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UKFP Uncapped: 15th September 2019

Community

Loving reading the updates from this pen maker. I really enjoy getting a behind-the-scenes view from craftspeople. (I’m also queueing up videos like this Montegrappa behind-the-scenes and Graf interview from Appelboom)

I reinked my Pelikan M805 with italic broad with Sailor Studio 140 last week, only to see a review pop up on the Well Appointed Desk. At first I thought this was a rather washed-out blue, but the undertones of lilac are really interesting.

It’s the Newcastle Pen Show today. If anyone wants to send me a bottle of the KWZ show-exclusive Newky Brown ink, I would be very grateful! Hope you have an amazing show.

Only two weeks until Inktober, and the prompts have landed. Thinking about doing it this year, but maybe with writing instead of drawing…

Vinta Inks keep filling up my Instagram feed and my RSS reader. I reached out to them on Instagram and they ignored me, which always pisses me off, but I’m still drooling — at my usual murky shaders and even at a shimmer ink for a change.

Saddened by the end of the Massdrop writing community? Tempt yourself and incur more customs charges here. Damn you, Endless Pens.

On my doormat

Will from Tactile Turn landed a Gist v2 in delrin on my doormat this week. It’s interesting to see what’s changed from v1 (the overall length, the threads, etc) but I’m shocked at how different the delrin feels from my brass v1. This is a light pen, and bright white with a surprising amount of translucency. See the pink ink (Pilot Benzaiten)?

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Published

Three posts in the past week:

My review of Leonard Slattery’s “A Haon” proved a hit. One of my favourite bits of this job is introducing new makers to the wider community. I’m tickled pink.

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I reflected in brief on the little lies we tell ourselves as collectors (or hoarders, as one commenter put it).

And I attempted a public service by cataloguing the different options available to us here in the UK if we want some Tomoe River notebooks…

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Incoming

You know how I need more ink like a hole in the head? Well, I decided to check out a few of the new Montblanc blues. I ordered Turquoise, Maya and Lapis Lazuli. Intrigued to see what they’re like.

My Lamy 2000 Bauhaus is on its way! And the Pelikan M1005 Stresemann is not far behind. I can tell you, the tension is killing me.

On my mind

This week I have mainly fallen down the rabbit-hole of Eboya. I’ve never found ebonite as alluring as celluloid or urushi, but I love the idea of a super-small business doing things the old fashioned way, with incredible quality standards. Bock nibs put me off, but only a little…

The Hobonichi feeding frenzy started a couple of weeks ago, and I’m thinking of jumping from my half-full Stalogy 365 back to a Hobonichi A5 Cousin for January. Stalogy paper is lovely, but it’s not quite as good as Tomoe. Are you guys still hooked on Hobo?

My post mentioning retired pens prompted me to dig out and reink my v1 cocobolo Desiderata Soubriquet. Still an amazing pen. The ink? Birmingham Allegheny Observatory Celestial blue, of course.

Speaking of inks… when did I go all matchy-matchy? I’m really starting to look for inks that coordinate with the pen’s colour — like KWZ Menthol with my new Turquoise Sailor Pro Gear demo — but I’m also locking down pens to a single paired ink instead of swapping every week. What’s got into me? Expect a post to follow once I work this out in my head…

5 Comments

  1. Veganodon (@Veganodon)

    Cannot do without my Hobonichi, will swap my Techo for a Week next year. I could not resist the Ultraman cover.

    I love matching matching inks and pens. Hard for me to do otherwise.

  2. rupertarzeian

    Thank you for this interesting round up. I particularly enjoyed the Montegrappa factory video and the Eboya articles…both of which extolled the virtues of ebonite feeds. I am appreciating the very consistent flow from my recently acquired Aurora 88, one of the few pens I own with such a feed.

    • Anthony

      Ebonite is clearly the best for feeds, both in performance and aesthetics. It’s a shame it’s not widely used!

  3. Ethan

    Interesting you should mention color-matching ink with pens, as I’ve just been thinking about the same! I have an Opus 88 Omar in amber incoming. Are there any particular brown (or blue, if I decide to go complimentary instead) inks you recommend?

  4. Kamil Klapka

    Rather than Hobonichi I like Jibun Techo. I would love so much if they would do proper full English edition without any Japan maps, etc…

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