone. The pencil wrote very smoothly with virtually no pressure applied. It was just like using a fountain pen. The paper’s lack of tooth should make the lead last a very long time without sharpening as only a tiny amount of it is deposited with each stroke. Far and away the pencil is the best match for the Wire-O paper. In fact an unlined notebook might be fun for pencil sketches if you have a light hand.

My conclusion is that the Wire-O paper performs better than that famously feathering Moleskine but it is still finicky. Not in a class with Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Exacompta or Apica for fountain pen use but at $5.99 for 200 pages of non-wood 100 gsm paper it is a bargain. The variety of covers and the convenience of a product that lays perfectly flat add to its appeal. If you’ve just got to use a fountain pen, fine nibbed, dry-writing ones will perform best and possibly with hardly any feathering. Barnes & Noble and other bookstores carry them so they aren’t hard to find. If I awarded stars, Piccadilly Wire-O would get 2.5 of them for fountain pens and 4.5 for pencils and rollerballs (a half star deducted for the wire) and that’s not bad at all.

Exaclair Order Arrived!

Happy to report that my Exaclair order arrived though due to circumstances full reviews may have to wait for a few weeks.

Still an update is in order and I have to tell you the Exacompta Sketch Book is very eye-catching despite a simple black cover. Even got agreement from my family on that one. Silver gilt edging really sets this journal apart inspiring both best effort and good work. The narrow orange, red and green striped ribbon marker gives it a continental flair yet because of its mere 5mm width is not intrusive. The 25% cotton off white, pH neutral, 28 lb. laid finish paper should stand up to all sorts of media and abuse. More on that when it has been run through some tests.

Some people like a plain cover and that is often true for me. I don’t want a design or adornment to influence my work. However, the silver palette and brush imprint in the upper third of the cover with the words Sketch Book below serve to reinforce the purpose rather then detract from the experience. So far the only thing I would change would be to reduce the size of the Exacompta imprint on the back though I understand why it is large enough to be read at a distance. Again it is in silver and so more decorative than blatant.

Other items in the order include an Exacompta Journal 21 with a black cover, a large, red Quo Vadis Habana Journal and two bottles of J. Herbin ink, Terre de Feu and Ambre de Birmanie. On inspection the craftsmanship is high quality and the paper sure to be good with fountain pens though that will need to be confirmed with a number of inks and pens before giving them full recommendation. Lucky me, eh?

Note: Links to paper products all resolve to The Daily Planner because I’ve had good experiences with them and they stock all three products. There are many vendors who offer them so check around including your local bookstore. I saw two of them in December at a Bookstar so all three journals should be easy to find.

Bagasse Notebook From Staples

Never heard of bagasse? It’s plant fiber waste that remains after sugarcane is processed. Given how much sugar we consume, there must be tons of it that could be put to good use and turning it into paper is a terrific idea.

Several weeks ago I purchased a 6 x 9.5 “Staples eco-friendly notebook” made from 80% bagasse but didn’t put it to use until this past weekend. Much to my surprise, it had a “made in Egypt” imprint on the back cover. So the paper isn’t the only exotic aspect to this product.

The kraft binder is very sturdy as are the rings so it is excellent for writing on the go. It also has two equally sturdy interior pockets that are attached to both sides of an extra page at the front of the notebook. Since I am always making notes on bits of stray paper, this is a convenience I really appreciate.

The white paper is very thin and shows mild show-through with the eight pens and inks I’ve tested so far but not so much that I couldn’t write on the reverse. Because the paper is so thin there is a degree of indentation on the back even from a fountain pen that would deter me far more than the mild show-through. The texture is very smooth but I did find some mild feathering with a couple of my tests though a Lamy 1.1mm calligraphy nib with Sailor Gray ink produced zero feathering. That combination also produced some fantastic shading so nib width doesn’t seem to matter so much as ink properties.

One other interesting feature of the notebook is the coppery brown lines. That sets it apart from all of my other lined papers and makes it especially pleasant to use.

One caveat to the notebook is that while there is a perforation to remove the paper that attaches a page to the rings, it is not well done. In part the extreme thinness of the paper is to blame but I found it near impossible to get a clean edge. Tearing against a ruler helped but there was more roughness than I would have preferred. This is merely a quibble and not an outright fault. Depending on how you intend to use your notebook, it may be entirely irrelevant. It certainly isn’t a deterrent for me.

Eco-friendly notebooks come in two sizes, 8.5 x 11″ as well as the 6 x 9.5″ reviewed here and cost $3.99 and $2.99 for 100 sheets. So they are quite the bargain. There is a composition book for $2.49 plus wide ruled perforated sheets in a 8.5 x 11″ pad. These come in 50 sheet pads in a 12 pack for $12.99.

The thin paper isn’t for everyone or even for all pens and inks so I can’t call it all purpose. However, for most fountain pen users, this ought to be a useful addition especially where quantity is a consideration. This is a new item for Staples and supplies are limited in some stores. Hopefully, customers will make it a success as not only is it a bargain but an excellent use of a renewable material as well.

U:Create Notebooks

Picked up a green Pearl Stripe U:Create notebook in the 8.6 x 6.5 in size at Staples a couple of days ago. My experiences with this line of inexpensive paper have been excellent in the past and this new notebook is no exception. Zero feathering! For cheap stuff that is most impressive. I tested Levenger Skies of Blue in a True Writer fine, J. Herbin Larmes De Cassis in a Pilot Prera medium, and Diamine Aqua Sapporo medium-fine so that’s a pretty good selection of brands. All behaved beautifully. There is a tiny bit of show-through but not enough to prevent writing on both sides of the paper. The only drawback is the large double rings that are sure to get bent.

At $5.29 for 120 sheets, a pocket and two dividers, this is a really good deal. Of note is that the paper comes from China and the copyright is 2006. This notebook night be from an older run of paper so keep that in mind if you decide to stock up. As always YMMV.