Just a comment about handwriting. Every person has hand writing unique to them. I have a sample of my mother's hand writing that I have kept for over 20 years since she passed away. It was just a quick note that meant nothing, but it was a part of her. Let your hand writing be unique to you. Don't strive to write like someone else.
This is so true! Everyone has their own handwriting style, and I find them all so unique & beautiful.❤While mine may not be the most pleasant to read, writing brings me so much joy and eases my chaotic mind most times.😅
This is very true. Also the more you write, the more unique the handwriting gets I think. I know I started with pure cursive, switched to pure print and now I have a weird hybrid even I can't properly describe. And I think the end result is what matters most, it's not about how perfect it looks, it's about how tailored to you it becomes.
There’s a kid out of Detroit, HS age but he’s a pen maker, Motor City Pens. He makes pens out of a resin that changes color with heat. Turquoise to Fuschia, etc. He’ll be at the DC Pen Show, he was there last year.
I bought a pen from him at the Detroit Pen Show last year. Not one of the color changing ones, but a really pretty resin he made. He showed me the color changing ones and I was thinking about one for this year.
Hey guys, that Cicero quote is expressing a simple idea that most people can relate to: On the way to achieving something gratifying/important/desirous, one might experience pain. Pain wasn't the goal, but it may be necessary to achieve the goal. For example, you really want to see the view from a really tall mountain. The hike to the top might cause you some pain. You weren't seeking pain, but rather the beautiful view from the top. But you if you weren't willing to suffer the pain you wouldn't have achieved it. That 1914 writing style really gets in the way. I love the Pencast. Write on!
Latin (and Ancient Greek) professor here. Not a good look to dismiss Cicero as ‘nonsense’ while promoting a writing implement most people ignorantly dismiss as nonsensical. Especially when the English translation was a perfectly intelligible sentiment: possibly lay off the TV and video games and spend a bit more time with books? Apology on next Pencast, please. (By the way, if Cicero were alike today he’d be a Lamy man. Horace and Tacitus would write with a Pelikan, Virgil would go for an Aurora Optima, and Catullus would do a Sailor PG Realo).
I take your point, but I think that as a ‘novus homo’, he’d have fallen for Lamy hype about modern design. Juvenal of course would avoid Omas because of the Greek key design.
Vac mini iris YES YES YES! BRIAN, I was literally talking to the manager of my favorite Toronto pen store about the need for that. HE brought it up, so that makes me think I'm not the first customer to ask when that is happening!! Please yes and thank you!
I recently watched one of your videos from 11 years ago, where Drew introduced himself and talked about his role in the company. Drew, you were a natural for podcast-style videos. You and Brian had excellent screen presence in that video. You guys are meant for podcasts. Keep those 2+ hour podcasts coming fam! I genuinely enjoy watching you guys talk for hours-it makes my day.
Mad applause for Brian's saxophone goal crush!!! I'm a classical pianist, so I can truly appreciate the process of training to the point where you can enjoy your own music. Great tone, lovely phrasing! Bravo! I don't play a wind instrument, but my sister plays flute and panflute which takes exponentially more air. When she gets a new panflute with lower notes, she starts practicing lying flat on her back so she won't pass out, then works her lung capacity up to sitting, then standing. Hopefully the difference between tenor sax and bari sax won't be that dramatic. Thanks so much for sharing video clips! So delightful!! Love the B2tFIII shirt, Drew! Thanks for the great Pencast!
@Drew - Tell Shannon that "How come" is just a shorthand phrase to express the question, "How came it to be ..." and that even Charles Dickens used the phrase. Just like "Howdy" from a Texan (like me) is a shorthand phrase for "How do you do" and the word "goodbye" is a shortening of "God be with ye." Compare "adios" in Spanish whose etymology "a Dios seades" is literally "may you be commended to God."
Doubting how come for not being a sentence, try learning japanese were sentences are literally just nouns, adjectives or verbs on their own, no articles no conjugation no subject or object, etc
I love you two guys. As the mother of two boys in your approximate age range I appreciate your sensitivity your fatherhood your kindness the fact that you can cry over a movie. Good character-I love it. thank you to your parents for raising beautiful young men. Thank you for being you. Stay real.
The reason the FA nib doesn't have ornate nib stamping is because it would make the nib stiffer and more brittle due to work hardening, which obviously wouldn't be a desirable property for a nib that is designed to bend. This happens any time you change a metal's shape below its recrystallisation temperature, called "cold working". Oh and come to think of it Drew, I remember Figboot reviewed a pen by a brand called Abeet that refiled from the back without having to disassemble anything. It worked like one of those cans of butane with a nipple on top you can use to refill a lighter.
I just tried a prototype pen at the St Louis Pen Show with a diamond tipped nib! It was the best writing experience I’ve had… so the technology IS out there.
Back when I was making pin (or indeed pen) money on the side by doing web design, I created a site for a local pub and for some filler text I included "Buy one pint for the price of two, get a second pint totally free!" It was just me mucking about, but the owner of the pub loved it and added it to their newspaper adverts and had a huge sign made up saying it for behind the bar.
There is always one moment in each Pen Cast where I burst out laughing - sacrificial goat pit was this week’s 😂😂😂 as always, thank you for these videos!!
Daaaang the Dialog CC looks slick. I still kinda prefer blue colours with silver accents, but that pen could persuade me otherwise. Drew's movie shirt: Back To The Future III, obviously! 😂
Regarding Archer's sudden hugging phase: I also have a son around the same age (9) who hasn't really been a hugger/cuddler...but all of a sudden maybe last year, he started to hug me more than he had when he was younger. It was a bit jarring and made me sometimes wonder his motivation (hope that doesn't make me a terrible mother). But I've come to realize over the last year that they are genuine hugs-usually to show me his appreciation. So hopefully Archer's hugs are just a cool addition to his repertoire of affection. (Side note: My other two younger kids have always been huggers....touch is their love language, so hugs from them are plentiful. Every kid is different. Soak up all the hugs from your little guy)
You guys make my day so much better. I turn on your show and I just feel so at home with friends that understand me. I love your guys personalities, and interactions. I wish my work environment was like yours, it’s very healthy.
I agree. I'd LOVE to find a place to work that has a similar vibe to Goulet Pens! Vibe: Sorry, I'm from California. I need a better adjective than that! 😂
After bringing a fountain pen to perk me up after surgery I discovered my handwriting is a brilliant indicator of how much pain or distress my body is in from moment to moment. So enjoy your messy writing because it's telling a beautifully detailed story custom created.
Congratulations to Brian on his achievement. We will look forward to an update on the new saxophone. I also give a thumbs up to Drew on his newest shirt.
Happy Weekend! Its raining here, so cleaning pens while watching the pencast. I would like a Kaweco Steel Sport. But the Steel should be rusted. I really like the color and feeling of rusted handrails, that are smoothed from thousands of hands. I know, really specific, but i like it :)
I so enjoy these pencasts! Thanks for putting in the time every week to do them. I watched Drew's recent video on Overlooked Brands and found the recommendation for Rohrer & Klingner's iron gall inks intriguing. I then fell down the rabbit hole. The description of these inks states that they are unsuitable for some pen types. Could you talk about iron gall ink, how they differ from iron gall of the past, and what pens might not play well with R&K iron gall inks? Thanks and keep up the good work!
It's particularly good for lefties. I have one on a 836 and the 912. I am left-handed and these work grea6 for me but there is absolutely no line variation.
Thanks guys for another fun and informative pencast. I have a suggestion for a spotlight segment. It would be great if we can meet the people behind the scenes who make the GPC website. The GPC website is very well thought out. It’s both inviting and informative and in my opinion the best website of its kind.
Drew for your refilling pen idea it can be a large capacity pen with a rubber end that has a quick twist cover you can inject with a syringe through the tight rubber.
Question for Brian…if you had to start the business again from scratch but at the age you are now would you/could you do it again? Would the growing pains be too much to endure now at 40?
@Drew, when you talked about the pen filled from the bottom without opening it, the Pelikan Level came to mind. @Brian & Drew: Thanks for the cozy vibe you provide with you pencast. Always feels like hanging out with friends.
(Still waiting to buy that first fountain pen) I'm left-handed and watched your recs. I am an overwriter. My preference is for Rhodia and 68gsm Tomoe River Paper journals. Great podcast!
Re the “Cicero” (-esque) quote. Think of running a marathon: pain, agony, unmatched toil, but bringing (procuring) great exaltation of personal achievement. Or childbirth, or taking the Bar exam, etc. etc. Nobody wants pain for no return (‘pain in itself’ / or pain alone), but we are willing to endure discomfort and toil for a slew of worthy ends. And in cases like the marathon the pain (toil, discomfort) is integral to the triumph. If a marathon was easy peasy, we would feel indifferent about it.
Hi Guys! Welcome back Brian! LOTS to comment on! Particularly interesting is taking an existing pen and changing it. It's funny, that you, Brian aren't interested in it's having a converter, but you are wanting a more colorful one. I like BOTH your idea and Drew's! That darn pen needs some COLOR! A converter would be nice also if it reduced the price a little. I bought a Jinhao 30 which is a cheap knockoff of the 2000. It is RED! I love the thing! Has a gold tone nib and trim ring and the brushed finish spring clip is gold tone as well! It also has a cool little gold tone finial on the end of the barrel! The nib is similar to a Lamy nib, but is bigger than the nib on the Safari. No annoying clips on the barrel either! I LOVE the idea also of the "earl grey" Pilot 823! That is another pen that needs COLOR!! Even a dark blue translucent, might make me take the plunge. Drew, a Green E95s would be SUPER! Also, the idea of a Visconti Mythos Lava is GREAT! Bring that on! And the special Safari with prismatic purple! Bring that on, too! Ok, Brian, once you have reached 100 hours practice with the baritone sax, you are going for a BASS sax, right!! Especially if you play the Bari as good as you play the Tenor!! Good job! Wish I could still play my instrument (trumpet) as well as you are doing. If I played that outside, nature would be after me, I would be attacked by any and all kinds of birds, insects, squirrels, and you name it! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!
I *love* Monteverde Giraffe because when it's wet, it looks pretty red, but as it dries, it morphs into a rusty bloodlike color. Giraffe is lovely for moody journal writing -- "this is written in blood!". When I got my Opus 88 Mini Fountain Pen - Cheer Kitty, it was the first ink I used and it paired nicely. I love my kitty pen as well!
Fun question about pen-ink pairings! The beauty of R&K Solferino flowing out of my fuscia Aurora Optima makes me bring that pen out more than I might otherwise.
Another nice pencast! I look forward to this every week. However, today you guys made reference to being in middle school when Contact came out, some time around 1997. All of a sudden I felt so, so very old, having graduated high school in 1993😒I'm thinking that age should be left out of all future videos! 😉LOL I'd like to feel young as long as possible. I will not go gently into that good night!😃
Brian- As a (former) t-sax player it is great to see your progress! I came from a highly competitive high school band (we competed against DII) and that had a competitive saxophone ensemble group (it placed for something like ten years before). The year I joined the ensemble we decided it would be more challenging if we switched instruments and I moved to bari. We only had about a month with our new instruments practicing on our own. Besides the obvious embouchure and breath control difference the biggest adjustment was moving from b-flat to e-flat. Common note progressions are just a little bit different bit different than what you’ll be used to. Almost like difference in regional dialects in language. I can’t wait to hear you belt out on the bari that jazzy womp womp that only a bari can make sound cool.
Nearly all of those fantasy pens you suggested would find their way onto my wishlist. Green-gold E95s and a cartridge or Demo Lamy 2k especially. After the Poseidon, I can see the opportunity for a BlackMythos with copper trim "Hades" Your comment about a nib that changes size reminded me that there was a vintage pen that tried that once with 4 slits so you could rotate it to the size you wanted, Also the Parker 180 with the flip so you could go between EF and M.
heather signed my journal at the triangle pen show... i think her writing is nice! Regarding Drew's glass barrel idea, another big plus would be it’s recyclable♻.
For changing nib sizes, Tom's Studio just came out with a dip pen nib that has a little screw on it where you can adjust your line width. Super interesting!
Hey... Visionaries. I loved that show when I was a kid. I found it in RU-vid. I am affraid to watch it. I have rewatched a few episodes of some shows I would watch as a child back in the 80s, and each time I have been so disappointed. I would love a Lamy 2000 demonstrator, but I would like it brushed. I love the idea of lava resin used in more pen models.
I know what you mean. Some shows don't age super well, but I'll say this - I recently rewatched Bravestarr (my favorite from the 80s) and while the show itself wasn't always awesome, the animation and the backgrounds were worth every second. - Drew
Just a comment from last weeks pencast. The pilot Con-70 converter can be cleaned, 5 mins tops. Use a syringe to clean the bulk of it. Then while the converter is filled with water cover the opened end of the converter with your thumb. Then press the button several times. Repeat until ink free.
I have a pencast question: how do you store/organize your pen accessories? I just got an ink miser, to add to my ink syringe and brass sheets and pipettes, and currently they're just tossed on a shelf. Would you put them in a box or what? Thanks!
On the topic of diamond nibs: ruby/sapphire (corundum) may be a better choice, and watchmakers had figured it out long ago. It's used for important bearings as an extremely wear-resistant yet low friction material. I don't see why it wouldn't work for nibs.
My favorite non-fountain everyday pen is the Pilot G2. I do an awful lot of writing and I find the rubber grip is comfortable all day long and doesn't slip. I know there is the Faber-Castell Grip and there is a Lamy student-targeted pen with a rubber grip section, but why don't more fountain pen manufacturers offer a pen with a less slippery grip? It seems like the vast majority avoid them, even when the rest of the pen is textured (like the Pilot Explorer which has a lovely, comfortable texture everywhere except for the slippery smooth grip section where I really need it). Thanks.
I think Drew could pull off a Dr. Evil costume fairly spot on. And Brian would make a perfect No. 2. Which would also be a little ironic. Love the show and the light hearted touch you guys bring to my day. You guys provide me a relief from my worries (even though our time is brief), pens, ink, and paper. The heart, the mind, and soul come together in the hand. I’m waiting for my Mythos Poseidon Med. as I write this with great anticipation. Keep being authentically yourselves ✒️📜🌒🕯️🙏
Congrats on the bari sax!! Amazing 🎉 - also! SUPER cool to hear you guys talk about my Taylor Swift fountain pen video on here. I literally paused and did a very nerdy excited dance. Great pencast per usual ☺
Not a jeweler but an archer (which is surprisingly common among fp users, but that's another topic)... Afaik, you can polish diamond dust to very high degree. Or you can also use DLC - diamond-like carbon. That thing is used for coating arrow rests, part of the bow that touches the arrow. It's used because it is extremely durable, wear resustant, and with very low friction. Since it is not real diamond, it is not as expensice, so maybe even coating a larger part of the nib would be an option. And it would look fire!
Some really great ideas that seem pure gold: -A Hades pen with lava.. YES! -Lamy 2000 cartridge converter.. YES! -Transparent Vanishing Point.. YES! -Kakimori nib with a reservoir.. YES!
Questions, and a super long 'hello'. Hi, Dorothy from Oz (Aus) here - long time grateful beneficiary of your brilliant banter.. yeah, and genius information. I grew up learning to write (script) with a dip pen throughout primary (elementary) school. I've been a fountain pen lover all of my life and my favourites to this day are my Pilot e95s mini collection. My daily writers! A reputable source recently mentioned that Pilot may discontinue the line. NOOOOoooooo. Firstly, Drew, so happy to know that your e95s joy is genuine. Now the question: could you research a little with contacts / use your undeniable charm to check on the potential loss of this iconic pen? If so, I need to double up on a couple now... whilst you change the course of history, get Pilot to produce your British Racing Green (desk leather) version, and my modern teal with silver. More colours, new life, and saviours of style and artistry. AND... help us all sleep better at night :) LOVE your channel, thanks for no monetisation- it's part of what makes your company trustworthy and builds a true sense of community! ❤
Not sure if this has already been mentioned-but Nakaya does do maki-e converters where they apply the maki-e onto the standard clear Platinum converters I have put my goldfish converter in a Platinum Cool Balance demonstrator, and inked it with Diamine Aqua Lagoon to get a delightful little fish tank in my pen! I could send a picture if wanted haha
1:43:25 Kakimori nib as a fountain pen, it _should_ work. I don’t know how brush pen feeds work but I imagine the same thing would work. Pentel color brushes are massive and hold a ton of ink in the brush tip and still don’t spill around and stuff.
Drew is right - it is challenging to find a solid brick red! Drew, have you investigated Frankly Scarlet by Robert Oster? I think you two should make predictions a regular segment on the Pencast and forecast which newly released pens and inks you think will be popular. Then look at your actual sales and report back after a month or two. Love the pencast, but one comment on the Amazon Basics pen - it was my very first fountain pen purchase, it is a wonderful writer, and it led me to you!
Drew's idea for a pen that refills from the back of the pen is good IMO. Taking it apart near the grip always makes me nervous because there is ink in two different spots. And putting ink in by the nib (via traveling inkwell) requires quite a bit of cleaning. Here are some ways we can do this IMO, with different pro's and cons: - twist cap on back (with silcone or o-ring type seal), and refill from a syringe. The benefit of this over a normal filler is that it becomes easier and cleaner to top it off, compared to a - Silicone seal with a small hole in the back for a blunt tip syringe. The syringe can go into a small hole, which will basically eliminate the chance for spilling and making a mess. Through capillary action it should even hold back the majority of ink if the pen dropped while open (obviously don't drop it though). It would even partially clean up the tip of the syringe when taking it out of the pen. Having a way to seal off the ink, I think, would be unnecessary. It would be slightly more complicated to make though. The back of the pen and the cap at the back, of the pen would both be a weird design to make it work and not just be even more of a mess. - There's gotta be a way to make a filler that would work with a cartridge. Especially something like a pilot cartridge with it's really wide mouth. Open up the back of the pen, dump a cartridge into it, and toss (or cap) the cartridge.
Pen innovations: instead of diamond tipping, think sapphire glass (Apple is already making this) which can be ground and smoothed by diamond plates. The tipping can be gas-deposited on a rough metal tip welded to the tines. For the adjustable nib size, two ideas: 1) think of a Pilot VP with two or three nib units, either rotating or spring activated; 2) think of a Pilot Parallel and sliding more thin tines to widen the nib.
Pilot does major anniversary exclusives for some retailers in Japan. Maybe worth pursuing on a major anniversary for GPC. I’d buy the teal custom Urushi in a heartbeat!
Congrats on 100 hours! Was that the Mozart Clarinet Quintet you were playing?? Also, there's a product called the Lagan Lip saver that is great for preventing irritating on the bottom lip while playing!
Several of the "dream pen" suggestions involved using a transparent or translucent material for the barrel and possibly the cap, for pens that have caps. A good candidate for these applications is plexiglass, which is used for pens now, is strong, takes tinting, is stable. Lucite, polymethyl methacrylate? Is there a reason that penmakers couldn't use it for the demonstrator pens you have imagined?
Hephaestus as a god associated with volcanos to be sure - but also important is the Etna connection! Some accounts place Hephaestus' forge in Mount Etna
1:15:56 that idea of magma in the homo sapiens lava is similar to my white safari with back clip inked up with diamine tulip representing a stormtrooper shooting his red laser blaster. Love ink/pen combos with a story.
Surorised your one inked pen is a Pilot Gakken. Some versions apparently collectible. If you are in Japan again, @ Drew, Itoya in Yokohama has a Romeo ink that is like the iconic red brick (Aka renga) warehouse in the city. Have a good summer you guys. It was fun to dream of ideal FPs.
Yes, please, I would love that TWSBI Vac Mini Iris. I've been enjoying the color of my Opus 88 Mini, but for on-the-go purposes, I do miss how I can securely post the Vac Mini with the seal undone.
I only have one pen (from many) that I only use 1 ink with. It's Drew's favorite Twsbi Precision 1.1mm stub with Robert Oster Aqua. This particular Precision writes like a firehose and that gorgeous Aqua ink shows up in all it's glory. It's stunning. However I somewhat recently bought a Precision in a medium and it does not perform like my stub.
Modifications to existing pen. Since Drew mentioned it, I would love a green Pilot E95S, it would be the one I'd buy. Though I would like a more "interesting" swirly green resin, lighter, with ivory cap and silver accents. White gold nib would look very nice as an inlaid nib. One of my favourite pens is Pilot Prera. What I would do is japanese eyedropper (since they tend to have a thicker wall, it wouldn't have huge capacity, maybe the same as the cartridge, but I like the simplicity of the filling mechanism), optional gold nib and I would do what they did to Kakuno and just print something fun on the nib, like animal foot prints. That would be a fun collection for me. Second favourite pen is Sailor Pro Gear Slim Mini, I'd like to see a 21k two tone gold nib on that in EF and I would make it clipless with a rollstop instead.
I'm intrigued by Drew's idea of an adjustable nib feedback. And adjustable nib width? Take it even further and make ink flow adjustable as well and combine it with Pilot Justus 95 mechanic to adjust nib softness! (Pilot Adjustus? 😁) Interesting show, thank you!
Hello Brian and Drew! Love your work :) I have a question regarding a future episode! I'm interested in your recommendations for a second fountain pen. While there's plenty of information on starter pens, I'm curious about your thoughts on the next step. A bit of background: I've been using fountain pens for about 18 months. My first pen was a Lamy Lx with an EF nib. Before that, I often borrowed my partner's Lamy Safari, which gave me the confidence to choose the Lx as my first pen. I later purchased a Lamy Safari with a left-handed nib, as I am left-handed and wanted to try this. I find myself preferring the EF nib on the Lx. I have converters for both pens and am currently exploring different bottled inks. I'm thinking about trying a demonstrator pen and possibly an Asian nib. This has me leaning towards a TWSBI as a potential option. However, I'm eager to hear your thoughts on other directions I could explore for my next pen! Looking forward to your insights.
Saying the Taylor Swift fountain pen was unexpected is so funny to me. She breaks her songs up into three categories. Glitter pen, fountain pen, and quill pen songs, depending on the writing complexity and romanticism of each song. The fans have been asking for a fountain pen for years. Considering her new album was mostly fountain pen songs it was fitting she finally dropped the pen.
On the diamond subject, they can actually also cut diamonds with extremely high pressure water and/or electrical means. For high pressure cutting, for stuff like diamonds they use abrasives dissolved or suspended in the water and ridiculously high pressures, for the electrical means the literally knock out the atoms of the lattice by shooting high energy electrons and/or inert ions, ion milling, electron beam machining, laser cutting, etc. For the polishing, yes, abrasive diamond dust coated polishing wheels are used.
Drew, have you seen the new dip nib that Tom's Studio just launched? It's not a fountain pen exactly, but it is a kakimori style (ish) nib with a reservoir
For nib tipping, I would think Titanium Nitride or Titanium Carbide would be feasible. Both are very hard (Mohs 9-9.5). Nitinol is commonly used as an Orthodontic wire. When chilled it becomes dead soft and can be adapted into orthodontic brackets on misaligned teeth, then as it warms to mouth temperature it tries to return to shape and moves the teeth into alignment.
Brian should definitely check out Bungubox pens. They put maki-e on the Eco, Diamond Mini, and Vac Mini which looks really cool on a clear demonstrator.
