37:45 Manufacturers are not allowed to blanket deny your warranty just because you removed your piston assembly from your pen; they have to demonstrate that you damaged it in the process according to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975. Please stop letting manufacturers get away with blatantly breaking the law and just rolling over and accepting it, contact the FTC if a manufacturer denies your warranty in this manner, they have recently reiterated that this is still illegal and they want to hear from anyone who has an experience like this.
I have successfully used a piece of washi tape on a slick grip section. It adds just a bit of texture, it doesnt damage the pen, is temporary if you want it to be... and you can choose a pretty washi tape to compliment the pen/ ink.
As someone with sensory issues, I totally understand the request for being able to search by texture. I also totally grasp the difficulty in trying to implement that sitewide. I had a thought that might be a compromise. I’ve really enjoyed the Goulet curated collections over the years. What about new curated collections that focus on texture specifically? With the observed overlap of neurodiversity and interest in this hobby, I believe an increased awareness of and implementation of texture as a significant consideration will continue to be desirable and relevant to our community.
From all the times I've heard the guys mention how much Rachel hates certain textures on pens, I have to wonder if she'd be the best person to curate for this! Brian made it sound like it's too complex, but I think if they broke it out into grips and bodies, and then textured and not textured in those categories, they'd cover a lot of ground.
Yes please. I didn’t know other people felt this way until I started watching…I called it my ‘touch anxiety’. It would be nice to have more information on the texture of a pen before buying. I have so many things, not just pens, that I used for a while but couldn’t continue using because I couldn’t stand the feel of it. But then again, touch anxiety works differently for different people. Perhaps a section that told you what kind of texture you were getting would be better?
@@sahrandipity I think part of the hesitation in implementing this, though, is the subjectivity and the potential for misguiding buyers. Rachel may not like certain textures, but others might find pens that she does like textured in a way they don't like. There is far less subjectivity in the terms they use to designate other characteristics of the pens.
Q to A: Drew, you mentioned your tastes changing as you realized you were drifting away from TWSBIs and their large ink capacities. How have both of your tastes changed over time? What have been the moments in your collecting that you've realized you have preferences? What preferences have crept up on you without you realizing you had them?
I just found out my Pilot Custom Silver nib was made in October of 1974. I didn't know that before. Thanks! As I said last time, the Sax on Tractor video needs to happen!!! As long as it won't further hurt your back, of course.
Re: the sticky piston situation, is the reason why I will always keep an affordable fountain handy for shimmer, heavy sheening, inks away from these HV piston pens. I keep tabs of classic & highly lubricated inks exclusive to these types of pens. Comes with the territory.
Agree, I recommended to a social media friend that they put the Glacier ink (from this year's Inkvent calendar) into something like a broad-nibbed TWSBI ECO :)
Very similar to what Biezeps mentioned in the Feedback section about buying a Moonman A1 to see if the clip position of a Vanishing Point would bug them, I first used a couple of "heavily inspired by" pens for a similar but more general purpose. My second and third pens (after a gateway Safari) were a Jinhao X159 and Jinhao 82. Not to see if I wanted a Montblanc 149 or a Sailor Pro Gear Slim specifically, but to gauge my size preferences.
For matte texturizing, you could potentially try acrylic finishes/varnishes like for leather work, they’re very thin and brushable. They’re fully transparent as well.
How can pen producers sell pens that can’t be fully disassembled? Especially at the prices some of them sell for. If you’re going to drop the money for a Pelikan M800, you should be able to service it yourself.
Hey guys, new to the fountain pen hobby. I’ve appreciated all the affordable options you guys talk about and I am excited to get them. However I’m contemplating the fact that if I buy a few more affordable pens, I could just buy a very high quality pen instead. For a Newbie is it quantity or quality that is best?
Looks like myself and a few other commenters have Pilot gold-nibbed pens with the numbers but no 'P' (or any other letter). Maybe it's an import / export thing, if all the Goulet pens have a P on them and are presumably for the US market? The Pilot I bought new has the 'P' but the ones that were second hand, and possibly from Japan, are lacking the 'P' (one of my used Pilots is from 2017 and the other 2021 - my bought-new Pilot is also from 2021). Just a guess.
My newish Pilots also don't have the P. They from 2020 and 2023. My older ones have an H, they are from 1979 and 1974. So cool to be able to date my pens 😍
Any recommendations for pens with an industrial aesthetic? My favorite pen so far is the TWISBI Diamond ALR in Nickel Gray due to the engraved metal and the demonstrator barrel where you can see the piston mechanism which is very engineer-y. The Diplomat Aero in Oxyd Brass was very nice and fit the bill (even though it is not a demonstrator) but are there others you can think of? I'd like a next level pen above my TWISBI ALR.
In theme with the kakuno's changable nib, what are your favorite nib swaps or franken pens? Could you do a showcase or list of both common pen bodies that fit with your usual replacement nibs (Goulet/Jowo #5/#6 nibs) and more daring frankenpens (like a Sailor 14k nib in a TWSBI 580)?
lol as a recent mac convert i too was confused where my screenshots would save. Command + Shift + 5 then under “options” you can set a specific save location
Happy weekend! The Ink that comes with the Kaweco Piston looks more like the Kaweco Royal Blue in the video. Kaweco Midnight Blue is the blue black and that isn't purple at all. Kaweco Caramel Brown in my favourite Kaweco ink, followed by Smokey grey. Wouldn't it be nice, if Kaweco would sell a set of gold and silver rings, so swap for the clip and maybe even the ring close to the blind cap.
I just ordered some Caramel Brown;I think I may have used it in a cartridge from my Kaweco dispenser but wasn't sure of the name of the color. Also getting some Palm Green to try. Now I'm curious about the Smokey Grey! You have some good ideas about the ring/clip swap. Many people don't like clips;I'm not one of them.
Sure that TWSBI will bring out an Emerald or Olive Matte Green ECO with Bronze trim, if not, they're out of their minds. I would pull the trigger on either options. Black Eco with Bronze is an honorable mention. Rose Gold Jade Eco-T is a pass for me.
The Diplomat Aero in brass weighs almost exactly the same as the brass Kaweco Sport. Edit: I would love to have a Kaweco Sport in the black & gold colours of their new piston-filer, but I don't like piston filling pens. I use a syringe to fill my piston-filling Swipe. Maybe try ACDC's Thunderstruck on the sax? There's a RU-vid version of Thunderstruck done with banjo, where the accordion payer rolls up on a garden tractor.
To do a slight counterpoint to the Americanized accent thing, someone pointed out that the French will jump down your throat if you don't pronounce croissant properly,, but have you heard a francophone say hamburger?
For Samantha and her matte grips - Goulet doesn't carry it, but you can find the rubber grip section for the Studio sold separately from the pen body at at least one US retailer! Saved my Studio for me. (Goulet still has my heart though)
I have a Namiki Sterling Dragon (Pilot fine writing instruments were initially sold under the Namiki brand when they first started importing to the US in the 1990's). The (18K yellow gold) nib is prominently marked with A297 in a similar location as on the E95S so created in Feb, 1997 but it has the A factory marking.
PELIKAN SOUVERAN M600 ART COLLECTION PEN - GLAUCO CAMBON (SPECIAL EDITION Is a combination of brass and other materials. Is the inner piston also brass? I was unable to find that information out from what I’ve read. The outside is coated and the cap and section are made of resin like most Pelikan. The guilloched brass barrel is absolutely beautiful. This pen is much heavier than other similar from their collection.
lightrose, aquasky, and springgreen Lamy Safaris are shiny! It made me sad when I got them. (Not sad enough to return them or anything -- the colors are still pretty -- but they were really similar to the 20...19? ones? and I am more team BLACK LIKE MY SOUL than team pastel.)
In regards to the textured grips discussion. I was able to order the rubberized Lamy Studio grips for the 2 Studios I have and replaced the slick steel grips. I just couldn't use the slippery steel grips. Now my Studios are great to write with.
@@Gouletpens I got them from one of our retailers here in Canada. I believe they were able to order them through their distributor. I'm sure your distributor could do the same if they were so inclined to make the effort and you would like to make them available to your customers. If I hadn't been able to get those grips, I'm afraid those 2 Lamy Studios would have just been put away and never used. Instead, they have been well used over the last couple of years.
I find it amusing that KaWeCo put faux knurling on the back of the modern plastic Sports to pay homage to the original 1930s-40s ones that had an exposed piston knob, but the new piston Sport doesn't have knurling on the blind cap! 😂
I can unscrew the nib exactly the same with my al-sport. Thought all sports have the nib unit. You can even buy replacement nib-units for the sport. Have a stub unit lying arround for them...
I have delayed feedback on episode 131. One of my favorite parts of the pencast is the random fact at the end. On episode 131, Brian said there were 100 to 400 billion stars in the observable universe, while there were 3 trillion trees on Earth, thus, there are more trees on earth than stars in the observable universe, by a lot. But that's not so. The 3 trillion trees part is indeed easy to find and comes from a trust worthy source (Yale School of the Environment). That is a three followed by 12 zeros. Now, the other claim, I couldn't find a source that cited it, but did look for estimates, and they vary widely... but even the lower end is WAY above your claim, at 10 billion trillion (a one followed by 22 zeros), so, there are at least 3.3 billion stars in the observable universe for every tree on earth. The upper estimate is 100 times the lower, at a trillion trillion, or a 1 followed by 24 zeros. Further more, the Milky Way alone has 100 billion stars, and it is in the lower end of medium-sized galaxies, there are galaxies with way over 400 billion stars. IC-1101 (largest galaxy found) is about 2000 times as massive as the milky way, I can't find an estimate of the number of stars, but if we assume (naively) the number of stars is proportional to its mass, it could have as many as 200 thillion stars (in a sinle step).
The Piston of the Pelikan can, even on the M800 and M1000, only be removed if it is metal in there. Some of the older Variants of the M800 and 1000 from before 2000 do, as far as I know, use plastic as well and are therefore not made to be unscrewed. Usually, use little force. If you have to use to much force, it's usually not a good sign :)
@gouletpens great episode! I love how you guys are honest about not being particularly in love with products even though they’re in the shop catalogue. Your reasons are reasonable and relatable, too. I especially resonate with Drew and the lack of appeal of large ink capacities, because who needs that when you have a gazillion kinds of new ink to try every few days? 😂 Can I submit a question for next week? I’ve been recently in love with sheening inks, but find many of them to be staining to pale or white pen sections, which I have a lot of! Hope you can cite recommendations on gorgeous, sheening, saturated inks that won’t destroy a white pen! Thanks xx
I think all of the metal Sports, along with the Art Sports, all have a screw-in nib unit. I know all of the ones I have do. The $25-$30 plastic ones do not, of course. I can see that the nib unit for the piston fill pen has a different shape, though - clearly visible around the collar of the nib unit housing. I have actually swapped out the original nibs that came in both of my AL Sport pens, and it was super easy to do.
I loved the question about the matte grips. But I just went to look at Lamy Safaris-I love the feel of the matte charcoal version-and some descriptions specify glossy or matte, but for other colors there is no mention. So I still don’t know which Safaris would work best for me. I didn’t check the other pens you mentioned, but if the description doesn’t specify, it’s hard to tell.
I am watching this episode late. I see a code ‘621’ on my Pilot Custom 823 nib that I bought from the GPC Oct’21 BUT there is no letter stamped at all and only the number. Any clue on what does the absence of the letter mean - are they not doing it anymore??
Two comments: 1.) I wish I could have known about pilot nibs 10 years ago - when a nib and feed came out of my pilot prera and I thought it was broken and threw it away (sob), 2.) any reason you didn't mention the Estie Raven in the list of matte pens?
Welcome to the 40s Brian. It's an interesting decade when you get hurt doing normal/nothing things. It's really "fun" when you wake up injured. I went to sleep one night fine and woke up the next morning with a swollen knee. 🤷
Hi guys! My workplace still uses carbon paper and my fountain pens are not putting enough pressure when writing. Am I doomed to write on each copy or is there a solution to my dilemma? 😢 Thanks in advance!
Thanks for the amazing video i didnt know of many other retractable fountain pens until today. You mentioned a platinum coridas and it turns out that where i live (South africa) this pen is cheaper than the vp and I will save up my money for it if you think it is worth while??
Curious to know what pen shows that Drew and/or Brian will be attending the rest of the year. I intend to go to the Triangle (Raleigh) show this year for the first time and hope that you will be there.
Brian's use case for high capacity pens is not at all unique! many people including myself simply value the utility of having so much ink in your pen that you rarely need to fill it and its always ready to go.
Can a misaligned feed/nib lead to or exacerbate leaking? I have a beautiful benu (cookies and cream 🥰) that i simply never use because i know a mess is a l w a y s waiting for me when i uncap it. I had noticed a slightly misaligned feed from day one and am curious if that could be the cause? Has anyone else noticed more leaking in benus? This doesn't happen with any of my others and if anything im more careful with this one. 🥺 I just want to use it more often and dont know where to start addressing it. Thanks for any wisdom the community/pencast crew have 🙏🙏🙏
Drew, on the subject of the animal narratives etc., have you seen the new National Geographic show Queens? It is another good one that focuses on the female leaders of the animal world. It’s also kind of cool as one of the filmographers, Erin Ranney, is a friend of mine.
The RFID comment reminded me that you can get NFC stickers that work with your phone and some shortcut apps. Occurred to me they could be added to ink bottles that link to a shortcut to record which we're inking up. Or maybe (for those of us who sometimes neglect a pen for a period) it could link to a set timer that reminds us to check on a pen after x days/weeks. Or it could link to our productivity apps to give us a reward for taking time to journal. All kinds of fun things people could do with some simple peripheral tech that can be easily added to any pen, ink or journal that we like. Hmmm... now you've got me thinking....
Hey again! I had a thought while you were discussing the difficulty of photographing the somewhat holographic effect on the adorable new dragon stickers... Could Goulet Pens incorporate some short gifs or other short videos for items like these stickers or pens with difficult to photograph effects? I think it would help sell those beautiful items better, but I realize this is not a simple change and would take some planning. I haven't seen much of this elsewhere online so that means you would also be among the first companies to use this technology. Just a thought. 😊
The thing which bugs me about the 823 is that it took months to dry after cleaning to store it. If you’re changing inks, a bit of water isn’t a big deal, but to put it away, seeing those lingering drops drives me crazy.
@harmonybat, I live 25 miles from the epicenter of the 4.8 NJ earthquake and that’s exactly what I was debating when the earthquake hit until it lasted longer than a passing truck would.
If Samantha likes matte finishes, maybe also check out some of the independent makers, many of them will make some matte finish pens which are lovely and satiny and not heavy metal.
I am clearly at the immature end of the pencast viewership because we are three days after release and no one else is giggling at 'if the rod itself loses its lube' 😅
Ah, those last couple of minutes! We have a new coworker I've been working closely with. I caught him off guard when he asked if I had a minute, and I said, "No, absolutely not." He stumbled for a quick comeback and couldn't come up with one. I apologized and said, "To know me is to love snark and sarcasm!" (It's also my children's second language!) 🤣 Brian - She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy! C'mon, man!
My Pilot Custom 74 (Forest Green) was manufactured 3/2021 and I received it from Goulet on 7/12/2021… incidentally, I am Tony… thanks for responding to my question. 👍
Samantha - I run into the same issue where my fingers slip on almost all my pens (Pilot Metros, kakuno, Falcon, TWSBI, etc). A non-destructive method would be grip stickers available on Amazon. Cut them to your preference and fairly easy to remove them without damaging the pen. Something that has worked really well for me is to clean the pen grip section and my fingertips with Windex (or any degreasing solution) before use. The removal of the oils makes the slipping a non-issue.
The Opus 88 Demonstrator + 3.8mm Pilot parallel nib + DeAtramentis Document Green Grey ink = my current fountain pen sketcher love! I never thought I would be brave enough to mess with removing a nib, but I'm there now and I'm so happy about it. 🖋💚 I think you should try it, Drew, it's so juicy! I recently discovered the Johnny Hodges saxophone version of The Last Time I Saw Paris (a song my dad played on the piano when I was growing up). I don't know if it's the best song to play on a tractor, but I think it'd be a fun song for Brian to try just for the enjoyment of it. Oh yeah, and I know it's crazy to say it (read the room, Ina!), but I really don't need another fountain pen. Still, seeing that Kaweco Original sent me on a google search! 😂😇 Thanks for another wonderful pencast!
Hi Guys! Very Good pencast this week! The Kaweco Piston Sport is going to be a good pen for a while! Might eventually pick one up. Kind of want to wait and see if they do some different colors. Great explanation about how to change out the nibs on the Kaweco Sport and Piston sport. And the Al-Sport Drew (not made by Lamy). Brian, your tractor song has got to be a jazzy version of Cover Me Up With The Sunshine Of Virginia! A number done by one of my favorite groups The California Ramblers. (The 1920's version). Be careful with your back Brian! Having had back trouble off and on for years, it's not a fun thing! Anyway, have a GREAT weekend!
Brian, big grin: 'Makes you anticipate it, Drew', love your dynamic. I joined YT premium and am now bingeing b&w detectives from the 40s and 50s. My latest Lego is the UK telephone box, the set is staring at me now, will I build it soon?
Drew, I briefly heard mention of the Pilot Parallel, and the Opus 88. You have got to try the hack. You only need to remove the nib housing (with Nib/Feed of course) from an Opus 88 Demonstrator (it should also work with an Omar & Jazz). Then you pull the nib from the Parallel, and push it into the Demonstrators section in place of the nib housing!! It is just too darn simple!! I currently have a 2.4 mm Parallel nib installed in my Demonstrator. And you'll be glad for the large ink capacity since the Parallel nibs can lay down some ink!!
Totally with Brian on pens with big capacity, excellent cap seal, wet for months or years. Twisbi Precision lasts forever. Is the hole in the Kaweco tin liner large/flexible enough to hold the ink bottle upright?
Love those new stickers! The perfect excuse for a new order to your shop.😊❤ For the Q&A: I just learned bambu paper exists, is it good for fountain pens? Would it ruin the nibs? Is it good with the inks? Please share your point of view on them. Love your show guys! Thanks for keeping it going.
