A New Addition To Inkophile Plus Some Changes

Ink Comparisons

Did you see the new addition to the sidebar called Ink Comparisons? It is a link to all Inkophile posts that have images of inks pictured side by side. You can also go to my Flickr stream for many of the same images but without the text. Soon Flickr will be updated to include all of the comparisons used on Inkophile and at that time will earn a separate button in the sidebar.

Tip Jar

Another recent addition is a Tip Jar. Inkophile will be five years old next month and “the collective” has informed me that it’s time to become self-supportive. There are other ways to achieve a little cash for expenses and expansion such as adverts or a sponsorship or even affiliate links, so donations may only be the beginning. Don’t you hate when real life restricts your fantasy life?

Pages

Along with the new additions, pages about my favorite things have received minor updates. Other than to add a couple of Platinum #3776 pens, Stillman & Birn journals, and a few inks, little has changed over the past year.

Sidebar Links

Many of you have been linked to in one or more categories in the sidebar. My lists are some of the most comprehensive on the web for fountain pen related information. A reciprocal link would be appreciated.

Links in posts

When a post has a link to a source for a product, often I will seek a smaller retailer to give a bit of support. Not all of you keep a blog or offer a list of links but for those who omit credit where it is due, bloggers and retailers alike, mentions on Inkophile will be less frequent. Citing a source when it is known is a courtesy, especially in the online world, and I appreciate your efforts to be fair about this.

Social media and friends

Lastly, writing for Inkophile is great fun but it does take much of my free time. The last several months, I’ve had to choose between writing and participating in social media. Guess which won? Monthly page views have doubled from a year ago so in that sense, concentrated efforts have paid well. However, I do miss hearing from friends. Please do not think you are being ignored if I miss important life events or even smaller but significant bits of news. Shoot me an email if I don’t respond on Twitter, Google Plus, or FB. I’m still here!

On My Desk To Start The New Year

A neat desk is a good way to start the new year. I reckon I will have to wait until 2014 for that bit of holiday joy.

The top section of my list comprises only the pen related items.

• 14 pens including three Platinum #3776 pens at various stages of testing, three Levenger True Writers and a Namiki Falcon B nib filled with Noodler’s Inks for testing,  four Lamys and a Kaweco Sport filled with inks from previous tests, and two pens that are in regular rotation, a True Writer Cursive Italic and a Pelikan M215 Cursive Italic.
• The inks in those pens are Platinum Pigment Blue, Diamine Sepia, Noodler’s Golden Brown, Tiananmen, Beaver, Purple Martin, Australian Roses, 54th Mass., Q’E-ternity, Air-Corp BBk, Ottoman Azure, plus Montblanc Racing Green, and Kaweco BBk.
• An Apica 6A10 Note Book, a Daycraft Signature 2013 Diary, various Rhodia pads, several Staples sugarcane spiral notebooks, Stillman & Birn Journals, an Exacompta Sketchbook, Staples notebook paper, and a couple of legal pads.

Then there is all the stuff that is not fountain pen related.

• Two Autopoint mechanical pencils and assorted erasers
• Pentel Pocket Brush Pen
• Two Chinese seals and a bottle of Chinese ink for painting
• One magnifying loupe
• One 6″ jade statue
• A container of watercolor brushes and two Altoid-sized boxes filled with pans of watercolor paint
• A container of drawing pencils and Sharpies
• Six bottles of hand lotion (Well, a girl has to have options.)
• One roll-on bottle of Life TIME Stopain Topical Analgesic
• Minolta E-323 camera
• Small TV, cable box, laptop-sized keyboard, mouse, and a large computer monitor that dominates the whole affair
• Clock radio and a phone
• One LED and one standard bulb flashlight
• Three pairs of glasses

You should see what else it holds. Or maybe not. No need to traumatize you neat and tidy people.

Want the Platinum Chartres Blue Fountain Pen? Here’s The Deal!

Just so you won’t have to, I did some shopping around after receiving one of those year-end what a great deal emails. The item with the 20% discount looked very appealing so I decided to check prices with online retailers who make great deals an everyday occurrence. Well, not only is the Platinum #3776 Century Chartres Blue Fountain Pen well priced elsewhere, but you can get it shipped free at least for now. So if this pen is on your wish list, I Sell Pens or Goldspot Luxury Gifts  will take your order. Go on. Hop to before they run out.

A Blue Screen And The Platinum Century Chartres Blue Pen has my initial impression of the pen to which you can add two new remarks . One is that under low light it looks black. That makes the pen a chameleon depending on lighting conditions. The second is that the broad nib is turning out very well for me. However, I’ve set it aside to see how Platinum Pigment Ink flows after days of no use. That’s frustrating because I want to write with it – not watch it. See what I do for you ink and pen lovers!

Lots Of Goodies In My Review Queue

Thanks to Dick Egolf at Luxury Brands USA, there are several items on hand for review but it’s going to take some time to get everything tested and results posted. With the gift giving season upon us, I thought you might like to hear some early impressions just in case you have a pen lover on your list.

Three of the Noodler’s inks to review have been available for years but they are new to me. Purple Martin, Beaver, and Tiananmen are looking good so far. When they meet their ideal pens and paper, you’ll be the first second to know.

The two Platinum pens are going to get a bit of use before I commit to reviews. Still you should know that the #3776 Century Black in Black FF (flexible fine) is a really sweet pen that is finer and slightly more flexible than the Namiki Falcon. But like the Falcon it needs some use to reach its potential. The Century has a new cap design that prevents ink from drying out as well as a redesigned nib and feed to regulate ink flow. Sounds promising, eh?

The second Platinum is a resin #3776 music nib (PTBM-15000) that hasn’t been inked yet. I’m reserving that treat for a very quiet few hours after the holiday hoopla has subsided. I am a fan of light-weight pens and big nibs so this could be an excellent match for me.

Dick also sent a trio of Noodler’s pens. The pearl Ahab needs a test drive as does the Galapagos Tortoise Konrad but I couldn’t wait to fill the Tahitian Tortoise Konrad. The colors of the barrel are brown to dark teal and a real treat for a color lover. Luckily the Noodler’s Turquoise that Dick sent fits it in a most appealing way. The Konrad has a flex nib and a bit of use will improve its flexibility. After only a few pages, I really like what it can do. However, the ink can take minutes to fully dry in part because flex writing lays down so much of it. On thin paper like Staples sugarcane (bagasse) expect some show-through and bleed-through. High quality, heavy paper works best. A little water dilution might help or a different, less saturated ink could tweak performance but you might lose some of the shading Turquoise does so well. More on this baby when it reaches adolescence.

Noodler’s Tahitian Tortoise Konrad Fountain Pen and Turquoise Ink

Need a gift for a pen person? Consider a Noodler’s Konrad and a bottle of Noodler’s Ink. That won’t break the bank at $32.50 and it will bring a lot of fun to the writing experience. If you want to go the whole way, include a pad of Rhodia paper. It might be slow to dry but it will show off the turquoise ink beautifully.

More soon…